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Can i hear your Birth Stories please?

Hi i am due on Friday and i am been very nosey. Hope you don't mind.

Carmel

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  • Nose away my dear, I remember I wanted to hear every story going when I was due!

    As you'll probably see from this post, I doubt you'll ever hear 2 stories the same but it always helped me to read all of them.
    Here goes with mine.....


    I was 40+1 with my first baby and planned a home birth after a trouble free pregnancy.
    After having tried everything to get things going I resorted to a bit of nookie with Hubby (sorry TMI!) and it seemed to work as I got up about 5am and felt something wasnt right. On going to the bathroom my waters went on the floor and I just stood there in shock for a bit!
    I went and woke my Hubby up by telling him my waters had gone and he responded by saying 'what day is it?' and then rolling over image

    He soon got up thought when I almost thumped him and repeated what Id said!

    We went and called the midwife who sent someone over at about 8.30am by which time I was having slight cramping sensations every 40 minutes or so. They didnt hurt at all just felt like period cramps. Then at around 11am I remember my best friend coming over as Id sent her into town to get me some big pants :lol: I was still really calm and felt quite relaxed.
    I went for a lay down at about 1pm and felt as though the contractions were becoming stronger so started my breathing techniques (I learnt Hypnobirthing whilst pregnant) and at around 3pm they were 4 minutes apart and the midwife had returned. My Hubby had filled up the birthing pool in our lounge and I was examined to be told I was 5cm dialated so I got in.
    The water was an AMAZING relief-Id highly recommend it- I last remember looking at the clock at about 6.30pm and asking Hubby when it would be over! For a split second I contemplated asking to be transferred into hospital as I didnt think I could cope with the pain anymore but I carried on with the breathing and almost broke my Hubbys neck in the process but it passed pretty quickly. I later learnt that this stage is called 'transition' and its quite common to suddenly feel as though you cant cope but its a sign you are almost ready to push so hang in there!

    Anyway, I started to push in the pool but didnt feel like I was getting anywhere and the midwives (there was 3 present by this point) kept trying to make me pee! I couldnt feel anything 'down there' though for some reason as the baby was resting on my nerve endings or something so I just didnt even feel the urge to go. This became a problem as my bladder was apparently too full and was stopping the baby from coming down!
    They got me out of the pool and had to put a catheter in to empty my bladder for me-sounds minging but I honestly didnt feel it.
    I carried on contracting and pushing and finally after what seemed like forever (almost 40 minutes) I gave birth to my gorgeous little girl Isla Amy! She was 6lb 12oz and perfect but she was a little blue as she'd been ready to be born for some time according to the midwives! If Id of been in hospital Ive no doubt I would have probably been offered intervention like forceps but Im so glad they let me go that bit longer so I could give birth naturally.

    I had to have quite a few stitches (listen to the midwife when she tells you not to push etc lol!) And Isla fed straight away.

    I wish you a healthy and happy birth and do keep us posted!

    xxx





    [Modified by: Sarahboo on May 30, 2010 09:51 PM]

  • hi, here's mine, its very long tho, and only for those who aren't scared easy or looking for the 'not so nice' stories

    http://www.babyexpert.com/chatroom/topic/104260

    xx
  • Ha ha Sarahboo. Men hey!!!! I am due on Friday and im getting pains on and off and want to see if its anything like what im getting. xx
  • There are some definite gaps in my memory in the late stages, and I apologise for waffling, it's one of my bad habits!!!

    So hubby and I got to the hospital at around 12.30pm and were settled in one of the induction rooms straight away. After about half an hour the midwife came in and put me on a CTG to get bubba's baseline, and he very awkwardly kept shifting so I was on that for about an hour and a half and it was so uncomfortable as I had to keep pressure on the contact as he was wriggling so much! After that she examined me and advised I was still completely posterior and closed and applied the first pessary. She said at that point it would definitely take more than 1, so we prepared ourselves for at least 2 days in hospital getting things started.

    She came back at just before 9pm and examined me 6 hours later and advised nothing had changed, and so she did another pessary and popped me on the CTG again. The CTG showed I was gettng tightenings, but nothing regular and not hugely strong, although I could definitely tell the difference between them and the BH I'd been getting the last few weeks.

    So at this point we snuggle down for the night after some TV, but I can't get to sleep as the contractions are getting stronger and although they're not lasting long, they are coming pretty regularly. At about 2am we called the midwife and she got me some codeine and we tried to get back to sleep. At 3am the pain was getting unbearable, they were lasting about a minute and were coming between 5 and 10 minutes and I started bleeding so panicked! Called the midwife and as I could no longer speak through the contractions she decided to examine me...

