I want to hear about your first

[zion]

For those of you mamas who have had babies I would love to hear about how your labors started. Did you do any of the natural labor induction methods we hear about...EPO, sex?? What worked? How far along were you? I want to hear about your first time!!!

[vannienicole]

**

[scrappingmom]

mine wasnt much of anythign to brag about as far as starting.

13 days befoer my due date i went to Dr. my BP was up protien in the urine, measuring small(26cm)(none of which the doc shared with me) doc said to go to the hospital for an ultrasound, then to another doc for second opinion, called and said we need to induce you tomorrow as you have preeclampsia and the baby doesnt seem to be getting nutrition, so gently broken to a scared 17yr old.....

So i go to the hospital, get pitocin, i was already 4 1/2cm dialated the day before, not much happeneing all day, walked the hall etc, my mom kept calling becasue a friend was getting married, my mom was teh florist and lil sis was the flower girl so she ddint want to miss any of that or the birth... contractions sstarted but nothing harsh, finally they broke my water and things picked up.. all sorts of annoying monitoring and thru it al the doc really didnt fill me in on anything that was going on which was really irritating me!
my parents arrived in teh afternoon, dad was rubbbing my back casue it hurt, i only felt contractions in my lower back so figured i was in for the long haul.. mom tried to "get me to breath to relax" i was breathing fine casue i wasnt feeling anything..lol suddenly i was like um i think i need to push soon.. doc looked baby was crowning a few mins later he was born, dad went out to call family and came back and was like hey, i didnt mean to be here for that! he nicknamed my son torpedo casue he was out so fast.

the worst of my experiance i must say was 1 not being informed by medical care people and 2 the doc had a resident with him who he let stitch me up.. "it"(i never could figure out if it was a man or woman, neutral name and look) couldnt numb me for anything i finally lied after like 12 shots that i was numb so "it" would put in the 3 stitches(which i now know i really probably didnt nead to begin with) and leave me alone!

all subsiquent deliveries have been better but all had teh trademark not feeling much and suddenly time to push and out pops baby.... if i ever get to go into labor myself(been induced everytime for varying reasons) i'm sure i'll deliver at home or in the car..lol

[saratchka]

DD was born 10 days after her due date. I was big and tired, but not feeling nervous about her "lateness" other than trying to avoid scheduling a C-section (which they started talking about before I hit 40 weeks!). I'd been taking EPO orally and vaginally for about 2 weeks by then. We'd been having sex at least once per day for the last 10 days or so as well. 2 days prior to her birth I had an OB appointment and was <2cm dialated and only modestly effaced. I have no idea if the EPO or sex helped, but they surely didn't hurt, either.

In answering your question, I ended up typing up pretty much my whole birth story. Sorry for the book. Read only if you're interested and/or looking for a positive/easy birth story.

I was walking up my *very* steep driveway after seeing a friend down to her car when my water broke. I'd felt not one contraction, and it wasn't a huge gush of water, just a modest amount, so I was only about 80% sure what had happenned. I told DH, then called my doula, who confirmed that it was almost certainly my water breaking, but that I needn't call the OB right away, and probably shouldn't until at least 12 hours later if I wanted to avoid interventions. So I decided to sit tight and call the doula again when the contractions got going. I didn't feel a contraction for another 2-3 hours. During that time I baked a banana bread, called my sister, and watched a TV show with DH.

Then the contractions started - very much like menstrual cramps. After about two hours, they got fairly painful, and DH decided it was time to call the doula again. (I can be a little overly stoic when it comes to pain ) She came over and by applying pressure in the right places she dropped the pain from about a 6-7 on the pain scale back down to a 3. I love my doula! We went on like that overnight. She and DH napped a little, but I wasn't able to do that. The whole thing was a bit surreal. Around 4AM I told her that if it was going to get much worse, I wasn't going to be able to get through the birth without medication. She informed me that the sweating and shaking I was doing indicated that I was in transition and it wasn't going to get worse. :

Despite a sudden urge to hole up at home and avoid the hospital birth we'd planned, we got our stuff together, got into the car and headed to the hospital. I arrived at 9cm. After yanking me around for a little while (prior to the cervical check - they didn't believe that a first time mom would really be able to make it to transition and were sure that I was 4-5cm at most) they rushed me into a delivery room. I ended up on my back on the table : which surely slowed things down and probably caused the small tears I experienced. I delivered my daughter after about 25 minutes of pushing.

