Anyone want to share a GOOD birth story?!

[BellaCB]

It just seems like everyone has horror stories! And not just the people who are overly keen to share horrific stories - for all my family and friends who have had babies over the past few years its been a litany of forceps, 4-day labours, emcs, inductions with pain off the scale, filthy hospitals...!

I'm 32w with DC1 and could really, really do with hearing about a pretty decent birth before I terrify myself into utter panic!

ps - the whole waters breaking in a whoosh in a shop or wherever, not saying it doesn't happen like that, but mine all went as head was crowning.

I had a wonderful birth experience with DS2, after a terrible induction with DS1. 10 days overdue, I had a few pains on the Sunday, and had been losing plug all week, so I had an idea it was coming. I was so glad to beat my induction date the next day! We were laughing in the car on the way, saying this time round we were having the authentic hospital dash labour experience, we missed out on that with DS1 :)

We got to the labour ward in about 10 minutes, I got on a birth ball and breathed through the pains. My MW was lovely, once I was changed and settled she examined me and I was about 3/4cms. So for the next 4 hours, I used the hypnobirthing techniques to breathe through the contractions. We had some chilled out music on, the lights dim, and the MW burned some lavender oil, so it was a nice relaxed atmosphere.

MW noticed at about 4am that baby's HB was dipping a bit after contractions, and taking a wee while to recover. So she broke my waters, and put a trace on his head. From then on the pain was much more intense, so I requested an epidural. I wanted to avoid gas and air and diamorphine this time round, as I had both with DS1 and felt out of control and out my face, and couldn't remember much about his birth. So this time, I decided just to go for an epidural as I know I am a weiner with pain :o

Had the epi done by about 5am, and it worked pretty much right away, which was utter bliss. From then on until about 8am, DH and I chatted, dosed and just generally relaxed. It was great!

I was examined again at 8am, and I was fully dilated! She monitored baby for an hour then I started pushing at about half 9. I had no sensation so she told me when to push and I went for it, I felt so strong and ready and I had energy for it as I was not shattered or scared with the pain, like last time. Brilliant!

I pushed for just over an hour. My contractions started to slow down so I had the drip to speed them up. DH and I just kept saying "he's coming! He's coming!" and grinning at each other. DS2's head came out, then I had to wait for a contraction to come, and I could hear him making little noises! Amazing :) I reached down and could feel his little head, all damp and silky. Then I gave another big push and out he came! MW put him right onto my chest and kept the cord attached, like I had requested. We were just blown away, totally euphoric, grinning and crying and hugging each other and our darling wee man.

I felt totally high, euphoric and alive giving birth to DS2! It was the most intense, amazing experience of my life. I am so happy I decided to have an epidural, it's not for everyone but it made it such a happy, positive experience for us. DH loved it that this time I was totally with it, and not gibbering rubbish in his ear with my eyes rolling!

I swear, I would do it all again in a second. I actually felt a bit down in the days after it, as the high began to fade. I want to relive it all the time and the memory of it makes me so happy and proud! I am welling up just retelling this.

OP I hope you have a wonderful birth experience :)

I had 3 very straight forward births....TENS and gas and air (my compensation for the terrible, terrible sickness throughout!).
Things that worked for me.....reading everything beforehand so I was prepared and knew what to ask for if things didn't go to plan. Drinking raspberry leaf tea for a few weeks before the birth and keeping mobile as much as possible during labour. I didn't need an epidural so can't comment on that other than to say I am not sure how you can push effectively with the natural 'urge'.

Brilliant post! Gives me more confidence that is good be a good experience as well. Due 21st of December. Fingers crossed!!

My word that went on a bit sorry, as you can see I like to talk about it :o

Wow stranded just wow. Amazing story.

I'm loving these stories, please keep them coming. I don't have a positive birth story myself sadly, but i'm pregnant with dc2 right now and hoping for a better time this time.

Anyone got any really positive vbac stories? Breezy 2nd time rounds after complex and highly intervened firsts? I need them to give me hope!

Mild contractions started at around 6.30pm, bobbed off to hospital at about 9.30pm, daughter born at 12.30 with no interventions.

Top tip is to keep as uprightly mobile throughout. Gravity makes a massive difference IMO.

