Birth Stories Thread

January · 16-10-2011 6:52pm #1

** Figured since we haven't got a thread for birth stories that we'd start one up! I'll start by sharing the birth of my third daughter, Ellen, born 04/10/11.**

I didn't tell anyone I was pregnant, simply because I was terrified of it myself and of people's reactions. I'd have 3 kids under 3 at age 24 and thought people would think I was going way too fast and was doing myself no favours. People did start asking towards the end of the pregnancy if I was pregnant, but I fobbed them off because I had lied to them already I couldn't tell them the truth... (looking back now I was silly to do this)

My waters broke at 6am on the 3/10/11 and my partner woke up to go to work, I told him he wouldn't be heading in as my waters were broken and he rang his mother to tell her, to say she was shocked was an understatement. I got my two older daughters dressed and ready and brought them around to my parents for 11am, my dad answered the door and I said "You're going to have to mind the girls for a little while, my waters broke this morning" he looked at me oddly and then gave me a hug and told me that he'd guessed but didn't want to say anything and that I shouldn't have kept it to myself all this time. My mam and dad minded the girls while my partner brought me to hospital where they admitted me (previous c section) for observation even though I wasn't contracting. They put me in the annex (for anyone who knows the Rotunda it's the pre labour ward there where they do inductions etc) as there were no beds in pre-natal. A lady gave birth in the bed beside me in the annex, her waters were broken by the midwife and five minutes later baby put in an appearance! Was pretty crazy listening to that one up close and personal!

My partner was sent home at 10pm and just after he left I started contracting, no sign of midwife on the pre labour ward so just walked up and down the ward going to the toilet each time I contracted so as not to wake the other women on the ward. At about 2.30am the pains were very close together and I felt I needed pain relief so off I went in search of midwife, couldn't find the one who was looking after pre labour so just asked one passing by and she told me she'd check me out and see what they could give me, told her I couldn't wait and she said I could have gas and air in the mean time, so off she went to get the tube for the gas and air. I went back to my bed and started to feel really nauseous and shakey, got sick a couple of times while waiting for her to come back. When she came back told her I didn't think I could have the gas and air as I had gotten sick and still felt a little nauseous. She agreed and checked me out and I was three centimetres. Rang my partner and told him to get back in.

Brought me down to the delivery suite and got me set up for the epidural, I was getting no break at all in between contractions at this point and as I was lying down to get the epidural I got the urge to push, midwife checked me again and I was 10cms and ready to push. My partner walked through the door just as I started pushing and 10 minutes later our beautiful daughter was born weighing 6lbs 15oz. Midwives delivered the placenta and I then breastfed her and went to have a shower (oh how great that was to be able to do just after giving birth!), they brought tea and toast and I walked up to the ward.

Unfortunately, they had to put me on the gynaecology ward because there were no beds available in ante natal wards and there was a woman who had just had a miscarriage in the bed beside me, I felt awful, there I was with my new little baby and she'd just lost hers. Made me anxious not to have my daughter make too much noise in case it upset the woman. They moved me later that night to the other gynaecology ward where there was another baby and no other women so that was a bit better.

We came home the next day and Ellen has settled in well and her two big sisters love her and have welcomed her without too much fuss even though they hated me being in hospital.

wmpdd3 · 16-10-2011 7:12pm

Brilliant idea, I kept searching for stories when I was pregnant last time but only found Hall-mark card American ones!

This is mine from Sept 2010:

Last Friday, at 35w 4d, my waters broke, in the car!

I rang the hospital at 9.30pm and they told me to call out to be checked. When the doc saw me, she confirmed everything was gone. She also confirmed I wouldn't be going back home and told me to bring in my hospital bag. I was sent to the ward and told if nothing happened in 18 hrs, I'd be started.

My idea of the hell, 'the drip'.

So I settled in on the ward and OH was sent home. At 12:30am I woke with a contraction, not bad, just a period pain but all in my back, not in my stomach. I got out my pen and wrote down the time thinking they were just branston hicks. After an hour, they were comming very 7 mins.

I called the nurse and told her, she gave me a heat pack and paracetamol. Lasted another hour and a half before I had to call her again, this time she gave me the tens machine and confirmed I was 2cm. I lasted another 40mins. This time I was 4 cm, she told me I was going to the delivery suite. and to call OH and get him in.

By now my back was killing me. After 20 mins in the delivery site, I wanted and got the epidural. I didn't plan on it because I wanted to be able to move around and get comfortable, but I couldn't find any position they helped the pain.

I had the epidural topped up 2 hrs later, though I could still feel the contraction the whole time and used gas an air as well. The contractions with the epidural is how I imagined them to be, they were waves of pain but manageable with the gas.

By 10:00 am, the midwife said it was time to push, I didn't get any urge, maybe this was the epi? This was the hardest part. The midwife was looking at the monitor and telling me when the contractions were and when to push, but our timing was off. She wanted a deep breath then a long push, then repeat 3 times. By the 3rd time each time the pushes were ineffective and I was exhausted. With the contractions every 2 mins,I didn't have time to re-gain strength.

By 11:45, I was beaten, bearly managing the 1st long push and the midwife looked worried. SHe pulled over a table and laid out forceps and a scissor for an episotosmy . That worked....at 12:09 my daughter was born.
6 Ibs 7 oz.

It really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and 12 hours start to finish wasn't bad. I was expecting double that. It was weird going into labour in hospital, I always presumed I would be at home for most of it.

Breastfeeding is another story, but for now I have to get organised as she's due to wake up!

Ayla · 16-10-2011 7:34pm

My first daughter, Lauren, born 24 Nov 2006, 7 days over EED.

My first contraction was at 4am exactly, which I found funny since I'd been getting up for a 4am pee for the last month! Got up, had some cereal (figured it'd be a long day & I might as well have strength) & watched tv while timing the contractions. They were 10mins apart from the beginning, but very mild.

By around 6:30 I woke hubby up & we went for a walk/hike down a local nature trail. I'd tell him when I felt something, but it was all very casual. Came back home around 9am & called the hosp, who told us to come right in. My hubby's reaction..."ah shucks, thought I'd at least have a cuppa tea"

So we drove in but couldn't find parking so parked about 1/4mile down the road & walked in. They hooked me up to the monitor & we sat...and waited. Hubby was supposed to push some button everytime there was a contraction/movement, but of course it all stopped then. :rolleyes:

Long story short, they let us go down for lunch, after which we sat in the lobby & I laid out & took a light nap on hubby's knee. Felt a pop & saw some blood so we went back up to the ward. Still nothing, so by about 4pm they put me in the maternity ward to wait it out. Hubby went off for dinner & rest & I sat and did one of those "find 10 differences b/w the pictures" puzzles. By the time I'd found the 8th I was having some good contractions & feeling pops but waters hadn't broken. The ward knew I wanted natural all the way (if possible) so they suggested a bath, which I happily did. Thing was that the bath was at the end of the L-shaped maternity ward, and the labour suites were on the other end of the ward. Hubby filled bath, which I was in for about 10 seconds before I was sitting on one cheek & whoooping that I wanted to push! Hubby pulled the emergency cord, the midwives came, put me in a wheelchair & threw a cloth over me & ran me through the ward to the labour suites. Of course, it was evening & full visiting hours by this point, so I still remember seeing *a lot* of feet as we ran through the ward

Anyway, by the time I was in the labour suite I was 10cm & ready to push. I didn't take any gas/air or anything, so I'd say I was a bit noisier than they'd normally have. But all was well & Lauren was born at 9:45pm at 8lbs 8oz. She latched on instantly & we stayed in the room until prob after midnight. I got shower (bliss!) and loads of b/feeding time & later walked out back to the maternity ward (in the room right next to the bathroom where I'd had my "bath")

Never did find that 10th difference in the picture though!

Ayla · 16-10-2011 8:15pm

Compare that story against that of my second & last child, Emily, born 23 Sept 2009 +3/13 days over EDD.

From the beginning there was a lot of indecision with my EDD as the scan showed 10 days later than my LMP. But my (public) consultant was happy enough to let things progress as they would & would only advise inductions/ interventions if necessary. Problem then, was she went on hols right when I was due & I wound up under a different consultant with very different ideas. :rolleyes:

I was determined to avoid induction if at all possible, so on the last day that I had before returning to the midwife clinic (and likely induction) I took some castor oil. Now I know this is very controversial, but this is what I chose to do and I don't apologize for or regret it. According to the instructions I'd read, I should take 1 tbsp early in the morn, then another an hour later if there's no progress. So that's what I did. One tbsp at 8am, but by 10:30am there was still nothing, so I took another.