The labor and delivery took almost exactly 12 hours from the time my water broke until my daughter took her first breath. At no point would I say my pain level went above a 6-7 on the pain scale (thanks to my fantastic doula!) and I required pain medication only for the suturing of my small tear.

They whisked DD off to the NICU because she had some light meconium in the amniotic fluid. (We didn't see that when my water first broke because her head was acting like a cork. The stuff that got out was clear - the stuff surrounding her body was greenish.) I'm still pretty ticked about that as, in hindsight, I realized that it wasn't just unnecessary, it was not medically indicated at all. They were just bored and/or covering their butts.

Anyhow, during the 2 hours or so that DH and DD were off in the NICU and I was alone, I remember thinking that my mom was right, childbirth really isn't that bad. I also remember being fascinated throughout labor. The whole experience was just soooo interesting to me! It was very intense, both physically and emotionally, but it was absolutely amazing.

[boheime]

We have had two wonderful UCs so far. With our first, I told dh we needed to go get groceries. So, while we were out grocery shopping, we ran into some friends and chatted. It was during that time that I started having contractions and knew that was it. I told dh after we had driven home. We got home and were so excited that we just kind of sat there waiting. Ds was born almost 48 hours later. My water broke 1 1/2 hours before he was born.

With dd, dh had called and I told him we would have a baby the next day. He asked if he should come home and I told him no - that ds and I were busy making cookies. That night he asked what we should do. I said that since everyone was tired, we should go to bed. I got up about 6:30 and sat in the tub. Dh came in and we made out. Ds woke up around 9:30. He and dh went out to get donuts and then came back and played. Around 12:30 or so I tol dthem to stay close. They got drinks and sat down near me. Less than 10 minutes later, dd was born. My water broke as her head was coming down.

Both of my children gestated for the same amount of time, so we will see if this little one does the same.

[Jilian]

From 37 weeks on I would have random contractions here and there. At 38 weeks I had a "fake start" and really thought I was in labor. It made me really sad because I felt done with being pregnant. BTW, if anyone tells you "you'll never make it to 40 weeks" ignore them! It only sets you up for dissapointment.

Sooo, anyway. After my false start I was a miserable and uncomfortable preggo. I tried sex a few times to start labor with no luck. Then one night, at 39 weeks pregnant I gave nipple stimulation a try with my breast pump. It gave me some cramps then nothing. But I woke up a few hours later contracting! I had random contractions all night and then all day. Some were 5 mins apart, and some were 20 mins apart. I slept all day on the couch and ex-DH shoveled the driveway 5 times because we got 27" of snow that day.

By 4pm I was frustrated and worried it was a false start again. I decided to get into the shower to relax (ha!) and then decide what to do from there. Once I got into the shower things intensified a lot - too much. I had to get out. When I got out we decided to head to the hospital - mainly because of all the snow and the hospital was a 45 min drive. It took us 2 hours to get there. I was 4cm when we got there and it was 7 pm - contractions were about 5 mins apart. They didn't become truly "regular" until just before we got to the hospital.

I had a great MW who encouraged me to change positions several times. She got me back into the shower and again it intensified things way too much. By 9 pm contractions were intense and I was really having to work through them. My water broke somewhere around 7 cm but I don't remember things getting much more intense like the MW said they would. My stomach started jerking down around 2 am and the MW checked me and I was fully dilated. I didn't feel the urge to push too much but started pushing. 2.5 hours later DS was born with a nuchal hand.

Overall it wasn't a bad experience, it was definately bearable. The real pain started at 9pm so my "labor" was really only 7.5 hours long.

[kkar]

On Tuesday night, I had a dream that my Great Grandmother (who was very influential in my life while alive) came to me to tell me not to worry, everything would be fine and over soon. She waved me off, saying she still needed to visit my mom, and drove off with three kids in the back seat of her car.

