Birth Stories!

[mcsarahb]

I guess I'll start this thread! Everyone feel free to jump on in .

My contractions started during the night on Friday and by Saturday morning were obviously "real" but still irregular. Dh and I tried to make it a normal day. By lunchtime, things were a little more regular and we told the midwives to come on over. At this point, being a first-timer, I really didn't know how much longer I had but felt pretty ready for them to be there.

MW assistant arrived around 3:30 to see how I was doing. She and dh set up the tub. I was getting ansy for the other mws so she called them. One came over around 4:30 (?) and I got in the tub. I really wanted to know how dilated I was, but was really scared to get checked. At that point I was pretty much in laborland and everything sounded too complicated.

Once I was in the water I felt a lot better; mw checked me and I was at 6 cm. and paper thin. The baby was already super low and the mw was very excited that I was progressing so fast. I was so relieved!! I was so sure I was at, like, 2 cm or something, and it was good to know that pain was doing something. Mw and assistant got their "just in case" equipment all ready while I labored on with dh at my side. Mw #3 also arrived at some point.

I was soon ready to push - really quick from 6 cm to pushing! The asst. tried to check me again, but my position was weird and she said all she could feel was head, so just to trust my body and do what it told me. The contractions had turned into pushes by then. My brain had nothing to do with pushing - it was completely, totally involuntary. Felt really bizarre, amazingly powerful. At some point dh got in the tub with me and sat behind me; I had turned around to a sitting position.

I pushed for about 45 minutes, baby crowned slowly, we felt the head, mws supporting me. Loved feeling the head! I remember that so clearly. And then BOOM, babe shot out all at once, body and all. Mws caught her and brought her to my chest, dh and I held her. After the cord stopped pulsing they cut it and handed her to dh while I delivered the placenta.

Once that was taken care of, she nursed right away (WOW - what an awesome feeling!) and we rested. I got 2 or 3 stitches for a very small tear from the torpedo baby.

Happy and healthy now, tiring and wonderful last three days. I can't believe I'm a mama! What a wild experience - what an amazing high. Hard work but so completely worth it. Dh was so great; I couldn't have done it without him. Such a reassuring presence, always at my side.

Sorry so long...who's next?!

Sarah

[PattyCakes]

FANTASTIC story Sarah!!!

[anothermama]

Oh Sarah! How awesome! It gets me so excited!!!!!!! I'm so thrilled you had such a great experience!!!!!!!!!

[Lucky Charm]

I loved your story! I love birth stories.

Thanks for sharing it

[mamameg]

WOW! Sounds like a quick, loving labor.

Thanks so much for sharing your experience with us, Sarah!

And of course, Congratulations and Welcome Lillian!

Megan

[Mama Faery]

Ooh! I adore birth stories! I used to read them even before I got pregnant, because they are so amazing!
Thank you so much for sharing such a beautiful experience! And Welcome Lillian!
Congratulations!!!
This is making me so excited! Yay!

-Renae

[KKmama]

Wow! So inspiring!! Sounds like a *great* experience! (And I *love* the name you gave her!)

[pottermamma]

ok, so let me see how much of this i can get out between baby and toddler needing their mamma!!!!!

