stories of easy(er) back-to-back babies and labours?

[Focusfocus]

My baby is 3/5 engaged and despite many weeks of never having reclined once, is back to back.

I am aware he may still turn. I am aware he may turn during labour.

At this point - starting a Week 36 - I have too much fatigue and too many achey swollen joints to be truly able to commit to Spinning Babies, the suggested durations of all fours or walking. I'm trying but for example my knees begin to hurt despite loads of cushioning if I spend more than a few minutes on all fours.

So I do what I can - I never recline. I always sit upright. Beyond that I find it useful to accept that baby is doing what he's comfy doing. I'm doing what I can. No point fretting. No point stressing. It is what it is. It could be loads of other far worse things :-)

So........... I've heard countless accounts of rather difficult back to back labours. These are real stories. I've made notes from them. I've profound respect for mothers who went through these experiences. I've learnt about days of latent early labour, full dilation with grinding saw like back pain, interventions that leave less than positive outcomes. These very real, lived accounts I have read and heard and made notes from.

What I am looking for now is perhaps accounts of easier experiences of birthing posterior babies. I have consciously avoided using the word "positive" stories as the word "positive" unintentionally connotes the opposite "negative". I appreciate one person's easy could be another's difficult, but nonetheless, it would be great to hear some of these Other stories if anyone has them of back births which people did not find traumatising or difficult. Just to gain some perspective into the multitude of outcomes Possible with back to babies.

At the moment I have a clear perspective on the difficulties of the situation. Which is useful and instructive and great for going into labour without Rose tinted glasses. Any other stories Would help with the remaining optimistic side of things, which I suspect also has it's uses :-)

X

Frgot to add, DS1 I didn't have latent labour l, my waters broke and contractions started 3 minutes apart! (I wasn't dilating)
With DD I was in slow labour for 2 weeks!

And water definitely helps! Mine weren't water births but I spent the majority of my labours with those 2 in baths!

All absolutely fabulous stories, and fabulous advice. I'm so glad I started this thread. You're all saying really encouraging yet constructive stuff to me, so thank you so much. It's really helping me and DH prepare ourselves, while staying optimistic.

One thing I forgot to mention is I was sick round about the time of my first sign, and then after having toast and a drink what must have been 30 minutes before she was born. Breakfast time and I was starving because last nights supper had come up. But at no point did I feel nauseous. I found out afterwards its not that rare with a b2b, it was literally a case of not having the space as she squeezed past iyswim. But something worth mentioning as a possible sign of impending birth.

I ended up with an instrumental delivery without the epidural for my B2B baby (lack of epidural was not my decision) and let's just say it's not something I'd recommend. I don't say this to be negative OP, but rather because it's information I'd have found useful at the point you're at. I can appreciate the points people are making about the advantages of going without, and can see how it might make sense in a shorter back to back labour. If yours is looking like one of the longer ones though, particularly if you have a prolonged latent phase and/or your waters go quite early in proceedings, honestly it is something to give consideration to. Unfortunately there's very little research done on the outcomes for women who are experiencing complex labours and aren't given epidurals, meaning it's impossible to tell whether it's the epidurals or the factors that led the women to need them that cause the instrumental deliveries. I have often wondered whether I'd have been able to avoid the ventouse if I'd been given an epidural, because I might have been able to get a bit of rest before pushing then. Food for thought anyway.

Dd was btb and all the pain I had was in my back, never felt back pain like it I didnt feel any contractions just pain in my back? Dont know if thats normal or not but labour was really quick I got to the hospital at 2.30 am and was told I was 2cm dilated and dd was born at 4.30.

Thanks liesel, yes I've heard that previously, in the many (largely complex, note - not negative) labour stories of b2b. Will keep mind open. Everyone does have a different birth canal, a different baby, in a different lie, so likely will have different advice.
Right now, just trying to balance out the experiences I've heard of because the easier accounts were a complete unknown to me till this thread. And part of my own birth prep needed to hear these too :-)

I'm pretty certain the epidural saved me from an instrumental delivery with dd1 liesel. As you said, I had a long latent labour and was physically exhausted by 8 cm (had been in labour for 30 hrs!). The epidural gave me two hours sleep and a chance to relax, which was invaluable when it came to pushing. I also wouldn't let them come near me with the syntocin drip (b2b labours can be a bit stop-starty) until the epidural was in

I love epidurals!

