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RE: Labor & Delivery Stories

VicLee — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 23:10:13 GMT

believe me you don't want to hear mine, lol it's bad and it'll scare ya! ;)

RE: Labor & Delivery Stories

XoXo — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 22:58:36 GMT

Thanks SO much for sharing your wonderful stories! They're so encouraging!

RE: Labor & Delivery Stories

melissa85 — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 10:27:08 GMT

My pregnancy and Delivery story of our daughter Karlie :)
September 12, 2006

To start off I will let you all know that I did not know I was pregnant until I was about 2 months! I found this out when I went for my 12 week Ultrasound and they told me I was 19 weeks. I fought with the Ultrasound tech telling her there was NO WAY I was that far along since I got my period during that time!

Apparently I was wrong and she assured me that I was indeed 19 weeks and have a healthy and strong baby :)

Okay now lets fast track for the next couple of months! Had a perfect pregnancy no morning sickness nothing! Lucky me!

I was due September 5th, 2006! By September 10th still no sign of the baby so they decided to induce me by giving me the prostaglandin gel to thin my cervix which should have put me into labour. Since no signs of labour they told me to come back the next morning! Again they gave me prostaglandin gel to thin my cervix and said if you don’t go into labour come back again in the morning! So another day/night without any contractions it was now September 12th, I made my way to the hospital again! This time they gave me two doses of the prostaglandin gel since my cervix still was not completely thinned out. They told me my baby is an expensive baby, and apparently too comfortable inside to come out.

At 11:55am I finally started getting my first contractions, they were very soft and occurred ever 20 minutes or so. I was so excited I called the hospital and they told me that I was not allowed to come in until it was around 4:30pm or if my contractions became 5 minutes apart. So since it was my sister’s boyfriend birthday my mom and mother in law decided they would take me shopping for a birthday cake for him. I was not thrilled to say the least but went anyways! The contractions stayed 20 minutes apart for a while but when I got home and relaxed my contractions started to slowly speed up to 15 minutes then to 10 minutes apart. By the time 4:30pm came around I was still only 10 minutes apart but decided to make my way to the hospital anyways since it was a 30minute drive away. Again my contractions were fairly light and not too much discomfort.

We arrived at the hospital and they made me walk around for a bit and then put me in a delivery room. I was 2cm dilated and 5 minutes apart. They put my IV in which was the WORST pain ever! I have very small veins and they are hard to find, well the nurse they gave me was NEW and was FISHING for my veins, I have a HUGE bruise on my hand for over a week because of this. Once that was finally in nothing much happened for a while, they kept checking me but I was still only 2cm dilated but the baby was doing fine so they said not to worry.

The doctor then broke my water which was quite painful since he could not reach it at first and then he had to leave, the nurses gave me a shot of morphine because the contractions were starting to become more intense and the doctor was in the ER so he wasn’t able to check me to see if I was okay to get the Epidural. Once the doctor checked me I got the Epidural. No pain at all, and it worked WONDERS :) LOVED IT! And they gave me Oxytocin to help me dilate. By this time it’s around 8 I believe and still 5 minutes apart not feeling any pain. By 10pm they told me I should get some rest because I was only 3cm dilated and the baby probably won’t be coming until the next day! So my mom and John (FH at the time, now DH) stayed with me and everyone else went home.

I layed down and got all comfy and about 30minutes later I felt a gush of water and told one of them to call the nurse. The nurse checked and I was 8cm dilated! The second the nurse left my mom called everyone to come back because the baby is on its way! By the time the nurses and doctors and everyone got ready for me to push it was around 11pm. They turned down the epidural but one of my legs was completely numb, John had to hold it up while I pushed. My contractions were coming every 10 minutes at this time, doctor was quite shocked but said everything was fine and to push when a contraction does come. I pushed 2 times and then they had to give me an episiotomy, and they said when the baby crowning they could see the baby wiggle its head to get out. I push 2 more times and at 11:43pm our baby was born! At first they didn’t tell us what the baby was, I was just sitting there while they were cleaning the baby off and finally blurted out 'What is it???". The doctor then opened the legs and said ITS A GIRL!

She was a perfect 7lbs 14oz and 21.5 inches long! I had quite a few stitches which were very painful in recovery but I was there for 2 days because of the time of night Karlie was born.

Wow sorry so long! Here are some pictures of us after the delivery

RE: Labor & Delivery Stories

shawnap — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 09:27:22 GMT

I will post mine ( its been a while but feels like yesterday )

I was due on March 1st which was a Tuesday that year. That Monday my DH went to a friends to help him move and my dad was at the house ( he lives with us in a inlaw type setting ) I was just laying on the couch watching TV and it was 8pm on the Monday and I said to my dad " I think im coming down with something , I have the worst cramps in my stomach. I hope I dont get the stomach flu or something" to which my Dad my dad laughed and said " yea im sure its the stomach flu " but I think I was in denial a bit. So my Dh got home at about 1am and went straight to bed ( I was already in bed ) and I knew he had to get up early for work so I didnt say anything , despite the fact that my contractions were bad at that point. He got up at about 6am and I told him to make sure to have his cell ( still didnt tell him about contractions, YES I was in full denial ) and at about 8am I called him at work and said I thought it was about time (actually I knew it lol I was in A LOT of pain ) so I called my doctor and she asked if I thought I could make it to her office before the office and I said yes. My Dh got home and took me to the doctors office (really really fast lol ) and they got me into her office right away and it turned out I was almost 6cms and she didnt realize that I was in such active labour when I called because I was so calm. So I went home and took a shower and headed to the hospital lol ( amazing what denial will do ) when I got there they rushed me up and got me all hooked up by this time I had been in labor about 14 hours (counting from about 9pm Monday night) and I was soooo tired. I was determined to do a natural birth so I was refusing the epidural. Then my progress slowed. I was still having my contractions but I wasnt dialating past about 7.5 cm at about the 15.5 hour mark so my doctor came in and had a talk with me. She said " you wouldnt get your teeth pulled without freezing , so why are you doing this ? " and I just bawled ! I was soooooo tired and I had back labor ( turned out my LO was almost 10 lbs and when my water broke the back labor was the worst pain I could imagine ) after about another hour I agreed to the epidural. Let me tell you, I would take it again in a heart beat. Almost right away I relaxed and was now excited instead of in pain / denial about everything. Then at exactly 8pm Tuesday I started to push and 2 and a half hours later I had my baby.

and I cant wait to do it all again , with epidural lol

RE: Labor & Delivery Stories

ChantalC — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 22:00:25 GMT

You'll be fine. Your body will just know what to do. :)

RE: Labor & Delivery Stories

Nik82 — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 12:21:30 GMT

[quote][b]ChantalC (8/4/2008)[/b][hr]Niki, there's nothing to be scared of. Your body will just take over and know what to do. I was surprised at how quickly everything went - my labor was 14 hours and it felt like everything was happening right after each other, so it went really fast for me. The pushing actually felt really good, because I could be actively involved in the labor. The hardest part for me was when my body wanted to push but my cervix wasn't ready yet, so I had to NOT push - that was the worst! Very difficult. But I'd totally do it again because it was such an awesome experience.[/quote]
Thanks for the vote of confidence. I'll be sure to read this over again closer to my EDD.