I was sorely disappointed, went for a nap, made some dinner & sent my hubby off to work at 3pm. Lauren - who was almost 3 by this time - and I went down for our daily nap at 3:30. It was about 5 mins later that I felt wierd. Not contractions, not regular anything. But it was some sort of feeling. So I got up, did dishes & tidied. The feelings were in waves, not contractions so I wasn't even sure it was labour. Castor oil is a laxative, so I wasn't sure what type of feelings I was having :eek:

By about 4:15 I sent my hubby a msg & told him that maybe it'd be today afterall but that there's no panic yet. By 4:30 I phoned him & told him to get home now! He only works a few minutes away but by the time he was home the contractions (still waves & irregular) were pretty intense. But it was only when we went to wake Lauren from her nap around 5pm that I was sure that I was in labour & that's b/c my waters broke.

We were loading up in the car around 5:15 when I suddenly couldn't sit down. My body literally would not sit in the car, so hubby called the ambulance. His brother collected Lauren & the ambulance arrived within minutes. We flew up the road & the EMTs phoned the hosp & arranged for a midwife to drive toward us in case of a "side of the road" delivery. We live about 45 mins from the hosp & the contractions were strong but manageable. I had worked hard pre-labour to work on natural labouring techniques so was feeling good & confident through the drive in.

We arrived at hosp at 6:30 & only made it as far as the initial exam room. I was 10 cm & ready to push. It took one push to "remind" myself of how it felt, then Emily was fully born 2 pushes later. It was terrifying, truly, happening so fast, did not feel right at all. And I laughed minutes later thinking that if anyone was walking by hearing me they'd never have a kid of their own...Hollywood screams galore! But, all was well w/ Emily; she was born at 6:45pm at 8lbs 15ozs.

I'd say she was quite shocked afterwards as well, and in hindsight I'd have taken her to a chiropractor/osteopath immediately. But I wouldn't have foregone the castor oil...maybe just would've sat in the hosp car park all day to avoid the rush to hosp. It worked in this case and helped me avoid something I really didn't want to undergo unless there was no other option.

sweetnjuicy · 16-10-2011 8:26pm

well lil Thomás Paul was born at 9.33am on Thurs the 13/10/11. Weighing in at 7pl 14oz!!! Had sweep done on tues as I was pretty sure things were starting to move by themselves, well was hoping anyway

Had a show within an hour and was crampy and achy all day tues. Slept for 14 hrs straight tues night!!!! Got up at 12 weds and by 2 pm was pacing around my nans backyard with tons of pressure up my bum and in my back lol

Had a few contractions that i was aware of. Collected OH from work at 8 and decided it was time to go get checked as i was really uncomfy and had a few more shows throughout the day. Was 2cm at 9pm, walked around cumh till 1am when i decided to have a bath, which was great for all of 15 mins till my waters went, now that was a shock to the system. was 3-4cm so straight to labour ward. Had no pain relief till then and i begged and cried for epidural as had to stay in bed on trace as merc in waters. Oh well twas the best thing ever tbh!! Mister was facing up so i had little or no pain in my stomach at all and wasnt even noticing the tightening over the back pain, so getting the epi was a bit traumatising cuz i couldnt sit down. But i did it. Got oxytocin drip in at 3.30am or so as i wasnt moving fast enough for everyones liking, was at 8cm by 6 and 10 by 7am. So midwife gave me a rest and said i could start pushing at 8.10am. so it was all go from there. Started pushing and doc decided i needed a lil help so Thomás was vacuumed, got himself a nice lil cap atm

Had episiotomy but tbh i didnt feel a thing except him being born so i dont care. Healing pretty well and ive no bruising TG, Pretty much begged to go home today as the thoughts of spending another night in were too much to bear, love my bed i do.
All in all I totally enjoyed the experience. Crazy I know

But apparently I was a pretty happy person throughout the whole thing, all giggly and smiling until I had to throw up before i had him. I dont get sick well. Of all the things to get upset over lol.
Have to say the staff at cumh are fab, I lost bout half a litre of blood after I had him and it took approx 45 mins to stop it and stitch me up. So i couldnt hold him as they had to suction him cuz of the merc, so that was kinda scary not hearing him cry and knowing i was bleeding. But teh staff kept me calm and kept my bf away so he wouldnt pass out, which he didnt anyway cuz he saw the bleeding and placenta delivery etc. I would have panicked had it not been for them being so good and had one student midwife in particular whose hand i just held onto for dear life in the end and she didnt even try to let go.

So not even the scary birth stories are scary really, but I suppose it depends on the person. I personally was absolutly terrified of labour and birth and loved it, complications and all!!

Mink · 17-10-2011 1:35pm

Great idea January!!
I don't have a birth story to share... I could share my sisters as I was her birth partner - might be interesting from the viewpoint of the other person in the room, also she was stoned so doesn't remember everything....

Anyway I love reading birth stories as I'm TTC & mad broody

January · 17-10-2011 1:39pm

Mink wrote: »

Great idea January!!
I don't have a birth story to share... I could share my sisters as I was her birth partner - might be interesting from the viewpoint of the other person in the room, also she was stoned so doesn't remember everything....

Anyway I love reading birth stories as I'm TTC & mad broody

I have one of those too... but she was drunk (oh yes...) and it was my aunt not my sister.

Cunning Stunt · 17-10-2011 8:48pm

Great thread - more birth stories please! And make them positive ones

Am dreading going into labour!

Quins5 · 17-10-2011 10:04pm

Great thread January!

12 weeks to go so its great to hear the stories

Keep them coming

x

Cat Melodeon · 17-10-2011 10:23pm

My boy (our first) was born in August 2009 in Kilkenny.

I'd mostly enjoyed the pregnancy. My blood pressure started to go up in the last few weeks so I ended up on betablockers which really knocked the life out of me and put some of the doctors on high alert and wanting to induce me before we even got to our EDD, so I felt under pressure a bit towards the end. Have to say though, the midwife team in KK were absolutely brilliant and did everything they could to get me as far along as possible. Eventually I got to 9 days over and the fluid levels started to decrease so all agreed for me to be admitted for induction the following morning.

I had a fairly sleepless night on 'the long ward' which has a load of beds and was occupied by a real mix of women - one was a long-stay chain smoker who nabbed every passing visitor looking for fags, another had just had her baby but there was no room on the postnatal ward, which sucked a bit for the two women in for threatened miscarriages. The rest were like me, either in for monitoring, for next-day procedures or for early stage labour. The nursing staff were great though, did everything they could to keep everyone comfortable and calm. Hubby stayed til after 10pm, then I sent him home to sleep before the big event the next day (which still seemed a bit unreal).

Next morning the doctor came round just before 11am and I had the gel pessary inserted. That was completely grand, I had it all built up as some horribly invasive thing but it was less stress than putting in a tampon. I didn't have to stay in bed or anything and it was a beautiful August morning so I got dressed and went out for a walk waiting for himself to arrive. He got there around lunchtime so we had something to eat (bit of a mistake on my part - I was eating like a horse all day) and we did a bit more walking. I didn't think anything was happening at all, I hadn't even the slightest twinge and was getting a bit annoyed as the doctor had said I'd get a second dose if the first didn't work and after that, if nothing happened he'd be looking to section me (no stress there at all then!).

Anyways, I was getting a bit sunburnt and hot and annoyed so we went back up to the ward. One of the nurses was laughing at me, saying she'd thought I'd run off, and I had to go on a trace and have my bp monitored for a bit. This was around 3.30pm. After half an hour, she came back, fiddled with the machine a bit and said she wanted to send me up to the labour ward as there was a better machine up there. I thought nothing of it as I still didn't feel a thing. The labour ward was dead quiet, no one else on it at all (it was a Saturday - I guess other babies decided to stick to Mon-Fri schedules). I hopped up on the bed there, had the monitor strapped on, about five minutes later I felt an almighty pressure in my pelvis, felt a sort of a popping, grinding sensation and the next thing my waters gushed out and I started contracting. I got a bit of a fright, going from nothing to quite intense contractions in the space of 2 mins, but apparently I had been dilating all along. The midwife gave me the gas and air and of course I threw up immediately, but I stuck with it and soon got the hang of using it through the worst of the contractions, which were coming every 3 mins or so and lasting about 60 secs a time. This went on for about 2 hrs, during which I used my gentlebirthing CDs and yoga stuff, but mostly I just lay there and wished it was over. I was quite freaked out by the contractions - I had it in my head that as it was my first baby I'd be there for at least 12 hours and couldn't imagine another 10 hrs of this getting more and more intense (contractions were now coming every 2 mins and lasted 90 secs or so). So when the relief midwife came on and started prepping me for an epidural (unasked for and against my birth plan) I let her get on with it.

