MSE Pregnancy Club Birth Stories

nm123_2 · 16 September 2009 at 10:18AM

xXMessedUpXx wrote: »

I'll admit i'm not planning on having kids yet, but reading this thread has been an eye opener. So many of you have been through so much as well :eek:

I'm a lurker too! What always surprises me is when it appears that labour has started yet the OH (and sometimes the mummy) go back to sleep for "few hours"... I've never had kids but it makes me chuckle to think that the biggest-thing-in-the-world-is-about-to-happen and you can relax enough to get some sleep!

feelinggood_2 · 16 September 2009 at 10:29AM

nm123 wrote: »

I'm a lurker too! What always surprises me is when it appears that labour has started yet the OH (and sometimes the mummy) go back to sleep for "few hours"... I've never had kids but it makes me chuckle to think that the biggest-thing-in-the-world-is-about-to-happen and you can relax enough to get some sleep!

Men can sometimes be a bit detached from it all! My OH happily went home and made his own dinner and had a lie in, despite me being monitored in hospital, and needing to be induced! He also had a moan about having a stool instead of a chair when I was in labour! For him, I think it was a form of self protection.

Bear_family · 18 September 2009 at 4:30PM

Nathaniel David Basil born 17th September 2009 at 8.27am 6lb 13oz

I was due on September 28 but at 7am Wednesday 16th Sept I woke up to find a show, which continued throughout the rest of the day, quite heavy and with quite bad backache. I had a midwife appointment that day and when I mentioned it she said it could be the start of things or it could carry on for another week. She gave my 'bump' a feel and said the baby's head was engaged.

I really didn't think I would go into labout so that evening my husband and I even went around Ikea and ordered furniture to be delivered for the next day! When we got back from shopping I went to bed with a hot wheat bag on my back only to wake up at 1.25am to a popping sound and a gush of water - thankfully I had put a waterproof mattress protector on the bed!

I woke my husband and we came down stairs and he ran me a warm bath while I went to the loo. While the bath was still running I got in and we started timing contractions - they were 5 mins apart already! We phoned the birth centre of my hospital who said to come in and bring all my bags just incase I ended up staying.

As well as all the usual items, my husband made sandwiches and took ice cubes in a thermos to help with the dry mouth. We got to the hsopital really quickly but ended up going on to the labour ward rather than the birth centre as no one seemed to be around. I was accessed and the contratctions were now coming every 4 mins apart, a shallow one followed by a deep one. I went on the the entinox while the midwife went to locate someone in the birth centre and my husband was given a ticket for 24 hours of car parking and bought some of the stuff in - had about 4 bags in the end!

At about 3.30am I was wheeled along to the Birth Centre where a birth pool was ready and as I got out of the chair more water fell to the floor! I was accessed on the bed and told that I was fully dilated already! I got into the pool, which was great and soothing and carried on with the gas and air. I was asked what sort of labour I wanted and although I had stated I wanted natural and possibly a water birth, the contractions were really painful and I was thinking of asking for either Pethidine or an epidural but the MW said that was good as I was too far gone to have either! That was a bit of a shock.

I started to feel the urge to push and when I was on my hands and knees in the water and the MW said to go with it. I found the 2nd and 3rd pushes I could push further but it took a while for the top of the head to appear. I changed positions so I was sitting in the pool but I think being in the water slowed by contractions a bit. As the head was crowning the MW said to get out and try pushing on the bed and I could finally see the head, it looked really tiny until I realised that I had only pushes out a 1/4 of it! It really stung to get the head out and I was sure I would tear - thankfully bio oil every night for 3 mins on my perinuem sorted that one out and I didn't. When the head came, I waited for the next contraction and pushes and the rest of Nathaniel arrived! The MW said my OH and I made a good team and he was always ready with water, gas and air, ice cubes etc.

I had just a sports bra on in the pool so I took this off and we had skin-to skin, he calmed very quickly and after about 2 hours he latched on. My OH cut the cord and I delivered the placenta and needed an injection to stop the excess bleeding. I did need a couple of internal stitches but we were discharged at 4pm.

I was slightly worried as Nathaniel hadn't fed since about 1pm and he just seemed more interested in sleeping but he had 2 feeds at 3.30am and 7am and we've so far had 3 dirty nappies! He also slept for 5 hours straight the first night.

Also, no one mentions that part of the placenta could stay inside of you and you it looks like an internal organ has dropped out when it passes. Bit of a shock at 2.30am!

At the moment I am waiting in for the community MW and we have a baby check up on Monday, but Nathaniel seems very happy and contented - a blessing!