I got a "leak" in my water the next day (Wednesday evening). We spent hours and hours (it seemed like) in the hospital where they confirmed that it was a "leak" - but something about it self healing, or being a secondary bag, I never really could figure out what they said - but - they weren't concerned about it since it wasn't the official bag of water, and they sent us home at 11pm.

That night I had a dream about laboring in a glass house near a pool on animal fur of some kind - no idea what that meant! : BUT I woke up having contractions at 2am, right after that dream.

All day Thursday I walked around our block, timed the contractions, and just waited and waited. My husband and I debated whether or not to keep a dinner date with some friends, but just as we were about to leave the house, my contractions got really intense and we decided to go to the hospital instead.

I had my first DD the next day at noon (Friday - my actual due date). (The actual hospital experience was horrible, so no need for anybody to hear about it who hasn't had a child yet.)

Now, the really neat thing about that story is what I found out after having my DD. I told my Mom about my dream and she had ALSO dreamt about my Great Grandma that same Tuesday night - as did my Grandma!!! In all three dreams she was wearing the same outfit, driving the same car with the same kids, and talked about my labor with all three of us! (We have a history of maternal death during childbirth in my family so I think all three of us were overly anxious.) Totally amazing. That was my sign that labor was beginning for sure!

[Shell_Ell]

I learned a lot from my first birth, and this time won't be doing any form of "induction" or even "nudging" (as my midwife last time called it) I really want to work on just being in good health and letting things happen as they should. My labor with my son was 36+ hours long, mostly because he was posterior. I wish I hadn't encouraged labor with him in that position.

This is the first part of my birth story:

I wish I had paid more attention to what I did on Monday, September 12, 2005. It would come to be the last day of my pregnancy. I was 40w3d pregnant. The next two days would be spent in labor.

I had an appt in the early afternoon hours at the birth center. The week before my appt had been less than favorable, a little tension with my midwife. It was resolved a few days before over the telephone. So this visit was a little more laid back. I’d been stressed out for weeks with prodromal (start and stop) labor, and had just recently made peace with the fact that I was past 40 weeks. I asked my midwife, if she would mind doing a membrane sweep. She agreed that this was an acceptable form of “nudging” and she swept while doing the exam. I was a stretchy 1 cm and about 90% effaced. No “progress” from the week before, but as I said, I was finally at peace with it. I got dressed and we walked out to the reception area and a contraction hit me. I joked “what the hell did you do to me?” and we agreed I’d call on Wednesday (two days away) to have another membrane sweep. She reminded me that for first time moms it sometimes took a few.

I thought about taking a nap but decided to go to my mom’s to swim. She was having a few people over. I ended up being kind of crampy and grouchy, and listened to comments from old-schoolers (moms friends) about needing to be induced. I was having contractions in the water but I barely felt them. When I got out, a few hit me pretty hard.

That night was pretty normal… we had dinner, watched TV, had sex.. which was comical at this stage. I felt ridiculous, but knew that the membrane sweep would be more effective if we got some semen up there. DH went to bed and I stayed up talking to people online. I noticed contractions but they weren’t anything I hadn’t felt before. They were sporadic and I tried to shrug them off so as not to get disapointed. I went to bed around 12:30 but didn’t really sleep. I was hazy and starting to nod off when I started feeling pressure in my bowels. It was 1:30 am.
It sort of felt like I had to take a really big poo. I went to the bathroom. Nothing. I went back to bed. It kept coming in intervals and I remember timing them. I think they came something like 5-6 minutes apart. I tried not to get excited. I went and took a shower, thinking it would slow them down so I could sleep. It had worked for me before. A big difference was that this time, it was actual labor!

I woke DH up and told him I thought I was in labor, but to sleep. I didn’t want it to be a false alarm and have him be worn out at work the next day. I also knew if it was early labor, it would be a while anyway. I got some string cheese and some gatorade, and plopped down on the couch to page my midwife. She called back and we set up a plan of when to call her back. I let her get some sleep. While I was on the phone with her, I remember a big hunk of bloody show coming out and feeling extremely wet. I thought at first my water had broken, but I looked down on the towel I was sitting on, and I saw mucus and streaks of blood. She assured me it was show and not to worry, it meant my cervix was opening.
I wish I had journaled, because I was alone in my thoughts for a good while after that. I watched Nick at Nite, which at the time was showing Fresh Prince and Roseanne. I sort of timed the contractions, which were becoming intense.

