Care to share your birth stories and experiences good or bad?

[FGSholdthedoor]

And if you'd do anything differently?

I'll start.
DS was overdue by 8 days, I woke up at night with niggling pains and went to the bathroom.
The pains were not bad enough for me to think I was in labour (I was silly, convinced myself I was going to be a huge wimp and expected screaming, towel biting pain from the start).
The contractions were coming very irregularly anything from 6mins to 1.30mins apart so I thought it was Braxton hicks at this point Rafiki should've hit me over the head with that coconut stick.
I was managing by rocking back and forth on my knees and breathing as it got worse.

Called the labour ward and explained how I was feeling - midwife asked me if I'd passed the mucus plug yet, I had no idea. She said its probably just the beginning and I've got a while to go and to take some paracetamol and get in the bath to ease contractions.
Cue 5mins later DH heard me screaming in the bath - at this point I was in transition but had no clue obviously. He called labour ward and midwife heard me in the background before he said anything she said "yeah you better get her here NOW".
I didn't want to get out of the bath as I stated I was nice and warm
We hit rush hour traffic and took us nearly an hour to get to the hospital, DH nearly drove through the entrance and there were midwives coming in for their shift dropping their bags and rushing to get the screaming labouring pregnant lady out of the car that just nearly ran them over.

They barely managed to get me out and DS was delivered 12mins later in the closest labour room.
I forgot about "modesty" even though I was mortified in the run up to labour about anyone seeing me in that position. And I gave birth stark naked as they had no time to put a gown on me

One of the midwives said that births like that is why she became a midwife though so that was nice I suppose.

Only thing I would change -apart from the obvious getting to the hospital in plenty of time, would be thinking about myself a little bit more, I feel like I got completely caught up in the new baby and I forgot about making sure I ate properly and didn't look after myself. DH was also caught up in it all and in the end I ended up struggling with adjusting and it took me months to feel ok again.
Also I wish I was more assertive in the extremely disorganised and unsupportive post labour ward I ended up in.

I was 12 days overdue and booked in for an induction.

Went in at 8am and was given gel, had some pains in the day but it didn't amount to anything, they broke my waters at 8pm.

This kicked off contractions and I felt like things were going to get going, they then moved me into a pool room as this was what I planned for my labour. I was extremely anxious and although I was getting contractions regularly, I was so nervous that they didn't amount to anything, the midwife gave me two extra hours to try and get things going but I was gutted to find out that I was still at 3cm by 3am. This is when they told me I had no option but to go on the drip - something I was terrified of as I knew from reading on here it can bring contractions extremely fast, plus it stopped me having a water birth.

It was at this point I was so worn out that we discussed an epidural - again something I didn't think I would have as I hate needles, however having contractions from 8pm and getting nowhere I felt like I needed something.

I had the epidural and hoped this would calm me down, sadly it didn't, as much as it stopped the pain, I was still terrified - I literally was shaking with nerves until I had her the next day - I wasn't able to sleep or relax at all, I remember that I kept pinching my legs thinking 'oh my god I can feel that' so I was worrying that I would feel the birth and not be able to get used to the pain/that if I had an episiotomy I would feel it/it would lead to EMCS. If I could go back I would have relaxed and tried to go to sleep and not been so worried!

Because I was so anxious, my heart rate was really fast, they kept bringing people in which made it even worse, it got so bad that they would leave the room to discuss it or they would say things like 'the consultant is on duty and has just popped in to see how things are going' to try and relax me- it didn't work! The babies heart rate kept dropping, they ended up attaching the monitor to her and then ended up taking her blood to check -looking over at the cone thing they used to gain access (like a dog collar cone after they have an operation) I was glad I had an epidural!

They told me I would be pushing by 11am but this came and went as they wanted to let the baby get further down the birth canal, I went through 3 different shift changes of midwives..and finally by 2pm I was pushing.

This is when I managed to get in the zone and was also so worn out I managed to shut my eyes between contractions to try and keep calm. They ended up giving me an episiotomy - I had to have a local as I could feel down there (is that normal?) but was so relieved that they checked before cutting! I then ended up with a ventouse, they told me that I had to get the baby out within 3 more pushes or I would have to have an EMCS - this wasn't an empty threat, it was getting quite serious.

Eventually she was born by 3pm, she didn't breathe straight away and they had to get some help, she was also close to having that thing where the shoulder gets stuck.