DD2's was a dream. About 25 hours from 1st contraction to her being born. 4 minutes pushing (3 mins of g&a) at home on kneeling leaning over the back of the futon with my doula on one side and DH one the other (MW at the catching end).

I have had worse periods, only one contraction hurt and that was the one I had while lying on my back so the MW could examine me.

After DD2 had been born DH said 'Can we try for another one' (or words to that effect). The MW said 'Can we get the placenta out first please?'.

Google Birth Ejection Reflex - that happened with DD2 & DD3 (DD3's labour was a smidge longer at 3 weeks from first contraction to her being born but it was a lovely birth too).

DSs birth... long, slow, stupid labour (for days) but all in all not a bad event. Could have been better if I had stuck to my guns and refused to lay on my back and be monitored and refused morphine. No real damage, was home and supermarket shopping 36 hours later.

DDs birth... long, slow, stupid labour (for days again). Planned homebirth, called MW out just to keep my mum happy that it wasn't "the real thing" as I had done the slow labour with DS. Was 8cm dilated. Told I was too late to fill birth pool, but I wasn't and was still another 4.5 hours. Was frustrating as my waters wouldn't go and my contractions were slowing. However MW popped waters and 6 mins later she was here. I can say that not only was it good, it was enjoyable and I would love to do it again. For a while after I was really low that I wasn't going to be doing it again! I had a big endorphin build up, no pain relief, and was happy, relaxed, comfortable and most important, not scared. I think if everyone had the same experience as me, you could sell childbirth as a drug! Minor grazing, was out for lunch with new baby less than 12 hours later.

A lot of people think I had 'easy' labours, or 'painless' contractions, or have a 'high' pain threshold. It was none of those things. The real contractions were not much worse than the fake ones and after 2 days of having to cope with them, I kind of got good at it (though exhausted). Doing what my body wanted (standing/sitting/lying/kneeling etc) helped. But more than anything, knowing that it was natural and normal and not terrifying got me through it.

Bored of sharing mine, but all three popped out without causing damage and in good time. Happens all the time

Wow, stranded, what a story! But very happy to hear that everything has worked out so well for you.

Good to hear that there are some ok experiences out there! Personally I'm still terrified but then I have the world's lowest pain threshold, I'm little (I know my size probably has absolutely nothing to do with it, but I can't help worrying) and also I've had a very sick and very manic pregnancy so I don't feel I've had much time to relax and 'enjoy' this pregnancy. Tbh I'm a little bit stuck in the 'no, really, I can't do this' phase at the moment , which I know certainly isn't the right way to look at it! But pleased to read that there are some positive, not too much intervention epi experiences out there, as I'm sure I'll end up having an epi...

Dutchie - good luck with eveything!

Hi...I gave birth to a beautiful 9 pound 9ouncer and it was a really good birth!!!! I had a TENS machine which I hired and found it a great source of pain relief whilst at home and when I first got to Hosp...then transferred to the pool and delivered my little beauty an hour and a half later! I sounded like a dinosaur but managed the pain with gas and air! It wasn't scary and it wasn't as painful as I had been led to believe...stay focused on seeing your lil baby for the first time and try to stay calm good luck it's the most amazing experience you will ever have...I will never forget saying to the midwives...it's true...the minute you see their face you forget the pain

3 fabulous births here - 1 hospital and 2 home births. I totally agree, everyone loves a horror story. I recall being at my NHS post birth classes with my first and not wanting to tell my story because it didn't match up to the trauma of everyone else's. That was until the health visitor specifically asked for happy stories and I gingerly raised my hand!
My first 2 births were very similar, both around 24 hours from the point at which I realised I was in labour until baby was born. But that doesn't mean 24 hours of pain. I had twinges to start with, then lovely warm baths and long mid-afternoon sleeps all figured with these births. In fact, when I had my 3rd, I was in complete denial that she was about to arrive as it followed exactly the same start pattern i.e. dicky tummy and twinges early evening. I was expecting to get a full nights sleep in then wake up and start again the next day. However, my daughter had different ideas and came a whole 17 hours early in my mind! For the first two I had just gas & air and for the 3rd no pain relief. This wasn't planned - I was open minded about the whole thing all along. It's fabulous to have a good idea of what you would like, but be ready to change your plan if needed. My midwives were all fantastic but I had one wonderful lady who attended my 2nd birth (which was my 1st home birth) who came out immediately she heard I was in labour with my 3rd, I was delighted!
Tips? Have a 'plan' but be flexible, keep moving, have a home birth if you can, have great midwives! (although you can't control this I appreciate!)
Giving birth is fabulous, you will have the most amazing experience of your life x