[herbmama3-7]

I loved my sons birth, it was a really great experience and I get all mushy when I think about it.: It was 12 hrs, my water broke in the middle of the night (lucky me ), I thought I was peeing myself, but realized I wasn't when it wouldn't stop leaking. I called my MW and she told me to go back to bed and get some rest, Yeah right! I was so excited it was happening that I didn't sleep a wink, plus my contractions started pretty soon after. I remembered from the homebirth class they advised not to wake the DH as they will need their strength for the labor and birth later, so that was the hardest part letting my DH snore peacefully next to me as I knew we would have a baby the next day. Anyway the MW came at around 11:00am, and we set up the birth tub, we ran out of hot water, so I could only labor in it, I was very thankful to have it, I was in every room and position in my house, but we finally ended up squating in my bedroom where DS was born with a nuchal hand, it was beautiful, he nursed immidiately. The worst part of the whole process was delivering the placenta, I didn't want to be bothered, I mean seriously I just gave birth to the most beautiful baby and they wanted me to push out the placenta too.

[Nora'sMommy]

went for a 2-hour fast walk with a (very in-shape) prego friend the day before.

that night i felt baby flop from the right side to my left. woke up about 4:30 am as usual with what i thought were the usual bh contractions. i stayed in bed playing my battery operated solitaire and eventually noticed they were not going away and were getting consistent and closer together.

got up around 7am and by 7:30 they were getting stronger than the usual bh contractions so i took a shower and called my mw.

by 8:30 i was lying on bed in relaxation pose, eyes closed, breathing through the contractions.

mw there at 9:30 and i was 5cm, water broke while still lying there at 10ish and 15 min later i was complete. moved to the pool, labored for an hour more until my body started to push out baby. got out of the pool finally and squatted baby out about at 12:24pm.

about 5 hours from the start of active labor.

[lillbeetle]

Here's my story, don't know if what happened to me is common...
Tuesday - Water broke while making toast
Wednesday - took black and blue cohosh every half hour (yuck)
Thursday - drank castor oil (yuck)
Nothing seems to make this little sucker come out!!
Friday - 2:30am Finally contractions!!!
Labored for 12 and a half hours, pushed for 2 and a half hours and gave birth at home to my wonderful, perfectly healthy baby boy. It really was a wonderful event after it finally started. He was born at 37 weeks, at home, on a beautiful, sunny spring day - March 12, 2004 - Portland, OR.
I don't know if I was actually in labor for 3 days and just didn't feel it, or if I was in labor for only the 12 and a half hours. Anyway, all turned out great. Good luck to all of you who will be experiencing this miracle soon.

[OTMomma]

At 34 weeks I had already started dialating and softening some- I think I was at that 1 cm for a LONG time.

Dd was actually due on a Sunday- so that was when I officially went on maternity leave. I spent that Monday walking, bouncing on a ball, rocking in my rocking chair and reading an entire romance novel. Dh and I had sex in the afternoon- and I was thinking "This is the last time we'll be doing this for a while". lol That night around midnight I got up to pee and my water broke. I called the hospital to tell them I'd be in later, and they insisted I come right in. That was a HUGE mistake. I highly recommend staying home if your water breaks before you start to contract.

My contractions started around 5 AM after I had walked around some. The hospital was a PITA so I won't share the rest. But dd was born at 7:43 PM on Tuesday night.

[Mindy70]

I was 40 wks 5 days, and that night DH and I had sex. In the middle of the night, I felt some trickle of water, and also started having off and on contrations. I called the doc around the morning, but by the time I got to the hospital, they had tapered off. But my water broke, I had to stay and go on pictocin because of the infection risk. DD was born that night at 10:30 PM.