The main thing was she was born healthy and I was glad that I didn't have a CS as it would have been bad to get over the attempted vag birth and a CS! If I could do it again, I would have pushed for an earlier induction, they were happy for her to get to almost 10lbs (she was 9lbs 4) and practically rolled their eyes when I mentioned that shoulder thing (the words totally gone out of my mind!) saying it's nothing to do with babies weights?? I wish I had pushed to see the consultant that made the decision without even meeting me or seeing how petite I am. I would also not feel so bad for having an epidural, I don't know why but I felt like I had failed- I think I still do because people think it's a walk in the park but I didn't have a straight forward labour- not brought on by having an epidural but because she was so big so I'm very glad I didn't get the water birth I intended! I would have also relaxed more and tried to sleep, I've never felt so anxious in my life, I know that epidurals make you shake but I just couldn't stop, I was absolutely terrified- I wish I had talked through what I was scared of , instead I was so knackered that I just couldn't think straight so remained terrified!

Lost plug in morning, waters went in bed that night. Went into hospital as they suspected baby had pooped in waters. They confirmed LO had, I started contractions as soon as my waters went but they weren’t strong enough. They let me try for 5 hours on my own but I didn’t progress enough so they put me on the hormone drip (the one thing I really didn’t want ☹️) it was horrendous! LO was born about 7 hours later. I had an episiotomy and stitches. It never really dawned on me I would be leaving with a baby.

If it happened again like that (with the hormone drip) I would have requested an epidural sooner.

39 / 4 when I gave birth. Contractions started on the Thursday night. I was in agony. Went to hospital around midnight when my dh got home. Found out I was only 1cm they wanted me to stay in but I refused as dh wasn't allowed to stay. Went home and contractions continued. Slept for about an hour. I was still in agony with the contractions but didn't want to go back just to be sent away again. I then forced dh to go and visit his brother in hospital as he was extremely ill. The second dh left I was screaming in pain. I didn't call dh to come home, I waited until he was finished. His whole family turned up at the house so I put on a brave face until they had gone. The second they left I screamed at dh to take me to the hospital. I was still only 3cm when I got there. They were considering sending me home again but I refused this and demanded pain relief. I had gas and air and an epidural. It was so slow they had to break my waters. I started pushing too early and got screamed at by the midwife for it. I couldn't help it, my body told me to push. When baby was ready she pretty much flew out as it turned out I was an amazing pusher
She was born on the Saturday morning at 7am.
But I ended up with about 30 stitches in 4 different places and could only walk sideways for about two weeks.
I still say I wouldn't have another because of the pain but it's only been 7 weeks and I'm betting that will change soon

@Babababababybel23 I remember thinking I wouldn't have another - that was the first thought through my mind as DS started crowning 

But here I am about to have another within the month!

@sthitch I was adamant about no pain relief apart from gas and air, in the end there was no time for anything! However I do know the moment I went into transition I would have been screaming for an epidural if I was in hospital.

I gave birth at 3.52 this morning after having contractions which started at 7:45pm last night as niggling pains. As the night wore on it became clear that these were contractions and not just hunger pains but they were coming between every 4 minutes and every 10. When I phone triage they said that proper contraction which are doing the job come in regular patterns so I was advised to have a bath and take paracetamol. We only have showers in our house at the moment so I spent an hour sitting on the floor of the shower cubicle holding the shower over me as the contractions got stronger. I got out of the shower and the contractions stepped up a gear and I called triage again. She said as I was sounding cheerful on the phone maybe try and stay at home a bit longer but if I felt I needed to, to go in. Within minutes I knew it was time to go. They were every 2.5 minutes and were intense. I had to try and wake up my mom and Dad as we were dropping the older kids off with them, this took bloody ages and then we had to get the two older kids up and encourage them to hurry up to nans. I tried not to terrify them with my grunting and panting but I my time will tell if they're scarred for life or not.
They were dropped off and we got to the hospital in record time. I contracted all the way up to triage, in triage (where they said I was at least 5cms) and all the way to the delivery room which they took me straight to. Within seconds of getting to the delivery room and grasping the gas and air the contractions were unbearable, I knew birth was imminent. My waters went spectacularly and I instantly felt the need to push. I felt completely out of control because it was so painful, but my body seemed to know what to do and took over. 52 minutes after arriving and within 15 minutes of pushing, Laurence was born weighing 8lb 10. It was crazy and out of control, but I don't think I'd change any of it.

Birth number 1 was quite relaxed; four days late, went into the hospital at 8cm dilated. Water birth, very peaceful, very relaxed. Had to have a shed load of stitches & spent the next 24 hours passing out but all in all a lovely experience.

