Storytime :)

[thelittleredm]

I'm bored to tears at work right now and fell down the rabbit hole of birth stories (again). We have some people down to single digit weeks so I figured, why not start a thread for STM+ to post birth stories! 

DS1 - Unmedicated, vaginal birth

SPOILER: Click to show

6lbs, 11.5oz - 18.75"

Before I start, I'm just gonna say that after we were admitted to the hospital, I have no idea about times that things happened Lol My internal clock was completely screwed up so I can't even guess.



I started having contractions Tuesday morning that were noticeable but didn't interfere with my day and were happening about 20 minutes or so. Nothing I worried about since that's been the norm for so long. Shortly after picking H up from the airport (he was stuck in GA because of mandatory civilian reintegration training after deployment), I noticed that the contractions were coming more frequently than earlier and they were getting harder to ignore but again, I've had that in the past and it's always stopped at some point. By the time I got to my 3pm appointment with my midwife, they were roughly 8-10 minutes apart and becoming slightly harder to ignore. We had a NST done since N had a big enough decrease in movement and she scheduled me for a biophysical profile for the next morning before she checked my cervix (3cm, 90%) and swept my membranes. She didn't believe I'd make it another week but just in case, we talked about induction and set a date and time for one in case N didn't come soon.



After that, she sent me on my merry way and throughout the afternoon, my contractions got steadily stronger but not enough to make me stop doing things. By 10pm, I was having them 2-5 minutes apart but the length of the contractions varied enough and weren't usually more than 40-50 seconds long so I kept myself busy by walking, trying to rest (unsuccessful), and eating. By 2am I called the midwife on call and she said to come on in and get checked out. Got to Triage around 2:45am and my cervical check showed that baby dropped to a 0 station and I was dilated to 4 with contractions happening every 2 minutes and lasting 1 minute so they got me admitted and got my doula called in. Sometime around sunrise I started feeling the urge to push during the peak of my contractions so my doula had the midwife check me out. I was starting to have back labor pain and learning that I was only at a 5 made me want to cry. Shortly after, my doula left and I got a new doula who was a God send and just what I needed! My back labor got worse but was relieved a bit so long as I wasn't on my back or sitting down. N kept moving from sunny-side up to facing the correct way which was somewhat irritating but oh well. I started to feel the urge to push regardless of whether a contraction was happening or not. The midwife came in and made me cry by saying we were only at a 6.5. Granted, I was thinking it was well into the afternoon at this point and not still morning. At this point, the nurse doing the EFM could no longer tell baby's heart rate apart from my own with her little portable doppler because of the positions I was comfortable in and there was slight concern over baby's recover time after contractions. I would say that about the time I was at an 8 or so, I was restricted to lying on my back during the monitoring sessions that seemed to last forever because it was the only way the nurse could get a good reading. It. Was. Awful.



When I was starting to routinely push involuntarily, they checked me again and I was at 9.5 but one side of my cervix hadn't completed thinned out yet so I had to lay down on my side (ouch!) so that it would make LO drop against that side and thin it out. I don't think it really took very long, but it felt like it did. Pretty soon I was at a 10 and ready to push! My mom said I pushed for about an hour before LO had his head out far enough that my doula told me to reach down and help pull him out. Harder than it sounds because I had to be on my back for pushing since they needed to keep the monitor going and I have little arms. Plus, he couldn't come all the way up my chest because his cord was really short (took him a couple hours to stop being quite so blue/purple). But it was absolutely wonderful and such a relief when he finally came! I only had one teeny tiny tear that they didn't need to stitch up. I was so thankful to my doula for helping me reach my zen mode between a lot of the contractions because I know I wouldn't have gotten any rest whatsoever if I hadn't.



When one of the delivery nurses said what his time of birth was, I had to verify with my mom what the date was because I was so sure that it should've been later in the afternoon or early evening because of how long I thought it had taken. Didn't help that the nurse who had set me up in my room when I first got admitted told me that I shouldn't expect N until late in the night or the next morning because first-timers rarely have quick labors.

DS2 - Unmedicated, vaginal birth - 7lbs 14oz, 20.5"

SPOILER: Click to show

I woke up at 5:30 this morning thinking W had just kicked me hard in the front of my uterus/cervix. When there was no other movement, I figured I'd get up and pee since I'd need to soon anyway. After peeing, I had an immense amount of pressure in my low back, butt, and the underside of my belly but not pain all over like with N so I wasn't sure if I was just gassy or if it was a contraction. I stood up and waited for it to pass before going back to bed. I got into bed and laid down. Giant mistake. It was instantaneous pain in my pelvis and back. At this point, I figured I was having some back labor. I got out of bed again and when I had another contraction, I made H get out of bed and get in the shower with me so that he could do hip squeezes while I washed my hair. Contractions were getting stronger so I told him we needed to go to the hospital. We both got dressed and contractions are 2-3 minutes apart lasting about a minute. I went to the living room to sit on my yoga ball to help my back but had to get off every time contractions hit. Poor H had to run around feeding animals and making phone calls all while timing my contractions and doing hip squeezes.



