Positive vaginal birth stories please?

[firstmummyaug]

Hello,

I'm 34 weeks pregnant and have been suffering with tokophobia since around 25 weeks. I'm petrified of all the stories people have kindly felt the need to share with me of how they had PTSD their birth was so terrible, or 'oh your first labour is just awful and so long' or how down there will never be the same again if you tear and you will be incontinent etc. Coupled with my fear about the baby getting stuck/not survive the birth (my friend gave birth to sleeping baby around 5 weeks ago despite no previous concerns) i'm a bit of a mess to be honest. I spoke to my consultant about an ELCS for these reasons but due my previous 6 surgeries for endometriosis he has said this would be riskier for me due to scar tissue which now has left me feeling so overwhelmed with the big day getting nearer. I've completed the positive birth co online course and it has helped a little, but I just can't get rid of this fear that things are going to go awfully.

Can anyone share some of their positive vaginal birth experiences, especially if you were a FTM? Could really do with some help. Thanks x

I had a non-textbook (in some ways) vaginal birth. Contractions started on Wednesday afternoon after a sweep but were really sporadic. Gradually became stronger, but nothing I couldn't bear with a tens machine. After 24 hours I went in on Thursday afternoon to get checked out, although the midwife on the phone told me not to because the contractions were still so irregular. Turned out she was right - I was only 3cm. They gave me some codydrdamol and I went home again. Over the course of Thursday night the contractions got stronger but still not in the regular every-3-minutes pattern they'd told me to look out for, so I figured I was still 3cm and should stay home. Went to the loo around 4am Friday morning, noticed some green fluid on my pad and realised my waters had gone and the baby had passed meconium. So went back to the hospital, contractions still very sporadic (only had 2 in the car during the 30 minute drive) but both were very strong and by this time I was really tired, so told DH en route that I was going to ask for an epidural. Got to the hospital and they told me I was fully dilated and rushed me round to the labour ward! Put DH on gas and air duty, 2 hrs of pushing, and DS was born just after 7am on Friday.
I'll be honest, the second stage (pushing) was really hard. But I think that was partly because I wasn't expecting it; I thought I was still 3cm, and was mentally prepared for an epidural and a sleep! So I panicked a little. I didn't realise that without an epidural your body just takes over and pushes whether you want it to or not - I was fighting it, which made it harder. If I'd not been caught so off-guard and had just gone with it, or had been better prepared for the sensation of my body suddenly developing a mind of its own and doing things against my will, I think it would have been easier. But even so, it was only really that last 2 hours that felt really awful at the time - the rest of it was hard work but totally manageable, and the tens made a WORLD of difference.
I had a second degree tear but didn't feel the stitching because they gave me adequate local anaesthetic.
DS is 7 months now and I already want to do it again!
My advice would be keep an open mind and expect the unexpected! Best of luck to you, OP. I hope you have a wonderful birth and a happy, healthy start to your family 💗

Thanks so much for these wonderful stories.

I've four vaginal births and they have all been amazing.
Two were inductions
Two I went into labour myself
The last one was a ventouse but still fine
I would do it all again tomorrow if I could.
I've never had to have stitches and was felling fine after a couple of days in fact I took my daughter to school the day after my fourth was born.

I will not bore with all the details, but I will tell you that after a long ass labour hooked up to pitocine and no pain relief I was able to birth my average weigh baby and only had two stitches left to care for recovery wise. I'm also quite a skinny narrow woman, so don't be afraid, you get bigger to get baby out, and then shrink back.
I was able and willing to have sex after just a few weeks after, never had a poo that hurt and I still use the same size menstrual cup I used to use before I was pregnant.
Good luck with your delivery, OP. It will all be fine

I've had four vaginal births too, all very straight forward, and I never needed any stitches either! With my first I was terrified of the pain so I had an epidural early on, but I regretted it afterwards as I couldn't walk around / go to the loo by myself etc. With my next 3 I had gas and air only and loved it. There are just as many people with a positive birth experience as there are with a negative one so try not to focus on the negative ones so much, you will worry yourself silly

I had to be induced as my DD was 11 days overdue! I have to say, my contractions came thick and fast on the evening after I was induced, and they were intense. I was vomiting with the contractions but this pretty much dissapeared as soon as tehy gave me an antisickness jab at the hopsital. I dilated very quickly.

I would describe the contractions as being intense pressure, rather than painful. My problem was that I was so tired as I went into labour in the evening and so had no sleep. I kept nodding off between contactions and was too tired to even push. They had to use forceps and put me on the oxytocin drip to help things along... They numbed my down below with a local to cut me and I had gas and air at the end. Apart from that, no other pain relief.

Good luck, you will be fine!

I've had three babies. All were vaginal births. All sub three hours. The first one I had pessary induction but that is the only intervention I ever needed for any birth. My second stage with ds2 was just 4 minutes (actually my whole birth with ds2 was a dream and I would genuinely say it was one of the best experiences of my life). I have many reasons for not wanting any more dc but birth is definitely not one of them!

Hi OP
I opted for a home birth with my first because my mum had had two HBs and my sister had two straight forward births so I felt quite confident it'd be OK.

I read several books about natural birth; Birth Skills by Juju Sundin, Natural Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin, and something by Dick Grantley-Read.
These three books were all a bit hippyish but I took something positive from each of them - one had loads and loads of natural child birth stories which really helped to read, and Juju Sundin had lots of coping mechanisms for getting through the "waves" (contractions).

All in all, these three books plus a CD of Marie Mongan's hypnobirthing really really shaped my positive experience.

Birth - contractions started Friday eve, baby born Sat around midnight, so about 30 hrs.
I was examined on Sat eve around 8pm and MW said I shouldn't expect anything before the morning as I was a first time mum.
Pain was pretty low level here, minor niggly back ache and period cramps.
I was wearing a tens all Saturday.

At around 10.30pm things were getting harder and my waters had broken, so we called MW and asked her to come back. She didn't believe us but reluctantly said she'd come back.
At half 11 she still wasn't here (lived 10 mins away!) and I could literally feel my baby's head in my vagina! so we called back and said get here now!
She arrived at five past midnight and DD was born at 0016!

It was textbook and super manageable. I only had two paracetamol at about 8pm and my tens. In fact the tens was so effective I could only cope with it turned about half way up, and higher and it was worse than the contractions.

I had my second baby at home too, straight forward birth but complications with placenta (due to miscarriages between the two babies).

I can't tell you just 'not to worry' but knowledge is power, knowing what will happen to your body, what needs to happen etc really helped me.
I used breathing exercises and loud counting from my DH whilst pacing on the spot. (Visualisation helped me too, I imagined I was cycling up a hill and every step I took was another pedal. There's a big hill near my so I know it well and used familiar points to get me up the hill.)

Good luck OP. Fingers crossed for you.

I thought mine was going to be horrific - first time mum, needed an induction, large baby, loads of pregnancy complications, back-to-back baby positioning - BUT - I went in for an induction at 38 weeks and was already 2cm dilated. They gave me the gel which quickly got me to 3cm and then manually broke my waters (a lot of them as I had polyhydramnios). Baby then decided his private swimming pool had gone so he might as well come out. I went from 3cm to delivered in 2 hours 40 mins, just on gas and air. No tears, no interventions, nothing.

@Iwalkinmyclothing sorry to slightly hijack but I think you were in a similar position to me - I was induced with gel for my first labour and it was 3 hrs start to finish. Pregnant again and wondering if it will he as fast/faster if spontaneous labour...I assume for you it was? Trying to decide whether a home birth is wise this time!