Birth number 2 was crazy 😂 Eight days late, planned water birth at the hospital but never made it. Woke up at 6.30am with contractions, nothing major; rang the dads (surrogate pregnancy). An hour later I ended up calling the MW & an ambulance cos the dads still hadn't arrived & I had no way of getting to the hospital. The dads & the MW roxked up at 8.30am to join the two wonderful paramedics as baby girl was born at 8.50am 😂

Baby number 3 is cooking & I am desperate for a water birth but won't get a pool in our flat; MW laughed & told me there was no way I was making it to the hospital but I could give it a go 😂 Already told my partner it will be a case of 'babe, i've got twinges, we need to go' so that I get my bloody water birth 😂😂

I was in bed resting an woke up with a big contraction, I was all alone in the house (4pm) Thought I’d see how long until the next, it followed very fast. I rang my husband, he decided to come back from work. I was having very fast contractions so I decided to ring a midwife. Found my notes and faffed for too long finding the number. The midwives decided i was in early labour and suggested paracetamol and a bath. I rolled my eyes but couldnt talk well. My water broke. Around an hour after I rang him my husband arrived home. He rang the midwife again and they didn’t sound convinced even with the extra information. After arguing a lot they agreed to send a midwife. It went a bit blurry then. The midwife arrived and asked to examine me, so I said no. They went to ring for a second one and I gave birth on the floor whilst they tried to catch with one glove on one glove off. It was 6.10pm.

Once I was holding the baby another midwife arrived, rather pointlessly. Baby had passed meconium in uterus so there was a bit of faffing. Did placenta stuff. Midwives left. Ordered a pizza. Waking up to eating pizza was about 3.5 hours because the pizza came quicker than the midwives did.

DC1 went into labour about 11pm, got to about 2.30 and went to hospital. Midwife said your not in labour your cervix isn't open go home. Went home, rolled around the living room in agony. MIL came and everyone was confused as I was in Labour. Went back to the hospital at 4.30ish, same again eye rolling tutting go home. Go back at 6.30ish. Eye rolling tutting.... this is the part of labour no one tells you about, go home and take some paracetamol. Off I go again in agony, crying. Couldn't take anymore so went back in at 8.20, seen at about 9is but the midwives had changed shifts . I'm in agony, yes you back to back. Dp asked when will the baby come she said anytime now. Took a lot of pushing to get her out as she kept shooting back up, delivered at 11 am with gas and air. She said I should never have been sent home as I had presented as an obvious back to back and had been examined 3 times and told i wasn't in labour.

Dd2 was an induction, it was fab, had loads of pain relief and laughed the whole way through. The midwife was fab, we just talked and joked all afternoon, took 4 hrs from start to finish.

Dd3 I knew as soon as labour started I was b2b again, que 12 hours of labouring and getting no where, made worse by the fact I had spd and all I could hear was cracking noises and the pain was unbearable. This time I was a seasoned pro, refused to go home and had so much gas and air they had to fight it off me.

Woke up at 3am with back pain. Waters went at 5:30 so went straight to hospital (36 weeks). Contractions started at 8:30 and went quickly from every 6 mins to every 3! Was so painful as it progressed so quickly.
Got moved to ward and moved back to MLU when it became clear how fast things were moving (screaming in a wheelchair).
Baby appeared at midday and I needed a couple of stitches. Bit of a shock morning really.

I was booked in for a c section. So we got to the hospital at the time they told us to at around 11.30am and were asked to wait in the waiting room until a room was free for me, no one knew how long it would be. The whole time we were waiting in this stupidly hot waiting room with the most uncomfortable chairs I was starving and thirsty and jut felt guilty on my baby that I hadn’t eaten that day. After a 2 hour wait and not a word from anyone we were told to go home and wait for a call as the others took longer than they thought. They said not to drink anything (I was desperate for even a sip of water) and if we hadn’t heard by 3pm then I would most likely not ‘be done’ that day. By this time I was so stressed and upset, this was my 1st baby that I was terrified of having all the way through my pregnancy anyway as it wasn’t planned and I had always said I never want kids. At 3.10 I got a phone call saying to get to hospital as quick as I can as they can fit me in. Luckily I hadn’t eaten anything. So rushed back down there and was rushed to get changed into a down and to be talked through everything. Walked into theatre and it was full of bright lights and so many people which was so daunting. By the time I was on the bed and was having the epidural I was in tears and was so scared. The whole thing was so rushed and I had no idea what to expect. As I laid down my dignity was lost as my gown was ripped straight up to put the catheter in, so many people saw it all I just wanted to pass out. My husband was right next to me holding my hand which made me feel a bit better. The anaesthetist was standing next to me telling me everything that was happening and that honestly made me feel so much better about it (never got the chance to thank him) once the baby was out he even had to tell the doctor to hold my baby up for me to see. They handed her to the Midwife and she asked my husband if he wanted to come with her but he was not allowed back into me after so we never got a photo like I see so many people have. After that I felt completely spaced out I just fell asleep. So generally the day my daughter was born was one of the worst in my life (I always feel awful for saying this) I never felt that instant bond with her like so many people said I would and I’m not sure if it was because the day itself was horrible it took a little while for me to feel it actually. However she’s 6 months now and is just amazing. A love I never could have imagined :)

