Positive labor and deliver stories! :) (NO horror allowed!)

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Princess_Abby

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Hi, all. I would love to hear your stories regarding labor and delivery in which you feel that events went relatively smoothly and without too many hitches. Please feel free to detail certain choices you made and contributing factors that you believe helped make it such a positive and affirming experience.

Save any trauma or drama for a different thread, pretty please! 🙂
 
oh i love sharing:

My Birth Story:

My husband and I both wanted an unmedicated birth. All our siblings were born without meds (a total of 10 births including us). I also figured, its been done that way for thousands of years, so it could be done again. Plus I’m very sensitive to chemicals, meds, etc… I go through withdraw from one cup of coffee.
After a lot of research we took Bradley classes, which I HIGHLY recommend. Of course any class is only as good as the teacher. The info in the class and the reading I did were the keys to my successful labor. I was no longer afraid of labor, because I knew what to expect. I often heard several phrases replay in my head that I learned in class: Don’t rush off to the hospital, Gravity is your best friend, etc…

I woke up at 1:30 am and felt ‘something’. I woke DH and told him. I’d been having those feelings off and on for over a week, so we didn’t jump out of bed. Then 5 min. later, felt it again, then 5 min. later felt it again, so I told DH to get the watch. I moved to the floor and took the relaxed position I leanred in Bradley. i did this for about 30 min. and then decided i didn’t want to be on the floor anymore. we then started walking around our home and when a contraction came I pressed my body against the wall in a standing push up position with DH putting pressure on my back and helping me relax. I alternated between this, being on my knees in front of the couch with my head on the couch, being on our exercise ball or on the toilet. the contractions were always 5 min. apart and through each contraction DH was helping me relax with the methods we learned had practiced each night.

At 7:00 AM we called the midwife and told her I’d been 5 min. apart lasting for 60 sec. for 51/2 hours, but we didn’t want to rush off to the hospital just in case i was going to have a long labor. We were wanting to see some change in the contractions, so we knew my body was progressing. She suggested we come into the office at 9:15 to be checked and that sounded good to us. I had declined all prelabor vaginal exams becasue i didn’t want to risk infection or water breaking, so I didn’t know how soft, etc. I was. We continued our walking around, etc. until then. While we were out on our balcony we saw a DOUBLE RAINBOW. It was the first time either of us had seen one. (Love those signs from God )

At 9:00 we went to the office and she said I was 2 to 3 cm and to go to the hospital. The contractions were getting more intense so we agreed and felt like it was time. At about 10:00 my water broke in the car when we were a mile from the hospital. By 10:30 we were checked in and my contractions were much stronger now. they made me lie down for a while to be on the monitor. but when they took it off i was up again. In another 30 min. though I had hit transition and was wanting to be in the bed in the relaxed position. DH was great and coaching me the whole time. During the last hour of contractions i found it hard to relax the with all the hospital noise which is one of several reasons I won’t do a hospital birth again… I was checked again and was 5 cm. She thought it’d be a long time, LOL. Then I had 2 HUUUUGE contractions and felt the intense pressure and I knew I was ready to push. I told DH to get the nurse and midwife. He did and they agreed it was time. It was 1:00 PM.

The hardest part of labor for me was switching my mindset from getting through the contractions to pushing. It took 2 pushing contractions for me to get a grip on it. (Plus I was not in the position i wanted to be in. I wanted to squat but couldn’t seem to communicate this.) Then I figured it out and was pushing 4 times on every contraction. I credit this to doing 200 kegel exercises a day). I pushed him out in 30 min. and the whole labor was 12 hours, 3 in the hospital.

con’t next post
 
I know part of the reason it was so successful was, because we didn’t hit any complications and becasue I prayed every day about labor. But I also know that all the education and research we did helped us have the tools we needed to know what was happening and to know what choices to make so we didn’t end up with the (failure to progress induced epidural unable to push csection route.

I thank Jesus for such a great experience and I hope you will feel as good about your labor as I do mine. My sister has commented that so many people talk about how awful it is and they are the ones that get the drugs yet I had no drugs and it was wonderful…also I had such a positive experience I became an insructor:)
 
by number 4, i wanted the epidural at home…

just hook me up… pure bliss…

I must say, the epidurals improved greatly over the course of birth number 1 in 1994 to birth number 4 in 2000. very good.
 