    I've never been more pleased to hear the words..." Gosh, that feels a bit different to last time!" I was a good 3cm dilated and she offered to break my waters...lordy I must have lost a stone when she did that!!!

    So got to labour ward and they gave me an hour to get myself into established labour, and although I then needed gas and air to deal with the pain (I'm such a pansy!) the contractions were stll not enough, so they put me on a drip.

    I have no idea how long later, think it was about 7.30am as the shifts were about to change, the pain just became mad, and they offered, and I gratefully accepted, diamorphine. I became a little delirius at that point, remember about 10 mins when the pain wore off a little of being completely aware, and then the next thing I remember is at 9.01 I said I needed to push, I was examined and found to be fully dilated, and 21 minutes of pushing later my angel was born!

    The gaps are funny, cos I have recollections of random stuff in between, like me telling hubby to remember to drink as he gets dehydrated, and telling the midwife and student it was ok if they had to go and look after someone else!

    The pushing part I just remember feeling really primal, and my hubby lovingly tells me I did a great Hulk Hogan face just before he came out! I do remember telling the midwife I couldn't do it and she didn't understand, and I know I was VERY loud, which kind of makes me cringe now!

    He was born with the cord wrapped round his neck, and it took them 2.5 mins to get him breathing well again, and I bled a lot so they gave him to DH first for cuddles, and he couldn't stop crying and just saying how proud he was and thanking me! So cute!

    I had my stitches whilst holding Lucas for the first time, and I just couldn't stop smiling at that point.

    Spent one night in hospital I was anaemic following the blood loss, my iron levels were so low they considered a transfusion, but for some reason decided against it.

    That night I read a quote that perfectly described how I felt:

    "Before you were conceived I wanted you, Before you were born I loved you, Before you were here an hour I would give my life for you"

    Says it all I think.

    Hxx and LJ
  • Hiya, sorry I posted before I meant to-its been a long day! Ive updated it now though.x
  • I loved reading other people's birth stories - so read away!!

    I was having really bad back aches for around a week (to the point I had had 6 baths in just over 24 hours!!!) which we thought that may be labour or may not - when speaking to the birth centre staff, they thought it was a long latent phase.

    Anyway, by 6pm on Tuesday (40+3) the pains had changed and when OH dragged me out of the bath and we timed them, they were coming thick and fast between 3 and 4 mins apart! Off we went to the birth centre (all the way praying that we weren't sent home again!) and I was examined - and I was alreday 5cm dilated! I was overjoyed thinking, hurrah, wont be that long - how wrong I was!

    By the time they got the pool ready it was around 8pm and when I got in the pool, oh my word - the relief, it was brilliant!!! I then laboured on for 4 hours, doing well and coping well and at midnight the midwife decided to examine me and I had dilated to 6-7cm which was good, but she thought I would have done more in that in the time, with the strength of the contractions, so she did a sweep to speed things up. I then got back in the pool and carried on as I had until 4am when she examined me again and guess what?! 6-7 cm!!!!! I nearly cried!!!

    At this point, she decided to break my waters, again in the hope of speeding things up. From this point on I didn't go back in the pool, laid over a birthing ball, squatted, stood and leant on OH, walked around, you name it and I did it! Was re-examined at 6.30am and I had only managed 7cm. At this point, the midwife said she could feel the baby's head moving and turning on her fingers and she didn't like the feel of it. She then went to phone the labour ward.

    It was then decided to take me up to the labour ward, as they weren't happy with the progress. Then I was put on a drip to speed up the contractions and hopefully progress the labour more effectively. Well it certainly ramped them up - both speed and intensity!!

    By 11am, joy of joys, I was fully dilated and ready to push!!! I then started to push. Every time I pushed though, the baby's heartbeat kept dropping and anytime the midwife could see her coming down, when I stopped pushing, she went back up. I carried on like this until around noon(ish) when the midwife said that we would have to look at intervention.

    Needless to say, I didn't want this, but a surgeon came in and basically outlined that if we didn't do it, we were putting the baby's life in danger - so there was no question!

    From there, everything happened very quickly. I was taken to theatre and given a spinal block. They explained that they were going to try to manually turn her then use forceps but if this didn't work then it would be a C-Section. The spinal block is the oddest feeling I have ever experienced! Anyway, they did manage to manually turn her and use the forceps (I had to push too - although had no sensation of whether I was doing anything - very bizarre!) and at 13.01 on Wednesday 16th September, Isabel Rose made it into the world with just a few cuts and bruises, but apart from that just perfect!