While H called our doula to meet at the hospital, I called my parents to come get us. When they finally arrived at 6:30, contractions were about 1-1.5 minutes apart. I sat in the back with my mom...well, half stood, really. I had one leg standing and the other on the backseat all while using N's car seat to support myself while my mom let me hang on her arm. My dad blew every red light and was apparently going about 70 until he finally got to the freeway. He was only doing 80 until I told my mom I was feeling the urge to push so she told him to speed it up! I honestly thought I might have a car baby. At that point, I thought I might as well have just had him at home if I wasn't going to make the hospital. H admitted later that he was frantically trying to figure out how he'd deliver a baby in single digit weather in the back of an SUV.



Anyway, got to the hospital at the same time as another laboring mom (who could walk so I'm guessing wasn't quite as far along as me) which was amusing, especially since I gathered this was her first time as the person with her was reminding her how to breathe. I got to the other side of the car before I had to stop for a contraction again. H ran in and out with a wheelchair and then ran through the hospital to the elevators where I had to get off it again because of a contraction. The elevator was quick thank god and we managed to get off before I had another contraction and then another as soon as we got to triage. The nurse got us into a triage room and told me to pee in a cup. Yeah, right. I tried though, twice, but had to get off during contractions. I was on the floor when he came back in and my mom said contractions were getting less than a minute apart.



He checked me really quick and said we were at 9+ and immediately ran to get a nurse who also came running in and wheeled me to the first empty birthing room she came across because, as the nurse said, “We don’t have babies in triage!” It was a crazy flurry of activity, not that I had much in me to pay attention. H said every single nurse in there was ripping open packages and trying to get gloves and everything on while one struggled to get an IV in (which failed, it popped out when I bent my wrist and she never got it in again) and one tried to pick up W's heart on the monitor. The doctor rushed in, asked why I wasn't laying on the bed (policy says patients must be laying down when the bed moves but I was on my hands and knees propped against the back of the bed) and the nurse said she wasn't about to ask me to move. Loved our nurse. Doctor checked and I heard her say I was already complete. Sweet, sweet words.



I had a total of 3 contractions from entering the room to when my water broke. I told them I was going to push, mostly because I knew there was no way to avoid it at this point, and everyone was rushing to try and catch W who was out after 2 pushes. Based on contractions, I was probably in the room less than 5 minutes before W arrived. The poor nurse who wheeled us in and helped deliver W hadn't even had a chance to clock in until after he was born. It was so surreal to look down at the bed between my legs to see my baby there and have to carefully roll over without kicking him or a nurse in the face.

[sunshiney]

thelittleredm Wow! I hope you don't mind, DH and I just read this together!

[thelittleredm]

Dec 3, 2018 16:11:47 GMT -6 sunshiney said:

thelittleredm Wow! I hope you don't mind, DH and I just read this together!

No worries!

[Foxy]

Thank you for starting this! I love reading birth stories! I'm going to read after I get home from work today.

[Foxy]

@thelittleredn 😯😯😯😯

Those are quite the birth stories! How many weeks were you for both of your births?

[notagoddess]

I love reading birth stories! Here's mine. I delivered at 39w3d. 

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}Friday morning, I had my weekly OB appointment. My OB checked my cervix and it was long and fully closed. I asked if that meant likely going overdue and having an induction. He told me that no, for all I know my water could break in the parking lot, or I could have a bunch of contractions overnight and have the baby the next day. Still, I was discouraged. I had had regular contractions the day before for a few hours and I had been hoping they did something. I ignored similar sensations at work on Friday. On the way home, I gave my mom the update and told her what the OB said. We both laughed at the idea of having the baby overnight.

I was lying on the couch that evening when I had a painful contraction, much stronger than before. A few minutes later, I had another one, and then, another one. I started timing them and they were less than five minutes apart and 30-40 seconds long. After they continued for an hour, I called my doula to let her know what was happening. I quickly showered and got the rest of my hospital bag ready. Then, I labored at home for a while. I tried all the positions I had read about and had my husband rub my back and bring an essential oil diffuser and dim the lights.

Things got intense quickly. From the first few contractions, I had the shakes really bad. This made it difficult to rest in between contractions since I was shaking and chattering uncontrollably. A few hours in, I also started getting very nauseous. I called my doula again and told her to meet us at the hospital.

It was much harder to manage the pain once we got to the hospital. Lying on my back on the exam table was excruciating. They examined me and told me that I was only 1 cm and 80% effaced. They kept me for monitoring in triage for 3 hours because the fetal monitor wasn’t showing enough decels. I threw up from the pain. At the end of 3 hours, they checked me again – I was still at 1 cm. They said I had the choice of going home for several hours or checking into the antenatal unit to get IV pain meds. I decided to go home.

I labored in the tub and in bed, trying to get some rest between contractions. It was difficult since I was shaking and throwing up, but easier than at the hospital. Eventually, I felt it was time. I was running out of energy and having trouble coping with the pain. When they checked me this time, I was 4 cm – enough to get admitted. As I got up from the exam table, my water broke. We celebrated the progress.

I asked to get the epidural ASAP. The pain was overwhelming after my water broke, and I was utterly exhausted after 15 hours of labor and no sleep. The epidural was painless and brought immediate relief. I was still shaking though. I got Pitocin after a few hours of no progress on dilation. That worked quickly and soon I was fully dilated.

Unfortunately, I had spiked a fever that was causing tachycardia in the baby. They wanted to bring it down before I started to push. I waited for an hour for the antibiotics and fever reducer to kick in, marveling that I would soon meet my baby. The OB came back and told me it was time.