Best birth experience was w/ child #3… decided I would wait until I went into labor naturally - even though I was over 2 weeks late & doc wanted to induce. I heard that drinking a shot of castor oil might get things going so I downed that around 1pm… (wow is that stuff gross!)
Went to bed bummed that it didn’t work… woke up at 4 am… water broke. Had a couple of big contractions… loaded up into the car… got to the hospital & was already at 8 cm… had a couple more contractions that were heavy duty… 1/2 hour later… time to push… three pushes & welcome to the world baby girl! 9 pounds. It doesn’t get much better than that! 🙂
 
I had the typical “False alarm; go back home” that you hear about.

You might think it horribly dramatic of me if I shared that I spent a whole weekend contracting, but honestly, I have such positive memories of those 3 days!!

I will cherish the memory of my beautiful husband, protectively following me around the house that weekend and reading an entire novel outloud to me to help give me something else to focus on in between contractions.

I remember worrying about trying to eat something to keep my strength up, but honestly, I just couldn’t eat anything…except take-out wonton soup!

I had bought one of those enormous exercise balls to use as a chair b/c my sciatic nerve had been acting up in the last trimester…I called it “Big Blue, my Egg” and wherever I went in the house, it went. Very helpful. You should have seen the looks we got the first time we showed up at the hospital, loaded down with pillows, luggage, and Big Blue!

Prior to the 8th month or so, I had been adamant about no drugs, etc. Then I had an accident which had serious ramifications for delivery. It was a very quick & effective way of knocking me down a peg or two (literally) and helping me surrender my control. That sounds like the opposite of what you might read on pregnancy boards, etc., which encourage you to think of and plan for every possible part of what you want.

I believe it was God’s way of helping me have faith & trust in Him, and in His Blessed Mother, but also encouraging me to trust in the competence and experience of the professionals who helped me along that weekend. You can’t plan for everything, and something you’re absolutely sure you want ends up being a trivial part of the actual event, and vice versa.

So, I couldn’t have predicted all the unexpecteds along the way, but afterwards, I still felt like Superwoman!–epidural and all.

So many more…can’t believe it was almost a year ago…ah, well…
I look forward to reading the other stories/memories.

Just think, Abby–soon you’ll have your own stories to share!

Oh yeah–the jacuzzi was awesome!
 
Baby #3 was pretty smooth sailing for me. Labored for 5 hours, had an epidural, and he came shooting out after only pushing 3 times.

Yes, without the epidural, I don’t think I would’ve had it that easy (tried it once without it - intense experience!)
 
I highly recommend the epidural, just ask for a low dose one. My daughter was my first, and she was overdue and more of a challenge, mostly because my epidural was too strong and I couldn’t feel the contractions or me pushing. She eventually was born though, safe and sound.

My second and third, both sons, were so much easier. I had good epidurals, could still feel everything but was very relaxed. I think with baby #2 I even exclaimed “That was it? That was so easy.” I was up and on my feet like normal (almost) just hours afterwards with both of them.

Baby #4, also a son, turned out to be a C-section. He was transverse and an ultrasound revealed that the cord was wrapped around his neck, so turning was not an option. My mom was telling me all of these horror stories about how terrible c-sections were and how I was going to be off my feet for weeks. You know what? It was not bad at all. I was up and walking the next day, feeling great in a couple of days. They did give me an IV with morphine immediately afterwards. It was great, but after that I didn’t need any pain meds. The scar healed up really well too, so I have no complaints at all with that c-section experience.
 
My three births have gone smoothly.

My first, a son, textbook labor, no drugs. Woke up at 6am with contractions, all day long they got more regular and stronger, by 3:30 we were gone to the hospital. Dr. broke my water about 6pm. At 8:11pm I pushed two big pushes and he was out. A little guy at just 6lbs3oz.

My second, a girl, was a little more complicated by still a good birth. My water broke just a little bit at 6am. We went on to the hospital (against my best judgement) and we were there all day waiting for contractions. Couldn’t eat anything so I was hungry and thirsty, but my contractions would only come and go with no regularity, so at 7:30pm we decided on pitocin to augment my own pitocin. It was a very intense labor from 8pm to 9:45, but three big pushes and my big girl was out, 8lbs15oz.

