I've not quite caught up on all the messages but thought I'd share my birth story for anyone willing to read!!
Mine was pretty quick and easy, I think, compared to some of the stories I've heard from friends and family!
For me I knew that I was going to be in labour soon - just had s feeling and joked with my mum earlier that day that I wasn't going to make it to my DD. Sure enough, at 3am, I woke up and as I shifted to get comfy and got back to sleep, my waters broke. I called my hubby, who was 6hrs away for work, and then L&D. They told me not to come in until a reasonable hour and we're in general not very helpful. We waited until around 9am - I obviously couldn't get back to sleep - so just chilled in the meantime. Contractions were manageable, like intense period pains but I could easily breathe through them.
After arriving at the hospital I was hooked up to the machines, tested to make sure my waters had broke (and I didn't just owe myself) and checked for dilation. At that point I was around 4cm dilated so sent home as 'first labours always take ages' and booked I for an induction at 10pm that night. At this point, the pain was becoming hard to cope with so accepted some paracetamol from the midwife. By the time we got home I was in agony and just laid on the sofa - hubby said I was there for a max of 20mins before I shouted at him to get me to the toilet. At that point, I genuinely felt like I was going to poop myself! 🙈 I didn't, but definitely felt the need to push so hubby bundled me into the car and we headed straight to the hospital. That was the worse drive of my life and I could feel every bump in the road. Luckily we're not even 10mins away because when I arrived I was, of course, 10cm dilated and having back to back contractions. I asked - well begged - for pain meds but was told that it was too late for anything and that I just needed to get baby out. 20 mins later, at 1.56pm, my son was born. The whole process was just under 11hours and was an all natural and unmedicated birth (if you don't count the paracetamol). 💪🏻
Due to speed in which it progressed, I ended up with 3 tears. One on each side (both second degree) and one at the back (first degree). I don't want to put anyone off so I won't say too much about that, but the 'ring of fire' is no joke! 🙈
All in all, the labour was easier than I anticipated in some ways. Just remember, everyone's story is different and you just can't know until you've experienced it for yourself.
One thing that I definitely will be doing this time around is advocating for myself more. I understand I was too far gone for an epidural (which I didn't want anyway - maybe they assumed that's what I wanted?!), but I certainly should have been offered gas and air (which I specified on my birth plan as the only thing I wanted to use) to help manage the pain. I wish I'd have demanded that but, at the time, obviously didn't have the energy to argue. I also wanted a water birth but since I was sent home early, it wasn't something I got to experience.