RE: Labor & Delivery Stories

ChantalC — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 12:00:12 GMT

Niki, there's nothing to be scared of. Your body will just take over and know what to do. I was surprised at how quickly everything went - my labor was 14 hours and it felt like everything was happening right after each other, so it went really fast for me. The pushing actually felt really good, because I could be actively involved in the labor. The hardest part for me was when my body wanted to push but my cervix wasn't ready yet, so I had to NOT push - that was the worst! Very difficult. But I'd totally do it again because it was such an awesome experience.

RE: Labor & Delivery Stories

Nik82 — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 10:18:51 GMT

All these stories scare the crap out of me... I finally watched The Business of Being Born, and watching some of those women, I'm starting to doubt that I can do it naturally! Thank you to everybody for sharing your stories, it brings me some hope.

RE: Labor & Delivery Stories

erinMD — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 10:09:54 GMT

thanks for sharing crysandjim, I too am hoping for a vbac!

RE: Labor & Delivery Stories

crysandjim — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 00:23:58 GMT

OK, where to start? LOL. I guess I will start with Molli first.

I had been bleeding on and off for a few days, nothing major, but the amount kinda increased. By the 3rd day, the dr from my small town sent me in to the city hospital to, as he said, have my baby. Got there and the Dr. hadnt even called! They asked why I was there, and I said ti have my baby...thought they would know that! I was having no contractions, but they kept me because of the bleeding. Well, 24 hours after labor started, I finally asked for meds. i just wanted demerol, because I was soo scared of teh epidural. The head nurse said that if I was getting meds to just get the epi, no point wasting time with something else. So I got it, didnt feel it as I was in alot of pain. After about 29 hours or so I was pushing and pushing and felt like I didnt know what I was doing. The dr. was very discouraging, yelling at me etc. My ex-dh was getting nauseous and almost fainted while I was pushing, and had to leave the room. After awhile, they told me thats it, the baby isnt fitting, you are having a c section. No discussion or choice, they just told me thats what was happening. I was terrified as I never prepared for that at all. 32.5 hours after labor started, i had my gorgeous baby girl. I loved the anesthesiologist, he was the one holding my hand, and he was very encouraging. After I was done in the operating room, they took me to recovery, adn I got horrible blinding pain shooting up the back of my head. i was screaming in pain, one nurse kinda told me I was over reacting, but another one finally gave me some morphine, I was in sooo much pain. Recovery was a biotch, was in the hospital for about 6 days after the birth, and then my incision got infected adn I had to get it cleaned out at the hospital every day.

With my second, Tessa, I went to a different hospital, as I didnt like how I was treated the first time. I hoped for a VBAC, and the dr. was very encouraging of that. Well, about a week before my due date, my ex was picking Molli up for the weekend. I leaned over to pick up something off the floor for her, and I felt some warmness. I kinda sat there for a second and muttered oh oh!, thinkning, my god, I pissed myself in front of my ex. He just looked at me and said oh oh what? so i said, I think my water broke (I had figured it out at this point, LOL). i said, I'll be right back adn waddled off to the bathroom. As I was sitting on the toilet I hear.'Jim?JIM! You're wife's in labor' followed by WHAT!?!?!? he came running in, and I am sitting there appologising to my ex, while he was laughing hisperically and said he thought I had stepped on a duck (he heard a little pop too). SO as DH was frantically running around I made sandwiches, packed snacks, etc as it was supper time and I was hungry, LOL. He called his parents, his mom decided she wanted to tracel with us (she was going to come but in her own car) I called my best friend and my cousin, who both lived in different towns, as they were supposed to be with me. Well, neither could make it because of the winter weather :(
Oh well. Got to the hospital, had maybe 1 contraction in the whole 1.5 hour drive to the hospital. Once there I walked around for a while, etc, and nothing was happening. About 7 hours after my water broke, I started getting some bad contractions. I got a shot of demerol and sat on an exercise ball leaning on my bed. i actually fell asleep siting on the ball! DH freaked and made me move to the bed, he thought I would hurt myself. I soon found that I couldnt sleep laying down, I needed my bed crunched up to get any relief. about 6 hours after that, I asked for the epi. Again, I barely felt it. A few hours later, i was in so much pain, they checked and my epi drip had stopped working. So they pumped me right up and I got a bit of rest. My mom, MIL and grandma came to see me and while there I got hit with the worst contraction yet. SO mom ran to get a nurse, MIL rushed around trying to call DH on the cell phone as he had gone to the store because we thought it would be a few more hours. My grandma just kinda slowly stood up and walked out, LOL. MIL caught DH in the parking lot and panicked him, so we were ready to push. I used a squatting bar, and that worked wonders. the nurse was amazed at how well it worked for me. I pushed that way until my legs gave out. After alot of screaming and crying, the baby was finally out. i asked that DH tell me what it was, and he said, crying, girl. I said I knew it, LOL. well right after he cut the cord they took her to check her out, and DH moved in front of me and I couldnt see her. Found out later he did it on purpose, because she was so blue, not breathing properly. She ended up being in an oxygen tent for about 5 hours, and after she was out was the first I held her. She had an oxygen monitor on the rest of the day too. But there were no other issues, and her breathing became normal. She was born pretty much exaclty 18 hours after my water broke. As painful as it was, I preferred the VBAC over the c section, the recovery was alot easier, and I was out of the hospital the next afternoon.

wow that was long! sorry :)

RE: Labor & Delivery Stories

chrismont — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 23:07:44 GMT

And if that wasn't long enough, here are the answers to the questions:

[u]What would you change? [/u]

I wish I'd read up about cesareans before hand, just in case. I just recently read the book "The essential C-section Guide" because they give you NO info at the hospital on HOW to recover from it. And my Ob/Gyn was no help either. They all say "It's major abdominal surgery!" and then give you no help in recovering from it.

And I would have made sure that I actually LIKED my doula's back-ups. Because I didn't.

[u]What were the best and worst parts for you? [/u]

Best was the whole thing. Though we had the c-section the whole experience was AWESOME and it's amazing what our bodies can do.

