Birth Survey

[myrmom]

Birthday?
Time?
Weight?
Length?
Apgars?
Vaginal or C-section?
Medicated or unmedicated?
Where you GBS +?
Did you have an IV?
How long was labour?
How long did you push?
Hospital, birthcenter or home?
How long did you stay?
Did you have a midwife, GP or OB?
Did you have a Doula?
Who all was at your birth?
Did you have an episiotomy or tear?
How many stitches?
Did you need a vaccuum or forceps?
Was baby late or early?
By how many days?
Were you induced or did you go into labour naturally?
Did your water break on it's own?
Was it the birth you planned?
Are you happy with your birth experience?

[Marcimama]

Birthday? 10-9
Time? 6:23 pm
Weight? 8.10
Length? 20 inches
Apgars? 9 then 10
Vaginal or C-section? Vaginal
Medicated or unmedicated? Unmedicated
Where you GBS +? No
Did you have an IV? No
How long was labour? 18 hours
How long did you push? maybe 10 min. it was like 3 pushes
Hospital, birthcenter or home? Home
How long did you stay? -
Did you have a midwife, GP or OB? Midwives
Did you have a Doula? No...but my dh is amazing! He should be one.
Who all was at your birth? 2 midwives, me and dh
Did you have an episiotomy or tear? slight tear
How many stitches? one
Did you need a vaccuum or forceps? no
Was baby late or early? late
By how many days? 8 days
Were you induced or did you go into labour naturally? natural
Did your water break on it's own? It broke prior to labor on its own.
Was it the birth you planned? In most ways. I got a home water birth.
Are you happy with your birth experience? I didn't like my midwives attitude at times (she is a bit harsh) and that she wouldn't let me get in the tub until I was at 7 cm... I was stalled at 5 cm for the majority of the 18 hours. I didn't dialate more until I demanded to get in the tub, then I went from 5 cm to 10 in literally 2 contractions.

[Amber Lion]

Birthday? 10-25-08
Time? 5:44 pm
Weight? 7 lbs 6 oz
Length? 22 in
Apgars? 8/9
Vaginal or C-section? vag
Medicated or unmedicated? unmedicated
Where you GBS +? neg
Did you have an IV? nope
How long was labour? From first contrx, 25 hrs
How long did you push? hour and 6 min
Hospital, birthcenter or home? home
How long did you stay? Still here!
Did you have a midwife, GP or OB? midwives
Did you have a Doula? Yep!
Who all was at your birth? Dh, Mom, doula, midwives
Did you have an episiotomy or tear? No, with a weirdly cocked head and hand over her face even!
How many stitches? nada
Did you need a vaccuum or forceps? no
Was baby late or early? water broke on due date, born day after.. I think she was right on time!
Were you induced or did you go into labour naturally? naturally
Did your water break on it's own? yep!
Was it the birth you planned? In that it was a home water birth yes, it was a bit more intense than I expected it to be though.
Are you happy with your birth experience? Yes!

[Bee21]

Birthday? October 15
Time? 8:11pm
Weight? 7lbs 9oz
Length? 20.5 inches
Apgars? I have no idea
Vaginal or C-section? vaginal
Medicated or unmedicated? 100% natural
Where you GBS +? No
Did you have an IV? No
How long was labour? 2.5 hours start to finish
How long did you push? 8 minutes
Hospital, birthcenter or home? Hospital
How long did you stay? 24 hours
Did you have a midwife, GP or OB? MW
Did you have a Doula? No
Who all was at your birth? DH, my MW and a nurse
Did you have an episiotomy or tear? Nope
How many stitches? Nope
Did you need a vaccuum or forceps? Nope
Was baby late or early? Early
By how many days? 5
Were you induced or did you go into labour naturally? Naturally
Did your water break on it's own? Yep, that's how labor started
Was it the birth you planned? No. Much faster than I'd planned, and the tub wasn't filled fast enough for me to have a water birth
Are you happy with your birth experience? Absolutely

[ferretfan]

Birthday? 10/30/08
Time? 10:04 am
Weight? 8lb 6oz
Length? 21.25 inches
Apgars? not sure, she spent 24 hrs in the level II for breathing issues
Vaginal or C-section? c/s
Medicated or unmedicated? unmedicated til she got stuck, then spinal block for c/s
Where you GBS +? yes. baby is fine
Did you have an IV? for c/s i did
How long was labour? 9 hours
How long did you push? maybe 30 mins, then i had to not push for another 40 mins or so, that was hard
Hospital, birthcenter or home? labored at home, got to hospital at 8cm
How long did you stay? 2 nights after her birth
Did you have a midwife, GP or OB? gp, OB performed c/s
Did you have a Doula? yes
Who all was at your birth? dh and doula, GP, a bunch of nurses, OB, neonatologists, anesthetists. seemed like there were around 20 people in the room.....oh yeah, i was there too
Did you have an episiotomy or tear? no
How many stitches? a bunch across my belly!
Did you need a vaccuum or forceps? both, she was very stuck
Was baby late or early? late
By how many days? 6
Were you induced or did you go into labour naturally? naturally, we did DTD 2 hours before labor startedi think that triggered it
Did your water break on it's own? yes
Was it the birth you planned? no
Are you happy with your birth experience? no, but it is what it is. for some reason my pelvic anatomy favors posterior presentation and the narrowness of it makes it nigh on impossible to birth vaginally. at least it explains the difficulty i had with dd#1 birth, where i narrowly avoided a c/s. dd#2 was bigger and there was no way she was getting out without the c/s. i am sad that i will probably never be able to birth the way i want, but my girls are here and healthy

[mamanurse]