Not my own experience but a funny story nonetheless. A friend of mine had a first baby who was back to back. She shoved him out with gas and air.

When he was a few weeks old she was at my house when the midwife called to see hugely pregnant me.
'Aw,' said the mw to my friend, 'isn't he cute! How was your labour.'
'Bit painful,' said my friend.
'Long?'
'No, about eight hours... but he was back to back.'
'Oh crikes. Section? Forceps?'
'No, no, I shoved him on my own, didn't take too long, about twenty minutes.'
'Christ!' said the midwife. 'You must have a pelvis like a bucket!'

I wish I'd done the same bolshy. As it was, I ended up with syntocin after stalling at 10cm, just after I found out there was to be no epidural. I think it was rage!

I'm glad you feel this is beneficial to you focus. I really didn't think much about my baby being back to back, and so a lot of what happened next was pretty incomprehensible to me at the time. In retrospect I should've done what you are doing now.

Thanks everyone. I have taken quite a few pointers from this thread and added them as bullets under "notes in case of posterior labour" - to my birth preferences sheet (i dont like saying "birth plan" - too much pressure lol). Those small bullets cover the basic principles of what Ive read - from positioning, to potential fatigue, to potential interventions and potential pain relief. If baby changes position or if these scenarios do not arise ignoring the section will be easy.

I had a long latent labour with dd1 who was back to back, however the only negative really was the mws claiming I wasn't in labour and trying to send me home which stressed me out. Once they got me settled in a room and on gas and air I only had a 2.5 hour active labour and delivered baby sunny side up on gas and air with a few stitches.
I think if they'd listened to me in the first place and allowed me to have the water birth it would have been even quicker and more positive.
I think staying active got things moving quicker (they kept trying to make me lie down but I couldn't because of where her head was and I needed to keep moving, which I think was my body telling me I needed to move to get her down.

Good on you for researching so thoroughly. DC2 was B2B, though I didn't know this until afterwards. I had no pain relief, not even G&A (not entirely through choice!) and it was a quick labour (though not pain free!). He was 10 lb 6.

I was induced at 42 weeks. Contractions started 2 hours after that. It was a further 3 hours till delivery. Midwife didn't believe me about the fast dilation so I never got G&A. Pain-wise it was about the same as first (non-B2B) delivery.

I had a ventouse delivery as the baby's heart rate dropped just as I reached the pushing stage. That was a bit scary but can happen with any delivery and gave me a huge incentive to push. The Dr was twisting with the ventouse at the same time, so I think the baby got turned on the way out. I didn't have an epidural and that aspect was absolutely fine. They gave me a local anaesthetic (pudendal block instead). His shoulder got stuck (shoulder dystokia) as he was a big baby but they managed this with pushing me into a different position. They only told me he'd been B2B at the end - they'd known throughout.

So the delivery was mixed - but it is certainly perfectly possible to birth a B2B baby quickly and without the searing agony you read about. It seems that all experiences are different.

Do trust your body and don't be afraid to challenge staff. As it was my 2nd I was confident enough to challenge them about putting me on the syntocin when they came round to do so 2 hours post breaking of waters (as per their protocols), because my contractions had just started and I knew I'd dilated v. fast with DC1. Am glad I did.

Is there, like, anyone with a B2B baby who didn't dilate fast when they got going? It seems like absolutely everyone on this thread, regardless of whether the early labour was two hours or two days, went from 1 to 10 in less time than it takes to finish a football match!

Dd was b2b. I remember asking dh to punch my lower spine during Labour as it was painful there. I went into hospital at 3cm, 2 hours later contractions suddenly became worse and I asked midwife to examine me - I'd got up to 6cm. I asked for something to help with the pain as gas and air wasn't enough anymore so she went to run to birthing pool. 3 minutes later my waters broke and 7 minutes after that dd was out. She came out face first so I did end up with a tear but overall it was a quick, simple delivery with just g&a.