The worst part is that I felt very detached from DH through the whole thing. I think it was because we had never met the back-up doula before and she didn't really include DH in anything.

[u]What was going through your head while it was all happening? [/u]

Not much! I felt very [i]into myself[/i], if that makes any sense. Kind of trance like. During each contraction I focused on my breathing and just getting through each one. It was very in the moment.

[u]After the baby was born, what did you do? [/u]

I can't remember much which sucks. I do remember feeling no pain which I thought was great and I started doing stretches and yoga moves in bed. I thought that once I could move my legs again that the spinal block had worn off. Nope. It wasn't until 24 hours later that it wore off, and then HOLY HELL it hurt! Moving around a lot while you're still basically frozen is NOT a good idea.

[u]How were you feeling? [/u]
I felt kind of in a daze. And kept thinking 'that came out of ME?!?' It was all very surreal.

[u]What were the first few days at home like?[/u]

***ty. Literally. Bad side effect of the c-section and labour is constipation. So I had that while in the hospital which was miserable. Then as soon as I got home I had very, very bad diarrhea. I lost so much weight that first week after I got home. I could barely eat and was so exhausted. Good times. I was SOOOOO glad that we had told people ahead of time that we wanted some time to ourselves, because running (walking very slowly) to the bathroom every 20 minutes would NOT have been fun with company there.

But really, the labour and giving birth stuff was great. I would totally do it again! Well, maybe in a few years.......:P

What put me in a great frame of mind before labour was reading the book "Ina May's Guide to Childbirth". I strongly recommend it. It will NOT scare you. It will EMPOWER you!

RE: Labor & Delivery Stories

chrismont — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 22:51:56 GMT

My reaaaaaaly long birth story. Written about a week after he was born.
______________________

Thursday during the day my doula called to say that she was going away for the weekend so to try and not have the baby on the weekend. She gave me the name of all her backups. So I told the baby “wait until Monday please!” of course fully expecting him to listen.

Thursday afternoon: Had my doctor appointment and was 1cm dilated and 50% effaced and she could feel his head. She swept my membranes (without my consent!) and off I went….

Friday at 4am I started having cramping/contractions. DH found me in the shower at 5:30 and by 7am they were done. I still didn’t know if these were contractions or cramping from the sweep. Friday during the day I was just feeling like my period was coming. Then at about 7pm contractions started and were fairly regular, then would stop, then be strong, then stop. I called one of the backup doulas at 1:30am and she was less than helpful and told me to call her in the morning. So I spent all of that night trying to sleep (never happened), having showers, baths, sitting on the yoga ball. It was exhausting because I just wanted to sleep.

Saturday morning was the same thing. Not very regular. But then about mid-afternoon they really started picking up and by 6pm were 5-6 minutes apart and lasting about 45-60 seconds. Back-up doula called again and didn’t really sound like she wanted to come over. I was rather pissed. By 9pm I was thinking we should go to the hospital as they were now coming about 3 minutes apart! BUT, I still wasn’t even sure THIS WAS IT and I didn’t want to go to the hospital and have them say ‘this is just a false alarm, go home’ or something . So I called my mom, by that point I guess I’d reached the 'Transition Phase' that I’d heard about because I was saying that I couldn’t do it and was fairly hysterical. She said ‘Get to the hospital!’. Called the next back-up doula and we were off! What a ride. The hospital is only about 7 minutes away and I had 3 contractions on the way and then 3 contractions just walking to the labour floor. Not a fun trip, but it was so hazy and I barely remember it.

Got into the room and they checked me. EIGHT centimeters dilated!!! Holy smokes! I guess I really WAS in labour. So there was no time to use all those Enya CDs and massage oil and other things for labour that I’d packed. Oops!

Doctor came and checked and said I’d be pushing soon. They said I could get an epidural if I wanted but since I was that far already and there wasn't much time....It honestly hadn't been that bad up until then, so I never even asked for the epi and they didn't mention it again.

ANOTHER back-up doula finally came and about an hour later I was pushing. It was 11:30pm then so we were wondering what his birthday was going to be. We were all thinking that this was going to be the easiest labour ever!

Pushing was such a completely animalistic feeling. I never felt like I couldn’t do it or like I was going to die. My body just took over and knew what to do. Amazing! It was even bearable without the epidural and I was thinking if this baby comes out soon this won’t have been half as bad as I was thinking it would be. WELL………by 3am the nurses were looking a little worried and called the doctor back in. She checked while I was having a contraction (very painful) and said that though I was pushing perfectly his head was just not descending with the contractions. So she suggested Pitocin to get them closer together and hopefully the momentum would help him to descend. The nurses were going to start it slowly but the doctor kept cranking it up. When she was in the room the whole vibe changed as I could see her watching the clock. Meanwhile the doula was coaching me and DH was trying his best. The nurses were amazing and stayed with me every minute. The doctor gave me until 4am and then said that we would discuss other options. By 4:15 still nothing was happening and the doctor could see that every time I was pushing the skin was actually being rubbed from the back of the baby's head. She did the most painful exam EVER. This was the only time I was screaming. His head was stuck on my pelvis and was now starting to be worrisome as they didn’t think he’d be able to get past and was starting to be in distress. So my options were trying with forceps in which case I’d need an epidural and there was no guarantee it would work. Or an immediate C-section. We all decided the C-section was a better choice. EXCEPT the doula who was trying to talk me out of it but I was so petrified of the forceps. They stopped the pitocin but I couldn’t stop pushing, it was impossible not to. But my only disappointment with the whole labour was during this time when the nurses left to get ready for the surgery and we were left alone. DH and I didn’t know what to do and the doula looked almost annoyed at me and was starting to pack up. But I was still having huge contractions and had no one to hold my legs or tell me what to do.

Finally in the OR, got the spinal block, it was amazingly pain-free and easy. It kicked in right away and they started the surgery. He was so stuck they had trouble getting him out and I felt lots of tugging and pulling. So FINALLY, after 5 hours of drug-free pushing and the C-section, Toby was born at 5:32am and as soon as I heard him crying I started to cry. He was 8 pounds 6 ounces, 21 ¼ inches long and his head was 39cm! No wonder he was stuck!

During the surgery I was scared of throwing up and hated having both arms strapped down but it was soon over and they were sewing me up. Meanwhile baby and Dh were whisked off to the nursery as baby was weezing so I was left there alone as they sewed me up. That took a lot longer than I was anticipating. Then off to the recovery room where I had some weird reaction to the Demerol and was convulsing and freezing.

Finally got to see baby at 7:30 in my room and boy was I loopy! But he was perfect and it was all beautiful. He breastfed almost immediately. Unfortunately, I don't remember doing it! That's one negative about the whole thing is that since I hadn't slept a minute since the Friday night (it was now Sunday) I can't remember some things because I was soooo tired.