JAM1376 · 21 September 2009 at 2:33PM

Copied and edited from Preg Club thread:

Just a quick one to announce the arrival of Charlotte Alice on Wed 16th Sept at 7.12 pm weighing 7 pound 3 oz.

Birth Story- waters went 2am Monday morning, nothing more happened. Midwife came out at 10 am and told me to call again when contractions started. They didn't!

Went in hospital Tues am (bye bye home birth and pool) to be induced. Gave me the pessary at 1pm Tues dinnertime. Nothing happened. The ward at hospital was closed due to several emergencies so I had to stay in Tues night with nothing happening (I nearly signed myself out but was afraid I wouldn't get back in!).

Wed am the drip started at 10am at 1cm dilated. Had some G&A and at the beginning I tried standing up to help combat the pains but every time I moved, the monitor lost babies heart beat so I had to get back on the bed. At 2pm had an internal to check progress. It turned out an old scar from a colposcopy I had 13 years ago had sealed my cervix and baby wouldn't have arrived without help. During the internal, the doctor found the scarring and cleared it away while 'in there' (ow) to 3cm dilated.

Then had some pethadine as the contractions were coming thick and fast. At 3pm I decided as I couldn't have my natural birth, I would have the whole hog and had an epidural. The man arrived very quickly and OH supported my shoulders while the needle went in. It was very fast and pain free. After this I was very relaxed again and could 'enjoy' the experience.

At about 6 pm the midwife did another internal and found I was fully dilated and ready to push. Charlotte arrived at 7.12 after an hour and 20 mins of pushing with the assistance of a doctor and his scissors (nearly needed a ventouse) as baby was getting tired but after I was cut she came out with the cord round her neck twice. The doctor took off the first coil and then, as the rest of her was delivered and she was put on my chest, I unlooped the second looser coil.

OH watched the whole thing (after saying he wanted to stay at the head end) and was amazed - says it was the best experience ever.

Had to stay in for 24 hours as my waters went nearly 60 hours before delivery to check for any infections, got home at 9pm Thurs night. As is always said, she is more than worth all of it and I would do it again in a flash!

HTH anyone being induced xxx

karenx · 21 September 2009 at 6:43PM

Some great stories here!!

With my first boy I was due on 12th January and he came on the 16th! My contractions started about 7pm but I stayed in to watch eastenders hehe then went to hospital! Labour was awful, probably as I didnt know what to expect! Had 2 shots of diamorphine, wanted a 3rd but midwife said I was too far on to get anymore. My boy was 7lbs 13 and a half and I needed 8 stitches. Wished someone had told me it was stingy when you pee afterwards haha! I was in agony!!
My second boy I had 7 weeks ago and wasnt as bad! I was due on the 31st July, midwife came to see me on the 4th August to do a sweep. When she got here she checked me and I was 4cm dilated already and I hadnt even had a contraction or any pain. She told me by end of the day I should have my baby! That was at 10am so at 12 we went to hospital and I got in the birthing pool, wasnt what I excpected and I didnt like it as I couldnt get comfy so I came out and got onto the bed. Had a shot of diamorphine at about 2. Then midwife checked me and I was still at 4cm so she waited till 5pm then broke my waters. Then I had my baby at 5.40! He weighed 8lbs 14oz, was totally shocked as me and my OH are both tiny!! And he had a massive head of really dark hair! The best thing was I didnt need any stitches!! So relieved! But it did still sting when I went to pee afterwards but at least I was prepared for that bit!
Also loving the fact I still have no stretchmarks from both my pregnancys

Aarons_mummy · 21 September 2009 at 8:22PM

Sorry if this is long winded!

I went into labour on the tuesday afternoon 7/10/08 at 38+5 :lipsrseal

Contractions started in the afternoon but I wasn't aware that that's what it was I just thought it was a tummy pain like I'd been having before. At 6.30pm that night they became alot worse and me and OH were lying on the bed. At 9.30pm I asked OH to time the length between the pains incase is was contractions but he said it can't be your not due yet!!

Anyway I was in labour we thought so OH phoned the midwife who said to breath and take painkillers. As we don't have a bath I had 3 showers between 10pm and 12am. At 12am I hadn't felt LO move for about an hour, I was in excruciating pain so midwife advised to come in. I hadn't packed my bag so had to do that and then set off to the hospital.

When we got there the midwife hooked me upto the monitor thing to check the heartbeat and ensured everything was fine :cool:. OH went into the other room as I was embarassed enough about having an internal! Midwife advised I was 2-3cm even though she didn't believe I was in labour :eek:
Went into another room and was unable to sit down so OH slept on a chair while I paced up and down all night!

At 6.30am I had another internal where the midwife told me I was 4-5cm so was majorly p*ssed off cos it was so painful lol!