AS to the you being little thing - I'm 5 ft 2, and a size 8, 8st3 usually going up to just under 10 stone when pg. All of mine were 8 and a half pounds :)

Bella, I was the same about that stage. By 37 wks I was like "I don't care how bad it is, I just want this baby out!". I had rubbish pregnancies, and I'm not a natural 'maternal' type really. But births were fine. My MIL gave me the best advice. She said that when it was time to push, then it's not really 'pushing'. She said that it's best to pretend you're doing a giant poo on the bed. And she's spot on

I've had 3 lovely births: 2 hospital births and 1 home birth.
Ds: waters broke at 10 am, contractions at 3pm. I had stayed in hospital most of that time due to a slight temp on admission, but that naturally resolved. By 5 my contractions were often and strong enough for me to insist on a vaginal examination (I was on the ante natal ward). I was 5cm and so they sent me to the labour ward. There I happily used gas and air for a while. I had some pethidine at the mw's suggestion. I was 7 cm and I suspect it must have been around 9 as it was the new night shift mw who suggested it. Although it was nice at the time: allowing me to doze inbetween contractions, in hindsight I think I'd have been ok without the stuff. Ds was born at 12.05 (on the 25th of nov! This time 10y ago I'd've been high on gas and pethidine :grin:). I had a tear that needed some stitches, but nothing major. Skin to skin straightaway. First bf not too long after
Dd1: waters broke at 5am. Contractions started pretty much straightaway. 5 hours later she was born in hospital this time on my knees with just gas and air. Again smallish tear. This labour left me feeling completely high, empowered. Totally proud to be a woman and to be able to do something amazing! 6 hours later, we were home.
Dd2: started by just having contractions. Very quick at home. The midwife made it just in time and the hospital had sent an ambulance just in case. So instead of a lovely me and dh + mw calm experience; everyone and his dog was there . This time again I gave birth on my knees, clinging onto my birthing ball. No G&A because no one was there to give me any and by the time there was someone it wasn't worth having any. Dd2 went straight to the breast. Pretty much before her cord was even cut. I needed a few stitches again, but they could do that at home. I delivered the placenta naturally (i.e. no injection) and felt so much better than after the other 2. No nausea or anything. 2 hours later the mw were gone and we were able to relax at home and have a decent breakfast.

I have a positive birth story, despite it involving an emcs.

Went to midwife appointment on the wednesday afternoon (3 days overdue), she told me baby was huge (despite me barely eating thanks to hyperemesis) and to go to labour ward not mlu, although she didn't think I would go into labour for another week...

2am that night I woke to period like pains and realised I was in labour, went downstairs for a bit but was so excited I woke dh just to tell him to distract myself I watched an entire series of Glee back to back, contractions were,'t too bad, I visualised my baby to help me through them. My main memory is of laughing at Glee!

We went to hospital at 6pm and I was five centimetres dilated. Had lovely supportive midwifes with me the whole time and I got 'drunk' on gas and air and cracked loads of really bad jokes. Then when I was examined again a combination of ds's size and position meant they decided to do a c-section, but it was all really calm and not rushed. There was a lovely atmosphere in the room and it was very little time before ds was out (and screaming furiously!) Then he was handed to me and it was so wonderful to hold him I didn't notice the rest of the operation. I lay awake all night gazing at him while I cuddled him.

DD1 was a pleasant enough hospital birth with a bit of pethadine and a lot of waiting about.
DD2 was born at home in our bedroom, while DH held me up. Her sister walked in an met her when she was three minutes old.
The midwives were lovely. I had a bath in my own bath and settled to BF in my own bed, with DD1 and DH. Then we all had a picnic lunch on the bed in a winter sunbeam.