I got a second wind when it was time to push. I found it enjoyable compared to the first part of labor. But after a few pushes, they told me that baby wasn’t coping well with the pushing on top of the fever. Her heart rate was dangerously high and she needed to come out in the next push. The OB was going to use forceps to get her out. This was not how I imagined my baby entering the world and I was scared for her safety. I started to cry but got myself together in time for that final push. The epidural numbed me and I did not feel the episiotomy.

I watched her coming out and waited for her to cry. Once she did, I cried too – tears of relief and joy. We were able to do immediate skin-to-skin and my husband cut the cord after a few minutes. Labor and delivery was more difficult than I had hoped for. But the result made the process seem less important, and at the same time, more special. It was what it took to get our baby.

[thelittleredm]

Foxy, With DS1, I was 40+2 and with DS2, I was 39+2.

[thelittleredm]

notagoddess, Oh man! I'm impressed you went home instead of getting some IV pain meds. I would've been a complete mess. I don't handle throwing up well....

[notagoddess]

Dec 4, 2018 12:36:48 GMT -6 thelittleredm said:

notagoddess, Oh man! I'm impressed you went home instead of getting some IV pain meds. I would've been a complete mess. I don't handle throwing up well....

Oh I was a mess! I credit my doula with getting through that night at home. I hope labor is a little shorter this time, but not at car baby levels 😬 I understand why you’re anxious!

[hrh]

Birth stories were super useful for me! I hope I spoiler these correctly. Mine weren't without their issues but went relatively well, considering.

DS1: Induction, IV meds vaginal birth 8 lbs 1 oz

SPOILER: Click to show

I was gestationally diabetic so not allowed to go past 41 weeks. They scraped my membranes at 40 weeks, nothing. I declined all the measurement checks - dilated/effaced means nothing and I knew it would just stress me out. Right decision for me. We were scheduled for induction at 40+5; there was apparently a scheduling error and when we got to triage we were told to come back at 4 p.m. (should have waited until the next morning, it's idiotic to start induction in the evening! Live and learn) We opted for the foley bulb induction and were to return the next morning or earlier if things started. The doctor filled it quite full; it's supposed to fall out when dilated to 3-4 centimeters, but mine was more full and so didn't fall out that early. We went back home after it was inserted and it was quite uncomfortable, my contractions started and gradually got closer to the point we needed to go in based on contraction frequency even though it hadn't fallen out. We went in at 11:30 p.m. and I was at 6 cm.

I labored in the tub, my water broke a little - I had pockets, somehow, so my water broke a few times actually - and we could tell it had meconium in it so that automatically meant the NICU team present for birth. My contractions started coming on top of each other with no break, it would just peak and immediately start again which sucked. I was only at 7 cm and not progressing so I opted for IV meds to see if we could slow them down. It helped so I had 30-60 seconds between which I really needed. A while later DS1's heart rate started dropping. It happened a few times and was clearly becoming a huge issue to manage based on the number of personnel in my room so they started prepping me for a c-section. I was only 80% effaced and not pushing yet, but progressed rapidly after that and started feeling the urge to push. The doctor told me I had 10 minutes to get the baby out and he had the forceps and vacuum ready to help because the baby had to come out ASAP. It took about 4-5 pushes and a second-degree episiotomy but he was out in 11 minutes with no vacuum or forceps needed. The cord was wrapped around his neck and he went straight to the NICU team to be checked over and was fine.

DS2 9 lbs 13 oz 40+4 vaginal birth med free

SPOILER: Click to show

Gestationally diabetic again. DS2 was measuring big but somehow managed to flip breech at 38 weeks. Doctor only gave me four days to try to get him to flip or I'd have to have a c-section. Thankfully he flipped two days later (at night, nothing I did got him to flip so thankfully he did it on his own. I didn't want to do a version with how big he was.)

Doctor wouldn't let me go past 40+4 based on size and potential for shoulder dystocia. Declined measurements again until 40 weeks because it just causes me unnecessary stress. At 40 weeks I was barely 1 cm and 40% effaced. The night before induction I prepped for the morning and my folks came down to watch DS1 (convenience of induction!). I was scheduled to go into triage at 7 a.m. At 3 a.m. I started feeling crampy and it kept me up. I realized after an hour it was contractions and started timing them. DH woke up around 4 and we timed until we called triage at 6 as required to let them know. They told us to come in since I was GBS+ this time and needed 4 hours on antibiotics before delivering, even though my contractions weren't at the 511 rule yet. We went for a short walk, ate breakfast, took some pics and headed in. We were put right in our delivery room and I was 4-5 cm, 70% effaced. They started antibiotics and we hung out; I was advised to rest and not get things moving to allow the antibiotics to finish so we just tried to rest. After 4 hours we met with the doctor again; I hadn't progressed much, so I decided to walk the halls. That helped get things going. I was smart about having popsicles and more water this time. A simple thing but really helped my comfort level, dehydration isn't useful! Contractions started coming on top of each other with no break again like DS1 and I said hell to the no and hopped in the tub to see if that would help. It did (I love the tub!). We decided to break my water to help things proceed so did that around 3:30 p.m. It had meconium in it again, like DS1, so NICU team again. I labored for about an hour and 20 minutes until I was at 10 with a little lip left. I started getting the urge to push so we settled in for that. Pushing was manageable, but the doctor kept her hands in and stretching me in between pushes which hurt like a mother - turns out she was trying to turn him, he was posterior, and one of his shoulders was stuck behind my hip. Thankfully the nurse was able to help me reposition my hips and I felt him pop downward past my hip. The next push or two his head popped out; I was just going with the pushes, but the doctor told me in between pushes I needed to keep pushing even without it. There was some cause for concern so I kept pushing and he was out shortly thereafter, about 9 minutes of pushing total. He had the cord double wrapped around his neck (had to one-up his brother I guess) so that was the concern. I had a second degree tear, along the line of my old episiotomy. His face and nose were so bruised and squished from being posterior, poor thing! One nurse commented "Congratulations, you just gave birth to a toddler" due to his size... so helpful. NICU team took him and had to suction meconium out; we had some issues with him throwing it up that night, too, so I'm more worried about that this last pregnancy.