The recovery from the C-section is WAY harder than I thought it would be and certainly wasn’t expecting to have one so it’s been hard not being able to do much or even walk around holding him. And I either got some sort of gastro bug or a reaction to the drugs as I’ve had VIOLENT diarrhea that is just starting to wear off. So I’ve been super weak and feeling fluish. But the incision is getting better every day.

Toby is doing great and regaining the weight he lost. Breastfeeding is going well and the only complaint is my sore nipples but I think they are getting better. I’m drenched most of the time from sweating and the changes in hormones.

So labour was both amazing beautiful and I could totally do it again. I don’t feel at all disappointed that I had to have c-section as it was the only way he would have come out. A nurse after said that if we’d used forceps that he would have been “mangled”.

He is perfect and I love him.

RE: Labor & Delivery Stories

ChantalC — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 19:25:15 GMT

Here's my story:

At 38 weeks, I noticed a bit of a rash developing. At first I thought it was a bunch of bug bites, but the day after I first noticed it I realized it was getting way worse and was definitely not just bites. By a few days later I was ready to tear my skin off. I saw my doctor then, but since I'd already had one rash (totally different type) he thought I was just complaining about that. Two days after that appointment I went back to the doctor and demanded to see him. Once I showed him this new rash he decided to check my cervix, which I thought was a bit weird. I thought he'd just prescribe some cream or something. He checked me and I was starting to efface, but not dilated yet. I was 39 weeks at this appointment, and he casually mentioned that he was going to schedule me for the gel the next day. It took me a couple seconds before I realized that he was planning on inducing me. When I asked him what the rash was he explained that it was PUPPS, which is basically a weird issue with bile salt not being processed by my liver and raising to the service of my skin. (It was unbearably itchy!)

I was all ready to go into the hospital the next day, but when I called to confirm my appointment they said that they were booked and if I went into labor from the gel they'd have to reroute me to another hospital, which I didn't want. They said I'd definitely be induced within 72 hours - I was so upset! I called back first thing the next morning and it turned out they had room for me to come in, so I went in for the gel at 8:30. They sent me home after monitoring the baby for about an hour, and by 11:30 am I noticed I was having contractions. By 1:00 they were in a steady pattern of 3 minutes apart lasting 45 seconds. I went back to the hospital at 3, and was 2 cm dilated. I stayed at 2 cm for hours and hours and finally had the pitocin drip, which wasn't actually that bad. I'd read so many scary stories about it, but I didn't find it bad at all. My labor was pretty normal - the only weird thing is that the epidural wouldn't take on my right side, it kept wearing off. At one point the anesthesiologist yelled at me because he had to keep coming back - jerk! But other than that, everything went great.

Annora was born at 3:20 am on Sunday July 20th, with a full head of hair. She didn't scream at birth, she just let out a little cry. Within 40 minutes of birth she was breastfeeding like a champ.

Honestly girls - labor wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it might be!

RE: Labor & Delivery Stories

XoXo — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 18:36:45 GMT

Bump... hoping to hear more stories? :)

RE: Labor & Delivery Stories

MEB — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:36:11 GMT

wow, thanks for sharing these.... It's nice to have all the stories in one thread, scary, but nice!

RE: Labor & Delivery Stories

NLC123 — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 09:04:22 GMT

I thought I'd pop in, have been having baby cravings lol. We won't be TTC for at least 2-4 years :(.

Here's my story:

Early on in my pregnancy I had my placenta abrevia(sp?), it eventually "moved" out of the way and everything was fine. My edd was August 4. On September 30ish, I went to my obgyn and she swept my membranes. She said it was close enough and would help me along. It didn't really do anything at all, but kind of hurt lol.

The morning of August 4, I woke up late around 11, made pancakes and was about to go watch t.v. I felt this huge warm gush and yelled out to my SO at the time that my water just broke. I ran to the bathroom to take of my wet clothes when I looked down and my underwear and pants were covered in blood. I didn't have any contractions at the time, but I knew that the amount of blood I was seeing was not a good sign. We made it to the ER and I checked in, every step I took more blood was coming out. They didn't even offer me a wheelchair so I walked to the elevator up to the labour and delivery on the 5th floor.

Once I got up there, I walked up to the nurses desk and they asked why I was here. They had gotten my sheet from the ER. The nurse said "why are you here, your not having any contractions?". I stepped back so she could see all the blood at the front of my pants lol. Over dramatic but I was kind of in shock and was very worried about what was going on. They rushed me into a wheelchair and into a bed. The specialist came in to check me out. Baby's heartbeat was fine my blood pressure was ok. I was only 1cm dilated and 75% effaced. They decided due to the blood they would induce my labour. The pitocin is the devil!

Luckily it was NB day and a long weekend so the l&d floor wasn't busy. They started the pitocin and really amped it up. I went from zero contractions to contractions 1 minute apart. I had really hoped for a drug free birth, but due to the pitocin I had no time to adjust to the pain. The back labour was the absolute worst. Within 30 minutes I had the epidural, it was either get it early or not at all as the anastesiologist(sp?)had a surgery to go to. It really helped and I was able to slightly relax.

3 hours after coming into the ER I felt this HUGE pressure, I mentioned it to the nurse who said "it's probably nothing...you've only been dilated 3cm's for the last 2 hours". I *nicely* said "listen lady...I understand I'm only 21 and I may not know as much as you, but my body is screaming at me that something is going on and I want you to get the fing doctor right now". So the Dr came in to check me out and I was fully dilated and he could feel the babies head. I pushed for about 45 minutes. The epidural was great except I could feel blinding pain on the right side of my labia lol. Symone's head came out first and as soon as her mouth was out she was screaming! Yes it was a sign of the child to come lol. She was beautiful with a head FULL of hair. Gorgeous and perfect.

To answer some of the questions:

I wouldn't change anything.

The best part was seeing her and hearing her. The worst part was the 6 weeks after, so much pain! I knew nothing about post partum depression but as a PP mentioned once I was coming out of it, only then did I realize I had it. It actually was the cause of my ending my relationship with my SO.

The 2nd worst part was all the blood. It was SO scary. They never did tell me why I bled so much, but once I delivered the placenta they were looking at it...yay lol. They pointed out a huge blood clot so it may have ruptured.