I started feeling contractions thursday but they were really irregular and like 2 hours apart. I called our midwife thurs evening just cause she wanted a nice warning, but nothing was really going on that she needed to be here for. We went to bed and I slept on and off till 1:30 when I couldn't sleep anymore. I had contractions about 15 min apart from then till 5:30 when we decided to call our midwife. I knew things weren't really going to happen too soon but cause of the blood pressure issues we felt like it would be good to have her come. So, she came at about 6:30 or so and took my blood pressure, which was high of course but not scary high....so on my left side I stayed while she set up. contractions slowed a bit at this point as she was having me tell her when they started and when they stopped, she reassured me this was normal cause I was feeling badly she was here already. her assistant arrived not too long after and i felt really grateful everyone was here and set up....now we just needed a baby. i was 5 1/2 cm at this point and just having nice contractions I could handle and breathe through. after a while they suggested i go for a walk with dh...which i was SO into since i was sick of being on my side. so, we took a nice walk for about an hour with me squatting with my contractions. It really felt great and when we got back our midwife was asleep , and we sat and talked with her assistant (someone we knew anyway) for a while. I just took conversation breaks with my contractions and layed on my left side.
This continued on till about noon when everyone was ready for lunch, except me. things started getting more intense and i went back to the bedroom and layed down. after lunch they checked me and i had only made it to like 6 1/2 but labor was really just beginning to pick up. Kept getting more and more intense and then I puked....tons....Ds was in and out the whole time too, which was so great. After a while I got up and went outside again just to get things going. I was looking at the mountains connecting with the Spirit and the birthing power of nature and felt like I needed to push...I hollered that out and they all came runnin!!! We ran back inside (as much as I could run) and they checked me...only 9cm.. i was so bummed, but things kept getting stronger and stronger and i was really giving into my primal energy. i wanted to push again and they checked me again and i had an anterior lip (AHHHH) so after a few more i really had to give in to the urge to push...so we pushed for about 1/2 hour or so and i was really getting tired. but they helped me through. i birthed kyler on my bed on my left side with dh holding my one leg and the midwife catching and her assistant allowing me to prectically rip her hand off. Ds and our friend watched the whole thing!!! I pushed him out at 5:07 pm. Dh cut the cord after while and Ds oversaw this as well. Kyler Morrow had a nice size head (14 in) and I pushed him our quick and hard and ended up tearing almost end to end, but saved the rear!!! So, I got bunches of stiches while holding my beautiful new son. after while he nursed we weighed him and he was 8lbs 7 oz, 21 and 3/4 in long. the midwives cleaned up and were on their way at about 10:30pm...then it was just Dh and i and our new son sleeping in our bed and our other son peacefully asleep in his. we just both sat and marvled at our new family for a while before drifting off to sleep.

your story was excellent to read mcsarab...so glad you had such a great birth as well....Birthing is so powerful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[anothermama]

Oh pottermama!!!!!!! Aside from the tear (ouch!) it sounds LOOOOOOVELY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You're making me EAGER to birth this one!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Marco Esquandolas]

Ohhhhh, Sarah and Pottermamma-thank you both so much for taking the time to share your baby stories here!! !!! I reading both of them and now I have happy tears in my eyes. Gosh, this is all so very exciting! I really needed to see these stories and feel the energy from you both right now. You've each given me quite a smile and a bit of levity about what all this discomfort is for, and that there is an oh so happy end in sight.



Oh, and pottermamma-YEOUCH!! I hope your tear heals quickly.

[PattyCakes]

Thanks so much for sharing Pottermama. Sounds like a great birth - save the tear - OUCH. Take it easy and I'm sending you lots of healing vibes.

Congratulations again!

[pottermamma]

Thanks you guys for the healing vibes...the stiches are already feeling much better and the swelling is down TONS!!!!!! All for a great cause right!!!!

[Mere]

I had my baby too!

Hi everyone! Am I only the third May mama to have had a baby? Gavin was born on May 6th, so it's taken me a few days to get on the computer!

My birth story:

I started to have some suspicions that the birth was imminent on Wednesday, as I was having WAY more BH than normal. They weren't bothersome at all though, so I carried on as usual, working, making dinner, etc. While I was making dinner I noticed the contractions were starting to sort of feel like something more than the usual BH, so, as I was standing next to the microwave clock, I started timing them. Fairly regular. Hmm...After we got dd in bed around 8:30, I started paying more attention to them, trying to figure out if this was indeed the real thing. Well, eventually I deterined that yes, they were (more and more they were starting to feel like something); I also realized that it was 10PM at that point, so I likely had a very long night ahead of me. The contractions were still light at that point and spaced anywhere from 4-6 minutes apart, but sadly, they weren't quite light enough to actually let me get any sleep. So, I read for a while and got things ready, then I called the midwife to let her know that things were picking up in intensity. As the contractions were still 4-6 minutes apart, she suggested I sit in the bathtub for awhile and see how things progressed from there. I ended up sitting in the tub for about an hour, during which time the contractions continued to become more and more intense, but still 4-6 minutes apart. After I got out, I told dh that I was about ready to go to the birth center; by this point, I couldn't function very well through the contractions. We met the midwife there around 4:45 AM, and boy were they INTENSE at that point. Interestingly though, they were still 4-6 minutes apart, which ended up being my saving grace. She checked me, declared me to be at 6cm, and I got back in the bathtub there (a great big clawfoot tub I should add - very nice!). After about an hour in the tub of squeezing dh's hand through contractions like no tomorrow, I threw up, figured I was in transition, and got out. The midwife checked me once again and lo and behold, I was at 10cm. Now the fun begins...to preface, I had a really hard time pushing dd out...it took me over 2 hours. This time I was assured repeatedly by just about everyone that second babies ALWAYS push out quickly, 3-4 pushes, no problem. That's what I was expecting this time around. WRONG. Three and a half hours later I had a baby...leave it to me to take longer to defy the odds...geez. Anyhow, it was possibly the hardest thing I've ever done, but I eventually got the deed done and Gavin was born at 9:25 that morning. As it turns out, he was posterior - a surprise, since I had absolutely no back labor. Aparently posterior babies are harder to push out. Anyhow, I can't complain - I had no tearing of any sort, and literally as soon as he was born I felt fine...isn't labor just amazing in that way? I should also mention that my contractions never did pick up in frequency - they remained 4-6 minutes apart the whole time. Although this probably made my pushes somewhat less effective, I was SO thankful for the break. There's no way I could've pushed for that long if my contractions had been any closer together.

Anyhow, we were all feeling great post-birth so we went home about 4 hours later and tried to catch up on some sleep...I can't say that I've stayed up for over 24 hours in a looooong time (and I don't care to do it again!). Gavin is doing very well now and is a fabulous nurser...my milk just came in so I'm in that wonderful Incredibly Hulk stage right now, but otherwise, I feel great and am up and around.

Thanks for letting me share, and good luck to all the other May mamas!!!

Edited to add a link for pictures: http://www.ofoto.com/BrowsePhotos.js...1&sort_order=0

[TurboClaudia]

Welcome baby Gavin!!!!!!!!!!! And warm hugs to you Meredith, mama of two!!!!!!!

Thanks for sharing your birthing story!!!!!!!!!!

Two Oregon May mamas with babies already... are fiddlefern and I the only other Oregon May mamas-to-be?

warmly,
claudia

[pottermamma]

Welcome Gavin!!!!!!

What an excellent birth!!!!! 3 1/2 hours of pushing WOW!!!!! You are a trooper!!!!! Have fun with your new baby boy!!!!!

[PattyCakes]

GREAT birth Meredith (3.5 hrs of pushing!!? You're my new hero!)

Congratulations to your whole family and Welcome Baby Gavin!!

So glad to hear you're all doing well. Thank you for sharing!

[Sarah'sMama]

The Birth of Katelyn

OK, gonna try to get this typed before I forget too much....