    Although it wasn't a birth you would put down on a birth plan, I actually enjoyed the whole experience (crazy eh?!) and didn't find it too difficult (apart from emotionally when having to go to theatre!) and would do it all again in a heartbeat! We love her so much!!
  • My waters broke at 1030pm at 37 +6 weeks whilst we were in bed just about to go to sleep. Luckily I managed to leap out and make it to the bathroom where they gushed out and I sat there shaking, as I had gone into shock a bit, for about 30 min!

    My contractions started quickly about 30 min after that when I had made it back to bed and we were sat there thinking we wold get some more sleep as it would take ages. At first they were low down in my back and tummy like really bad period pains and coming about every five minutes and lasting for about 15 seconds.

    We called our local birth centre and they advised to go in to be checked so about 1.30 am we made it up there eventually as I had several contractions in the car which were agony as I did not want to be sat down and ws only comfy on my knees.

    At the birth centre the woman was a bit patronising and did not do an internal examination saying that it was my first and would take ages so to give them a call at about 6.30 and come up to be checked again or go the hospital where we were planning to go. I think she thought I was putting on the contractions I had whilst there and she told me they wouldn't be proper contractions until they spread from the top of my bump downwards! I never had any of them throughout the labour, they were all low down.

    So we went back home and for the next 4 hours I was stuck on my knees in the lounge and then the bathroom floor with a Tens machine on which I ended up ripping off as I was convinced it wasn't doing anything! My husband kept trying to suggest different positions bless him but I just couldn't move!

    At 5.30 I said to my husband that he needed to call the hospital as I kept feeling like I needed to push at each contraction that was pretty much coming constantly with a break of about 10 seconds between each!

    It took me 20 min to even get dressed and the trip to the hospital seemed the longest in the world. At the hospital I had about four contractions in the 30 metre walk to the labour desk. They put me in a room and hubby went out to get my bag. When he came back I was already on the bed sucking G+A, completely naked and pushing! They told me I was fully dilated already!!

    The only problem was that when they examined me they found a massive lump in the way of baby's head that they thought was a blood clot so suddenly everyone paniked. They inserted a catheter and cut me to try and relieve the pressure around baby's head so the clot would not burst. It was all very scary but I just had to concentrate on pushing. It took from 6.30 when we got there and Tom was born at 7.49 weighing 6lb 8oz!!

    I got to cuddle him for about 10 min whilst they preped me for surgery and then they whisked me off. They found a huge fibroid that had not not been picked up during pregnancy. I am all fine now though.

    So all in all I managed pretty much the whole labour at home on the Tens. I had a few puffs of G+A at hospital but that was it and from start to finish it was about 10 hours long! Will definatly do it again it was amazing!
  • hi here is mine

    41 weeks, had sweep, and immediatly had back ache, this continued for the day after but wasnt constant or very painful. then at around 9pm the next day started getting some pains, but wasnt sure if they were contractions? so bounced on my birthing ball anyway, they were 15 mins apart to start with then after maybe 45 mins were 6 mins apart, rang hospital and they suggested a bath, so had a bath and about 20 mins later they were 3 mins apart, so got oh to phone hospital again as i was in no state to talk! they said we better go in, so off we went and they were now about 2 mins apart! as we were walking down the corridor i had another so dived onto the floor! poor oh was a bit embarrassed i think he was telling me to get up haha i just laid there! anyway eventually got into a room, i was examined and told i was 9 cm! then my water broke! i was screaming and the mean midwife kept telling me to stop! i couldnt believe i had got that far with no pain relief and was upset as i wanted a water birth, but there wasnt time! so quickly they wheeled me into a birth room and i laid on the bed, and used the gas and air, which didnt do anything for me, think it was a bit late? so she went out the room to get the pethedine, i will still screaming and then needed to push, i was screaming at oh to find her as baby was coming! so eventually she came back and gave the pethedine and after an hour or pushing Oliver was born at 1.51am after 5hour7 mins of labour. i had a second degree tear, so they stitched me back together and i had a bath. i left the hospital the same day!


    ashy x
  • Here's mine as I posted it when James was 9 days old. xx

    I woke up at 5am on 15th January, 5 days overdue. I had a bit of backache and needed the loo. This is when I had a bloody show, I'd had a little bit of mucus the 2 days before in the mornings, but nothing more. I texted my OH, who works nights saying I had the show, but no contractions yet. I began to get a sharp intermittent pain in my back, probably about 15-20 minutes later, so decided to have a shower. Unfortunately we don't have a bath.

