Actually 'ouch' doesn't even begin to cover it. I had a son - no name yet - yesterday morning at 9.28 am at home, as planned. Didn't plan for him to be a ten pounder though - might have asked for every drug going if I had known! Our dd1 was only seven twelve so nothing prepared us for it.
Here's the story for those who are interested - My waters broke on Monday (or so I thought) and then nothing happened. After 20 hours I was told to attend the maternity day unit to discuss my options as too much time had passed without anything happening. As the baby was five days late, the hospital said they'd like to keep me in and induce. This was because they have a 24 hour 'deadline' for women giving birth after their waters break because of the risk of infection.
However I know that this is a policy thing and that some hospitals allow 48 hours so I told them that I would like another night to give my labour a chance to start naturally. (Also felt the risk of infection was increased, not reduced by me being in hospital) I told them I'd rethink my options the next day and if things hadn't happened by then I might reconsider. Was very keen to still have a home birth though and took an instant dislike to the doctor who was condescending in the extreme. I told them that there wasn't nearly as much water as last time when they broke but nobody investigated further.
That night I came home and tried every self induction method possible. Went to bed, stressed and nervy, at one. Woke with contractions at 2. Called the midwife who arrived at 3 and found me to be 3 cms dilated. She also discovered that my membranes were still intact and that it must have been my hind waters that had broken. (If only someone had checked I'd have been saved a lot of heartache) The first five hours of the seven hour labour were fine. I coped with a TENS machine and walked around, climbed the stairs and generally did everything to try and make it go quickly. Had my own music, my own food and a lovely atmosphere going here so very happy.
The last two hours were really tough, partly because one of the midwives ran out of gas and air and the other one got stuck in traffic. I couldn't understand why it was so much harder than last time until I found out his weight! But the post birth moment was great not only because he's gorgeous and here but because I'm done now - I never have to go through that again! Had tea and toast in my own bed afterwards, a dip in the pool and then saw friends and family across the day. All the reasons that a home birth, despite the lack of hard-core pain relief - is ultimately so lovely.