My own midwife came back 15 mins later and checked me over and said nope, no epi for me, I was nearly fully dilated. I couldn't believe it, we were less than 3 hours in and she was telling me I could push whenever I wanted. I did, and it felt absolutely brilliant to actually be doing something rather than just waiting for the contractions to pass. I don't remember much about the next bit, it all kind of blurs up, but it wasn't dignified, it wasn't pretty and it certainly wasn't how I imagined it would be (on my back, legs being held by god knows who, hubby a bit worried, me sort of wild and flailing about like a mad yoke). I have one very clear memory of a doctor sticking his head in at one point and me thinking I needed to get baby out as quick as I could or they'd start interfering. And then suddenly the nurses told me to stop pushing and to take deep breaths, which of course I couldn't do, I felt such an uncontrollable urge to push. And that was it, after one stingy, ouchy push, my little boy slithered out across the bed, barely caught by the midwife. I couldn't believe it, I just stared at him and he stared right back at me, not crying, simply looking at me like he'd just had the surprise of his life but was thrilled to see me. Then they whisked him away for a couple of minutes to check him over (there'd been a lot of meconium in my waters) but he was fine and they brought him back to us almost immediately.

I was still dazed from the gas and shocked by the birth, so I held him for a few seconds and then passed him over to hubby while I got stitched up (should've listened to the nurses when they said stop) and I just stared at the two of them beside me. It took ages to fix me up, but finally they were done and I was back to myself and I took him in my arms and it just felt perfect. A different nurse came on then (my midwife was very pleased that we were all done by 8.30pm as she got to go home on time!) and she showed me how to latch him on, got us tea and toast and got me some blankets and then just left us alone for ages to chill out. Himself went off to make the calls, baby and I just stared at each other and got to know each other. Eventually around 11.30 we were brought to the postnatal ward and the lovely nurse made me so comfy in the bed and put the little lad in with me so I could feed him easily. She made it seem so simple and easy, I never had any serious bother breastfeeding from that first night. Hubby went home some time after 1am. I slept in fits that night but never felt more peaceful. It was so lovely, a mad experience but a magical one and if my experience is at all normal, no one should be too afraid of being induced.

#2 is due in 5 weeks, hope it goes as well!

Mom2Be · 18-10-2011 9:30pm

Birth story from my 2nd daughter.. Posted previously on a thread i had started about being terrified of being induced due to all the horror stories..

10 days overdue so facing the dreaded induction (or what i thought)

Went in at 8am, got the gel at 10:45.. Got my first pain 30 mins later. Coped really well with them too

Drove the poor midwife nuts though, must have asked her 1000 times if she was sure id get my epidural,haha!
Once she promised me that i would then i told her id potter along on my own and try dilate as much as i could before going to the labour ward (not like me but i felt i was doing fine

)

The doctor checked me at half 4 and i was 3cm.. Dont think i ever got so excited,ha! Then the nurse said she would ring up to labour ward and see what the bed situation was there. She came back 5 mins later and told me get my stuff, i was off up for my epidural ..

Once i got up there i started with the gas and air until the anaesthetist came along (bout 45 mins)
Epi went a bit pear shaped alright ~ Put it in and i suffered through that, cant remember it bein so painful but then he said, Im so sorry ~ Thats didnt go in. I was like, Aghhhhhhhhh! Cried a bit then with frustration and then he put it in again..
Told me id be pain free in 40 mins but i never felt a single pain after it went in

Was still 3cm at 8:30pm so the put up the syntocin drip, checked me at 11:30pm and i was 9 and a half.. Woohoo!

Was fully dilated at half 12 but was really tired so she told me sleep for an hour before i started pushing.. I did just that! She woke me at 1:30am and i started pushing. I had my little bundle of joy in my arms after 50 mins and needed no stitches or anything

A beautiful little girl who was born on the 7th and weighed in at 7lbs and 7oz (",)

As for getting Induced and being terrified. I would do it again in the morning (",)

Best of luck Quins5 xx

qwertytlk · 18-10-2011 10:54pm

Brilliant idea january!

My First baby born 23.6.11 in rotunda hospital.

I had a crazy pregnancy. Was not trying for a baby and due to irrgeular periods did not discover i was pregnant untill week 24. Was totally shocked, but happy. Spent the rest of my pregnancy in a mild panic about everything (as anyone who was on borads preg page, probably remembers my almost daily threads lol). Anyway ended up going the full 13 days overdue so was booked for induction. Was told to be at hospital at 8am, when i got there they had no free bed for me so ended up sitting in the waiting room untill almost 1.30pm. Was pretty pissed of at that stage! So luckily when we Went up to the ward and got examined, the first gel was inserted immeadiatly. I Hadnt slept the night before as i was so nervous so i went for a nap then, thinking that the first gel wouldnt even work. But lo and behold i woke up an hour later and was getting contractions. They were really light at this stage. Not even uncomfortable. By 6pm they were pretty bad. Doc came around and examined me again and said i wasnt even dialiated yet! By this stage i was very uncomfortable. By 8pm the contractions were almost constant and i was given the gas (which i was afraid to suck on too hard as i didnt want to be sick! So silly!) . I was examined again at 8.30 and at this point the doctor broke my waters. The contractions were still coming fast and hard so by 9pm, when i thought i could take no more, i was brought to the delivery suite and given the epidural- bliss! By this time i was absloutley knackerd as i hadnt slept properly in over 24hours so we decided to go alseep for a bit. I was only 3cm and midwife said it could be the early hours before i was anywhere near ready.
I was being monoitored constantly and for some reason they kept loosing the heart beat with the trace machine so decided to put the clip on babys head. I fell asleep for a couple of hours and when i woke i immeadiatley told the midwife that i could no longer feel the dull pain in the bottom of my belly, but much lower, so she examined me and said i was almost 10cm! I was shocked! My partner was still asleep at this stage, so he woke to me in hysterics saying 'quick the babys coming,get up!'. The doctor came in then and said the heart rate had dropped and we needed to get baby out quickly. In my head i was terrified,but said nothing.
I was trying to push, and with the epidural i didnt know if i was even doing it right, although they assured me i was! The doctor was getting quite concerned so she ended up using the forceps and suction! He was out in 3 more contractions! I couldnt see, but my partner said the cord was around his neck. They put him up on my chest and he started to cry. Which i have to say, was the most beautiful sound i had ever heard!
They took him to be checked over then, while the doc stitched me up. I didnt even care id been given the episiotomy, even though thats the one thing i was terrified of! I was just glad the little man was ok.
Dad held him for a bit, then gave him to me for skin to skin. We stayed in the delivery suite for about an hour before being transferd up to the ward. Got settled in and tried to breast feed but the little guy was having none of it, so 6 hours after birth i ended up bottle feeding.

All in all it Really was the best experience of my life, and also quite scary at times but ultimatley worth it. I am now the mother to the most beautiful,precious baby boy. My life is complete. Iv never been this happy, and its all thanks to my little suprise. To think i was pregnant for 6 whole months and i didnt even know!
Looking forward to trying for #2 soon!

Toots · 20-10-2011 1:39am

I'll share the (probably very long) story of the birth of my little man Adam (my first). He was due on 11th September 2011, but I'd had a fairly complicated pregnancy and had a couple of scares where we thought labour was starting early (also had problems with pelvic stability, and my hips and they'd thought I might need a section so they sent me to have a consultation with the anesthetist just in case). The hospital and my GP had told me at about 30 weeks to have my bags packed because they were afraid he'd be early. He was fully engaged and ready to go at the 34 week check, so when I was still going to my antenatal appointments at 40+3 my consultant said she couldn't believe I was still pregnant and joked that she was going to send me out to do laps of Merrion Square to try and get him out. I was starting to get concerned that I'd have to be induced (really didn't want that) but she said she reckoned I didn't have long left and she'd be very surprised if I went the full 2 weeks over. Basically I spent the next 3 days moving around as much as I could, eating spicy food and bouncing around on my birthing ball.

On the friday, (16th Sept) I decided to accompany my husband to the local scrap yard to try and find a prop shaft for his car (all part of my plan to try and get labour started). He wasn't keen on me coming at all but I insisted. Then when we got home we took our dog and my Mum's dog for a massive walk (picture a woman the size of a beachball 'running' in the local park with two mad cocker spaniels). We finished off the day by getting an indian takeaway for dinner. I was fully expecting my waters to break at that stage, but went to bed at about 11 all frustrated.

I'd had woeful insomnia for about the last 6 weeks of my pregnancy so I sat up in bed reading and I started getting pains sort of in between my legs, like in my pelvis. I'd been having braxton hicks very strongly the last few weeks and I'd always felt them in my tummy and back, so I assumed these pains were from whatever way I was sitting in the bed. I moved around but no matter what way I sat, I was still getting the pains. Then at about 2am, I realised that there was a regular interval between the pains and suddenly I thought "Holy crap, maybe I'm in labour!" so I thought I'd time them using a handy pregnancy app on my iPhone, and it turned out they were coming every 15 minutes and lasting for 90 seconds. Seeing as it was in the middle of the night and I reckoned I had a while to go yet I thought I wouldn't bother waking my husband and I'd just try and relax, they were too painful to try to sleep through so I just kept reading and using the timer.