Wow congrats 2ducks
DC1 was 11days late and pretty text bookish. Contractions over the day that got strong and stronger. Went to hospital at 2300ish and they tried to sent us home but I vomited all over the midwife and she agreed to let us stay! Waters broke in birthing pool, gas and air all ok but then baby's heart rate dropped and they hit the alarm. Gave birth minutes later flat on my back with a midwife hold each leg and what felt like hundreds all round. Turns out baby had cord wrapped round his neck 3 times! Never does anything by halves my son! Amazing team whipped him outside, resuscitated him, gave me skin to skin before whipping him off to the nicu. I then retained the placenta and had to have it removed (so got all the good drug after giving birth!!). We spent a week in hospital but came out all healthy and happy.
DD2 was 10days late. Her brother blew a raspberry on the bump in the bath and it went pop! Waters broke, contractions started, race to hospital (ignoring them on the phone saying I should stay at home a few hours) and born 2hours later, in the water all rather violent but rather lovely. They wanted to send me home by 2300 but I persuaded them to let me stay so I have someone making tea and toast and fussing over me a little bit!

Was booked in for an induction at 12 days overdue (she didn’t arrive til 14 days over!)
Very very anxious about childbirth which probably didn’t help to bring her into the world quite so quick as would have liked. Had the drip at about midnight (had already been in the hospital for the pessary since 8am the morning before),was fine and then everything is kind of blurry sort of like I’m remembering a dream? I know at 2am they broke my waters, which was god awful as baby’s head was very low and had to go behind it with the knitting needle thing. Ended up taking a midwife, a senior midwife and then eventually the consultant to break them. Had gas and air for that but it did nothing! Horrific.
Started getting contractions which were ok at first, started to get painful and then to the point where I just froze when they came. Didn’t move or talk just let them hit me in a wave. Asked for an epidural which was great as I managed to sleep for a while.
Eventually DD arrived at 12.28pm by forceps and episiotomy. Haemorrhaged and just remember thinking oh god I’m going to die. Was so tired I kept closing my eyes but kept trying to keep myself awake if that makes sense. I remember one of the midwives poking me repeatedly and asking if I was ok whilst I was being stitched up. Felt like after having her I was only in the labour room 5 minutes but DH assured me we didn’t get moved for another hour or more.
Next thing I know I’m being wheeled into the high dependency unit where I stayed for nearly 48 hours before being moved to the general ward.
Sounds strange but I was actually glad I went into the high dependency after birth rather than a less physically traumatic birth and then straight to the normal ward as my care in the HD ward was fantastic couldn’t fault it. Always someone around to help me, check on me and make sure I was feeling ok. Once I got moved to the normal ward (why can’t I remember the name?) I hardly saw anyone and tbh it was a bit grubby. So I think that would have put a downer on my FTM experience of birth.

Anyway my DD is almost 5 months and I really want another! Am I mad? Yes!
Here’s to hoping for a more straightforward birth

Went in for an induction at 10am and was administered the pessary about 1hr later. Was advised the keep active so me and DP went for a walk to get something to eat. I was hoping to be discharged home but by the time the DR came to assess me it was 8pm.

I started to feel some pain around early the next morning. The midwife gave me gas and air then suggested I have the pethidine injection. I was very spaced out and was sleeping between contractions, DP was monitoring my contractions and passing the gas and air.

I think around 8-9 am the next morning, I was moved to a private room and given another shot of pethidine. From then on all I remember is begging for someone to help me, then a team of anaesthetist came up to give me an epidural by then it was too late I couldn’t sit still for it to be administered. I was complaining about the pressure and started bleeding then someone suggested the check me and it was time to push. It was all a bit of a “show” other midwifes came in to see what was going on as I was requesting that they kill me now and was doing a lot of screaming (very dramatic I know but at that point that’s how I felt). I had brilliant midwife, no interventions and no tears. After DD was delivered I went straight to sleep and woke up with her dressed. DD was quite and sleepy I suspect because of being given pethidine so close to pushing.

I hope when I do have a second I start labour at the hospital, I can’t imagine labouring at home.