Third Labors and Births: Discuss! - Page 2

[Jaimee]

  Any more mamas of three or more feel like sharing?  Thank you!!

[yaboobarb]

My first home birth- only 5 hours of really hard labor ( sunny side up and hand next to face.) Just a few true pushes and my son was born. Labored in the water and came out to birth on land.

My second home birth, very intense raging labor, 2.5 hours. Two pushes I think.  Birthed on floor with a birth ball.

I did it, but this one was INTENSE ( did I say that?)

My third was the easiest. I had contractions,but they were so easy.

In between, I had a looong rest.

I was thinking, " Is this really labor?" When my midwife told me that I could push*, I was surprised. It didn't seem like labor. 

My daughter was out in two pushes. Birthed her in the water!

*( I wish she had not. It would have been cool to experience an un-interfered-with birth)

[Jaimee]

Originally Posted by yaboobarb 
" When my midwife told me that I could push*, I was surprised.

*( I wish she had not. It would have been cool to experience an un-interfered-with birth)

This is how I felt about my first. I had a latent stage, but didn't know that was what was happening so I didn't know to tell the mw's that I didn't want to push yet.  With my second I reached that point where I felt like I couldn't take it anymore so I decided to give a little push and that started a chain reaction, which resulted in my son flying out just a few minutes later.

[Jaimee]

Bumping this up again for more experiences! 

[Babydoll1285]

My 3rd definitely followed the wild card idea I'd heard about.  First was 11 hours, second was 4 hours, third was 11ish (longer if you count early labor, not quite active).  It was still pain free like my second thanks to Hypnobabies but it was INTENSE!  It took me almost 8 hours to get my contractions closer than 5 min apart. Pushing took longer too, even though I was upright, unlike my other two babies.  Baby was born with a nuchal hand (waving hello!) in the caul and weighed almost a pound more than my 2nd.  My mw told me later that's probably what made things so different.  I just really had to embrace that each birth (and baby!) is different! 

Interestingly enough, I started pushing at the same time of morning with all three kids, about 6:50am.  First was born at 929, second at 657, and third at 714.

[UnassistedMomma]

My 3rd was a cake walk.  I woke up w/ the mildest twinges of labor somewhere between 4 and 6 am, went to church, came home and had a nap and had a normal day, with mild contractions all day long.  Around 5-6 I got into a hot bath and just chilled, and at 845 pm I got out of the tub and told my husband it was time to go to the hospital.

Once we got to the hospital, I got into a rocking chair with a heating pad on my back, and that is right where I stayed until she was born in the wee hours of the night.  I just rocked and rocked and rocked, eyes closed and kind of meditating quietly then all of the sudden just got up and crawled on the bed and went to work.

Fortunately, my midwife (who was more like an OB than a midwife I discovered too late - her husband is a perinatologist) was not on call, and I got her back up OB who was fantastic!  Now he was a real midwife!  He shooed nurses out of my room, kept lights down, told everyone to leave me alone ("She knows what she's doing, just get out") and he just popped in now and again to see how I was doing while hanging out having coffee.  I didn't even have a heplock b/c he told them not to worry about it, after I insisted that I wasn't having it! 

Once I got up on the bed and started to push, he very casually put down his coffee and popped on some gloves, and just caught.  No direction, no orders, no panic, no rush, no anything messing with me - just a very relaxed assist.  He was the absolute best, most genuine midwife ever.  It was almost like a UC in the hospital!

After we were both cleaned up, I bundled my daughter, put all of my belongings in the wheel chair they brought down for me, and with my daughter in my left arm and pushing the wheel chair with my right, I walked us down to my room. 

I checked out and went home about 6 hours later.

It was incredible!