RE: Labor & Delivery Stories

satin — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 19:51:41 GMT

[quote][b]jaedagal (7/7/2008)[/b][hr][quote][b]Nik82 (7/7/2008)[/b][hr]Bump

Cause I want to hear more... Also Jaedagal, since you almost made it the whole way without an epi, I was just wondering if looking back you think you could have done it without the epi?[/quote]

I don't know if I could have made it through the who birth with out it. Possibly, but my back labour was so incredibly painful that I couldn't even think (I was almost to the point of being delirious). Literally, it felt like someone was taking a sledge hammer and whacking me as hard as they could over and over and then bending me over and trying to crack my spine in half. I was so out of it, I even forgot to breath! The nurses were yelling at me to breath so many times. I had mentally prepared myself a head of time and I knew it was going to be painful and hard, but I never expected to have such horrible contractions.

Maybe next time my labour won't be as bad and I won't need it. :)[/quote]

i had back labour with 2 of my babies. totally sucks! hurts so bad you can't move, can't sit up-just cry! i did it without an epi both times though i would have for my 2nd if it had been avaible but the person wan't in till 5 am and i had her at 4:50am. my first was painful back lab0ur but i had him in 3 hours. my 2nd was 18 h0urs and hurt soooooooooooo bad! this last time it wasn't back labour but induced with the drip and omg!! that was terrible! so fast and painful contractions!

RE: Labor & Delivery Stories

XoXo — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:56:01 GMT

Omg... wow. These stories are so intense! I just wanted to thank all of you so much for sharing! I really hope to hear some more!

RE: Labor & Delivery Stories

jaedagal — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 15:33:49 GMT

[quote][b]Nik82 (7/7/2008)[/b][hr]Bump

Cause I want to hear more... Also Jaedagal, since you almost made it the whole way without an epi, I was just wondering if looking back you think you could have done it without the epi?[/quote]

I don't know if I could have made it through the who birth with out it. Possibly, but my back labour was so incredibly painful that I couldn't even think (I was almost to the point of being delirious). Literally, it felt like someone was taking a sledge hammer and whacking me as hard as they could over and over and then bending me over and trying to crack my spine in half. I was so out of it, I even forgot to breath! The nurses were yelling at me to breath so many times. I had mentally prepared myself a head of time and I knew it was going to be painful and hard, but I never expected to have such horrible contractions.

Maybe next time my labour won't be as bad and I won't need it. :)

RE: Labor & Delivery Stories

navywife2b — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:44:30 GMT

First off you are a brave girl for wanting to hear these, when I was pregnant I couldnt watch the l&d parts of shows like the baby story and skipped through those chapters in the books...I so wanted my baby but I wanted it delivered via stork.

Anywhos here is my tale....

First off i will say that my fh is a naval officer and was at sea until dec 15th and had to go back to sea for 2 weeks on jan3rd and babies due date was the 23rd of dec so i had a really short ideal time period for her to arrive. (and i was in ontario with my parents bc of all his time at sea and he was at our home in halifax)

On the 21st of december I went into my dr appt thinking that I would be going into the hospital to get induced as was discussed because of my fh situation that way i wouldnt be stressed about him missing it and he could have enough time with the baby before he left again. Well dr decide that a medical induction was not a good idea bc baby was posterior and he didnt want to put me at risk for a csection. I was 2cm so he decided to strip my membranes to see if this would get things moving naturally and maybe encorage baby to turn around. Well that evening I started having contractions and really bad back labor. at about 1am i went to the hospital bc contractions(although themselves not very intense) were evry 3 min and back pain was killing me. I was checked to be 3cm and contractions every21/2 min. 5 hrs later checked again and still 3cm and bc i could talk through contractions they sent me home and told me to come back when they were more intense. i asked about being induced but bc baby was still posterior they didnt want to:( at 8am everything just stopped?

Crappy thing about being due over the holidays is that your dr is on vaca and my next appt was not until the 28th when he came in for the morning. Well christmas came and went and still no baby...i was starting to really worry that john was going to miss her birth. On the 28th i went in for my check up now 5days post due date. baby was still posterior which dr did not like, especially since i am narrow hipped. he could tell I was stressed about fh leaving in a few days so he called hospital and made arrangemnts for me to go that evening to be inserted with prostaglandin to help ripen the cervix, he didnt want the drip bc he wanted baby to have enough time to turn on its own. he gave me the song and dance about risks of having a fast labor and csection. at 8 pm I was inserted and went home and was due to come back in the morning to be inserted again(said it usually takes a couple before things get going). Well at 6am started having contractions...at 7 told fh we should get going, he was sleepy and in no rush saying that my appt was at 9...bc of last false alarm I held off until 830..we got to hospital was determined to be in labor contractions every 3min, quite a bit moer inttense then the last time but still able too talk. the pre labor room was quite busy and dr did not see me until 10am. said I was 4cm and baby was still posterior, said i was probably in for the long haul. i said i wanted an epidural, he convinced me to take a shot of nubane to take the edge off the pain and when it wears off in an hour w will discuss the epi. I was hesitant about the nubane bc systemic narcotics can cross to the baby but dr said I was only 4cm and by the time i was delivering it will be well out of my system so i agreed. did not like nubane at all, did take edge off felt like mentstrual cramps but made me very woozy and disorientated. wore off at 11 and pain was INTENSE!!! demanded that nurse order my epidural..she made the call and said that the anesthisiolgist would be an hour. Insisted I could not wait, nurse kindly told me I could and would have to. John went to make calls to my parents and update and grab a snack. at 1125 pain was really bad..again told nurse i needed my epi, said could not wait..nurse said i was only 4cm at 10 and I could wait. 10min later felt pressure and ridiculous urge to push told nurse who decided to check me out. Told other nurse to get dr asap as i was fully dilated and ready to have baby.

I freaked out, was very panicky..told nurse i will wait till i get epi nurse told me no longer an option. was very upset with nurse and dr for relling me to wait on epidural sid I wanted it and was not going to push...well baby had other ideas.. the noticed fh was still missing... nurse had him paged over intercom...he arrived very stunned as had only been gone for 15min and we had been told it would be mid afternoon before we saw any action..called parents from delivery room.

Worst most Intense pain of my life (sorry for not sugar coating) At many times i was insisting that i did not need to have this baby. Painful, tearing burning sensation (and they lie you do not forget but you do forgive and accept that it is necessary when you are holding your angel). baby was still posterior so back of head (very big head) was presenting. pushed a bit and dr ruptured my membranes and 3 pushes later was announced ITS A GIRL!!!!:D most beautiful thing ever...even gucky and screaming. 7lbs14ounces and 211/2 inches.:w00t:

It was awful at the time but in hindsight I would rather short painful intense labor with no drugs than long slow exhausting labor with them.

RE: Labor & Delivery Stories

ColieW — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:45:20 GMT

I thought I would add my birth story to this thread...

