How long did you stay in hospital after having DC1?

[ThePinkParker]

I'm due early September but I've started to think about labour and the after effects of this. I'm giving birth at St Marys in Manchester which has a midwife led unit and a hospital unit in one building on a different floor (not sure if that makes a difference) so I assume ill be in the midwife led section as I am a FTM but no problems so far!
Anyway, to cut to the chase, how long were you in hospital after giving birth & why?
I want to be in & out ASAP as I can't stand the thought of being in the postnatal ward without DP!

I was in a night but I had blood pressure issues so if it weren't for that I'd have been out same day.

I was in 24 hours for risk of infection as my waters broke early. But I know a lot of people who as long as everything went smoothly have been home in a few hours.

One night but only because of the time my DS was born. I left at about 8am the next morning! I think I was there for about 9 hours total.

12 hours.

DD born late at night by emcs, discharged the following morning.

Went in at 9am to be induced, baby born 1.30am the next morning and was out at 1.30pm that afternoon so 28 hours overall but over 12 hours of that was the induction process

About 3 hours. After oxytocin drip induction/ episiotomy and stitches. I was very very happy to go home. My husband less so - we didn't even have the car seat as I'd fully expected to have to stay in.

4 nights. Went into labour naturally Sunday morning, gave birth Monday evening, home Thursday evening. DD & I had a bit of a rough time, sorry that's probably not what you want to hear.

Pack for one night - most people seem to stay 1 night - but make sure there is someone available to pick up more stuff from home, and that fresh supplies of clothes, nappies, cotton wool, everything else, are readily available, perhaps laid out or in a drawer, just in case.

Gave birth on MLU around 11 am. All fine with me and DS1, we were given the choice of going home that evening or staying until morning - in same room, not pn ward. Chose to stay and was glad to be able to consult midwife on a couple of things overnight (i seem to have passed a grapefruit sized clot, should I panic?!).

12 hours, would have gone earlier if they'd let me!

I had him just after midnight and came out that afternoon. It would have been sooner if I could have had my way but they don't do hearing or paed checks at that time of night.

On having dc2, I decided to stay in just the one night because I didn't get that experience the first time. Hated every second, it was awful. Didn't make a repeat performance for dc3 or 4!!

5 days thanks to a crash c section (after failed induction) and a failure to establish breast feeding. They only let me go on the fifth day because I started crying and would not stop until they let me and DD out (I'd hardly slept since admission seven days earlier thanks to DD crying almost all night and noise levels during the day).

I know that sounds grim, but my ward was full of women who had had perfectly straight forward deliveries and c sections and were in an out between a few hours and a couple of days. I was definitely the exception. If you do have to stay in longer than you want DH was able to turn up almost at sparrow's first tweet and stay until late evening, so you might want to check your hospital's policy.

DS was born at 4AM and we were home by 10:30AM after a failed pessary induction and then a successful drip induction. Staff were happy for me to go home at 6:30AM but i wanted to wait for DS to have his newborn checks.

Ds was born at 1pm and I went home at around 12ish the next day. I would have liked to go home the evening he was born but ;

1. I hadn't weed enough all in one go (they measure your wee and lots of small ones don't count apparently)
2. I'd lost a reasonable amount of blood (no pph but enough for them to want me kept in)
3. They had a 7 hour policy i think which would have put it at 8pm and I suspect it would have been a pain to discharge me
4. Most important one really- ds was jaundiced and sleepy (I'd had diamorphine) so had only had a couple of tiny feeds and they wanted to make sure he was feeding properly (he wasn't but they let me go in the morning anyway)

I really wish I'd been able to go home. I got no sleep whatsoever in hospital so by the time I did get home I'd been awake for 60 hours (30 of which I was in labour). I was like a zombie.

DS1 was born in the morning in the MLU but there wasn't space on the ward until just before teatime so I had to stay overnight as I had missed the paediatrician but I had wanted to leave the same day.

34 hours - 24 hours for obs and 10 hours to get discharged. Was hideous - the ward was being refurbished so they crammed more women into bays than there was room for, and I was next to a woman who snored like an elephant. Was home 48 hours before returning to hospital for 4 days (DS had severe jaundice and was admitted to the neonatal unit, and I had post delivery pre-eclampsia - on the upside because we were both in hospital I could continue to breastfeed!). When I went home a week after having DS I was so tired I was hallucinating.

36 hours for DS2 - 24 hours for Obs and then stayed in overnight and left in the morning. was a far better experience that time!

Four blissful nights It was standard where I delivered. We had a private room, husband stayed the whole time, food was good and help/advice was on tap. I was really looking forward to a little holiday when I had baby 2, but it wasn't nearly as enjoyable so I discharged myself after 2 nights

Five days, because DS was premature. He needed antibiotics, phototherapy and to learn how to feed. I was fine, however, and would have been OK to leave within a few hours if he'd been born full term.

6 days.

3 days as I had a pph and I was getting blood taken to check my iron levels regularly, I was quite ready to go home on day 3!

I was in for two nights - the first was because there was meconium in my waters when they broke so they wanted to keep DS under observation and the second was either because he was a bit jaundicey or something to do with my bleeding, I can't remember. If not for those things I wouldn't ahve stayed at all.

DS2 was one night, because I had Strep B and again they wanted to observe.

8 days, do I win? Or rather lose?
DS was late preterm, and lost weight so as he'd lost more than 10% we had to stay. I had an emcs and blood transfusions but recovered very quickly from that and was up and about quickly. I think if DS hadn't lost weight it would have been 2 nights.

In Sunday night for induction Monday. Had ds Tuesday got home Friday as I had a section. So 5 nights.
Had a private room, lots of lovely food and really enjoyed myself! I didn't want to go home

2 nights, not including the one I laboured through.

I started on the MW-led floor and then went down to the delivery floor for forceps delivery.

Could have been out quicker, but DD threw up a lot for the first day because of mucus in her stomach, and so didn't feed. They offered me to go home or to stay in until feeding established, and I chose to stay in until feeding was sorted as I preferred that to the idea of going home and maybe struggling.

DD started feeding properly on day 2 and we were discharged.

Wasn't too bad that DH couldn't stay, though I missed him a bit. TBH you're zonked straight afterwards, and you don't care about things you thought you would. I highly recommend having a private room if you can, though.

DD born at 1pm and left hospital the following morning. Kept in overnight because had an epidural and stitches and they wanted to see me up and walking about. Able to have a shower & DM stayed overnight so DP could get some rest after previous very long 24++ labour.

10 hours because we had to wait for dd1s blood group results to see if I needed another dose of anti d. Exactly same time and reason for dd2.