With ds I spent my last few weeks avoiding slouching on the sofa, doing yoga and bouncing on my birthing ball. He wasn't b2b, but contractions were still rather unpleasant at times. Another quick delivery this time I managed to actually get into the birthing pool and I didn't tear but that could be because he's a 2nd baby, and he was only 7lbs7

In other news, it appears that my baby wasn't entirely back to back. What was being interpreted as a heel or a joint of some sort around my navel has been revealed in a scan to be my once tiny fibroid which is now 4 cms big. While this is nowhere near the cervix and nowhere near to causing any issues it has cleared the air that what people feel near the navel is not a b2b baby's knee or heel.
The other thing from the scan was that the baby is longitudinal, cephalic and the spine runs along my left with the baby kind of looking to mu right. So not perfection personified, no. But the baby isn't lying on his back with his back on my spine,
Also now the head is fully engaged into the pelvis and the bum literally begins ar my belly button he's sunk so low. When I walk I feel literally that I've got an ache inside my bum and perineum that is sat there like a ball.

Hi I haven't read through all the posts so sorry if this is repetitive. DC1 was b2b (now 13 months). He turned in wk 40 as I'd become a bit lazy on mat leave and I couldn't turn him round. MW was adamant I'd need induced and would then need intervention and I was panicking as that wasn't what I wanted. I went into labour at 41 weeks exactly, stayed at home for 12 hours using tens, birth centre told me to stay at home as my contractions were only 10 mins apart but by the time I got to hospital I was already 7cm dialated and contractions were still 5 mins apart......jumped into water pool (amazing) and got stuck into the gas and air (even more amazing). My waters didn't break so had to get out the pool for that and then had DC an hour later. Was it sore? Well, yes, but then I'm sure it always is and I have nothing to compare it to! I needed one stitch. Overall a very positive experience. Breathe, relax, don't panic. Good luck!

When are you due focus focus?
I am 39 weeks and just found out baby is back2back....fully engaged though. I have had unbearable pressure for days now. Still no sign of labour though, trying to stay upright and walk but everything hurts so much.

Lurked. Funny you should mention that. I was sick almost exactly when my waters went with b2b baby.
Weird!

DD2 was a back to back. Dull ache during Labour as many mention, then just one contraction that was very very painful and I swear I felt her move, 3 pushes and she was out. No pain relief and no tearing

Liesel - me! My b2b labour was very long, more than 20 hours to get from 3cm to 10cm. I think a lot of the posters with difficult b2b births haven't posted on this thread though, because the OP (quite reasonably) asked for accounts of easier births.
Which is why the thread is skewed with stories of quick dilations I guess?

DD1 labour took ages and I had to be induced- as an example of slow b2b dilation

I spent a day and a half watching bad films and groaning over the birth ball, periodically going in to be told I was only dilated and to go home again.

It was painful, but certainly manageable. I couldn't sleep through the contractions (which was the advice they kept giving) but I was finding it cope able with, just moaning and groaning a lot.

Eventually I was knackered and crying from exhaustion and they started me on an induction drip, gave me an epidural and I had a much needed nap.

Then they let the epidural wear off (at my request) and all carried on fairly smoothly- I tore but healed fine.

The thing for me which made it a positive experience to look back on was that I felt I'd had the chance to give my personal plan A (which was no induction & no epidural) a good shot and so although it didn't work out, I didn't have any 'if only we could have tried' or 'I wish I/they had done x' type regrets.

Wow 20 hours is a long time! I will say, though, that we've also had examples of very difficult B2B labours in this thread too. My own was awful, prolonged latent phase isn't fun at all. Was actually very like yours giraffes, lengthy and painful contractions only got me to 2cm after about 30 hours. Except by the time I came back in 24 hours after my waters had broken, I felt unable to make any decisions until I'd been able to sleep, so didn't consent to the drip at that point. I should have done what you did, had an epidural fitted and then syntocin. Which is what I meant when I said to OP upthread about not understanding what happened next and wishing I'd been more prepared. I would say that to anyone who is B2B in the late stages of pregnancy.