By about 6am they were getting pretty bad and I needed to pee so I got up to go to the loo but got a massive contraction on the way past the end of the bed, so hubby found out that the baby was on the way when he woke up to find me doubled over hanging on to the dressing table. Stuck the TENS machine on and headed down to my parents house at around 9am, with the intention of having Dad drive us in after the rugby. Now I'm terrified of hospital, so I kept trying to put it off, but by about 2pm the contractions were coming every 5 mins and my mum bundled me into the car with Dad and hubby. When we got to the hospital they brought us up to the delivery ward but all of a sudden the contractions had slowed down, and I wasn't in active labour yet so they said I could go home if I wanted (I was ready to kill someone at that stage) so we went home. Of course the contractions started up with a vengance again in the car.

Let’s just say that Saturday night was a long night, and by about 6am I'd gotten beyond the point of being able to keep quiet during the contractions, it literally felt like someone was trying to rip me in half from inside my pelvis. We started to make preparations to go into the hospital, and at that stage contractions were 2 mins apart and I was terrified we’d left it too late and he’d be born in the car. On the way in the contractions were 60 seconds apart and I had a massive urge to push and was telling the hubby to pull into Donnybrook Fire Station (firemen can deliver babies right?) and my poor Dad was in the back of the car trying to pat my shoulder and telling me not to worry that we’d make it. Got to the hospital and was rushed to the delivery room, fully expecting to be told I was ready to go, only to find out I was 2 cm!! 2 freaking cm!!

There was a note on my file saying that because I might have to be sectioned that the anesthetist was to be called as soon as I arrived so I could have had the epidural then, but I said I’d see how I got on with gas and air. I was high off my ass on the stuff which was great for a while but then I started feeling really trippy and like I was losing control so I was only really able to take about one puff per contraction, as opposed to huffing the stuff until the contraction was over. I kept trying to convince my husband to have a go of it but he was worried we'd get in trouble

They put an IV in my hand (I managed not to faint or puke) and put the first round of my antibiotics in (I had group B strep) and I figured since the IV wasn’t so bad I’d consider the epidural. About half an hour later I couldn’t take any more, the contractions were one on top of another so I got the epidural, and funnily it didn’t hurt at all! I was dreading it but as soon as it was in I didn’t feel any more contractions.

At that stage I hadn’t slept since Thursday so I went asleep for a couple of hours and hubby went down to get some lunch. They had to hook me up to oxytocin because the I got stuck at around 5cm. By about 4.30pm I was at 8cm and had the epidural topped up because I could feel pain again. Also I could feel a lot of pressure in my bum and was absolutely convinced I was going to the loo in the bed but the midwife and my hubby ended up pulling back the sheets to show me I wasn't (I was starting to freak out a bit).

They weren't happy with the baby's heart rate so they asked for a doctor to come and have a look. Our midwife was going on her coffee break then, so another midwife came to sit with me, and the doctor arrived to do a fetal blood sample. I wasn't quite sure what exactly the problem was but suddenly the room was full of people and the doctor said to me 'Ok, you're going to push him out now.' The next thing I knew my legs were up in the stirrup things and they were telling me they wanted 3 pushes per contraction and that the baby was still quite far up so I had a lot of work to do! So I started pushing and luckily got the hang of it straight away. The doctor tried to use forceps and got the first half in but apparently when she tried to get the other half in I let out such a scream (it was news to me that I made any noise at all lol) she decided to use the suction cup instead. My little man was born at 5.45pm, exactly 5 minutes after they told me to start pushing (I found out later on when I was reading the delivery notes). Our lovely midwife, who had sat with me since 9am, arrived just as the placenta was being delivered and couldn't believe he'd been born so fast, she joked that she couldn't even leave us alone for 5 minutes.

I was getting stitched up for about half an hour - thankfully they did an episiotomy and didn't leave me to tear - and hubby did skin to skin with the baby until they were finished repairing me. We had about another half hour in the delivery room and then they moved us. By some miracle I actually got a private room (I was a semi private patient but was incredibly lucky) so I was thrilled. When we got to the room I was brought tea and toast and a delicious bun. The little man had terrible trouble breast feeding so in the end he got formula until my milk came in and I could express for bottles.

We stayed in hospital for 3 days, and I really enjoyed it, the hubby would come in in the morning and stay til about 11pm each night so we had lots of time to ourselves to just enjoy our new baby and the midwives were wonderful, they couldn't do enough for us. I think if I ever have another one, I'll be getting the epidural as soon as I can, although the gas and air was fun for a while!

Hobbitfeet · 20-10-2011 2:40pm

Toots* wrote: »

I thought I'd time them using a handy pregnancy app on my iPhone,

Hi what app was this?

Toots · 20-10-2011 3:05pm

Hobbitfeet wrote: »

Hi what app was this?

It's called Baby Bump, it tracks your pregnancy on a daily and weekly basis and gives you a little bit of info each day and new week. It also has a contraction timer. I had the What to Expect app aswell but I found Baby Bump much better!

Mothman · 20-10-2011 10:48pm

First 2 also born at home with same mid wife.

There wasn’t much prep to be done. The pool was checked a couple weeks before and it was grand. Made sure to have hot water available at all times to fill pool. The mid wife was making regular visits. So fantastic not to have to travel to hospital during the pregnancy.

The day dawned with some minor contractions during night. This was after a show the previous day. If pattern was similar to first 2 then this was to be the day.
And a warm sunny day it is.
Continued with daily duties and then we all went to beach at about 12 noon. It was hot! 21C at home and probably 20C at beach. It was glorious. Contractions started up again there and started coming every 15 to 30 minutes. We came home at about 13.30.

6 yo son went to his cousins, just walking distance away, but I said that he may have to come home early because we were expecting a visitor

I didn’t want to give the game away!

We discussed where to birth and decided on outside in the garden meadow. We’d keep the birthing pool indoors for backup. Set up blankets for warmth and camping mats for comfort on the ground. Mum laboured away. Contractions becoming more frequent.
We assured the kids that they would not miss out on the event

and they went off and played. Curiously the dog who would usually be among us kept his distance, about 10m away. He knew something was up, but he was not concerned either.
Called the midwife at 15.45. Told her that we’re in business but not to rush. She was less than an hour away.

9yo daughter went to get her brother. They ran home:) Very excited they were.
Meanwhile, I was starting get run off my feet :cool:
I was required to rub back during contractions, keep mum warm, was also supervising the pool filling, not too hot, not too cold, not to overflow! I was getting drinks and whatever else was demanded of me

Mum vomited at about 16.15, handy as she could just do it in the long grass, the waters broke at same time and then midwife called. She was only 20 minutes away but stuck in traffic. This had the affect of slowing labour and mum went into a sleep phase with contractions about every 7-10 minutes. The sun was still warming on the skin but the day was getting on and I reckoned we’d be moving inside as it would get too cool. We hadn’t got so far as to sort out a fire...

Midwife arrived at 16.45. She had put her hazards and full lights on traveled the hard shoulder while passing about 4km of a traffic jam

Gardai looked twice, but they were busy sorting out an accident

At about 17.30 we moved inside. With sun setting mum could not keep warm. The pool was ready though a little cool, so put kettle on and pots of water on stove to get some heat into it. We also prepared the sofa to make comfortable for contractions and birth.

Mum leaned on pool during one contraction and POP the pool burst.....:eek: Immediate deflation and water gushing into the house. I kind of stood there marveling at the chaos of the situation

then into action....Get the towels to dam the water. Kids get down here and help. They rushed down and held up the sides to keep as much water in as possible. Meanwhile I started bailing out the pool with a bucket and had a siphon going to drain it. Contractions continued without my attendance. Got as much mopping up done before I had to get back to mum and final stages of labour. The kids had settled down a few feet away to get a good view.

The next few contractions were intensive and painful, but each one was one less to go and then the kids saw the head and after another 2 contractions there was a new sound. 18.20. What a joyous occasion, the roaring of the little boy.

The time being the same hour of day that the first 2 were born! The pain that mum had with the contractions immediately disappeared and she was on a high. She held the little fellow cord still attached.
It was decided to pass the placenta in the bath, so ran the bath and mum, baby still attached took the awkward trip to the bath and she hopped in.
Meanwhile, animals had to be fed and the cow milked but I got back to see placenta being passed which happened very easily. It was then the cord was cut by the 2 kids and we gathered up the placenta to bury in the garden later. The little man took his first feed and when he was done, the midwife measured and weighed him while mum showered and got dressed. Nearly 8 ½ Ib, heavier then the first 2.

So we are one week on. Finding our feet well, settling into a new rhythm though not without hiccups:)
The washing machine gave up the same day, so all our cleaning up washes were done in my brothers house. We now have a new machine installed. The water tank developed a leak and needs to be replaced. Its not too critical but we can’t light our wood burning cooker

The birth really was a lovely occasion. For the birth of my daughter I was like a rabbit in headlights. For the 2nd, my first son, while it was great I don’t think I got the sense of occasion. This time though, despite the mishaps, I was able to take the occasion in as it happened. It was brilliant having the 2 siblings looking on as they are old enough to remember. My daughter was 3 when her brother was born and she doesn’t remember much of it.