The next part sucked. Although my placenta looked to have delivered whole, it hadn't. I was losing too much blood over the course of the next three hours. They gave me the max dosage of pitocin to try to get my uterus to contract it out but it didn't work. They tried a few other drugs to get it to stop, none of which worked. They did an ultrasound and determined they needed to do a manual extraction. They gave me a pain med that was worthless, put on the calf-birthing glove (for lack of better term) and went in. It was excruciating. They checked after the first one and then did it again. A few hours later the bleeding still wasn't in check enough so the on call doctor did another ultrasound and determined there were still some clots that needed to be removed so they did it again. I was completely spent pain-wise at this point and am more terrified of going through that again than labor. Will seriously consider opting for a D&C if I have the issue again! Making every effort to avoid that possibility this time as it really wasn't a bad experience until the hemorrhaging issue. Also hoping for a baby who doesn't wrap the cord around her neck this time...!

[thelittleredm]

hrh, I get your anxiety about how things will go this time around! It's like your kids are trying to one-up each other from the get-go.

[hrh]

thelittleredm, seriously. Perhaps my expectations are too high, but if she could avoid wrapping the cord three times around her neck to beat her brothers, that'd be great.

Have you figured out your plan on avoiding a potential vehicular delivery? Did they give you any tips yet? I know there's something to be said for fast labor but yikes!

[thelittleredm]

hrh, Lol No, no one has given me any tips about it. H says we might as well just plan for a home birth but if we make it to the hospital, great. I imagine we'll make sure the trunk is packed with a "birth in the car" kit just in case, though. Of course, if she comes in the middle of the day at work? Well....I have no idea. At least the dealership is right next to the freeway and less than 10 min from the hospital if it isn't jammed up with traffic. I will say, it was awesome to come out of labor and not be exhausted. In fact, I felt completely fine, like I hadn't just dealt with having a baby minus the sore bits. I didn't crash until about 3 hours later after I ate an early lunch.

[CharlieB]

DS's birth story:

SPOILER: Click to show

My labor story begins in the most glamorous way…with the loss of my MP over the weekend. In addition to almost frantic nesting (my apartment had never before been so tidy), I started having some pressure and cramping that seemed promising. I was only 37 weeks, though, so I didn’t want to get my hopes up too much. I’d read approximately 953 birth stories by that point, and it seemed pretty common for women to experience cramping/contractions for days or weeks until delivery.

On Tuesday, I started having actual contractions while bouncing on my yoga ball and eating lunch. They were noticeably different from the pressure and cramping that I’d had off and on since the weekend. I started timing them with the Full Term app (highly recommend that app), and they were definitely getting longer, more intense, and closer together. I was working from home at the time, so I just kept working until finally telling MH around 5:00 that he should probably leave work early (I didn’t realize at the time that I was in a bit of denial that labor was ACTUALLY HAPPENING).

We left when the contractions got to 5-1-1, and we arrived at the hospital around 6:30. I was getting to the point where I had to stop and breathe through each contraction. Triage checked me in at 4cm and admitted me to L&D about an hour or so later. My OB was on call that night (hooray!), and offered to order the epidural. I had planned to attempt it without, but I was in enough pain at that point that I agreed. The turnaround for that order wasn’t exactly quick…the anesthesiologist didn’t show up until around 10, and I was really in some pain by then and getting the shakes. The epidural was placed (much less scary than I’d built up in my head), and my OB popped back in to break my water a few minutes later. Unfortunately, the epidural hadn’t completely kicked in at that point, and breaking my water caused the contractions to become almost unrelenting and way more intense. I was not prepared for that, but I received another dose of meds in the epidural and had pain relief for the rest of the evening.

After restlessly napping for a few hours, the nurse checked me and said, “Oh! And there’s baby’s head. Looks like it’s time for you to push.” Cue so much omgwe’rehavingababyrightnowwtf anxiety. After three pushes, our little nugget was born weighing 5 lbs 10 oz and measuring 18 inches. He arrived at 2:07 am – just barely 38 weeks exactly. Overall, it was a good birth experience, and I'm hoping that his little brother's arrival is similar.

[thelittleredm]

CharlieB, As weird as this is going to sound, your story sounds so relaxing. I keep reading all these stories with the use of an epi and man, sometimes I wonder what that would be like. I hope this is another quick labor but if not, the epideral is on my to-get list....just don't tell my H. He's pretty convinced I'd regret getting one because I'm too "awesome" to need one *cue eyeroll*.

[tngrl3]

Finally got to a real computer to write mine out.

33w6d IUGR baby via C-section. It's long as it includes some back story info.