I woke up on the Sunday morning at 4am with intense stomach pain. I didnt think much of it and actually thought that it was stomach pain from something I had for dinner on Saturday. At 4:30 the pain happened again, when I got up to go to the washroom I noticed I was also bleeding slightly which made me realize that it was not something I ate, I was actually in labour (My due date was April 24th, and I was already 10 days past that, I was fully expecting to be added to the induction list at my doctors appoinment the next day). My contractions continued to get stronger and closer together all morning. By about 10:30 they were under 15 minutes apart, but the fronts of my thighs were killing me with each contraction. My contractions continued to get closer and closer together through out the day. Along with the pain in my thighs my lower back really started to hurt. It wasn't until just before midnight on Sunday that my contractions were 4-5 minutes apart. We got to the hospital just after midnight and I was examined by the nurse. I was 4cm dilated so they told me I would be staying.

I continued to labour at the hospital for 4 more hours before they checked to see if I was progressing. During these 4 hours my contractions continued to get worse. The pain in my legs was gone (or atleast I didnt notice it, but my lower back was in agony with each one it felt like intense burning). At 4am the doctor examined me and I was still only 4cm dilated. At this pont I had been having heavy contractions for 24 hours. She suggested that they break my water to see if that would speed things up and offered me an epidural. (I was wanting to deliver without any pain medication, but was not totally against having it if I thought I needed it). I gladly accepted the epidural, hoping to get atleast a little break from the pain. Getting the epidural was not nearly as bad as I had imagined it to be and I began to feel relief almost immediately. They broke my water and told me to try to get some rest. By close to noon on the Monday I was 10 cm dilated. They told me I wasn't quite ready to push so I had to wait. But the epidural was wearing off and my contractions were causing me so much lower back pain again it was killing me to the point of tears. I told the nurse I couldnt handle both the back pain and the contractions.... after so many hours of labour I was mustering all the strength I had. The nurse made me do a few pushes to see if the baby would come. She did, so she called the doctors and we started. She said that she thought we would have the baby in less than 2 hours. I thought.. 2 hours!?! My word, I can't do 2 hours of pushing.... so I pushed with all my might and my little girl was born after less than 45 minutes of pushing. I was absolutely exhausted when it was all done. I didn't feel disappointed that I got the epidural at all, I definitely needed something to help me along.

DH and I are absolutely thrilled with our little girl. She brings a smile to both of our faces any time of day. Like many other moms on here have said... We have both fallen entirely in love with this little person and would do anything for her. Though my labour was long and hard she was worth every second of it and I would do it all again for her in a heart beat. At the time I thought I would never want to have another baby, but as soon as I had Sophie in my arms I knew I would do it again one day.

To answer the other questions you posted...
What would you change? I would have liked to not have had 34 hours of labour lol... but you dont get a choice on that one. Looking back though I think next time I will go for some prenatal massages to help relax the back muscles... I think that might have had to do with the pain in my legs and lower back.

What were the best and worst parts for you? The best part was seeing my little girl for the first time. I dont know if I could say there was a worst part.... labour was long and hard and quite painful but really it was worth it.

What was going through your head while it was all happening? What kept me going was focusing on each contraction one by one... each time I had a contraction I would concentrate on breathing deeply until it was through. I knew I would never have to do THAT contraction again and I could move onto the next and with each new contraction I was that much closer to having my little one in my arms.

After the baby was born, what did you do? How were you feeling? What were the first few days at home like? After the baby was born the only thing that mattered was the little girl in my arms. I couldnt even remember them telling me to push to deliver the placenta... but DH told me I did haha. I was exhausted and sooo happy. The first few days I was a little paranoid (which I am sure all first time parents are). I would wake up every hour or so at night to check to see if she was breathing, I would set my alarm to wake up every 4 hours (though she would wake up before my alarm) so that I could feed her... after a few days of that I realized I was nuts!?! She can breath on her own without me watching and she will wake up and cry when she is hungry. So I slept much better after the first few days. My mom was staying with us for the first week and a half, so we very much appreciated her help with cooking, laundry, cleaning and just having someone there who had done this all before helped reassume me too. I also found breastfeeding to be very hard at first. I think the first 2 weeks were horrible. My breasts hurt like no other from sucking and engorgement but after that the pain went away and I have had no problems since.

RE: Labor & Delivery Stories

Nik82 — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 09:42:45 GMT

Bump

Cause I want to hear more... Also Jaedagal, since you almost made it the whole way without an epi, I was just wondering if looking back you think you could have done it without the epi?

RE: Labor & Delivery Stories

MRSH2B — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 22:28:03 GMT

Here is my story...on April 4 (what was supposed to be my last day of work, two weeks before my due date) i woke up to my alarm at 6AM stood up and my water broke!! Every step I took water poured out. Went to the bathroom saw saw blood but not much. I called my supervisor to tell her because I work in a daycare and am usually the staff to open the centre. i told her I would meet her there and then go to the hospital!! She told me I was nuts and said she would make it there in time. I then woke DH who didn't seem to believe me the first time I said it. He quickly got out of bed and we sprung into action. I still had no contractions at all. We took our time, showered, and tidied the house a bit hehe. Then we decided to go to the hospital to get checked out. Once there they confirmed my water broke and that I was not having contractions. They gave me the option to be induced with pitocin then or come back later and hope things get started on their own. We decided to wait. We went home, I slept and DH installed the car seat and put together our stroller. By 6PM still no contractions so back to the hospital to be induced with pitocin. The hooked me up and boy did the contractions start. I hade an epidural 2 hours later but was still experiencing the pain from my back labour, the nurse kept saying it was just pressure on my bowels but the pain was almost unbearable even with the epidural. They gave me another shot to top it off and from then on I felt nothing:D I got a fever while in labour and the baby's heart rate kept dropping so I kept having to get oxygen. Finally around 10:00am on April 5 my OB came in concerned that we get him out ASAP due to his low heart rate(it had dropped to 55) She mentioned C section but decided to try with the forceps...at 10:23am Nolan was born after 2 pushes and the help of forceps:D The cord was around his neck which may have been the cause of his low heart rate. He was assessed by lots of doctors who came rushing in (it was quite scary) he was absolutely perfect he just had enough and wanted out. At the time I felt my experience was too much and I could never go through that again but you truly do get over it and it really doesn't seem so bad now!!! I had total trust in my OB and Nolan was so worth every minute in the 23 hours I was in labour:D

Wow that turned out long...sorry:D

RE: Labor & Delivery Stories

jaedagal — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 16:53:35 GMT

Why yes I am... Call me crazy, but I thought we might as well have our kids close together.

Yay, to odd mommies!