There you have it. I'm sure if I started writing it again, it would be quite different as it would have been if I wrote it a week a go

Mink · 26-10-2011 4:42pm

Ok so here's the story for my sister's baby born a couple years ago. It was her first baby & she was mid thirties.

She was overdue by a few days and had a sweep. She started getting some mild contractions during the day the next day and then by about 11pm they were 5 mins apart but she could talk through them. We headed into the Rotunda and they sent her straight home again by about 1am!

I made her some food and literally within 1/2 an hour she couldn't breath through them, she had diarrea and a bloody show. All systems go! So I drove her back to the hospital (not very comfortable for her).

She got a quick scan and was put in the pre labour ward (vomiting on the way up there), we got in there probably about 4 or 5am. All the other ladies were trying to sleep and my poor sis couldn't stop groaning. She'd originally wanted no pain relief but was at the point where she'd take anything going. They put her on the monitor thing and wouldn't give her anything for ages as baby seemed sleepy.

I'd say somewhere between 7am and 9am they gave her pethedine. It didn't do much for her, just made her feel drugged. The contractions hardly had a break between them and there was feck all I could do except rub her back and get her things as she needed them.

I think by sometime before lunch she was maybe 2 or 3 cm dialated so they let her have gas and air. They gave her a massive tank and she sucked the thing dry by late afternoon. She was well and truely out of it but it did seem to take the edge off.

She was continuously drinking water & other liquids but when she'd manage to get to the loo she wasn't able to pee. We told the midwives this but we never thought to actually do anything about it.

By late afternoon (on the second tank of gas at this stage :eek:) she was 3cm but there was a delay in getting a bed in labour ward. I might add the contractions never let up the whole time, she just breathed through them as much as she could but it was really hard on her. I got my hubby to come in at some point in the morning to move my car & bring me a bit of brekkie. I snuck away in afternoon for 10 mins to stuff something in my mouth so that was it (so birth partners, be prepared!!).

I think by maybe 6pm a bed in labour ward became available, the midwife in there was lovely and she got an epidural not long after arriving. This really calmed her down. She mentioned to the midwife that she hadn't pee'd in ages but had been drinking loads of water. The midwife had a look and we were shocked to see that her bladder was bulging out big time, it looked like a second pregnancy bump, how we all missed this I don't know. She hadn't been able to pee as I guess the pressure of the babies head was closing up her urethra (sp?)

Anyway, when the epi went in, the midwife then put a catheter in & there was an almighty waterfall! She filled about 3 of those kidney shaped bowls! She then had a little snooze on and off, finally the first bit of rest. I popped out for a bit of grub again.

Around 8.30 the new midwife (changed shifts) asked my sis if she felt any pressure down below, she didn't as she'd just gotten the epi topped up as we thought it would be ages yet. The midwife said she could see a bit of head (I had a look and confirmed this to my sis

).

So it was time to push and she pretty much did it in about 20 mins of pushing with a very small graze. When he came out he was 9lbs something and it was the coolest thing to see him born. I started crying but sis was all calm & collected and started telling me what to do haha.

I got to hold him and clean him up and dress him a little while sis was getting cleaned up after placenta came out! Then she got him for a bit, got her tea and toast etc. She was moved over to the post-labour ward probably at about 10 or 11pm and I was shoo'ed out of the building.

The next morning he was very yellow from jaundice and had to spend the next week up in the ICU under lamps. My sis found it very hard to express milk so she was very frustrated as breast feeding didn't go to plan. When she got him home she battled with getting her milk in and he needed a lot of fluids because of jaundice and she had to switch to formula.

He's a a grand healthy little boy now. I was glad I got to be her birth partner as it was a serious eye opening experience for me. I'll never forget him being born though, I always get teary eyed when I see babies born on the telly etc.! The Rotunda midwives were very nice, they were just mega understaffed in the wards. But the ones she got for the delivery were great and there wasn't a whisper of a doctor anywhere and no interference.

freudiangirl · 28-10-2011 7:32am

The arrival of my wonderful baby boy! 25/10/2011 at 03:50

So I was having backache for the past week and bump was getting really hard all over but it was not stopping me in my daily life so I kept on going.
On Sunday night, I had 2 hours of cramps n backache, again I went to bed and could sleep thought nothing of it.I went to work on monday morning and had normal day. On monday night, I was a bit crampy but again I could sleep so .........

At 2:15 am, I went to the loo and I got my bloody show. The pains then came on quite strong and stopped me in my tracks. I was timing them as 5 minutes apart and 30 secs in length.
I then rang cumh, was told I should have cup of tea maybe shower then come in.
BY 3:10 am pain unbearable, and I had terrible pressure down low. So we started to get ready to head to cumh. OH rang taxi at 3:20,taxi driver cut all red lights etc so we were there about 3:30, I could kinda walk in to hospital was checked immediately and brought to labour ward.
On way to labour ward,I felt a gush, it was my waters. Apparently, the nurses saId " we should make it down to ward!?!". Glad I didn't hear that.
I gave birth kneeling on bed and had about 4 pushes before baby Donal was born with no pain relief aside from gas and air for placenta. I found the gas n air hard to take as my throat was so dry.
I was then left in labour ward til 6 am ish which was nice, he hasnt really taken to breast, he will latch but not suck so after a traumatic first night on Tuesday, we tried bottles so we were sorted.

The staff in CUMH could not have been more helpful and great.

Rubberlegs · 28-10-2011 2:23pm

Brilliant thread:)

First daughter born in '93, elective c-section. She was breech, and still hadn't turned, so the section was scheduled for 3 days before my due date. I was young, and clueless, and looking back on it now, I wonder why didn't they even attempt turning her. I was a bit nervous about the op, but more excited about finally meeting the little gurrier, whose head had been wedged under my ribcage for so long:). The matron had a very brusque manner, and I remember being terrified when she brought me into a side room to insert a catheter into my bladder. I was sure she had to make a hole in my side to do this:o. I then had to walk back to the ward holding the wee bag in my hand. How dignified:rolleyes:. They came for me with a wheelchair, and I can remember a fairly hot fella smiling at me outside the theatre. He gave me a green liquid to drink, said it tasted like creme de menthe. I can remember being helped onto the table, a mask being put over my face, and being told to count to ten. I think I made it to 3! Next thing I knew I was awake again, and must have asked them several times what I'd had, I was so groggy. Baby girl, 6lbs 7oz:D. Recovery after the general anaesthetic was slow, I'd say it was a couple of days before I came around fully. I'd also been cut up the way, which was quite a shock. Must say it was annoying that everyone else knew I had a girl, and her weight before I did, that has always bugged me! Baby is now 18, has just started a 3rd level course in Childcare:)

Baby girl no2, born in 2000. This time I was really hoping to give birth naturally. However, at about 26 weeks, we found out our baby had spina bifida and hydrocephalaus. I was advised to have another c section, as labour would put a lot of strain on the baby's head. When it's put to you like that, you don't argue. This time I was scheduled in for 13 days before the due date, to ensure I didn't go into labour. I made sure this time to opt for the spinal block, so I could stay awake, and be the first to know what I had. I walked down to the theatre, refused a wheelchair, and hopped up on the table myself. There were so many people around, because of the baby's disability. Two students also asked my permission to be present, sure why not, the more the merrier:). The atmosphere was so relaxed, the radio was on, the anaethetist singing along. The only thing that bothered me is that they'd cut me, and I'd still feel it. It's the maddest sensation, you can kind of feel something, but no pain. A nurse told me to squeeze her hand, as I may feel pressure as they lifted out the baby. Next thing, to the strains of Joe Dolan on the radio, I hear a cry, and see two little blue feet. Girl no2, 6lbs 15oz:D. Everyone commenting on her red hair. I briefly saw her, and she was whisked off to be treated in the neo natal unit. The 2 students are in tears, I didn't realise it was their first birth! My recovery was so much quicker after the spinal block, thank God. Baby though had to go to Crumlin for surgery the next day, to close her little back. About 8 days later, I finally got up to see her. She stayed their for a month, and then we could bring her home. At 6 months she'd a shunt fitted to deal with her hydrocephalus. She's 11 now, and after a couple more ops over the years, she is doing very well, despite the problems she faces:)

Baby no 3, due in January, elective c-section.........To be continued.....;)

SarahC11 · 03-11-2011 3:00am

i was having mid pains the 2 nights before labour. they kept me up most of the night but they were nothing compared to the 'real thing'! i realize that now! i went to the hospital at around 3pm the next dayi was 1cm! (i thought that was bad!!) so went home at around 7pm. got to my ma's around 9pm (closer to the hospital than mine!)ate some chinese! the pains gradually got worse i had a couple of baths to ease the pain (it worked to some extent!) slept for about an hour and then i was up for the night! as the pains got worse i couldnt lie down so was half asleep sitting up most of the night! suffered the pain all night then finally rand an ambulance at 3pm cos i felt if i got off the sofa something was gonna fall outta my arse!! sat in the ambulance all the way to the rotunda and felt fine i was just thinking **** im gonna go in here and be grand like an ejit! got to rotunda and was 4cm. checked into labour ward at 4pm. had to walk from emergency room to labour ward and then it got really bad! got to the labour ward changed clothes and got the epidurl, everything was grand til pushing time and had my baby girl at 9.01pm. 5mins of pushing and had forcepts. it really wasnt bad at all i think i was just lucky i found the whole experience more exciting than anything else. was in hospital for a week afterwards tho cos i had to have a blood transfusion! sounds scary but seems fairly routine when ur in there! all in all i thought the whole thing was great cant wait to have another one!

petalgumdrops · 09-11-2011 1:41am

Had my Little Girl a few weeks ago ( first child ) and she certainly arrived with a Bang

I was 5 days overdue and went to my ante natal appointment where i was told I had high blood pressure and that I would have to be kept in to be monitored. After monitoring for a couple of hours the Doctor decided it would be best to induce me that day as my blood pressure was still high.