SPOILER: Click to show

I measure small my whole pregnancy but no one was really worked up about it because I was a FTM and on a medication that could cause small for gestational age babies. At my 32 week visit the OB felt like I was really falling way behind and did a growth scan that day. He was measuring in the 4th% for growth at that time so they wanted me to go immediately to high risk for further eval. They were able to get me in that day at the big university group so I called SO and he came met me to drive about 2 hours for the appointment. My cord flow was absent at times and my placenta was not looking good. I was told no more work and that I would likely deliver in the next couple of weeks. Needless to say I was freaked out. I was supposed to go to Nashville that weekend to see my 3 very best friends for a girls weekend. I decided I still was going to go because it would stress me out more to miss it than to go. So I went. And we spent the weekend hanging out, shopping for preemie clothes, and eating good food.
I saw high risk again a week later and the cord looked worse and he wasn't growing. I was directly admitted to the hospital to get steroid shots for lung development and plan for a c-section 48 hours after the first shot was in. I went home grabbed a few things and headed to the hospital. My favorite OB was on thanfully and we came up with a plan that I was onboard with. I spent 2 kind of miserable but uneventful days in the hospital. The plan was to do a c-section Friday afternoon so thursday evening I sent SO home to sleep, we lived 3 miles from the hospital, and I was going to take something to sleep because I hadn't rested much. So they gave me Ambien. I woke up a couple of hours later with a million people in my room because DS was having decels and they decided he needed to come out then. I was so out of it from the meds but somehow managed to call SO and tell him he needed to get back to the hospital right then. I also managed to call my oldest sister and tell her the same thing. The details are very fuzzy to me and I don't remember a ton of what happened during this time. I do rememeber being in the OR and SO video taped a lot of it. DS was born at 220AM weighing 3lbs8oz and 16.5inches. He came out crying and only needed a little oxygen. He went straight to the NICU though and I was taken back to my room. I was so anxious to see him but couldn't while they stabilized him and because my spinal was still in effect. At this point I was wide awake and most of my family was at the hospital. I remember it being about 430 and my nurse offered to get me a pump so I could start pumping for him. Looking back I think she did it to keep me busy. I was sitting in my bed trying to get my feet and legs to move so I could go see my baby and I was not doing well with waiting! He spent 2 weeks in the NICU and was basically a feeder and grower. He came home right when he hit 4 lbs.

I'll do my other one in a separate post here in a bit. Got to get dinner started!

[thelittleredm]

tngrl3, I'd be such a mess if that had happened to me. I honestly can't imagine the stress of having any of my kiddos in the NICU and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this one doesn't end up there, either! Not that there are any signs she will but you just never know.

[tngrl3]

Dec 7, 2018 15:40:41 GMT -6 thelittleredm said:

tngrl3, I'd be such a mess if that had happened to me. I honestly can't imagine the stress of having any of my kiddos in the NICU and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this one doesn't end up there, either! Not that there are any signs she will but you just never know.

It took me a long time after to really process it all. I think it helped some that I work in healthcare and I was at the hospital where I worked at the time. I knew some of the staff too and knew our NICU had an amazing reputation. It was still a lot to deal with though.

[tngrl3]

Birth #2
Elevated BP, C-section at 36w

SPOILER: Click to show

Friday I had a regular 36w OB appointment, everything looked good, BP was 120/70. I worked a 12 hour shift in the ER Saturday and felt fine. Nothing really out of the ordinary. Sunday my best friend had a small shower for me. We just hung out, ate, and made hair bows and headbands for baby girl. That evening I got a headache and just felt off. I figured I was tired. I layed down for a bit, but couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. I finally had SO check my BP with our manual cuff at home (he's a paramedic/RN/FNP) and it was 220/110. I refused to believe that was right so we waited a bit and retook it. No change. I called the OB on call knowing they would likely tell me to come in to L&D to get checked. Sure enough they did so we called my parents to come stay with DS and I threw a quick bag together. At triage my pressure was the same and the poor relatively new nurse was a little freaked out and surprised I was so calm. They move me back to a room to attempt to treat it with medication. After several drugs and an hour or so, there wasn't any change. The OB decided that it would be best to go ahead and deliver that night rather than wait and see what might happen. They started me on a mag bolus and drip which was awful. It made me so sick and I puked like crazy, including while I was on the table in the OR. DD1 was born at 202am via c-section. 4lbs8oz, 18inches. She spent a little time in the nursery after I got to see her in the OR due to blood sugar issues, but she soon joined us in our room and she started nursing right away like a champ. She had to stay in the hospital a few extra days due to her blood sugars and weight drop but I was able to stay with her in the room everyday and night.

[blondeostrich]

I have no idea how to spoiler, so if I've screwed it up below somehow, sorry... Also, I've never written either of these out before. DS is only 3.5 and I feel like I've already forgotten so much!

And last disclaimer, if you don't want C-section stories you might want to skip this.