Mine was great. Had a pretty straight forward pregnancy, at 111am on due date I started having cramps. Had a bath and thy wouldn't go away - I was really uncomfortable sitting or standing and realised that my contractions were only 2 mins apart. Arrived at hospital at 1pm, was examined by midwife and found to be 4cm dilated. Had some gas and air and walked around a little while midwife filled up birth pool - was examined again after half an hour and was 9cm dilated so got into birth pool. Birth pool was lovely and warm, didn't need any more gas and air and my dd was born into my waiting hands at 4.50pm.

I want to do it all over again and DD was 17 weeks yesterday!

Good luck cxx

Yep had 2 and it was all good!

Dc1 - I went for a loooong walk in the morning, water broke when I got home and was making lunch. Was in triage at labour ward an hour later when contrs started. That was the only really scary bit bcos they do take you by surprise the first time around. An hour later I'm in a labour room with two cracking midwives following their demands to pooooooooooooshpushpushpushpush!!!!! Took me more than an hour of pushing but I did it, and no drugs or gas, no stitches and a beautiful healthy babe so I call that a positive experience. I didn't plan to go drug free but in the end it all happened quite fast and I simply didn't hit a moment where I felt I wanted that sort of help.

Dc2 even quicker although I did need the gas that time as the contrs were that much more intense. Bit of a grim time with third stage, but narrowly missed the operating theatre and was all fine in the end.

Try to keep an open mind and sort of follow your instincts about when (if) you want to walk / get up on bed / ask for pain relief etc. You really can't plan for it as you have no way of knowing what you will want until you get there. Just helP yourself out by staying as fit and active as you are able to while pregnant. Labour is physical work so do try to do what you can to be strong for it.

Good luck!

Thank god for this thread! So good to hear such positive experiences.

Mine was so much easier than I was expecting. Six hours from first contraction to birth. Contractions started coming every 2 mins pretty fast (within 90 mins) but were never more than 20 or 30 seconds long at most so were manageable. I remember smiling and laughing in between them, saying 'it's just so nice when it stops' and being fed grapes by DH. Then, after a shot of pethadine got me a bit wazzed out and better able to cope with the contractions, the midwife said it was time to start pushing. I couldn't believe it as we had only been in the birth centre about 2.5 hours. DS was born 9 mins into his due date, was perfect to look at and everything was fine. The only bit I found harder than expected was having stitches. Being injected with anaesthetic hurt a lot and I think I was just tired and emotional and wanted to be able to relax with my baby, not be poked around with. But that was a small price to pay. Best of luck with yours!!! You'll be fine.

I have a great birth story, a home birth, first child. Got pregnant after 3 years trying so went the whole hog on birth preparations. Hypnobirthing lesssons, prenatal yoga, reflexology, clary sage oil, NCT classes, pineapple, raspberry leave tea capsules, swimming and three curries in the final week AND they all worked. Went into labour naturally at 3am, slept for an hour and got up at 4am, sat on the loo for 2 hours doing my breathing exercises (did about 5 poos), had bloody show, called the NHS midwife (who luckily lives in my village) she came straight away. 6.15am She examined me and I asked her if I could get in the birth pool which my hubby had spent the last two hours filling and she said "No, the baby's coming". 6.30am I breathed the baby out (no pushing) and baby was placed straight onto my bare chest. (sure glad I did those perineum stretches). Waited until all the blood had emptied from the cord before it was cut. Baby "crawled to the breast" to feed, that was amazing to watch (you must google that on youtube). Second midwife turned up about 6.30am. Placenta delivered naturally (no drugs) and no problems. This experience was better than I could have ever imagined and far exceeded my birth plan. Didn't realise how much concentration it would take to give birth and how much the contractions adversely affected my ability to speak so very glad had discussed all options with hubby and midwife beforehand. I really trusted that my body and my baby knew what to do and they did me proud. I loved giving birth too.

Just on the other side of birth experiences, I had c-sections and each one went very smoothly, no problems, relaxed, radio on in background and healthy happy babies. Best part of the whole pregnancy (which was is its own horror story). My births were great.

Bella I'm quite small - 5 foot 3 and size 10 and both my babies were over 8 pounds (DD1 8lbs7.5, DD2 8lbs3.5). It was fine and it will be for you!