    By 6am the sharp pains were coming every couple of minutes, I rang labour ward. They were dealing with an emergency, and wouldn't even talk to me, just told me to ring back in 20 minutes. I rang OH in that time saying I thought he should come home. When I spoke to a midwife I was told I sounded like I was in early labour, take a bath (explained I had taken a shower), take some Paracetamol, and use a hot water bottle as all the pain was in my back.

    The hot water bottle did absolutely nothing, as did the Paracetamol. Somewhere between 6.20am and 6.50am I started to feel the need to push. We rang the labour ward back at 6.50am and told them this, they said to come in. There was no way I could stop the urge, and it was a few minutes apart. With the backache taking a minute or so to ease off in between. I was concerned I was doing the baby harm, as obviously I didn't know how far dilated I was.

    It took half an hour to get me out the house! I hadn't got dressed after the shower, and that in itself was a palaver, because I wanted to move but couldn't. Finally forcing myself we did get to the hospital at about 7.35am. Laid on a bed in the labout room, and said I had had the need and needed now to push. Midwife said the baby's head was crowning, push away!!

    She meanwhile was faffing about looking to set up gas and air, which she asked my OH to open the equipment for! I took a couple of puffs on it, but to be honest the pushing stage wasn't as bad as that initial sharp pain in my back. I also think by the time I reached hospital I was more relaxed. She had listened to the heartbeat, which took a minute to find, and OH and I had a little panic, because of all the pushing at home. But it was lovely and strong. I had to pause so the midwife could unwrap the cord from around the baby's neck, he also had his arm up. The midwife also had to take the cord from around baby's body. I actually think I enjoyed the last pushes in hospital. Baby was put on my tummy, and OH, who had not been sure whether he wanted to or not, cut the cord. He is proud he allowed the first lot of air into our baby's lungs! Smile Baby was born at 7.45am after a 2hr 45min labour.

    I had a 3rd degree tear as the baby's arm had been up, and the baby had passed a small amount of meconium. So baby had to be monitored for 12 hours, and I had to go to theatre to have a repair. Signed all my consent etc. and was told they would fit me in before an elective c-section.

    Knew a couple of the people in the theatre by sight from my nursing training, but didn't care! Spinal was lovely, took away my cramps. Had a litre of fluids up. I could hear baby in the recovery room waiting for me. OH by this time was knackered and flagging after working all night! Baby's weight was 8lb 12.5oz, and his name is James Dalton John R.

    From the recovery room went to the ward, and we stayed overnight because baby wasn't taking to breastfeeding. He was getting so frustrated everytime they tried to help me do it. So took the decision to bottle feed, and was allowed home lunchtime the next day.

    I can't believe I didn't have my waters break, have no idea where they went! Also that I had no pain in my bump, all in my back. No-one told me you could have a labour like that. As for the length of labour, I don't know if it progressed that quickly or if some of it was 'silent'. But it took us by surprise.
  • hi hun, well i have two x

    i got pregnant with my first in jan 07
    i had a really good pregnancy needed a anti d injection at about 30 weeks and would need one after my son was born, i got to 39 weeks and had a sweep had a little bit of show sorry for tmi when i got home and thought that was a show for things to come and had contractions the next day but nothing came of it and it was very disappointing plus with my step mum in law ringing everyday didn't help x.

    i got to 40 weeks 13 days and got the call from the hospital to be induced and kept in till i had my son.

    went in on the friday night and had a very bad night sleep and was working at 6 for a bath and they induced me at 10, the labour pains started right away and were very painful and because of the g/a needed to pee loads lol which meant going to the loo with no pain relief, the pain was a lot for me and they decided to break my waters and it took about half a hour to stop.

    the mw decided to check how many cms i was i got to 2cm and was disappointed and was in so much pain from the mw with the big hands and needed more pain relief so had pethidine which really helped.

    after a nap was checked again every hour till 9 i just got to 4 cm and was very upset, the doctor came in and decided for me to have a em c section due to my waters breaking and not dilating anymore.

    at this point i was very tired so happy we were having the c section i just wanted my son born safety however i did find the labour upsetting as i wanted to move around use my ball and was stuck in bed with machinery on me.

    however i walked down to the theater which surprised the doctor and we got the surgery on the way my son tyler rhys jones was born 12.03 8.14 lbs and was so beautiful little red thing lol

    *********************************************************************************

    my 2nd birth story

    this is short one lol xx

    i got pregnant with my daughter when my son was 11 months old. october 08

    atfer having a c section and having gestational diabetes, i was in and out of hospital for scans, had five in all because they thought my daugther was going to be a big baby xx

    i decided i was going to have election c section booked for the 15th july when i was 39 weeks.