DS1 - Born via C-section at 38 weeks 6 days, 8 lbs 4 oz

SPOILER: Click to show

On Wednesday night, I showered and got ready for bed, and got in bed a little after 10. I had been feeling a little crampy but figured I was just tired. A few minutes after I went to bed, I started feeling what I thought might be contractions. They were, almost immediately, about 5 minutes apart. I went back to the living room where DH was watching tv, and said I might be in labor. We waited a little while, and they were getting more painful and not slowing down, so we decided to head to the hospital. I was moving really slow, and DH was trying to gather up all of our stuff to load in the car. I had (sort of) packed a bag, but was still trying to gather a few things. I had to stop at least one time to throw up -- my body apparently doesn't really like being in labor. Those of you who get sick during pregnancy will hate me for this, but this was the first time I had thrown up while pregnant, so I knew it was serious! We got to the hospital around 11:30(ish), and they got me a wheelchair to take me to L&D -- after-hours check in is at the emergency entrance at my hospital and it is quite a ways from the maternity ward. After a little more paperwork, they put us in a room and I changed into a gown. The nurse was just chatting, entering all the necessary stuff into the computer, etc.; I apparently didn't look or act like I was really in labor, because there was no sense of urgency whatsoever. When she finally checked me, I was dilated to about a 9.5, and she sort of had this look of panic on her face. Delivery is on another floor, so they got me moved to a new room at warp speed. She told me she wasn't sure I would have time for the epidural, but they would try if I wanted it. There were tons of people in the new room, and the anesthesiologist was there pretty quickly to give me my epidural. At first it only worked on one side, so I had to lay on my side to see if it would spread. Eventually it did, and then I was so, so numb, I felt like I couldn't really tell what was going on. Also, I'm pretty sure the epi made me sick (even though they promised it would not) and there was more throwing up. I never did feel the urge to push, but around 2 am I started doing some "practice pushes" since I was fully dilated and effaced. My water broke while I was pushing. I ended up pushing for around 2 hours, and toward the end of that time when the doctor was there and not just the nurse, it became clear that DS was not moving down like he should. He also started having heart decels around that time. My dr said I could continue pushing for a while if I wanted, but that we were probably headed for a C-section for DS's safety. She also said my sacrum is curved in such a way that it was probably preventing him from moving into the birth canal. I was so tired, and didn't see any reason to keep pushing if I wasn't going to be able to deliver vaginally anyway, so we opted to go ahead with the C-section. Didn't feel like an emergency C-section at the time, but it was definitely unplanned. They gave me another boost of the epi, and I threw up again on the way to the OR (with basically no warning...I'm really a peach to take care of). They got everything prepped and DH came in, and DS was born around 4:30 a.m. The actual surgery was uneventful. DS clearly hadn't descended at all, I could feel them pushing him down from my rib cage while trying to get him out. Very strange feeling! While they were stitching me up, I started shaking/shivering uncontrollably, which the anesthesiologist said was very normal, but it was a horrible feeling. They gave me DS to hold as we were being wheeled back to our room, and I was afraid to take him because I didn't want to drop him, but we made it. I then spent about two days throwing up, those days are sort of a blur. DH was wonderful and did everything with DS, just bringing him to me to nurse, and I slept a lot. We were in the hospital 4 days total, I think.

DD - - Born via C-section at 38 weeks 4 days, 8 lbs 3 oz

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I planned to have a repeat C-section with DD; if my body wasn't going to cooperate anyway, I didn't see any reason to be exhausted from laboring before having another C-section. Also, my dr doesn't do VBACs, and since I really like her, I didn't want to change practices. We had scheduled my C-section for Good Friday. At each of my weekly appointments leading up to delivery day, my blood pressure was creeping up a little and I had some protein in my urine (no idea how much), so my dr was suspecting preeclampsia. The week before she was born, I was feeling horrible, and expected my blood pressure to be high at my appointment, but it was fine, just a little bit high. I had one last appointment on Tuesday of the week of my scheduled Friday C-section, and was feeling pretty good. Of course, I get to the dr and my blood pressure was 170/104. When my doctor came in, she said if it hadn't gone down when they tested again, I wasn't going to be waiting until Friday to have that baby. I (foolishly) asked if she meant, like, Thursday, or....? When my BP hadn't gone down at all (may have gone up a little?) she told me I wasn't going home and we were having the baby that night. Before I left her office, I called DH, who was still at work, and told him to cancel his dinner meeting with a client because we were having a baby like, right now, and to come to the hospital please. I'm pretty sure I was sobbing both during and after that call. My nurse was very sweet and just hugged me when she came back in. On my walk over to L&D, I called my mom and asked if she could keep DS over night, and for the next several days, because I wasn't coming home that night as planned! I got checked in and ready in L&D, then we waited for DH to arrive. Met with the anesthesiologist and told him about the never-ending nausea/puking I had with DS, and he said it shouldn't be a problem because the spinal works differently than the epi, but he agreed to give me a cocktail of anti-nausea meds just in case. That guy was basically my favorite, because except for one close call, I never did throw up with DD. Much more pleasant that way! Again, uneventful surgery, and DH and I joked that it worked out better this way because it meant we didn't have to get to the hospital before dawn a few days later. I was on magnesium for several days because my blood pressure would. not. go. down. I think we were in the hospital 5 days, and I was sent home on blood pressure meds, and with strict instructions to take my blood pressure 4/5 times a day and to return to the ER if it ever got above a certain level. It leveled out pretty quickly, and I was able to stop taking the meds within about 6 weeks.

[wildflowers]

DD1- CS

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We TTC for 2 years before DD1. During that time I had 2 losses.