[tls]

I was 2cm dilated and something like 70% effaced at my 36 week appointment. I had a cold that involved really hard coughing which may have caused enough pressure to start dilation. I remember at 37 weeks joking with people at work that I wouldn’t be in the next day because I was going to have my baby the next day even though I was pretty sure I had several weeks left. Well the next morning, after coughing really hard all night, I woke up to a trickle down my leg. I thought I had peed my pants because I had been coughing so hard. I waddled down to the bathroom leaking the whole way which is what made me think it was more than just pee. I called the midwife that morning and she had me come in to verify that it was my water that broke. It was my water so I went home to wait for contractions. They never started. I was fairly uninformed about birth at that time so called the midwife about 6:00 PM and went into the hospital around 8:00 PM to have an antibiotic IV. Contractions still never started. The next morning at 8:00 AM they started Pitocin. Labor began immediately. I was in transition around 11:30 AM when I asked for meds. The midwife (whom I will never go to again) gave me nubain. I actually really just wanted someone to encourage me that I could do it without meds and anyway I was in transition so the worst was almost over. I pushed for close to 2 hours. My contractions were petering out so I was doing most of the work myself and I was pushing while on my back. DD was finally born at 1:17PM. There are several things I regret about my birth and I blame myself for not being well informed and not having a good support person, not that DH was bad, he was just uninformed as well. My 2nd birth went much better (I had a doula and a midwife whom I loved) and I am planning that this birth will be perfect .

[willoLevin]

I had an instinct from very early on that DS was excited to be born and that he would be a little early.

My doctor had me start taking blue and black cohosh at... some point. I forget exactly when. Sorry!

DH finished up a major deadline at work on the Friday before our Thanksgiving (Thursday) due date. He came home and told DS (via the belly button, of course ) that Papa had finished his work and DS could arrive any time he wanted to.

Around 3 am Sunday morning, I woke up, felt something weird that prompted me to stand up, and my water broke in a tremendous, wet gush all over the bedroom rug. (Thankfully not on my relatively new mattress!) I told DH, "Something's happening!"

He woke up and went nutso, forgot all our training, and was ready to go immediately to the hospital. I reminded him of our plans and had him call my mother in Oregon instead so she could get an earlier flight to Boston (she's planned to fly out a few days later--Delta got her to Boston 17 hours later. Not bad!)

I took a shower and went through several pads in my underwear as I had lots of amniotic fluid flowing. We called our doula (should've let her sleep later, but were very excited) and also our doctor's answering service. We baked a roll of toilet paper in the oven to sterilize it as someone suggested to help prevent infection.

I got back in bed to rest. A couple of hours after my water had broken, I started to get mild, menstrual-type cramps. I relaxed in bed, feeling supported by a cloud of angels and probably dozing, until daylight--8 am? Our doula came around 8 or 9 am. We talked to the doctor again, and thought we were heading to the hospital, but our doula kind of talked us out of going, and I didn't feel like it yet. (This was pretty rude on our part. Our doctor was waiting several hours at the hospital, watching the news, sure she'd see we'd had our baby on the highway!)

We arrived at the hospital about noon. I experienced transition in the car. I don't recommend it. : DS was born just past 2 pm after only a short time pushing (30 min?) with a vacuum assist as he was in distress (cord twice tightly around his neck.)

--willo

[wombatclay]

I'm not a good poster child for "getting things going" I'm afraid!

Despite everything I tried I went to 42+ weeks (42 weeks, three days actually). Let's see...I walked and did yoga every day during my pregnancy and towards the end I was walking 4 miles a day. I had sex every day, took EPO orally and vaginally, ate plenty of spicy foods and pineapple and drank my RRL. I blew up balloons, spent hours on the swings at the local playground, meditated and visualized and thought "birth thoughts" as loudly as I could. I went up and down stairs and hills, tried acupressure points and massage, and took castor oil.

I had my membranes stripped at 41 weeks and again at 42 weeks with no discomfort but also no results.

My water eventually broke on it's own about 12 hours before contractions began, and after a very long labor I had a c/s. (my birth story is floating around here somewhere so I wont repeat it!)

The membrane sweep was as "unnatural" as I got, the castor oil was as "seriously icky" as I got, the acupressure/massage was the nicest thing I tried, and I learned that I really am a wuss when it comes to spicy foods. I can only assume dd's posterior and asynclitic positioning was what was holding up the show. I'm hoping to motivate this babe into a much better position and have a MUCH earlier VBAC! I sort of feel like the universe "owes" me those two and a half weeks, you know?

[zion]

I love hearing all of these stories. Keep em coming!! I know first time labor can be very different than second, third, etc. Tell me more first time stories!!