RE: Labor & Delivery Stories

beccak — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 16:49:34 GMT

[quote][b]MEB (7/4/2008)[/b][hr]You trying for a new one Poppin? YAY -- so exciting! We could be preggo-odds together :D

Keep the stories coming ....[/quote]

that would make 3 prego odds!!! :)

I love the stories and want to hear more, more, more!!!!

RE: Labor & Delivery Stories

MEB — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 16:22:37 GMT

You trying for a new one Poppin? YAY -- so exciting! We could be preggo-odds together :D

Keep the stories coming ....

RE: Labor & Delivery Stories

jaedagal — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 16:01:56 GMT

My story started on April 10th, 2007 when I had my membranes swept. Nothing happened that day or half way through the next day. So, on the 11th I had this HUGE nesting urge and I felt like I needed to clean/scrub the bathroom, kitchen and vacuum. I also baked apple crisp, made granola and banana muffins. Don't ask me why I needed to make those things, but for some reason I was totally compelled and felt like we NEEDED them in the house.

Not until 3pm did I start getting mild cramping. They were just like af cramps -- nothing major. I also lost my plug (for the second time -- first time was 4 weeks before) and I knew it must be labour. Dh wasn't convinced at all and told me to just sit down and relax because today isn't your day. Nice eh?! Who exactly has the baby in their belly?! :P

The mild cramps went away and I did go relax and we started to watch the first Canucks play-off game. Around 7 they started again and this time a bit more painful. So, around 9 I got into the tub to try and ease some of the pain and Dh called the hospital to see what we should do. Well, 20 minutes later we get a call back and they told us they have to regular and 5 minutes apart before we attempt a visit at the hospital. Well, they hurt, but I could still handle them and they were coming at different times/all over the place 10 mins -- 15 mins -- 8 mins-- 21 mins etc. So, dh told me to go to bed and try to sleep. I think I managed 30 mins of sleep before I got my first truly painful *back labour* contraction. It woke me up and I bolted out of bed and so I tried to manage as long as I could at home. Dh was a trooper and helped me out a lot.

1 am we headed off to the Women's BC Hospital where i felt like I was about to die of pain. Yeah, my back labour was really really bad. It was very quick and very painful and the nurses and the doctors were very surprised at how quickly I advanced and how extremely painful my contractions were. They got to the point where I was having 3 contractions in a row with out a break (like one right after another and then a minute break till the next 3 would come). Unfortunately, the hospital was really busy that night and i had to wait in the admittance room for 3.5 hours and in that time i went from 4 cm to 9.5 cm. Since I was in that room I wasn't able to get an epidural to ease the pain and was trying not to swear my head off at the Dr.s and nurses for making me wait for relief. Alas relief came when i finally got my birthing room and was given an epi right away. Ohhh getting that wasn't fun either I could feel the needle going into my spine and could feel everything he was doing, but I would certainly get one again because it made all my pain go away. The only bad thing about it was it took over 20 minutes for it to kick in and the doctor made me get it while i was in mid-contraction (I really hate him for that).

When it finally kicked in it was smooth sailing from there and seriously was a piece of cake. It was pretty easy to do and he came out so easily and when i say easily I didn't even have to do a last push because he just popped out on his own! I just can't believe how well an epidural really works -- I literally had no pain at all. He was born April 12th, 2007 at 9:35 am 8 pounds and 21.5 inches long.

For the longest time I was scared to even think if I was going to try for another one and well this month we started our ttc journey again. :) I'm hoping not to have back labour again...

RE: Labor & Delivery Stories

satin — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 09:08:49 GMT

my doctor did not want me to go over my date for various reasons. i was due on April 30 and on the 29th they gave me gel which gave me some stonger contractions but no dilation at all. i went into the hosiptal at midnight due to the timing of contractions(7 mins apart)but they were not long enough to do anything. i want to mention my mom came to the hosiptal at midnight and stayed the entire time i was there. dr came in that morning and broke my water. everything stopped-barly any contractions at all. the nurse made me have a nap then the decision was made to start poticin on me. at 3pm they started the drip and everything went crazy fast!! i went from 2cms to 4 to 6 in less then an hour then 6-8 pretty quickly-that was when i lost my sence of humor compleatly-.nurse checked me(my aunt)and the dr came in and said he thought i'd be another couple hours, i screamed beacuse the baby was making her way down, he checked again and said"okay this baby will be here in like 2 seconds". he didn't even get his gloves on in time-the nurse delevred her!! after she was born, really only 2 pushes-i looked at the clock and i had gone from 8cm to birth in 10 mins. she was born at 5:13pm and was 6lbs 15oz and perfect. i had 2 previous births that were not induced by poticin and would not want that again! it's soo hard on your system! going from no contractions to birth in 2 hours is not fun! she was bruised from being born so fast but other then that no problems!

RE: Labor & Delivery Stories

Kyrra — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 00:29:19 GMT

I had my little girl Oct 25th 07..