Katelyn Marie Born on May 5, 2004 at 12:31 am


As many of you remember, I went past my due date. At my appt. last week, my doc was concerned with how big the baby was, and wanted to make sure I could avoid a C by having too big of a baby. So we decided to induce. I really can't tell you how disappointed I was by this, but at the same time, I didn't want to take any risks with the health of my baby. So I went to the hospital at 4pm on Tuesday and he inserted Cervadil around 5. They brought us dinner (lobster rolls! Only in Maine I guess). Dh and I just surfed TV for a while. I asked my nurse around 6 if the Cervadil was going to put me into labor, how long does it normally take. She said around 2 hours after insertion is when most people start noticing discomfort/contractions. Well, no sooner than I ask her this, I get up to use the bathroom, and noticed I was feeling a little crampy. So, get back in bed and chat with dh for a while. Around 7, things were a little more uncomfortable, but nothing too big. The biggest complaint I had was how my butt was so sore, but was assured that it was from the Cervadil working on my cervix, and all the nerves in that area. Around 8 or 9, things were definitely more uncomfortable. At 10, I tried to sleep, but by then was getting definite contractions. About 11 is when things started to pick up fast. I went from manageable contractions that I could breathe through with little trouble to full on contractions. Dh was timing them-lasting for 45 seconds coming every minute! Yowza! Anyway, around 1130 I started to feel some pressure, told my nurse, and she checked me because I was really wanting some drugs, because the contrax were *so* intense and close together, I felt a little out of control. So she checked me and tells me I have made tremendous progress, baby has come way down. I ask her how dilated I am, and she says she can't tell me until another nurse checks. Another nurse checks. Get the same answer. So a third nurse checks, and finally she tells me I was completely 10! So the next hour is a complete whirlwind. The nurses are running around, getting my doc there, getting the delivery kits and baby stuff. By this time, I couldn't help but push, the need was so intense. So the nurses let me push, and my doctor soon arrived. While I was pushing right after he arrived, I felt my water break, or should I say explode? It was the weirdest feeling. So I pushed more intently once he was there, because I wanted to make sure he got there in time. Unfortunately had to have an episiotomy b/c of how fast everything took place. Soon after that, her head was out and I remember him telling me not to push, and that was so hard. Even though I wasn't consciously pushing, I could feel my body still pushing. But during this time he had to cut the cord, because it was wrapped around her neck twice. After that, her shoulders came out, and she just kinda slid right out. That was the strangest feeling, like she just slivered out. They brought her up to me and I got to hold her right away. They all were exclaiming what a big baby she was so they took her to be weighed. 8lbs 12 oz! And she was long too 21.75inches! I got to hold her while I was being stitched up and dh did too. She nursed right away, latched on like an old pro!

I still cannot believe how fast and intense everything was. I was GBS+ and didn't even have time for the antibiotics. The nurses were getting them ready for me right before I got busy pushing! I am so amazed at what I accomplished-I have never felt such satisfaction in my body. My dh was incredible through it all too. I swear his shirt will never be the same. The only thing that got me through those contrax were him-he came right down and I hugged him *tight*. A couple times I really tugged at his shirt-I'm surprised I didn't rip it right off! lol!

Katelyn is a great nurser. My milk came in on Friday and she's been munching away ever since. I forgot how tender my nipples would be the first few days though. Yikes! Physically I feel awesome. I can't believe how much quicker the recovery has been the second time around. Went for a walk outside with dh and dd's last night in our neighborhood, and we even have some pretty good hills. I don't really even feel my stitches either less than a week postpartum. I almost feel normal again! If it weren't for my sore nips-I would say I felt normal.

Now we are just trying to get in some sort of groove with the two kids. Dd 1 is really being affected by Katelyn's arrival. She loves the baby, always kissing on her and stuff, just having a hard time with the adjustment though, so therefore, I've really been having a hard time too. It is so hard to see her so unhappy, just breaks my heart.


Wishing all of you lots of healthy birthing and recovery vibes! Thanks for reading our story.


edited to clarify-even though i was really wanting drugs at one point, i didn't get any, and i'm so glad i didn't. makes the feeling of accomplishment that much better!

[marbles]

Happy Mother's Day to me!!

long time lurker here...

Hi folks, and congrats to our first few May babes!! I had a little girl last night at 8:30pm Little Ivy was born in a fishy pool in the kitchen after a one and a half hour manageable labor and 2 pushes...one for her sweet head and one for the rest of her! Her 2 smitten sisters Olivia and Annika jumped in with us to dote on her, sing to her help me deliver the placenta and rub her vernix in!

I will post a full story soon...I'm totally in love with her, she smells insanely awesome and I can't stop kissing her!

What a great Mother's day!


peace to the Mamma's in waiting!

[merpk]

Enjoying all the stories, and welcoming all the babies ... take good care of yourselves, mamas ...

[PattyCakes]

Thanks for the story Sarah. WOW! That's a fast/intense labour!! Glad you're feeling good though.

Marbles! Congratulations and welcome Ivy! Can't wait to hear your story - sounds amazing!