I was sent to pre labour ward where I was going to be induced. The doctor exmained me and said that the cervix was closed and had not thinned at all. I was given the first gel and told I would be given another 6 hours later. I had no pains and felt fine.

6 hours later the Doctor returned and checked me again- no change cervix still hadnt opened or softened. She gave me another gel and said she would see me in the morning and told me that they would break my waters and to be prepared for a long day!! The 2nd gel caused a little cramping. The midwife checked me 2 hours later and said there was no change and that my other half should go home and get some sleep as it would be a long day 2moro. I was in a little more pain at this stage and was convinced that this was labour I was feeling. The midwife assured me that what I was feeling was false pains as the gel was working to try to soften the cervix and open it up. she checked me again and there was little change. She said she could give me pethadine and that it would make me sleep. I agreed and after getting it my other half went home to get rested for the morning.

The pethadine made me feel awful- Felt drunk and woozy.. I got out of bed and I walked to the toliet. everything was spinning! I walked back and at this point I asked the midwife for pain killers as i was starting to get severe pains.. I think she knew to look at me that I was in agony and she checked me again and found that the cervix had softened and I was beginning to dilate about 0.5cm at this point. The rest of this happened within minutes! Midwife asked me if i intended to get an epidural and i said yes. She took my bloods to get them checked before I got the epidural because of the high blood pressure. she said they would take 40 mins to come back and when they did I could go to the labour ward and that she would call my other half. ( this all happened in minutes) She took my bloods and as she walked away from me I felt sick and called her back - I felt the baby coming and told her I had to push. She ran over and called for a wheelchair. At that point my waters broke!! I was ushered into a wheelchair and rushed to the delivery room in a panic.

We just about made it to the delivery room and My beautiful baby girl was born 8 minutes after my waters broke. 2 pushes and no pain relief and miraciously without needing stitches. My other half arrived 10 minutes after she was born.

All in all I was in labour for about 10 minutes before my baby was born. The whole experience was a shock. It all happened so fast. I went from 0-10cm in minutes. All worth it now though

nicowa · 29-12-2011 8:56am

Though I'd post this here so that they're all collated for those looking to read them all!

Christmas Day - Lower Back pain on and off all day. Around 4pm that it was coming in waves rather than being there constantly. From 6pm they were coming every 4 mins and lasting nearly 60 secs. Had my Christmas Dinner - desert too! - before leaving for the hospital. My cirvex was started to efface but not in labour yet. Sent home.

Spent the night in contractions and went back in at 6.30 next morning. Still not considered in active labour but they kept me in. They ran a trace and were happy to give me petadin. Did have some nausa after but managed fine.

At 12ish they broke my waters. Had a shower. Contractions were coming much stronger but when they checked I still wasn't in active labour so I asked for more pethadin. They wouldn't do it without running a trace and by the time they had that done and checked me again I was 2cm dilated so transfered to labour ward.

By the time I was set up in there the pains were coming quick and strong and my bp was high due to the stress of it. So they wouldn't give me the epi until they had run some blood tests. Instead I settled back on the gas until they cleared me - and boy does that stuff get you high!

Once on the epi I was happy out!

By about 5pm I was 5cm dilated. By 8pm I was 9cm and they decided to give me the drip to speed me up the last centimetre. The epi didn't fully make that pain go away but it was managable. By 8.45 I was fully dilated with some feeling so I started pushing. And she was born at 9.30pm.

I won't say that I was good at pushing - I was terrible at the breathing and couldn't hold my breath for the length of time the midwife was asking me to and she kept giving out to me about it. But it was all over and she was fine at the end of it.

A small labial tear (was how the midwife described it, it's written on my notes as a 1st degree tear, don't know if there's a difference), placenta came away fine (and boy is that thing big!) and we're all good.

She got an apgar (sp?) score of 9.95 so I can't be happier than that. And I was able to get the early discharge home with the early transfer home scheme.

ceadaoin. · 29-12-2011 6:48pm

Here is the birth story of my daughter, born on 17th December.

I was a week overdue and went to the antenatal clinic for a sweep on the 15th. While I was there they booked me in for an induction on the 20th December which I was really hoping to avoid as I wanted to give birth in the midwife led birth centre and I would have to go to the labour ward if induced.

The sweep wasn't as bad as I thought and the doctor said I was 2cms which even though is nothing was a start so I was happy! On the bus on the way home had some cramps but nothing major and some bleeding. The sweep was at 3pm - around 7pm I started having mild contractions which were about 5 mins apart. I couldn't believe it would work that soon so stupidly went about my normal business and didn't rest. That night the contractions were stronger and I couldn't sleep through them.

We went to the hospital around 6am only to be told I was only 3cms and was sent home again. Once at home they continued to get worse and I still couldn't sleep so I spent the morning and half the afternoon pacing the flat. Around 3pm I couldn't talk through them and they were about 3 mins apart, so we went back to the hospital (nightmare car journey!) This time I was 5cms so stayed in. The contractions were pretty painful at this stage so I got in the pool hoping this would help. It didn't! I must be the only person who didn't like being in water. I actually felt like it was making the contractions more painful.

5 whole hours later the midwife finished her shift and I was 7cm dilated. Another 3 hours later, still not much was happening so they decided to break my waters. The pain got really bad after that and there was a lot of blood so had to transfer to the labour ward so they could monitor the baby's heartbeat. I think the move slowed the labour down because I had to stay on the bed :mad: Long story short, baby was finally born 31 hours after the first contractions at 2.15am Saturday morning after 2 hours of pushing and a 2nd degree tear and weighed 8lbs 9!

I was exhausted by the end after being awake for practically 3 days straight and was pretty much falling asleep briefly in between contractions. Afterwards though I was wide awake again. I managed to do it without any drugs, didn't even use the gas and air (I did for the stitches though) so I'm so happy I had the natural birth I wanted.

She was so alert when she was born, I'll never forget when she first looked at me. And after I got to go back to the birth centre where I had my own room and my partner could stay overnight so overall, a positive experience. Don't know if I could do it again though!

liliq · 31-12-2011 3:38am

Toots was your baby born on the 17th then? Same birthday as my baby

I didn't post this here for a while because I didn't want to put up what I felt was a "bad" story, but I think it was more how I dealt with the situation mentally that made it bad!

My little man was due on the 30th of August, and I was induced on the 16th September at 10am.
I was brought in in the morning and given the gel, which started working within an hour but wasn't working properly if that makes any sense... I was getting contractions but they weren't normal contractions.
I hadn't made a plan as such, but I only really wanted to use gas and air through out if it was possible!
By 12pm I was struggling to walk but hadn't started dilating.
BY 2pm I was in severe pain, I was screaming down the ward, but because I still wasn't dilating much and babies heart rate kept dropping they couldn't give me any pain relief.
There was talk of a section then, asking me all the questions about havning no nail varnish on and taking out the piercings, which freaked me out completely! My waters were broken at 4pm and straight away I got relief, and dilated to 2cm. I was given pethadine once the babies heart rate settled, and sent up to the labour ward then where I started on the gas and air (which I loved!) The midwife told me I'd have my baby before the end of the night!
I was kept attached to the monitor to keep an eye on babies heart rate, and it started dipping again and i still wasn't dilating much. The told me I should really get the oxytocin drip at that stage- about 10pm I think, although a lot of it is blurred memory so it could have been earlier or later!
I knew I wouldn't deal very well with pain worse than I was already getting, so opted for the epidural first (The thought of them really freaked me out before, but getting it in was fine!) then the drip. The drip got me dilated to 3cm, but baby was getting pretty stressed and I had developed an infection at this stage and my temperature was really high, so I was being dosed with antibiotics,
The midwives and doctors starting talking about c sections again at this stage, and I just paniced completely. Even after having one i still have a mental block about c sections! They all stood around me waiting for me to give consent, and as soon as I could make myself agree to it it was all go. I was rushed up to the theatre, the anaesathist (sp) was amazing, he was so reassuring. Mr q was brought in after they started cutting and my baby was suctioned out through the c section at 5:37am. Little beasty baby was 11lb 12oz.