[firefly mama]

Here is a FTM story...and I did partake in some of the "nudging" activities under the careful supervision of my homebirth MW.

I drank homemade RRL tea throughout my pregnancy.

At around 35.5 weeks, I started EPO (orally) and Nature's Sunshine 5W. My MW supports using these "nudgers" for any of her clients that are interested, as long as they follow her recommendations and don't start before 34 weeks and have no history of PTL.

At around 37 weeks, I started EPO vaginally too.

At exactly 38 weeks, I lost my mucus plug. The next day I was really uncomfortable. Baby was loooooooooow. I woke up in the middle of the night with menstrual-like cramps too, but they went away after I got up and played on the computer for a bit.

At 38 weeks 2 days, I woke at 3:30 AM with non-stop menstrual-like cramps that were too uncomfortable to be in bed. I got up and played on the computer again. By 4 AM, I noticed they had definite peaks and values to them. By 5 AM, I figured out they were 5 minutes apart. I woke DH at 5:45. At 6 AM, I could no longer talk or walk through them, and I need to hold on to walls and tables during them. We called the MW. She arrived at 7 AM.

I spent the next 12 hours with contractions ~ 5 min apart and 1 min long. The MW came and went (she lives 6 blocks away) several times. At around 2:30 PM I requested they set up the birth tub, so by 3:30 PM the MW was here to stay. The pool was too hot, so I didn't actually get in until 7 PM. We never checked my dilation, so I have no clue what it was...but I felt like contractions were totally stalled and had been the same ALL DAY.

At 7:30 PM, I got out of the tub and went to the bathroom. One contraction was normal - like I'd had all day. The next one was about 100 times more intense, it was 90+ seconds long, and suddenly they were around 2 minutes apart. I had bloody show too, and I was suddenly making LOTS of noise. I tried to collect myself and get back to the tub. I made it, but had a contraction mid-movement and seriously thought I was gonna die. At 7:45 PM, I had the instinct that I should get on my knees. My body started pushing REALLY hard, and I couldn't stop it. With that first push, I felt burning in my perineum. We could feel the baby's head almost right away. At 8:03 PM, DD was born with almost NO pushing on my part. I couldn't believe how fast things happened in the end...after a full day of monotony. My MW was totally caught off-guard too. She had no idea I was about to birth. Her assistant was still at her house. This time, we'll be ready and waiting for that big transition a little earlier.

My plan this time is to do everything exactly the same. My birth was so perfect last time, I don't want to risk changing anything.

[rubyruby]

I had several cervix checks - 37, 38 & 39 weeks. Each one I was progressing nicely, ending with 4 cm, 100% and 0 station when I was 39 weeks. My due date was on a Saturday, so I was scheduled to go in the day before for my 40 week check.

The day before my due date, I woke up at 5:45 am to go to the bathroom and my water broke while I was on the toilet. I called my MW who said to try and get active to bring on contractions. I decided to go ahead and shower for the day. While in the shower contractions started! They progressed quickly! By the time I finished drying and styling my hair the contractions were about 4 min apart and pretty painful.

I called the MW again who questioned my wanting to come to the hospital already (she thought I should labor longer at home) but I insisted. Sooooo glad I listened to my gut instincts. I arrived at the hospital, received an epi right away (at my request) by snagging the anthesiologist as he was walking by on his way to a c-section. Had we not snagged him they would have not been able to give me an epi as it would have been too late! I was already at 8cm. I started pushing shortly and had to push for 1.5 hours to push out my posterior baby. I'm glad that my MW didn't tell me at the time that 80% of women can't push out a posterior baby, I may not have tried as hard!

The MW said if she had been anterior it would have only been 15 min of pushing! (And my mom would have missed the whole thing!)

One thing I would recommend and didn't do at the time is to insist that someone (DH or my mom) be with the baby at all times. There was a point when I was alone in the delivery room, there were 2 nurses on the other side of the room cleaning off the baby and they started pointing and whispering about something on her. Turned out to be nothing (she has a pilonidal dimple that turned out to be harmless but could have been an indicator of other serious complications like spina bfida) but it was very unnerving to not be able to go over there and butt in.