    I went in on the Wednesday at 8 after not eating for 12 hours, as I had gestational diabetes I was going to have my c section early unless there was any emergencies there was one emergency so I got sent down for my c section at 10.

    the nurse who was looking after me while i was having my spinal was lovely and really took my mind off the pain, my dad was looking after my son so my oh was my birth partner, as it was my 2nd it took a bit longer to get to the baby but then she was born at 11.03 we named her Tiffany Riannon Jones and weighed 7.03lbs xxx

    thanks for reading both and is crying remembering it all, both the best days in my life xxx

  • My birth story begins with elevated blood pressure about three weeks prior to the birth. This resulted in numerous trips to the day assessment unit to be monitored and then sent home. Eventually I was diagnosed with Pre Eclampsia at 38 weeks which was particularly scary for me as my mum had suffered a stillbirth at 36 weeks due to undiagnosed PE.

    On the Tuesday morning (39+1), I had a routine midwife appointment. My BP was elevated again and I had protein in my urine. Once again we were dispatched to the DAU fully expecting to be sent home again after a few hours. We went through the usual routine of having BP monitored, blood test and an hour on the monitor before going off for lunch to wait for the blood test results to come back. When we returned, the doctor informed us he wasnt happy with the test results and wanted to admit me with the view to induce me the next day or day after. This was a bit scary but also a relief as I no longer felt that my body was the safest place for my baby. We got settled in a room and my mum came over to drop off my bags. She and hubby left at 9pm. At 9.10, a midwife came into the room and announced she would be starting the induction now using a pessary. This was a bit of a shock as I'd been told we would be starting in the next couple of days and I found the pessary insertion extremely distressing as it felt really invasive. Nothing much happened following that and I had a fairly peaceful night's sleep. The next morning my mum and husband returned and I had a second pessary inserted. The rest of the day was spent bouncing on birthing balls and pacing the corridors in the hope to get things moving but nothing was happening and so a third pessary was inserted. Again, nothing happened and so at about 9pm Wednesday evening, a Doctor arrived to break my waters. She began by examining me and unfortunately my cervix was still unfavourable - high and closed. As she finished her examination, i felt a woosh and a flood of fluid. Thankfully my waters had broken and i wasn't required to have them broken with the scary hooked stick thing she'd bought in with me. The Doctor then said she was starting me on the syntocin drip to stimulate contractions but warned me as my cervix was so unfavourable, we could be looking at 24 hours plus of labour. Things happened fairly quickly after that. I was sent to have a shower and then moved to a delivery suite. I was introduced to my midwife, Melanie and set up on a bed strapped to a monitor to keep an eye on Pip. Melanie attempted to insert a cannula to deliver the syntocin but couldn't find a vein (and made a complete mess of my wrist in the process, still got a purple bruise a week later!). She decided to contact the anaesthetist to do it and warned me that although he was the best in the hospital he had 'no bedside manner whatsoever and can upset people'. I was already worried about the anaesthetist as with my raised BMI, i was prepared for him to be rude to me about it however, the guy who arrived was the nicest ever! He was so sweet and reassuring that I have no idea what Melanie had been talking about! He inserted the cannula and the drip began. Within minutes I started to have contractions. Every 30 minutes the drip was turned up higher and the contractions became more intense, however the monitor was only picking up one in 3 contractions and as a result, Melanie refused to even give me paracetemol for the pain. At this point i was strapped onto the bed with a drip in one arm and the monitor round my stomach, lying on a horrible gel pad which kept sticking to my back and legs which melanie refused to move as it 'prevents bed sores' and a wedge cushion under my right side to move the baby to the left slightly and make it more comfortable. Not the easiest position to be in when ur in pain and wishing you could move around! The monitor still was not picking up my contractions but was recording that Pip's heartbeat kept dipping as the drip was increased. Melanie was not particularly supportive at this point and kept telling me that i wasnt really in pain and that i needed to be braver. After a couple more hours of contractions, she finally relented and allowed me to have some gas and air. My notes also stated that i was to have an early epidural so she contacted the anaesthetist to administer it. The epidural took about an hour to administer by which point my husband was on the floor looking pale and sweaty lol. Once it was finally inserted, the relief was amazing!! Hubby immediately went out for some air to recover. During the application of the epidural, the monitor had been switched off and they switched it back on whilst they fitted my catheter. Within minutes the room was filled with people and I was informed that the baby was in distress and we would have to go for an emergency section. I immediately burst into tears and, worn down by Melanie's comments over the past 8 hours, cried to my mum about how i was a failure to not even being able to deliver my child safely. They put an oxygen mask on me to calm me down and my poor hubby was greeted by this sight when he returned to the room. We were immediately whisked down to the operating theatre with me informing everyone that i needed a wee lol due to the catheter and being high on gas and air. they must have told me about 10 times that I wasnt going to wet myself but i still insisted! Hubby went to get changed into his scrubs and the anaesthetist described what was about to happen. I kept dropping off to sleep as they prepped me as a result of the GandA but managed to stay awake as they stated to operate. I couldn't feel anything that was happening and within minutes heard my baby cry. I immediately burst into tears as she was whisked across the room to be checked and i dispatched hubby to find out if it was a boy or girl - it was an amazing feeling to be told my Isobel Rose had been born. As i was sewed up, the midwife bought her over for kisses and then she was handed to hubby for their first cuddle. The lovely anaesthetist talked me through what was happening and, as I was about to be returned to my room, stroked my forehead and told me that i had been extremely brave 'no matter what anyone else had told me'.
    As soon as we were back in our room, Isobel was bought over to me to be latched on and we spent an amazing hour together. She truly is the most wonderful thing to have ever happened to us and as clich????d as it sounds, despite how traumatic i found the labour, i would do it again ten times over to hold my baby girl in my arms image xx
  • Hi