Mr q got to hold him for a few minutes while i was being stitched up and then he was brought up to special care for iv antibiotics. I got to go up to see and cuddle him about 12 hours later when I was able to get myself out of bed and into a wheelchair. I didn't like that I didn't get to hold my baby straight away, I feel quite guilty about it to be honest, but the guilty feeling is all it is. It hasn't affected my bond with my baby, breast feeding, or anything like that in the long run.
I'm honestly quite traumatised by the whole experience, but not nearly badly enough that I wouldn't do it again in a heartbeat :rolleyes:

Cat Melodeon · 08-01-2012 10:56pm

I’ve been meaning to post this for ages but only getting around to it now. It’s a bit longwinded (but pretty much all positive) so skip to the end if you’re in a rush!

Despite my conviction that I was going to go overdue (my first was induced at 10 days over), this baby decided to come a week before her due date and more than a fortnight before I was expecting her. It was a Saturday & I’d spent an hour that afternoon getting a tour of the labour ward as I’d transferred hospitals quite late in the pregnancy & hadn’t had a chance to book onto the relevant antenatal class. Little did I know I’d be back on the ward 12 hours later! I’d only packed my bags a couple of days before! Anyway, myself, hubby & Kid1 then spent the afternoon shopping & I had a mad urge to go for a long walk along the river – it was lovely, a beautiful crisp & sunny November day.

That evening, himself cooked us a lovely meal & we settled in to watch a DVD. Maybe it was the crap movie (Existenz - don't bother) but at around 11pm I started to feel a bit funny and shortly after I realised that my waters were starting to go. I was stunned & sort of thrilled that I was going myself without help & hubby rang my Very Sensible Sister who was supposed to be on standby for babysitting Kid1. Unfortunately, my Very Sensible Sister had chose this very weekend to get totally ratarsed with my Slightly Less Sensible Sister (back-up babysitter #2) and my Completely Insensible Brother (back-up babysitter #3), so sure were they that I was nowhere near my due date (my own fault I guess!). So we rang my usually Utterly Unsensible Sister (who wasn’t even down for back-up) who immediately jumped in the car with her boyfriend and made the normally 2-hour trip in just over an hour to save the day (and hubby’s nerves!).

Anyway, back to me & labour. After my waters went, I started to feel a bit nauseous and spent around half an hour ‘evacuating’ everything, both ends and sometimes concurrently. Once that finished, I felt a bit of a niggly pain, not much more than a period pain so I didn’t think I was in labour just yet and told hubby not to stress too much on the babysitter front (I’m glad he ignored me!). 20 mins later I felt the same thing, a little sharper and around 30 secs long, but although I noted it, I was reluctant to call it a contraction seeing as on my previous induced labour I’d had pretty strong ones and I had no idea how a naturally starting labour would end up feeling. Anyway, I went and got some big cushions and my iPod (Gentlebirth CDs are still excellent) and dimmed the lights and lay down for a while – for some reason I decided to nest by the back door beside the dog beds (and close to the loo) so I had the mutts for company while hubby got bags and stuff organised.

My sister arrived then (about half past midnight) and almost immediately I started feeling the niggly pains 10 mins apart, still 30 secs long. 15 mins later they were coming quicker again so I rang the hospital, full sure she’d tell me to go to bed and call when I was no longer able to cope with the pain. Luckily she told me to come on in so we got loaded into the car and off we went, me in the back on my side, still listening to Tracy on the CDs with one leg in the air and a blanket protecting my modesty. I think the toll booth operator got a bit of an eyeful as we passed, poor bugger!
It took about half an hour to get to the hospital (1.30am now) and after 15 mins or so I was brought in to the admissions room. I was stuck on a trace on the very uncomfortable, very narrow trolley for about 45 mins before the doctor could assess me. This was the worst part of the night as hubby wasn’t allowed in with me, I wasn’t allowed use my iPod, I wasn’t allowed to walk around or even stand up and there were no distractions to help with the surges that were becoming increasingly uncomfortable. The nurse on duty was a bit useless – I told her I felt things were moving along quickly and she told me not to be silly, my contractions were far too short, I wasn’t in enough pain (!) and she wasn’t convinced I was in labour (!!). Anyway, even without the iPod I was able to do my hypnobirthing, it was almost as if Tracy was there with me! Finally at 2.45 (not THAT long, in fairness) the doctor came and examined me and said I was nearly 5 cm so it was time to go up to the labour ward. As soon as I stood up I felt everything change, with mighty pressure in my pelvis and I started to retch. Nurse thought I was being a bit of a drama queen (although I had made barely a sound all night) and got me to take all the paper sheets from the bed and put them in the bin (I’m not at all precious but seriously – getting a woman in labour to clean up the trolley after herself – how bad are the HSE cuts exactly?). She then sent me out to fetch hubby and the 3 of us walked up together to the labour ward. Nurse then seemed to have a personality transplant (presence of a man?) and was really excellent on the corridor, helping me through the contractions which were now coming every 2 minutes.

We got to the labour ward and met our midwife, a lovely lovely girl who I immediately trusted. She helped me along to the delivery room and no sooner had I stepped in than I felt the urge to push. She told me to get up on the bed and when I told her I couldn’t, I felt I had to push, she just said okay, wait til it passes, while the original nurse sort of tutted and sighed. Up I got and I immediately had to push again. The midwife had a look and said, yep, I can see the head! Nurse #1 nearly dropped! From then, it didn’t let up, I was basically pushing, breathing, pushing, breathing for 3 or 4 minutes and out came baby’s head, with the rest of her slipping out easily. She was placed immediately on my chest where they left her for a few minutes before clamping the cord. She was amazing, opened her eyes straight away, never cried at all and had latched on about 2 mins after she was born.

Labour and baby were pretty perfect. I couldn’t believe it, how easy it was compared to Kid1 even without pain relief (apparently I said ‘Is that it?’ as she came out!). It really did not hurt much at all, whether that’s because it was a second baby or because of the hypnobirthing or because I was so glad to be at the end of a fairly rotten pregnancy or simply because I had absolutely no fear this time at all, I don’t know, but I’d gladly give birth twenty times over if it was like that. Hubby was brilliant, really focused me on the breathing, and the midwife did all she could to help when baby crowned, although I still had a tear. In all, according to my notes, I was in the delivery room for 6 minutes when she was born. We had to stay there for ages though as I needed stitches and the dr had been called away for an emergency c-section. It was all fine though and I got to get high on the gas for the embroidery and was able to walk back to the postnatal ward and take a shower straight away.

8 weeks on and baby is absolutely brilliant. I always thought people who said their little babies slept through the night were dirty liars, but she is fantastic to sleep, goes down after a mammoth 2-boob feed at 1 am and doesn’t wake again until 7 or 8. I didn’t have that with Kid1 until he was nearly a year old! Breastfeeding has been grand again – the usual tenderness for the first week and later 2 bad days with a blocked duct, but it’s been grand overall.

So, quick version – waters broke by themselves, baby born 4 hrs later without any fuss, a girl, 7lbs 10 oz, a titch compared to her big bruiser of a brother. Recovery has been so quick, again totally different to the first time – I was back to myself within a week.

Only question now is – will there be a Kid3?

liliq · 09-01-2012 12:38am

Loved that story Cat! Very well written, I gotta say!

Gives me hope for if I have any more that I might go myself too

red fraggle · 09-01-2012 7:15pm

ok so here is my birth story for Emily born 5 jan 2012 8 days early wieghing 7 pound 2 ounces. First baby, no pain relief. Length of labour 12 hours maybe but I would consider it more like 6 hours pain wise.fairly positive birth. the pushing and urge to push unfocused me a bit ehich is prob why it was more painful. i listened to gentle birth cds for the last month or 2.

Woke at 4.30am and felt a gush followed by another gush. Thought oh **** and ran to the bathroom. Looked like bloody waters. This continued to flow. Ran to bedroom turned on light to get clean underwear so I could get dressed and inform oh what was happening. Went back into the room and OH had turned the light off. Usually he is saying ‘anything yet?’ :rolleyes:so rang the maternity unit and they said I had to come in as my waters had broke. Had a shower and headed in. baby was monitored in labour ward and then I was brought to maternity ward to wait and see what happens.