My pregnancy with DD1 was difficult. I studied for and took the bar exam incredibly sick in the first trimester. The sickness never went way. I was very excited to have an unmedicated birth and spent a lot of time learning everything I could about birth. I learned she was breech fairly early on, but was repeatedly reassured she would turn. At about 35 weeks it was clear she wasn't going to turn. I carried very compactly and was advised against an external version. The CS was scheduled for 39 weeks. While I was really upset about it, it seemed for the best. My doctor assured me I could do a VBAC with a future child.

The evening of 38w5d I was having notably more contractions. I went to bed, but was never able to fall asleep. At about 11 I woke DH up and told him I was in labor. I took a shower while he got some things together and we waited to make sure things were not going to slow down. By the time we made it to after hours admitting, at 12, I was in full on labor. Check in took forever. I didn't see a labor and delivery nurse for what seemed like hours. Once she confirmed I was in labor (which was really not in question!) They slowly began to get a CS team in place, but there was much debate about babies position. The nurse was sure she felt a head. (She didn't! It was a butt!)

Getting prepped for the CS while DH had to stay out of the room and I was in full on labor was miserable. I was so nervous and scared and having intense contraction. Everything seemed to take so long. My water broke and I began to feel like I needed to get serious about pushing before I was fully prepped. When they finally got the anaesthetic in place. I got really cold and was shaking uncontrollably. I never vomited, but the nausea was awful. DD1 was born at 5:04. The procedure went as expected and DH cut the cord. She was healthy and strong at 6lbs 8oz.

I continued to be very shaky, but was alert. H, DD1, and I had about 3 wonderful calm hours before we called family and let them know she was here.

The recovery was difficult for me. The meds made me vomit, and I was very loopy and out of it for a few days. I remember parts of being in the hospital, but I was really out of it. I wasn't able to sleep much. Things got dramatically better once we finally got home.

DD2- VBAC

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Between the girls we moved to a very remote area. When I got my BFP with DD2 my healthcare situation looked very different. Even though my family practice provider was very supportive of a VBAC, our local hospital would not allow it. They require an emergency team onsite which my rural area cannot guarantee. Therefore their insurance prohibits all VBACs. They asked me to sign a consent to a CS very early in the pregnancy. My doctor began working on alternatives, and found another rural practitioner 2.5 hours away in another state that allows them. (There is nothing different about the hospital, just a different policy.)

The other doctor agreed to see me once a trimester, and every two weeks from 36 weeks on and do the VBAC.

The other doctor is a ways away and the road is very remote and in a huge canyon. It was February and there was snow and ice. At 37 weeks I began having regular contractions. H went to work to quickly prep for being out. While he was gone, it all just stopped! Then nothing happened for two weeks. I was miserable and couldn't eat. But wasn't laboring at all.

At our 39 week appointment my doctor told me it could be anytime. I was feeling awful, so we decided to stay the night in a hotel rather than making the drive back home. I couldn't eat at all, and started having irregular contractions. As soon as I laid down for the night things quickly picked up. We checked in the hospital at 11.

The nursing staff was all really kind and helpful. For the most part they just let me be. Because it was a VBAC I was required to have a hep-lock in place in both arms, and continuous fetal monitoring. However, the monitor was wireless so I could move about. I was even free to use the tub. Most of the time it was just me and H. I think a doula or support person familiar with unmedicated birth would have been helpful because I didn't really know what to do.

I began to get really tired and a nurse suggested we break the waters. After that things really picked up. Transition was very difficult and I really wanted to give up. But as soon as it was time to push in was ready. I pushed for about 20 minutes and she was born at 5:10. She was 6 lbs, 10 oz.

My recovery was so smooth. It was incredible to be up and walking right away. I was sore and I did have some stitches, but it was all very manageable. We stayed one night and went home by noon the next day.

[thelittleredm]

blondeostrich, I hope 3rd time is the charm and you won't have any extra issues to deal with postpartum this time around!

wildflowers, H would have been a nervous wreck if we lived in a rural area which blows my mind because that's exactly where we both want to move to.

[TashaLa]

DD- 38+2 un(pain)medicated vaginal birth, pitocin induced 6lbs 14oz

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My water broke at 5 in the morning when I got up for the gym. No active contractions. I actually had an appointment scheduled that morning and they told me to come in unless things progressed quickly.
I went in for the appt around 9, it was confirmed to be amniotic fluid, but I was only dilated 3 cm. My midwife told us to go home, shower, take our dog for a walk, go out to lunch, then head to the hospital for early afternoon. At this point still no active contractions.
We checked in to the hospital around 2. Still nothing happening. My midwife gave me until 5 to start progressing on my own before starting pitocin.
After induction, still nothing noteworthy until almost 9 pm... then it was game time. Contractions started and they kept on coming. The pitocin was turned off once my contractions were on top of one another. I labored on the ball, on hands and knees and spent most of my time in the shower. When I felt like I couldn’t take it any longer, I begged to be checked and I was fully effaced, dilated and with a full head of hair rapidly coming. 3 pushes and out popped a beautiful baby girl. I had a small tear that took just a few stitches.
Over the next 2 days my BP elevated and labs were run showing I had postpartum preeclampsia. I had to stay for a 24 hr magnesium IV and then an extra 2 days for monitoring. I was so frustrated at the time but in hindsight so grateful it was found and treated before I went home.