My third, a boy, was also an uncomplicated birth, although a night birth! I was getting contractions at 5:30pm, they got stronger, faster, quicker! We got to the hospital, they broke my water, and three hours later, 15 minutes of pushing, at 12:58am my big boy was born, 8lbs9oz.

Best of luck to you and God Bless you. Your body was made to do this, you can do it. Something that helped me was to have my husband recite some of the fruits of the mysteries of the Rosary. Patience, Perseverance, Courage… This gave me heart to keep on and know that the contraction would end, and I would finally get to meet my baby when it was all over.
 
My baby brother was a bit of a high risk pregnancy. While there were some complications at birth, mom’s OB and the nurses were so great the whole time and she was able to deliver vaginally.
My sister and I (8 and 13) stayed, but my brother (11) decided homework was REALLY important all of a sudden. Lol!
I got to cut the umbilical cord:).
 
Well, I’ve had 5 natural births either with Drs or midwives and each one has been a little different. I don’t think I have a horror story in the bunch…

With #1, even though I had done all the reading, nothing truly prepares you for the experience. I went into labor in the morning–I had an appointment at 10am to check the baby since he was a bit overdue. I just puttered and showered and packed for the appointment knowing I’d probably get to stay. I knew I was in labor because starting around 10 the contractions were every 5 min! They hooked me up to the monitors and said “hey, you’re in labor!” (REALLY! lol) They checked me and I was not quite 4 so they sent me to walk around. I tried, but the contractions were so intense that I just couldn’t. They finally agreed to check me in, but the only room was the observation room (they were busy) where I stayed until I was nearly complete around 4pm. I did finally get my own room and delivered there around 5:30pm. My ds was 9 lbs 4 oz. That labor took about 8 hours. Oh, my mother was also present for this birth (the only one), which was helpful.

#2 was very similar to the first, but I was only in the actual hospital room about ummmm 20 minutes before I started pushing and she arrived. This was my first midwife delivery and was at a Catholic hospital and was very nice. My dh was so very helpful this time, he gets better and better during each birth. Total labor time 7 hours.

#3 was born under stressful conditions (a move via staying with the inlaws) and her labor took a LONG time (not painful hours, just piddly contractions), but in the end was much like the others. When she decided to turn her head the right way she was out in less than 1 hour. Another midwife delivery which saved me from a c-section since the labor was longer–no baby stress. I won’t give you the total labor time, it only depressess me 😛

#4 was the most perfect birth I’ve ever had. I was only at the hospital about 1 hour before she made her arrival. I felt great afterwards and could hardly believe I gave birth. I wanted any future births to be like this one! This delivery was with a lovely prolife dr. in a Catholic Hospital. Total labor time 5 hours

#5 was a nice birth but I was again stressed because my Dr was leaving for a vacation and I really wanted him here for the birth. I had a false alarm about 2 days before, was scheduled for an induction I didn’t want and just really stressed out when I finally began labor on my own 2 days before he was scheduled to leave. It was still a short labor, though the recovery was harder this time. I don’t know why. Total labor time about 4-5 hours.

The bottom line is: be informed, try to eliminate/reduce stress and listen to your body and Dr/midwife. Drugs aren’t necessary for everyone, but you might be a person who benefits from them. It’s better for the baby if you can get by without them, though.

God bless you as you get nearer to holding your darling baby! There is nothing in this world like it!
 
Neither were bad experiences. First boy I had with only a muscle relaxant. No problems and it was quick ( painful but the muscle relaxers do wonders).

Second boy was within an hour. I did have an epidural and loved it and encourage it if you are able.

Child birth can be a quick event - but often you only hear of the horrible drawn out births. sheesh - who wants to hear about the quick one- hour births. There is no drama in the story.

Everyone loves a drama it seems.
 
Here’s a couple…I’ll keep them short…

First child - doctor tells me to reach down…I did…I was able to pull my own sweet little baby into the world. Just took him under his arms and pulled him onto my stomach…so sweet!!!

Third child - FUNNY… doctor says, okay we are ready to push…I push.“hold on!!! let me get ready…stop!” He was coming out! Everyone started laughing in the delivery room. After doc was finally ready…one push, there he was!
 