    Mine is an epic as I was in labour for 6 days!! You can read it here:

    http://www.babyexpert.com/chatroom/topic/152371
    Good luck with your labour/birth - I remember reading as many birth stories as I could before Toby was born and while I did scare myself silly sometimes I think it did actually prepare me better - knowledge is power!

    C image
  • Mine is slightly different as its a twin one but I had so much fun writing it, and sobbed through parts of it! Its an Epic though!

    http://www.babyexpert.com/chatroom/topic/137043
  • I loved hearing other ppls so here's mine. Excuse some of the vagueness lol.

    I had been having period type cramps for a few days but had got worse on the wednesday night. On the Thursday morning I had a mw appointment so was up getting ready & part of my plug came away. While at the mw I said what all I was feeling & she was saying it sounds like the start but it maybe a couple more weeks for u as baby's head was not engaged yet. So left mw quite disappointed as I was hoping this was starting to happen. As the day went on I was getting sorer & at around 4pm decided to have a bath, which after I felt really tired so went to have a doze. At around 7pm a felt a bit wet & had a bloody show with some contraction like pain, it wasn't constant enough every 10-12 mins, rang mw & she said as my bloody show was quite watery to go up to hospital to check.

    So we arrived at hospital at around 8pm to find my waters hadn't broke, but my bp was so high (158/106) I was going to be admitted anyway. This was after me saying to oh sure we'll go up find out what the craic was & we'd be home for our dinner an hour later!! So as I was being admitted, getting a line put in me incase I needed a blood transfusion My waters broke & was 2cm dilated.

    We got down onto the ward & my contractions started to get a bit more sore by this stage. Me & oh paced the corridors for around 2 hours, stopping for a pee or a drink every so often. At around 1am we decided to go to the bath which I spent 2 & half hours in!! Contractions were still getting sorer & at around 4am decided to go on gas & air. I had an internal at that point & was 5cm so was asked as it was very quiet did I want to go up to the labour ward & get myself settled, which we did.

    Once I go up there the pain continued to get worse & contractions coming every 8 mins or so & by about 7am I was 7-8cms dilated. The pain was quite bad by now & was ready to go up a level of pain relief. In my birth plan I had stated I wanted to have a home from home suite, which had mood lighting & birth pool, but as I had high bp I wasn't allowed it, but our mw offered us to go & use the pool & come back up to have the baby, but was quite comfy where I was so declined. I managed to continue on the G&A until around 9am when i knew I could not take anymore & went onto remi, (which is a bit like pethandine, but does not cross placenta & is on a button so u can just get a hit when u need one & is on a 2 min timer so u don't od)

    This is were I get a bit hazy. After the 1st few hits of the remi I was so high & dopey, but it was great, very little pain. The labour slowed down so much that it nearly stopped & my oh was sent for some breakfast. At around 12pm I was examined again to find I'd gone back to 5-6cm, I was raging!!! Then at around 1pm was put on a hormone drip to speed things up. & boy did it speed things up! I had been drinking lots of water & not peeing & the mw's brought me to the loo to try to make me pee, which was very annoying as I had a drip, a monitor, a bucket to pee in (so they could measure amount) But the most annoying thing, an automatic flush on the toilet, so with every contraction I moved & the toilet thought I was standing up & decided to go off!!! Then at some point, (only knew after I'd given birth) a catator was fitted. The G&A made me sick & had puked all over my oh. I was so dopey I was fallen asleep inbetween contractions although I do remember to urge to poo (which I never thankfully) but that was me nearly ready.