i had been having contractions all week long.. nothing major but enough i went into the hospital.. for them to send me home.. so the morning of the 25th.. i had contractions.. didnt think much of it.. Dh went to work.. told him i would call if i needed him.. i had my OBGYN appt that afternoon anyway.. so i would just wait to see him.. so my daughter (13 years old) and i went into the city (saskatoon.. i live in humboldt.. which is an hour away) i am still having contractions. but nothing steady.. wandered around the mall for a bit.. went to my appt.. he said i would likely have baby by the weekend. and if i didnt. monday he would induce me.. but he also said i was 3 cm dilated.. so yeah.. Daughter and i go out to get supper.. and while we are sitting there I suddenly felt a very painful contraction.. and holy hell.. Melissa (daughter) asked if iwas ok.. so i was in a whole lot of pain i snapped at her.. she thinks thats funny now.. so we get the bill.. the fn waitress took her sweet ass time getting up there so i could pay her.. finally she came up.. i am pale.. melissa oh so calmly says my mom is in labour. would you mind hurrying a little.. lol.. k thats still funny.. so we are walking to the car.. every few mins i gotta stop cuz i just wanna cry.. finally in the car.. melissa asks how we are getting to the hospital.. hahahahah i told her i was driving.. she said.. oh crap.. so she called greg.. said to get to the hosptial asap.. again. hes an hour away.. and his mom had to bring him in.. we only have one car.. and i had it.. got to the hospital in one peace.. driving while in active labour.. not a smart thing to do.. went upstairs to labour and delivery.. she measured me.. 4 cm.. asked if i wanted an epidural.. oh my good lord.. yes i did.. but originally.. i wasnt going to get one.. but ya know.. i am 36.. and everything hurts more now.. dh finally got to the hospital.. thank gawd.. almost 2 hours after melissa called him.. his mom wanted to come in.. i screamed NO.. so she didnt.. :) i was in so much pain.. i was literally screaming.. i felt bad for the couple that was in the next bed.. cuz she wasnt in pain at all.. i was sitting on the edge of the bed holding onto dh for dear life.. and my water broke.. couldnt move tho.. in to much pain.. and i didnt care that i was getting fluid on the floor.. still hadnt had the epidural yet.. FINALLY they take me to the delivery room.. takes another 45 mins before the guy comes to stick me in the back.. which i was not looking forward to.. so the delivery nurse.. who is awesome.. i love her.. got me all ready and totally calmed me down.. because honestly i was getting a little mean. she told me i had to stay really still for him to stick the epi in.. mean while i am thinking.. hah.. stay still my ass.. i managed to stay still thank goodness.. and oh the relief.. i was so happy to have relief.. then i needed to push.. she told me i couldnt i was still only 8cm. so i waited.. about 5 mins. cuz really.. needed to push.. she checked me.. told me to push.. while she was checking me.. not fun.. but she said i was definitly moving baby when i pushed.. so she went to get the dr.. 2 or 3 pushes later.. kaydence was born.. it was very fast.. and she was so bruised because it was so fast.. right after she was born my 2 kids came in .. and dhs mom.. everyone was so happy.. melissa was glad everything went well.. i just wanted dhs mom to leave so i could nurse my daughter.. but she didnt.. the first days in the hospital sucked.. i hate hospitals. food sucks.. my mil has boundry issues.. so when i was nursing she would literally check to see if baby was latched right. i finally had DH to tell her to back off.. which she kinda did.. my mom came the next day.. i am glad she was there.. dh and the kids were there everyday till i came home.. the ride home with Kaydence was so nice.. MIL wanted to drive the baby home.. hah.. that didnt happen.. dh and i stopped at mcdonalds on the way home.. the mcdonalds we both worked at when we met.. i thought i was pretty fitting.. her first trip out was to where her mom and dad had met.. anyway.. lol.. got home.. the cats.. could care less about the baby.. mocha was happy i was home... pissed there was a baby attached to me all the time now.. and he couldnt sit on my knee anymore.. there were and still are a few sleepless nights.. and i had postpartum depression for awhile.. which i am glad to say.. i am 100% now.. whoohooo.. ppd is a scary thing. esp cuz nobody really talks about it. and you yourself dont relize you have it till you are on your way to coming out of it.. for me thats how it was anyway.. for me..ppd was an overwhelming sadness all the time.. it was a combination of things for me.. kaydence didnt want to breastfeed anymore..and that hurt beyond words.. since ihad nursed my other daughter for 2 years i figured i was doing something wrong or that kaydence just didnt like me.. yah i know.. irrational.. and the other. my other 2 kids are 18 and 14.. they are damn near out of my house.. and i am starting again.. what the hell was i thinking.. but its great now.. i am so happy now.. which is great.. totally changes the mood in the house..

k i have gone on long enough.. if you made it this far.. i am impressed!!!

RE: Labor & Delivery Stories

jessicajoy — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 00:26:43 GMT

There is really no point in worrying too much about the labour..as hard as it is to do..because it will be the most mind blowing thing you can imagine. The pain (to be honest) is the worst pain you will EVER feel in the world. Mind you this is coming from someone who had the drip (gives you stronger and longer contractions) and horrendous back labour...so I probably had some pretty harsh ones!

The coolest thing that happened to both me and my friend is that between contractions, we were able to go into a whole other world. It is amazing what your body will let you do...you can almost put yourself into a trance like state until the next contraction. Allow yourself to find that place..it is amazing!!!

Here is the story I wrote up at the time

On March 28th at 9 am I was induced with Cervidal, already at 1 cm and 75 % effaced. I was admitted as an inpatient because of my blood pressure and spent the day waiting in the hospital. At 9pm my OB checked me and found that I had not made any progress at all. He wanted me to wait through the night and see how that worked.

March 29th at 8 am I took out the Cervidal and was started on Pitocin. From 8am-11am I had no change in dilation. I started to feel some contractions at about 11am, but nothing major. Dr. then broke my water. Then it all went very quickly. By 3pm I was begging to have some pain relief (I knew that I HAD to have an epi even though I didn't want one.... because of my blood pressure...so with that knowledge, it just wasn't coming fast enough) because I was experiencing severe back labour (and I have scoliosis which didn't help the situation) - Thank goodness for my friend Jenne who is an Registered Massage Therapist...she was there the WHOLE TIME helping me through each contraction! She was a wonderful help!!! The epiduralist came at approx. 3:30. He took approx 1 hour trying to get the epidural in in various parts of my spine. It was very frustrating for him and I, as I had to sit extremely still while working through back labour contractions. Finally he got the epidural "sort of in" and to the best that he could due to my scoliosis. I was told I probably would not have much pain relief. The back labour subsided a bit and started to feel the contractions in my stomach again. They were still painful, but not nearly as bad as my back labour.

Soon after, my back labour came back and then moved into my hip...I was in unbelievable pain and was often getting back to back contractions (or as John called them …"the twins") with out any relief. I suddenly felt the urge to push and was checked and had dilated from 3 to 8 cm. I was in so much pain and the epiduralist couldn't figure out what was happening. Finally the nurse found the tube from the epidural on the floor with a puddle of epidural around it. I was not even getting any of it for hours!!!! I begged to push, and got checked again and was finally given the ok. I pushed for 2 solid hours, and was very exhausted after. Finally, after some help with an episiotomy and a new vacuum type device I delivered baby Arianna. I was in total shock when SHE was born. She is beautiful and perfect and VERY VERY healthy. I am doing ok. Very swollen and tired. Very shocked that I basically delivered her naturally with only maybe a ½ hour of some relief. I was in active labour for 10 hours…but she was worth it. she is a perfect baby..hardly cries, and is very very content!!! We are starting to feed well together!!

Oh and I guess I became a comedian as well in my labour. I was saying all sorts of funny things…and I told my doctor I was going to kick his a$$!! He took it well though J …guess that is why I got the slice and dice…

Labor & Delivery Stories

XoXo — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 23:05:52 GMT

I wanted to start a thread, hoping that some might be willing to share their labor and delivery stories... I know this might be a personal question, but I'm sure I'm not the only one interested in reading about it. So many posted their birth stories right after their LO's were born, but there are so few stories now that all of the threads are gone.

Thanks in advance for those you share. The thought of birth terrifies me, and I'm hoping maybe it'll help to hear REAL stories. What was your birthing experience like? What would you change? What were the best and worst parts for you? What was going through your head while it was all happening? After the baby was born, what did you do? How were you feeling? What were the first few days at home like?

I'm just full of questions! :)