God gave me only 1 kid–went into labor the night before my due date, went to the hospital on my due date, had the epidural (which I consented to after listening to a rather dramatic screaming woman in the room next to me), had my baby two hours later–relatively pain free. One of the nurses in the delivery room told me not to tell my delivery story to the other new moms on the maternity floor or they’d want to kick me.

Penitent
 
Princess Abby,

First of all, I want to tell you that I read your post about how you are having so many troubles with your back and are in a high-risk pregnancy. I told my husband, and we are both keeping you very much in our prayers!

Well, my baby was 2 weeks late and my labor had to be induced, so I didn’t have the luxury of staying home for early labor and/or walking around. That being said, I had no complications other than having to have my cervix ripened and contractions induced. I had a wonderful midwife and delivery nurse, which more than made up for the not-so-up-to-par nurse I had during labor. My baby was healthy and weighed 8.5 lbs! He had to have meconium suctioned out of his airways, but after a few minutes I was able to hold and nurse him. He came out absolutely perfectly, without so much as the slightest deformity to the shape of his head (I know, “cone heads” get better in a few days, but the fact that he had a c-section baby appearance was the cherry on top :)). I was scared I might need an episiotomy, but I didn’t, and I only needed two little stitches! So even though laying in the hospital bed while my cervix was artificailly ripened wasn’t fun, it made me appreciate my somewhat uneventful delivery that was over in thirty minutes!

Let me just conclude by saying that while a natural, holistic birthing experience can be wonderful, try to be focused on your baby and the health of the two of you. I had every intention of laboring at home, walking around, and only going to the hospital a few hours before the baby popped out. Things didn’t go that way, but it was still wonderful to experience the birth of our first child, even though I didn’t go into labor naturally. So if you or your baby need extra care, don’t get depressed about it or feel “cheated” because you didn’t have the all-natural experience you see all the time on TV shows.
 
PRACTICE YOUR BREATHING WITH YOUR COACH!!!😃

DO NOT BE INTIMIDATED BY THE DR’S NURSES- ASK FOR WHAT YOU WANT/NEED

KNOW YOUR PLAN AHEAD OF TIME- BUT BE FLEXABLE- THINGS HAPPEN!

KEEP YOUR GOAL IN MIND- A BEAUTIFUL BABY FOR THE GLORY OF GOD!!!

(4 kids- stadol w/ 1st- horrible (tired, no control). natural 2nd- wonderful! light epideral w/ 3rd (necessary to relax uterus) wonderful! natural 4th wonderful!)
 
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Tonks40:
Baby #3 was pretty smooth sailing for me. Labored for 5 hours, had an epidural, and he came shooting out after only pushing 3 times.

Yes, without the epidural, I don’t think I would’ve had it that easy (tried it once without it - intense experience!)
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That was how it was for me for both of my children’s birth. With a few exceptions. I was insulin dependent gestitional diabetic with both pregnancies so I had to be induced.
With child #2, I gave permission for three nursing students and an intern to witness the labor and delivery. There were a total of 13 people in the delivery room! After my son was born, I looked at the nursing students and they had big tears in their eyes. Then I heard one say, “I have to call my mom”. That brought tears to my eyes.
 
So if you or your baby need extra care, don’t get depressed about it or feel “cheated” because you didn’t have the all-natural experience you see all the time on TV shows.
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mmmm…i don’t really recall seeing natural births on TV all that much…usually baby story and birth day are anything but and the woman that ‘try’ to go natural aren’t educated and are just screaming in bed…just recently i saw House of Birth or is it House of Babies and I was quite surprised to see a brith center show on DHC because usually TV doesn’t show natural births at all. The one I saw was quite good. The first thing I tell my students is don’t watch baby story or birth day.
Something that helped me was to have my husband recite some of the fruits of the mysteries of the Rosary.
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WE prayed the rosary all during our labor. It was such a help.🙂
 
We had midwives for all 3 kids.

First labor was only 10 hours . . . only the last 3 were tough.

Second labor was about 3 hours. The whole 3 hours was hard, but no complaints - it was only 3 hours!

Third labor was 5 hours - got to the hospital and had her half and hour later. It was great.

—KCT
 
with my second child my labor wasn’t really getting me anywhere except pain, so the nurses suggested a hot shower, oh, it felt awesome and they were right outside the shower curtain if I needed them, the shower helped me progress, felt just awesome and I delivered one hour later, it was so great, oh, what a hot shower can do 😃
 
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