    At about 3ish I remember a lot more activity in the room & the sister saying they were taking the remi off me so I could start pushing & rememeber thinking are u f**k & pushed the button loads of times lol. I came around a bit as the remi started to wear off & was pushing, I could feel her head coming down & was very sore & thought she was crowning but wasn't. At that point I wanted her out & started to push with no contraction, not a good idea. There was also talk of cutting me & I said no way I was tearing if anything which I think made me more determined to get her out as I was not getting cut!! With each push I was looking up at the clock to see what time it was & remember at about 3.35pm why have they taken the clock off the wall?? Surely I'm more important than a bloody clock (they hadn't btw I just couldn't see it!!)

    After 20mins of pushing Rhea was born at 3.41pm, she had the cord looped around her neck, but was crying when just her head was out lol. She weighed 6lb 6oz & was just perfect & oh cut the cord, which was very special to us both.

    I had tore during the birth & after what seemed like a lot of ppl coming in the room to have a look they decided it was a 3rd degree tear & would take me to theratre to have a spinal to be stitched up. So after scrawling my name I was taken in, I hated every minute of it as I could tell what was happening & just wanted it over with. But, am glad it was done like that as it was a job very well done. In recovery my temp went up & it was the mw's shift change so couldn't go back down to the ward & it ended up being at around 11ish that I was brought down to my room, with my very sexy surgery stockings on lol.

    The next morning I had my catator removed & was able to get out of bed, I was very stiff, but after a couple of days was able to move about very easily.

    Good luck with ur labour.

    Jayne xx





  • Hi hun, I LOVED reading BS's when I was pg (still do but don't seem to have time now!). So here's mine, I hope yours is as straightforward & quick!!!

    My birth story - Benjamin Alexander, arrived at 10.46am Monday 5th April.

    The day before going into labour I was on a mission to kick start things! We went for a brisk 4 mile walk, I bathed in clary sage, ate a semi-spicy meal followed by two pineapples, bounced on my ball all evening and watched Michael McIntyre which literally made me cry with laughter! However, despite having quite a few Braxton hicks on my walk, I didn't think it would come to anything.

    I woke up for a usual loo visit, and on my way back suddenly had this awful period-like pain that was mainly in my back. I was really surprised as it hurt a lot straightaway. That was at 3.55am. I had another one at 4.05am, then 4.15am. I decided that I would put my TENS machine on if I had another one so I woke my OH up and told him I thought that I was in labour. We nervously awaited the next contraction and at 4.26am it arrived. We put my TENS on and I came down to get the laptop so I could use an online timer. That seemed to be the kiss of death as it then was about 16 minutes later that I got my next one. After that though, the timings just went out the window - they were anything from 2 to 12 minutes apart, lasting anything from 25 to 70 seconds. I was utterly confused and rang triage to speak to a midwife. She told me that it sounded like the baby had moved into a back-to-back position and I was having coupling contractions - smaller contractions in between the -main' ones. The contractions continued to get more painful and I told my OH I thought that he would have to get up as my hospital bag still wasn't totally packed (!) and I was trying to finish off my hospital playlist in between getting down on my hands and knees and pressing down the surge button on my TENS as if my life depended on it! We eventually went downstairs at about 7am and Alex made toast whilst I bounced on my ball, but every time I got a contraction I ended up back on my hands and knees. At about 8am I told Alex that I wanted to go to hospital just to be checked as the contractions were consistently every three minutes and were quickly getting more painful.

    We eventually made it out the house and Alex moved the front seat right forward so I could be on my hands and knees in the well in the back seat. The hospital is about 20 minutes drive away and it wasn't a nice journey ...I rang them to let them know we were on my way and the receptionist was a bit grumpy - told me that I would probably be sent home and to make sure I'd eaten before I arrived! We made it to the hospital and got sent through into triage where the midwife listened to the baby etc in between contractions. Eventually she did an internal and told me I was 6-7cm dilated!!! I couldn't believe it, Alex was in tears, everything was suddenly very real. I still can't believe that 4.5hrs after the first contraction I was that far along! And I was really relieved that I wasn't just 1cm and being a total wimp! I told the midwife I wanted a water birth and she rang up to the birthing centre and they started running the pool and sent someone down for me! Even though my contractions were every 2-3 minutes, in between I was chatting to the midwifes and really relaxed which I think probably helped speed things up.

