I had a baby on the bathroom floor AMA

[TiffanyLampOn]

Not sure how many questions there could be here but I've just lost someone very very dear to me and I need a distraction tonight!

Did you know you were pregnant? Was it a very quick labour? First baby?

(I'm sorry for your loss)

I’m sorry for your loss, OP. 💐

Thank you ❤️

Yes, I did know I was pregnant. Third child 😊

Yes, it was quick, about 90 minutes all in.

Had you intended a home delivery, or did it all just happen too fast?

Sorry for your loss.

How scared were you when you knew the baby was being born in the bathroom? I had a very fast labour on dc2. I was pushing as we reached the hospital and she was born as soon I was got into the delivery room. I was terrified in the car that we wouldn't get there.

I wanted a home delivery (with a midwife), was told I couldn't have one, and then ended up with one without a midwife.

Did it just happen much quicker than you expected? Were your previous labours short? Did you have to go to hospital after?

@Emptinest it didn't really register, weirdly. It was just the pain that I was trying to get through and I wasn't thinking about anything past the next two minutes.

It's just an ensuite with a cronky old shower and lino floor, and isn't very big or very clean (my cleaning schedule slipped during the pregnancy).

You must have been very afraid having to rush in like that, what a relief to have made it!

@Flibbertyfloo no, the previous labours were about four and six hours long.

I woke up in the morning with pains about two minutes apart and it didn't really register that this was IT. I kept (mistakenly) feeling I wanted to go to the toilet so was getting on and off the loo.

DH called the labour ward and explained things as I couldn't speak and they told him to bring me down for some pain meds and then I could go home, but I couldn't really move by that point.

I did go to hospital, which I regret 😂

Who delivered the baby? DH? Did he know what to do? Were your other children awake/watching?
Did you cut cord at home/deliver placenta at home?

@Algoquick the other DC were woken by my screaming and came in, yes. They looked a bit bewildered but not frightened.

However I was screaming pretty loudly at this point so DH took the DC out to get them dressed.

Then I sort of felt something and thought erm could that be...?

Then DH came back in and looked around me and said a few choice words. I asked him if the head was out, and he told me later that the baby was blue, which is of course normal.

He said something like hang on a minute don't push, and he said afterwards that the cord was around baby's neck, so he had to deal with that.

I actually wish he'd taken a photo, not to keep and have pop up on timehop, but just to see what he was dealing with.

Then he said Ok push again and the baby was born quickly.

I figured we should call an ambulance for I don't know what reason, so they came and dealt with the cord and took me to hospital where the placenta was delivered.

Same thing with my second. I went into labour at about 6am. DH took my toddler downstairs for breakfast at 6.30 and called my mum to come and sit with him so that we could go into hospital.
DS was born at 6.50 into the toilet! DH was still downstairs with our eldest. I scooped up DS and called down to DH who came up to find a baby he wasn't expecting to see for hours.

Paramedics came out to check us over, and the first to arrive was my friend's husband, and there I was naked in the bathroom in a pool of blood, holding a baby! 😂

There wasn't much to do, so he went downstairs and chatted to my husband, whilst his colleague came upstairs to help me deliver the placenta, get me into the shower and then into bed. She then put the placenta into a Tesco carrier bag!

My mum arrrived an hour later, confused about the ambulance outside, and very shocked to find he had already been born!

The pure adrenaline had me on a high for days! It was an entirely pain-free labour and the best experience of my life! (Especially after a very traumatic first birth experience).

He's 15 now and his siblings still laugh at him for being born into the toilet!

So sorry for your loss OP. Did you find it traumatic having the baby with no medical professionals present?

What did your older dc think about it?

@elliejjtiny they took it in their stride. I think they were annoyed that I then disappeared to hospital with the baby.

My waters broke over the toilet with an almighty pop. I thought for a moment I would find the baby in the toilet and did look.

The trauma didn't really become apparent until a few weeks after, when the adrenaline began to fade and I started to wonder why they didn't send a midwife.

I'm glad we didn't call the ambulance before DC was born though, because four blokes with big boots on isn't the same as a midwife!

It was therefore quite calming that it was just dh.

@VivienneDelacroix gosh he was born into the toilet? Did he crash into the bowl or did you catch him?

We don't flush for night wees in the en suite so it wouldn't be clean in ours!!😭😭😭

No pain? How?! That's fascinating. How did you know you were in labour?

Supposedly the Foetal Ejection Reflex is painless, and involves a feeling of dissociation, but I assumed one would be lying down, not sat upright on a toilet.

I had sensations, but not pain. Like tightening, but definitely not pain. I did train as an antenatal teacher between my first and second children, so I knew a lot about physiology and how to manage labour. I was upright the whole time, mostly standing, until I sat on the loo for less than a minute and he was born.

He went into the bowl! It was fine. Apparently it's not that rare!

Oh my goodness. Your DH has a cool head, having the presence of mind to deal with the cord round baby's neck calmly and without drama. I'm so glad it all turned out okay.

I’m sorry for your loss OP.

Did you remember to note the time of birth?

I almost gave birth to DS2 in the car, similar to a PP. He was born a few minutes after we got to the hospital. The midwives laughed when I asked for an epidural!

Did someone call for clean towels and hot water? 😂 and a stick to bite on!

No, seriously - that’s awesome. Go you 💪 I nearly had one of mine at home and all I could think about was the mess!

Just wanted to say sorry for your loss but congratulations on your baby you superwoman. I had both of mine at home, planned, but second was so fast that the midwife literally ran in and caught him!

Sorry for your loss OP.

Do you think it was the surprise home birth that caused the adrenaline high for the time period after? Did you notice when that feeling went away?

I also had an ‘accidental’ homebirth (2nd baby, 42 minute long labour), and it was so wonderful I was on cloud 9 for days. I originally thought I had just had a better labour than my previous difficult one so I thought it was just normal to be ‘ok’. But thinking at how I skipped into the ambulance with the umbilical cord still inside but tucked into my trousers and went about my daily life with toddler in tow in the immediate days after, maybe it was the adrenaline rush! I soon felt the crash and struggled to recover from PPD/PPA ever since really.

I had a narrow escape with DS2.
Labour was 3 hours for DS1 so I kind of thought it might be quicker second time round. Waters broke ( all over a very nice chair) and contractions came thick and fast. Rang the midwife who tutted and said don't come in yet you'll be hours ring back tomorrow.
Glad I decided to ignore her, we live in a village half an hour from hospital and I genuinely thought I'd give birth in the car. Every time I drive past a certain set of traffic lights it takes me back 27 years! I just made it through the door of the delivery suite.