Around 9am there was a vague tightness/contraction every 30 mins. At 11.30 we went for a long walk and we just kept walking and walking. Back to the ward and I used the exercise ball which was great.
3pm contractions were every 15mins or so but pain not bad. Easy to breath through using the ball.
4pm contractions every 7 to 10 mins and pains stronger.
5pm went back to the labour ward. Baby monitored and thingy put in my arm in case I needed anything. Contractions every 7 mins. Husband put on the TENS machine at this point. Contractions painful.
6pm used the exercise ball and had TENS machine at 3. contractions 3-4 mins apart and 1 min long.
6.30pm went into the labour ward.
7.20pm 5cm dilated. Midwife a bit shocked. Contractions 2-3 mins apart and very painful. At this point got unreal urge to push and it was extremely hard not to. Got gas and air but this didn’t really help me with the not pushing bit. This was possibly the hardest bit!! Gas was only good for making me a bit out of it but not enough out of it in my opinion!!!

8.25pm starting to get upset as I had pushed and was told not to and I kept saying I couldn’t help it and it was happening and how could I stop it!!! Midwife decided to check me and I was 10cm dilated!!!! To say she was shocked was an understatement. She was running around getting stuff ready saying please don’t push yet! Started pushing then and it was hard. First few I did right but then the pain came and was hard to focus. There may have been some noise made by me at this point even tho I know this used my energy on me.Then the midwife asked did I want to feel the head. I DID NOT! My husband did. Very hard to keep pushing when she wanted me to and I didn’t do all of them right but midwife and husband very supportive. First half of baby born and unreal relief from my belly. I could see her. I asked the midwife to stop touching me down there but she showed me her hands and said it was the baby wriggling!! I couldn’t believe it. I could see her wriggling away and she only half born!
8.55pm baby born and held up to me so I could announce what it was! My husband was so busy counting fingers and toes we forgot to see what it was!! Baby lay on me for a while and my husband cut the cord. Very alert and wriggly kicking me and pinching me. Husband held her while I was stitched. Got 4 stitches.(that mattered!!) They numbed the area but I used the gas aswell. It hurt! Apparently I said some interesting stuff to the doc and my husband kept walking away laughing. I could hear myself say stuff but didn’t stop!! All stitched up baby breastfed for half an hour on each side.

I have to say without my husband keeping me focused on my breathing and giving me support I would not have been able for it. He was excellent. and him saying somethin simple like 'shoulders down' helped me refocus/focus on something else. Midwife was also excellent and I didn’t feel pressured at any point by her. we joked in between contractions. She is talking about me none stop to everyone cos it was a first labour and was so short and I had no pain relief. As it goes I prob couldn’t have had a better labour/birth tho it didn’t feel like it at the time when it came to the push. midwife said i was born to have babies!! we will see:rolleyes::D

Quins5 · 10-01-2012 8:56pm

Well done Redfraggle!
Great story, I hope my experience is as 'pleasant' for want of a better word, I hope you understand I dont actually mean easy and Im quite sure it wasnt pleasant in the traditional sense!

Thanks for sharing
x

Hobbitfeet · 10-01-2012 9:29pm

Red Fraggle great birth story great to see a 1st timer do it without any drugs

I'm due my 1st in 2 weeks and don't want to take anything except maybe gas and air so your story is an inspiration to me

Rosy Posy · 16-01-2012 11:06am

Finally birthed at home with my third...the others were looong labours so we transferred to hospital, but the third was such a different, awesome, empowering experience

Four days overdue...dreamt that I was with a friend (who has older kids and is finished her childbearing) and complaining that I would never go into labour- she put her hand on my belly and said 'It's happening now', and I woke up with the first tightening (painless as yet). I didn't dare to hope that it had actually started as I'd had several false alarms with my last pregnancy, so I stayed in bed and tried to rest. By the time the other children woke I was having regular tightenings, every half hour or so. Although they still weren't painful I found I couldn't sit and had a real urge to stretch through them. My mum called over to take the children swimming and I had the house to myself for a while. I pottered around the garden and did some knitting. My husband had an early afternoon appointment and came home and we took the opportunity to make love. Afterwards I noticed that the mucus plug (the show) had come out but I still was too afraid to jinx it by telling anyone! He went off to his appointment and my mum and dad came back with some shopping. They were bustling about and I felt like I needed some head space so I went into the garden and finished my knitting and watched the children playing. They had planned to cook dinner at my place but I asked them if they would mind cooking at theirs and we would go up to them. After they left I was still having regular contractions and they had gotten so I had to consciously breathe through them. I was getting excited and a little bit nervous so I went into the kitchen and made some bread dough (baking relaxes me...odd I know but I've baked a cake in all of my labours!!), then I made a baked lemon cheesecake, then I made some lemon curd topping for the cheesecake, and had started on some hummus when the contractions got a bit too intense for cooking. I had put some music on and was singing loudly and badly along to it. When a contraction came I would get down on my knees, hold onto the couch and sing at the top of my voice, then get up and go on with my baking. My husband called at some point and I told him that I thought I was in labour but not to rush home (as my other labours were so long I felt like I had a long way to go and was pretty happy at home in my little bubble of cake and bad music). By the time he got home the contractions were coming hard and fast and my ability to time them or effectively communicate (or bake for that matter) had deteriorated. He called the midwife and started blowing up the pool. I stuck with the singing and was chanting a ganesha mantra which is meant to remove obstacles at the start of a journey, as well as helping with good, rhythmic breathing. By the time the midwife got there and the pool was half filled contractions were about five minutes apart and fairly strong. I was feeling really cold so I got in before it was fully filled and my husband poured water over my back. The relief was amazing and it was really nice to be surrounded by my own little body of water. I ate some oranges in between contractions and moved around a lot, doing some fairly uncharacteristically energetic lunges (pulling all the muscles in my legs I later discovered but at the time it felt great). I was feeling a strong urge to push so during a contraction the midwife asked me to float up to the surface of the water (which was not too comfortable) and saw that the membranes were bulging out of my cervix. I got out of the pool and she did a quick IE and said I was about seven cms. My waters hadn't broken yet and after a while she suggested they rupture the membranes. I wasn't too keen as I really wanted to allow the labour to unfold as naturally as possible but after a few more contractions the pressure was pretty unbearable so I agreed. No sooner had she unwrapped her crochet hook (thats what it looked like anyway but I'm sure it was some kind of medical equipment) than I felt a pop and my waters broke into the pool. The pressure let up briefly but in the next contraction I felt the baby moving down and it returned even stronger than before. Night was just falling as I went into transition and singing gave way to some noises of the large animal variety before coming back to the singing again. In between contractions my husband held a flannel with ice in it to my face and I sucked on a lemon barley ice-pop. The other midwives had arrived and lit some candles around the room. My husband was trying to talk to me and one of them gently discouraged him, for which I was grateful. The contractions were really long and intense but there was still a few minutes gap between them which allowed me to regroup my strength. In a few pushes the baby crowned and the head was out. The midwife reached into the water and unlooped the cord from around the neck. In the next push the baby was out and the midwife told me to reach down and catch him. I passed him between my legs and lifted his face out of the water. My husband and I blew on his face and he started to breathe, and we saw that it was a boy. I just sat there in the water for the longest time with his head laying on my chest looking into his eyes. I put him to my breast and he had a half-hearted suckle. Eventually the midwife said we'd better get the placenta out so I reluctantly gave a push or two and it came out, turning the water red. The midwives fished it out and put it into a tub and my husband cut the cord. Then he took the baby and I was helped out of the pool. The midwives examined him (9lb 7oz, apgar of 9) and me (no tearing no stitches), then we popped a bottle of champagne and all had a generous helping of lemon cheesecake, while I fed my bonny baby boy. My husband dressed him in a silk gown I had knitted while I had a shower and then we all went to bed...magic!

Summary:
first tightening- 4.30am
active labour started- 1.30pm
baby born- 7.30pm
baby born at home, in the water with minimal assistance

Julie London · 16-01-2012 12:03pm

First Baby Story

06th Oct evening I had a bloody show, knew it would be soon now so started straightening my hair! and doing my nails! so I would look good going to hospital! (FIRST BABY ! GUYS I HAD NO SENSE!)
07th Oct 2pm, started having mild pains. like period pains.
By 3pm, the pains were worse and in my back my hubby came home from work and my waters broke at home.
In the car and arrived at the Regional by 4.30pm, in pain but bearable pain.

After a long wait, They checked me over and said I was 2cm dilated and to sit in the waiting room until a bed was available. Once I got to waiting room the pains were coming fast and hard and were horrendous. I was left waiting room in front of every visitor for onew hour until one nurse took notice and took me up to the ward. It was now 8pm.
On the ward , covered in blood that was dripping out of me ( a ward where i was put in with mothers who had their babies and loads of men were in visiting) a nurse said she wopuld check me again but as my chart said i was 2cm and first baby i was making a fuss over nothing.
On checking me she jumped back and said oh my god your 8cm, im going to kill that nurse who said you were 2cm. I was rushed straight to delivery.

Laboured in there for about one hour and half and at 21.47 my lovely daughter was born naturally. I needed an episiotomy - which wasant as horrendous as I thought it would be.
Found the hosiptal experienece degarding and stressful and left as soon as I could and went home.

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