At 7am though they moved me down to the labour ward where OH was able to go out and get my bag, we hadn't taken it in incase we got sent back - silly people :rotfl:
Anyway I was still pacing up and down even though I hadn't slept for nearly 24hours!

At about 10am they done another internal and I was still the same so they hooked me upto a drip. At 11am they broke my waters and then I couldn't stand but was alot comfier! All of a sudden the contractions were a lot closer together.

At 12pm my hand had swollen completely to 3 times the size as the drip was in wrong so they had to change he drip to the other hand.
Must add all this was going on as midwifes/doctors/nurses and anyone who wanted to were walking in and out I had no privacy the whole way through!

Then I recieved gas and air and after that things get hazy! So I apologise for the next part!

I remember them ahving to burst my bladder I didn't feel I needed to pee but apparantly my bladder was fit to burst and making the contractions sorer.

Whilst on the gas and air I was telling the midwifes I was going on the x-factor cos I was an awesome singer - it was all lies though :rotfl:I also told her I was getting married and had a zillion details!!! God knows where I plucked it all from lolol!

Next thing I know it was about 4pm and I wanted to push but they were telling me I wasn't lol

The rest I don't remember but I was given diamorphine and then apparently I was asked to sign a for for an epidural. OH says I was scribbling all over the page heehee!

Next I remember I was in theatre being told to stay still even though I was getting a contraction! It took 2 attempts and they had to use forceps as he kept coming down and then going away again! Little monkey!!!

They tore/cut me really badly so I ended up with 63 stiches internal/external after the placenta - don't remember that either. LO was given to OH for 5mins and then whisked away to special care as he wasn't breathing properly and had a deformed toe. He was put onto antibiotics and I wasn't able to see him until 10pm that night after being born at 7.08pm. They had to put a catheter n for over 24 hours due to the stitching even though I would have been fine lol! (I think anyway!)

LO was out of SCBU after 4 days and we got home on day 5

I'm still sorry about the long post but each birth is different even though mine wasn't so great and not how I planned it yours may be different but DEFO have gas and air! I wish I could have a tank in my house heehee!!!

jillie1974 · 22 September 2009 at 5:49PM

so last monday, we had the appointment with our consultant. .my BP was still high so they made the decision to induce me. at first they were saying 'tonight' but i think when they checked the delivery suite, it was too busy so we were told it would be on tues instead but that i was to be admitted straight away. i must admit at this ppint we were both a bit of... omg !!!!!!??? :eek: and not the :j:j we possibly should be.

after having about 3 hrs sleep (1 lady waters broke on ward and another lady could not cope with pain and was nearly screaming all the time...)
so on the tues morning they started meoff with 1 tablet at 11.30. cramps started bout 2 hours later. more like period pains and not regular to begin with. by 7.30pm they were getting stronger. so i had the 'magic bath' this eased my pains and took some codeine and managed to get bout 1 hr sleep. woke up again and contractions were srtonger, lasting longer and more regular. had another bath bout 1.30 am to ease the pain. when i came out of the bath, my 'mucus plug' came away wheni went to the toilet so buzzed the mw who said i was 4cm and because of my BP would be going to the delivery suite straight away.

started me on gas and air (what a crap pain relief btw) but after another 2 hrs i was only 6cm. then took some diamorphine to ease the pain. timings get a bit hazy from here on in...
but basically they broke my waters for me, put me on the drip to speed up the labour and were able to say that i should have delivered by 9am.

9 am came and went and no baby

so... after a lot of pushing and a very exhausted jillie... they discovered that Kian's head had not turned fully so was to the side and no amount of pushing would get him out on his own. the decision was forceps first, then ventouse and finally c/s if couldnt get him out.

with only gas and air, they tried the forceps and ventouse... :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: cannot describe the pain.....

and finally c-section and epidural....

so after 10 hours of labour Kian Andrew finally came into our lives

:D:D:D:D:j:j:j:j:j:beer::beer::beer::beer::T:T:T:T

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3171166&id=616916718

Karl and my mum were with me from 2.20 am. Karl stayed till bout 6am (couldnt see me in all the pain and agony amd it doesnt bother me he wasnt there all the time. he came in to see me and mum stayed until i was taken to the theatre for forceps/ventouse/c-sect)

Nicki · 29 September 2009 at 12:41PM

Edward is my third child, and was born on Thursday by elective c section. The reasons for the section were officially that he was a breech baby and big for his dates, but also mainly because I had had a very traumatic delivery with my second child, who was born with severe learning difficulties, and I had lost a lot of blood at the time and suffered from bad PND, all of which had left me very anxious this time round.

This was by far my easiest and most enjoyable birth, even though number 1 was also a breech baby born by elective section in the same hospital by the same doctor!