[cch]

DD’s birth story. Induced 39+2

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MH and I checked into the hospital at 7am on Friday (39+2) for a scheduled induction because at the time we lived 2 hours from the hospital. My first cervical check was around 10am and I was 4cm dilated/ 80% effaced. They started pitocin and I got the epidural a few minutes later. They did another cervical check half an hour later and I was 4-5cm so the nurse went ahead and did my catheter. Next cervical check was 2 hours later. I was 7-8cm and DD was 0 station. They turned the pit drip off around noon because my doctor said my body could finish on its own. Next check was at 2pm and I was 8cm and +1 station. At this time the doctor came in and broke my water. An hour later I had another cervical check and I was 9cm. I was feeling pretty good at this point. We figured we’d have a baby within the next hour or two since everything seemed to be progressing quickly. Around 4-4:30pm I asked the nurse if she could check me but she said I would know when it's time and didn’t do the check. Roughly half an hour later the pain started coming back so the anesthesiologist gave me something extra in my epi drip.. even though the pain went away almost instantly, I now wish I wouldn’t have mentioned the pain/pressure because after he gave me the additional pain meds I couldn't move my legs at all and was barely able to wiggle my toes. Around 5:30 I got the shakes. My teeth started chattering and my whole body started shaking. Within 15 minutes the shaking got much worse. It was uncontrollable and I was now violently shaking and decided to call the nurse. She checked me and I was 10cm. I’m guessing I had been 10cm for a while because my body was definitely ready to push but since I wasn't checked after my 9cm check 3 hours prior and couldn’t feel anything we didn’t know it was time. The nurse stuck her head out the door and called for the doctor and said the baby was coming. A few nurses came in to set everything up and get me in position to push. Our main nurse stuck her head out the door again calling for the doctor and as soon as he came in it was time for me to push. After about 20-25 minutes of pushing her heart rate dropped during a push so the doctor did an episiotomy (still upset about this now because it took me 17(!!) weeks to heal and in hindsight I have a feeling he cut me out of convenience since it was dinner time and he just delivered 3 other babies). She was out with the next push. Her APGAR scores were 8 and 9. She weighed 6lbs 15oz and was 19in long. We ended up staying in the hospital 5 nights because she was Coombs positive (I'm O- and she’s A+) which caused her jaundice to be a little more severe. 6 hours after birth she was taken to the level 2 nursery to be treated with phototherapy. I was by her side in the nursery chair almost 24/7 which was exhausting but it was so hard to leave her even when I knew I needed to get some rest. On day 3 she got to come back to our room with a bili-blanket but her levels rose so she went back to the nursery the next day. Once they dropped enough we got to go home but continued to have her bilirubin levels checked daily. Her levels continued to go up for a couple days but finally started going down 4 days after we got home. The long hospital stay was certainly stressful for me and I really hope we can avoid that this go around. I’ve been told subsequent pregnancies are worse if our blood is incompatible so if this LO gets MHs blood and is Coombs positive too we’ll likely be staying for a few nights again.

[Foxy]

Thank you guys for sharing your birth stories. I always feel more prepared mentally after I read each one. 💕

[k]

DS1 Induction

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Hopefully I can remember! 😬 I was induced on his due date bc my blood pressure was creeping up. We got to the hospital around 7 and they put an IV in and started me on pit. I was already 3-4 cm, but the pit didn’t do much initially-contractions were totally manageable until noon when my OB broke my water. Pit contractions were a world of difference after my water broke. The next 5 or so hours are a blur. I ate one of those shot bloks for energy-bad idea. I threw it all up into the puke bucket. MH took it to the bathroom to rinse out. He didn’t realize the sink’s water pressure was really strong and it sprayed the puke all over him 😬😂.

the contractions were right on top of each other and it felt like my uterus was going to burst. Apparently this is actually a thing from the pit being up too high, and I wish I would have asked them to turn it off or down bc i think I was in transition when I asked for the epidural. As soon as they placed the epidural-it was bliss-I was ready to push. I think I pushed for a half an hour and DS1 arrived at 6:50 PM, 8.2 lbs. I had lots of stitches and recovery was not fun.

[thelittleredm]

Foxy, You're welcome! I felt that way when I was preggo with DS1 so I'm all about sharing birth stories, good and bad!
k, The visual of your H cleaning out the puke bucket is cracking me up!

[k]

DS2 Induction

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I was induced with DS2 2 days after my due date. My blood pressure was creeping up a bit again. This time we decided just to break my water and forgo the pit. They broke it around 7-8? Contractions were way more manageable without pit and breaking my water was all I needed to start to start labor. I started to get really anxious about pushing without an epidural, so I asked for one but I wish that I hadn’t. The pain wasn’t unbearable and I didn’t tear at all the second time. I wish that I had used the shower or tub, but I was stuck in the fetal position ha. DS2 was 9.1 lbs, born at 4:16-so much faster than with DS1 and without pit. My recovery was so much easier with DS2 even though he was a pound bigger than DS1. They had to check his sugars for 12 or 24 hours (I can’t remember) bc of his size, but they were all perfect. I’m really really hoping I can go into labor spontaneously this time, but I also don’t won’t to go too much past my due date. 🤞🤞🤞I’m also hoping to labor at home a bit bc I think I’ll be a lot less anxious and more successful at a natural birth without an induction!

[k]

Dec 18, 2018 12:23:33 GMT -6 thelittleredm said:

Foxy, You're welcome! I felt that way when I was preggo with DS1 so I'm all about sharing birth stories, good and bad!
k, The visual of your H cleaning out the puke bucket is cracking me up!

it was definitely some comedic relief! 😂