Mums - what was your experience?

[K1999]

Interested to hear people's experiences with the days leading up to their labour. Don't hold back the nitty gritty!

It’s hard with your first. I was 9 days past the due date and had for at least a week been having mild contractions that would go on for hours and then stop. So that day, was having some mild contractions and thought it was more of the same. So, I went and did the grocery shop. Then I came home and was full of energy and restless, so scrubbed the kitchen top to bottom and then cooked a full roast dinner! After we ate, that was when I realised the contractions were still going! So I sat with DH with a movie on the TV and we started to time them. By the end of the movie, we decided to call the midwife. Yes, it was real labour. She arrived around midnight. Laboured all night, and then the next day. Baby was born at 9 pm, 10days after due date.
So that was a long labour with a gradual ramp up. The restlessness I had early on the midwife said some women get and she called it “nesting”
My next three i was more self aware and they were much faster births.

7!days overdue, 41 week midwife appt and her words ' this baby isn't coming today' within 5 minutes of being in the door at home it hit me, straight to the hospital where I was pushing within the hour

Both times eight days late.

DC1 on off contractions for 24hours, then approx nine hours of hard going, exhausting labour. By the time pushing came I was barely awake and pethidine made me completely out of it, not in a good way. Waters broke approx ten minutes before his birth and I tore badly.

DC 2 waters broke at home at teatime with no other labour signs at all. Went in around 11pm to be checked over and was kept in cos waters had gone, still no signs of labour.

By 1.30am I started having niggles so had a bath then paced the ward. Midwives convinced me to go to the labour ward and phone DH, I was still convinced I had a long time to go as it really wasn’t sore.

Just at one point did it get painful so I asked for gas and air - the midwife laughed and said I had just delivered the head, so no point. Total labour two hours from start to finish.

I absolutely LOVED my second labour.

I was induced at 38 weeks. Pessary went in at 12.00 noon, twinges started at 7.00pm but they weren't bad at all. Had a sweep at 11.00 am, and by 3.00pm I was 4cm.

Had my waters broken at 4.30, was 10cm at 10.30pm. I managed to avoid foreceps delivery Dd was born at 00.40.

Was a slow process but to be honest it didn't drag. I was pretty chilled to be honest right up until the end when I discovered I couldn't have an epidural - I was knackered so had a bit of a strop.

I didn't get on with gas and air, so had no pain relief.

It was an amazing experience. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

With DS1 I felt like my undercarriage was going to give out and had frequent Braxton Hicks. The day before, I felt really tired and irritable, then I woke up at 6.30am with proper contractions (DS was born as 11.14 the day after that).

With DS2 I was well past due date. Again, had a day of feeling really irritable and uncomfortable. Contractions started early evening and baby arrived early next morning.

Currently sitting on the ward with DS skin to skin reading your stories 😍

So my waters broke at 1am, 16 hours later after being induced, my perfect baby boy was born. Still I'm absolute awe !

Wow @lachy the fact you did that without any pain relief is just incredible to me. I couldn't cope with the contractions at 2cm!!
I had epidural at 4cm.
Started pushing at 16:40 and baby was born at 17:07! Barely any time pushing I was armament this boy was coming out haha

I felt great during the days leading up to labour. I gave up work a fortnight before due date but my baby actually arrived five days early so I had nine/ten days off. I was calm, busy, felt well and rested.

On the evening before birth I was at an ante natal class with my husband, lying down and going through what to do during a contraction - breathing, tapping out a tune, etc. I thought I felt gentle contractions and said as much to husband who shook his head vehemently and told me it was far too early :-). Anyway we went home, watched telly, all was normal but I was still having the strange, very light, contraction like feelings.

In the middle of the night it all started properly, my waters broke , we went into hospital at 4.30am and I gave birth at 6.35am. Easy peasy, no drugs. I have very happy memories of the whole thing and often laugh at the fact that I did actually start labour whilst practising for it.

Congratulations @K1999 - would you like to share a photo?

@CormoranStrike he's perfect!

@K1999 you are right, he is absolutely adorable and looks teeny tiny.

Share as much info about him and your birth as you like, I love a baby story.

@K1999, lol! it was just how it was. Although if you ask DH he would tell you that I did have pain relief. I was put on a paracetamol drip because I was running a bit of a temperature.

I'm not sure how effective paracetamol is as pain relief in labour but in the interests of full disclosure and all that, I had paracetamol!

Your little boy is beautiful. Enjoy all your snuggles

Well once I got to the hospital they realised he had pooed in the womb! So they had to induce me to hurry me up and if it took much longer than it did I would've had to have a c section. Thankfully he decided to come out!
But I could not of done it without pain relief!! I heard many times 'there's no medals for doing it without pain relief!' But my God there should be!!