Did *anybody* have a good first birth? - Page 3

[ShadowMoon]

I had a great unmedicated birth a in a hospital with an OB. I had a wonderful doula, nurses that let me do what I want and no one pressured/pushed me into anything. They all followed my lead. I have no complaints.

[Gilby]

I had a good first birth. It didn't go as planned but I don't think things should have to go as planned for you to be okay with your birth experience. I think flexibility is key and knowing you did your best/ tried everything you could. I am not traumatized from my first birth but I definitely wouldn't want to leavve this earth without giving it another shot to see how much better it could go!

[hapersmion]

My first (and only so far) birth was great! Breech, natural, out of the hospital (thank goodness), completely un-interfered-with. The only thing I want to change with the next birth is that I'll wait longer for a pushing urge before I start pushing. I pushed for a long time, probably because I started too soon, but it didn't seem odd to me at the time and wasn't a problem. I was making progress, just slowly.

[proudmamanow]

I had a fantastic first birth...16 hours, home waterbirth, just dw & our beloved midwife.
But as you can see from this thread, a fantastic first hospital birth is also possible.

[simplehome]

Me me me!! Here's a link to the birth story I wrote shortly after:

Birth Story

I actually have to thank you for making me go look this up, because I'm 36 weeks with our second now, and DH and I were having trouble coming up with some of the details the other day.....

[wendy1221]

My first birth was great. It was a truly empowering experience. I had a 100% natural birth in a hospital w/ a great OB who recommended I take the Bradley Method.

My 2nd hospital birth w/ a different OB was the one thast was traumatic. Homebirth all the way from then on.

[momasana]

I had a beautiful homebirth. 12 hours of labor, 40 mins of pushing. I labored in water for about 2 hours and delivered on my bed (wasn't feeling the waterbirth vibe that day). I had no afterbirth pain, aside from an hour of moderate cramping 3 days later. I'm actually excited to get pregnant and give birth again!

[StrawberryFields]

I had a good hospital experience with my first birth. I planned a homebirth but ended up transferring and when I got there I had full interventions and an epidural. My experience was still very good and exciting! Everyone was very nice to me, and respectful. The full body shower was way nicer than my own dinky bathroom! They brought in huge meals for me and dh, they were supportive of breastfeeding and I don't remember anyone even mentioning circumcision. I also declined the Hep B vax and the eye stuff and no one batted an eye. I tried all different positions for pushing until I found something comfortable and the epidural really didn't get in the way of my mobility.

Obviously since I intended on a hb things didn't really go as planned for me and for awhile I was disappointed in the fact that I didn't "make it" at home. Not because my hospital or birth experience was traumatic, but because it wasn't what I had planned for and imagined all those months, and I needed to work through that.

I'm planning another homebirth right now because I really believe in it (and I am going to make it this time!), but I am glad that the hospital is there in case of an emergency.

[CTH3989]

I had a wonderful first birth! My son was born in a hospital but he was born naturally, free of drugs, and on my terms. Sure, there were some things that I could have done without but I loved it!

[~Katie~]

DH and I were just talking about this last night! My first (and only) birth, went wonderfully, so much so that I had a hard time accepting it. I went from regular contractions to baby in 11 1/2 hours, my labor was totally manageable, and very relaxing and peaceful. I labored at home until I was 5cm and 100% effaced. I had a water birth in a hospital, my mw was an angel and left dh and I alone for the majority. The nurses kept to themselves and didn't bother us, and were very respectful about checking my blood pressure and DS's heart rate. DS even stayed asleep for the majority of it. I never went through transition, the only hard part was getting over the anterior lip between 9 and 10cm. I had self-directed pushing and chose my pushing position as well. My birth plan was also entirely followed.

[DoomaYula]

I think it depends on your expectations of your birth -- and whether or not you're in the hospital.

My first birth was twins, and all I wanted was both of them to come out vaginally (and without episiotomy, forceps, whatev). I didn't care about anything else. To that end, it was an awesome birth and I birthed both vaginally (second baby was larger and a feet-first breech) without a tear or stitch, and I felt great.

Since then my expectations have changed, and if I had that birth today I'd probably think it was not that great.

[mesecina]

Yup - had a great birth in a birth center with a midwife. Not that there's nothing I would have changed, but overall I'm very happy with the memory.

[Halfasianmomma]

Thank you everyone for giving me hope. I just happen to live in one of the most backwards-minded provinces in Canada where natural birthing is concerned, and I'm feeling a bit uncertain/aggressive when I think of birthing in hospital.

[PPK]

Mine was absolutely perfect, wouldn't change a thing. Was at home for 3-4 hrs., got to FSBC at 8cm., had ds 2-3 hrs. later.
I thought I'd mind leaving home during labor (let alone transition), but it wasn't bad, I actually sortof enjoyed the 1am car ride (and I honestly didn't care where I was pushing, as long as the end was near ).

It was super intense physically, but every moment was perfect. I thought I would have a peaceful,waterbirth etc, but couldn't stand it for even a minute, I just felt better on all fours on 'land'.

[veganf]

All my births were good, including my first, but it was at home, so I think that's probably why. They never would have "let" me push for 3.5 hours or use a birth stool had I been in a hospital...probably a csec and then that would have doomed me for my next bigger baby. I'm very glad I was at home and it went so well with a patient midwife and no interventions.

[Kirsten]

Originally Posted by Red Sonja

I was happy with my first birth, it was a med-free birth with a CNM in the hospital. No, I didn't choose to birth in a hospital again for subsequent births but I think that DS' birth was good. I stood up for what I wanted and what I didn't want.

What she said. I took Bradley classes so I knew what my options were. I don't think you should go in swinging so to speak. That is just bad energy. Know what you want and go in expecting that the staff there will help you achieve that. "Thank you for your help in achieving the natural birth we want" type of thing.

[greengirl_]

Originally Posted by Halfasianmomma

I want the first one to be good, and I don't want it to be some tug of war between myself and the medical establishment.

This was my concern also, which is why we chose to hb with the best mw ever!! And my dd's birth was everything I could have ever dreamed of - a completely natural birth with a healthy baby and a healthy mama at the end. I purposely didn't try to have too many expectations because I had no idea what things would be like, and I'm sure I could have never imagined the intensity of birth. If you don't make a script for yourself to stick to and have a bunch of horror stories in your head then you will not be disappointed. This is YOUR birth, it will be what it is supposed to be, let go.

[Spark]

My first birth was "good", I'd say. I'm glad I was at home... in the hospital I'm pretty sure I would have had a cesarean birth. My baby was posterior and never did flip. My labor was very stop/start, but then he had a very very short cord, so I think it was just more gentle for him. At one point I was fully dilated, but I couldn't push him out. I just wanted to take a nap, so I did that instead. Then, I reverse dilated back to 8cm.

Knowing what I know now, I think I should have paid more attention to optimal fetal positioning (OFP) as I did everything I "shouldn't" have done to encourage OFP. www.spinningbabies.com has some really wonderful tips.

[UrbanCrunchyMama]

Overall, my first birth went well. There are definitely some things I would have liked to change/avoid and that I still need healing from. BUT...these things also contribute to my want and need to birth at home the next time around.

Lydia

[sagelove]

I also had what I would consider a good first birth. It was unmedicated, in the hospital and with an OB and doula. The nurse was great, too.