My OH and I went into hospital at 7.00 am for a planned section at 10.00 am. Midwives did all the necessary checks and paperwork, and we were taken down to theatre at just after 10.00. Anaethetist and obstetrican were both very kind and reassuring, and both very aware of my previous anxiety. The epidural was put in in an anteroom of the theatre, OH was allowed to stay while it was done, and the whole thing was over in about 5 minutes with minimum pain and discomfort. It took about 15 mins to work fully, when I was wheeled in to the theatre and transferred onto the surgical table.

The team decided to play some relaxing music to keep me calm, and by complete coincidence, the first track of the music they chose was the same song which we had chosen as the first dance on our wedding day! OH was stroking my hair, and the anaethetist was periodically squeezing my shoulder reassuringly. When the track came to an end, I heard a gush as my water went, then they lowered the screen so that I could see the baby being delivered. We didn't know what we were having but being breech baby was delivered bottom first, and the first thing anyone saw was a huge pair of testicles, which made everyone laugh out loud! He was brought over to me immediately for a few seconds, then checked out at a side table with my husband, then I got to hold him for the remainder of the op. We were then taken to recovery for an hour, where the midwife and the recovery nurse both stayed with us for the whole time and we had skin to skin contact. We tried to feed at that point but baby wasn't interested.

The care I had for the next few days was just amazing. The baby was 8lb 11oz at birth and was a hungry chap, and on Friday and Saturday before my milk had come in, he wanted to feed all of the time. The staff tried to take him to the hospital nursery at night to give me time to sleep, but he wouldn't settle. The pain relief wasn't working well for me, which they thought was being exacerbated by exhaustion, so they adjusted the drugs and doses which they were giving me and persuaded me to allow them to give the baby a small amount of formula during the night so I could have some unbroken sleep. After two nights of this (when he had only tiny amounts of formula, and continued to feed well during the day) I was feeling well and refreshed, and we were both able to go home.

I know that mixed feeding in the early days is frowned upon by some, and I was very against the idea myself when it was first suggested, but it was absolutely the right decision for me this time round in hindsight and I am sure it helped prevent me developing PND immediately. That's not to say I'm completely out of the woods of course, but I feel the omens are good.

All in all, having started by dreading the whole thing, I'd have to rate this birth as one of the top 5 happiest and most fulfilling experiences I've ever had!

kindofagilr · 29 September 2009 at 12:58PM

Lovely Nikki

I am so pleased it went ok xxx

mummy_Jay · 29 September 2009 at 1:57PM

My DS was born 2004.

I was at work on the wednesday but was feeling really tired and went home at lunchtime as I just not coping, still really tired on the thursday so called in sick.

About 2pm started feeling like I needed a wee loads but that was about it, 9pm having twinges so called my mum, who got me to call the hospital (I was 35 wks and don't like making a fuss so I have to be told, lol). They wanted me in for a quick check, told me to pack an overnight bag just in case. So I call my mate to get him to take me over to the hospital, it took him an hour to get to me (no idea why) by which pointed I'd packed a bag and was debating drving my self it was about 11pm by the time i got to the hospital and the twinges were just like mild period pain nothing more.

I get checked out, I'm 1 cm dilate but they say its too early its a false alarm they tell me but they'll keep me in over night just incase (by this point its about 1am). The twinges are getting a little stronger so they suggest i have a bath by about 3:30 am the twinges are beginning to hurt but the anticapation of pain it beginning to get to me so i ask for help and get taken into the delivery room to be checked out.

When the midwife gets to me she can see I'm in pain and gets another midwife to sort out some gas and air for me, whilst the other checks me out, just as I'm about to be given the gas and air, I hear a no she's crowning and get told no I can't have any I have to push. At this point I remember turning to the midwife and saying no I want a drink of water, something I kept arguing for in between each push by 4:20am I was a mum. I still find it quite sad that it was just me and two midwives in the room and all i wanted was a hug when it was over.

Now roll back slightly my birthing partner (a good mate of mine), had been given a call at 4am and got a taxi to be with me only the taxi driver miss heard him and took him to the wrong hospital, so he arrived eventually 10-20 minutes after my DS.

As my mate left I got him to phone my mum and let her know, who then phoned my work to tell them I wouldn't be in that morning as I'd just given birth 4 wk 6 days early but still perfect and mine. The midwife said i would be a good candidate for a home birth. As my offical labour was less than 45 min I think is would be a catcher mitt next too.

The worst thing by far was my parents coming up to look after me that night and I was kept in overnight and whilst i was in hospital my dad rearrange everything in my kitchen so when i did get out I couldn't find anything.

MSE Pregnancy Club Birth Stories

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