    We got into the room with the birthing pool and it was amazing - kitchenette, en-suite, big birthing pool, bed, bean bags, ball, plasma TV with Magic FM playing...I remember being on my hands and knees having a contraction and all I could hear was Walking on Sunshine playing - Magic quickly went off after that...! Then my TENS machine broke - the electrodes fell out of 3 of the 4 pads - couldn't believe it. Luckily I was about to go into the pool (though not before realising I hadn't packed my swimmers! Bra and knickers did in the end!) - that was about 9.30am. Getting in the water felt amazing. I was worried that it might slow things down but the contractions quickly got more painful and I ended up asking for gas and air at about 10am. I was suddenly getting the urge to push and the MWs put on their plastic aprons and I could feel the head coming down. I was sucking on the gas and air as if my life depended on it! I was so happily surprised by the NHS - it wasn't turned into a medical procedure at all - it was very much trust your body stuff. They never told me to push etc - just said to go with how I felt. The only time they gave me direction was during crowning to take small breaths to ease the baby out gently. I remember the head coming out and after that it was a blur until they said -catch your baby'. I was so confused! I could see this baby under the water with all this hair - it was just amazing. I managed to bring him to the surface but could feel the cord pulling and they realised that it was wrapped twice round his neck. They unwrapped it in seconds though and he let out the most massive cry. The best ever sound!

    Alex looked and saw that it was a little boy - but only after prompting by the midwife as we'd both forgotten that it was anything other than a baby! I had about 30 minutes skin-to-skin time during which the cord stopped pulsating and so Alex cut it, then Alex took our boy and I got out of the pool for third stage. I had a small tear and needed a couple of stitches for -cosmetic' purposes. He weighed 7lbs 6.5ozs. After about an hour he latched on and fed for about 45 minutes! He was born at 10.46am and we were home by 6pm.

    He is such a good little boy, after a couple of dodgy nights, he sleeps for 4-hours at a time and then feeds like a pro, he will sit in his bouncer quite happily gazing around and only lost 5.5oz in the first 5 days. I couldn't imagine how having a baby would make me feel - nothing else matters and I just feel totally overwhelmed by how much I love him.

    The best job in the world!

    Sorry for going on - I wanted to writs e a full account so that I had it to keep!

    xxxxxx

    ***I should just add that 8 weeks on he is still wonderful - motherhood is the most fantastic thing I have ever experienced - enjoy image ***
  • With dd1 I was induced at 39+4 due to pregnancy induced hypertension. It was a long slow process, they started on Monday afternoon and she was born Wednesday morning. They tried to break my waters a few times but failed, then eventually they went on their own. A shot of pethadine meant I could get some sleep and recharge a bit. Apart from that I just used a TENS machine and G&A. I think because it was so slow the contractions built up steadily and I wasn't overwhelmed. The pushing part was fairly quick ( don't remember how long), at first I just thought I needed the toilet until the mw told me that was the baby. I gave birth kneeling on the bed leaning on the back of it. The worst part was being attached to the monitors and so very restricted to how much I could move and also as they were so busy being rushed out of the room before really having enough time to bond with baby properly. The best bit was obviously having a gorgeous, healthy little girl. Straight away I said I'd do it all again tomorrow.

    With dd2 we were planning on a home birth. After a few days of period like pains my waters broke at about midnight on Monday night at 41 weeks and she was born about 10 hours later. Unfortunately there was meconium so we ended up having to go to hospital anyway. Was suprised by how much water there was, definatley more than with dd1 and it was gushing everywhere for ages and still going by the time we got to hospital. Again I had to be hooked up to monitors but baby kept moving so they tried to put a clip on her head to properly monitor her heart beat, that was very painful and they couldn't do it anyway. As I wasn't progressing fast enough after a few hours they put me on the drip to speed it up as they wanted to get her out due to meconium. Because of this they put me on quite a high dose which made the contractions very intense very quickly and was very nearly overwhelming. Again I was just on Tens machine and G&A but because they were so close together I didn't even have time in between to think let alone ask for anything else. I was really trying to concentrate on my breathing and at one point even told the mw to shut up so I could. The drip did its job and I dilated extremely quickly (thank god as I don't know how long I could have coped like that), the mw then wanted me to lie on my back so she could check how dilated I was but I just couldn't move and just told her I was going to start pushing, though tbh there is no way I could have not pushed. Again I was on my knees leaning on back of bed and after a few pushes she came out. This time was a bit more scary as she was purple and took a while to respond and I had a fair bit of bleeding. She was fine and started breathing probably a lot quicker than it felt, but I think I was in shock due to how quick it had all happened and the blood loss and just lay on the bed shaking while daddy gave her her first cuddles.

    Good luck with your birth, I hope it all goes well for you.
  • Here's mine:

    http://www.babyexpert.com/chatroom/topic/155992

    Good luck, hope you have a good birth experience x
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