Birthday?October 24th
Time?9:05pm
Weight?7pounds 0ounces
Length?19 3/4 inches
Apgars?6 & 9
Vaginal or C-section?Vaginal
Medicated or unmedicated?Necessarily Medicated @ 7cm d/t vaginal repositioning for a shoulder presentation vs. having an automatic C-section
Where you GBS +?No
Did you have an IV?Yes
How long was labour?14 hours active, 20 total
How long did you push?1 hour
Hospital, birthcenter or home?Hospital
How long did you stay?2 nights
Did you have a midwife, GP or OB?OB
Did you have a Doula?My Husband
Who all was at your birth?My Husband, On-call OB, 2 RNs
Did you have an episiotomy or tear?No
How many stitches?None
Did you need a vaccuum or forceps?No
Was baby late or early?"Late"
By how many days?1 day
Were you induced or did you go into labour naturally?Membranes stripped on due date
Did your water break on it's own?AROM
Was it the birth you planned?No. I didn't expect to have a shoulder presentation and all the complications/interventions that went with it
Are you happy with your birth experience?No. I'm traumatized.

[myrmom]

Birthday?October 21, 2008
Time?5:23am
Weight?8lbs 9oz
Length?22 inches
Apgars?I never asked
Vaginal or C-section?vaginal
Medicated or unmedicated?unmedicated
Where you GBS +?yes
Did you have an IV?yes but I only got one round of antibiotics
How long was labour?6 hours total, 3 hours active
How long did you push?2 pushes
Hospital, birthcenter or home?home
How long did you stay?still here
Did you have a midwife, GP or OB?midwife
Did you have a Doula?yes
Who all was at your birth?dh, mom, 2 midiwives, doula, my boys
Did you have an episiotomy or tear?slight tear
How many stitches?none
Did you need a vaccuum or forceps?no
Was baby late or early?late
By how many days?1 day
Were you induced or did you go into labour naturally?naturally
Did your water break on it's own?yes just before he was born
Was it the birth you planned?yes
Are you happy with your birth experience? completely happy

[dis]

Birthday? October 31
Time? 6:49 am
Weight? 8 pounds, 0 ounces
Length? don't know!
Apgars? don't know! have to get my records from the midwife
Vaginal or C-section? vaginal
Medicated or unmedicated? unmedicated
Where you GBS +? no
Did you have an IV? no
How long was labour? 4 hours
How long did you push? 2 minutes
Hospital, birthcenter or home? home
How long did you stay? n/a
Did you have a midwife, GP or OB? midwife
Did you have a Doula? yes
Who all was at your birth? one midwife, my husband, my doula (2nd midwife arrived 10 minutes after the birth)
Did you have an episiotomy or tear? 2nd degree tear
How many stitches? don't know - not that many, it healed fast
Did you need a vaccuum or forceps? no
Was baby late or early? late
By how many days? 4 days
Were you induced or did you go into labour naturally? naturally, although I did have a stretch and sweep the day before
Did your water break on it's own? yes, during labour (baby born about 5 minutes later!)
Was it the birth you planned? yes
Are you happy with your birth experience? yes, there is nothing at all I would change, except maybe to have gotten into the birth tub sooner! No one told me it was ready, so I spent most of transition out of the tub, then when I got in my water broke almost immediately and baby was born 5 minutes later.

[Mamja]

Birthday? 9/18/08
Time? 7:50am
Weight? 6lbs 9 oz
Length? 20.5 in
Apgars? 3 :-( / 8
Vaginal or C-section? vaginal
Medicated or unmedicated? medicated... but my epidural didn't work. so i inadvertently got to feel everything
Where you GBS +? nope
Did you have an IV? yes, ugh
How long was labour? real labor was about 5-6 hours
How long did you push? 30 mins
Hospital, birthcenter or home? hospital
How long did you stay? 3 nights, 1 before and 2 after
Did you have a midwife, GP or OB? ob
Did you have a Doula? no
Who all was at your birth? Dh, ob, nurses
Did you have an episiotomy or tear? episiotomy. oh, and i also had a labial tear
How many stitches? 3 up, maybe 4 down
Did you need a vaccuum or forceps? no
Was baby late or early? medically necessitated induction, at 38 weeks
Were you induced or did you go into labour naturally? induced
Did your water break on its own? nope
Was it the birth you planned? No. I figured as a first timer things would be slow. I had hoped to go without meds. But going form 1cm to holding my baby in under 5 hours was way too intense for me.
Are you happy with your birth experience? I think so. I'm amazed that I was able to make it through without being "medicated". I think next time I wouldn't even attempt the epidural. I'm a little sad that it went so quickly because it was all a blur

[annie-o]

Birthday- 10/26/08
Time- 7:30 p.m.
Weight- 7lbs. 7oz.
Length- 20.75
Apgars- Don't know
Vaginal or C-section- VBAC!
Medicated or unmedicated- Unmedicated
Where you GBS +- no
Did you have an IV- only for about 2 hours
How long was labour- 52 hours from first painful ctx.
How long did you push- 10 min.
Hospital, birthcenter or home- hospital for last 2 hours, home and hotel for other 50!
How long did you stay- 24 hours
Did you have a midwife, GP or OB- OB
Did you have a Doula- No
Who all was at your birth- Dh, my mom, OB and 2 nurses (one of which recently moved from Germany where she was a homebirth midwife. She was awesome and I couldn't have gotten luckier!)
Did you have an episiotomy or tear- small tear
How many stitches- didn't ask.
Did you need a vaccuum or forceps- no
Was baby late or early- he came the day before my EDD
By how many days- 1
Were you induced or did you go into labour naturally- naturally
Did your water break on it's own- yep
Was it the birth you planned- YES! Except the 52 hours of labor. I had just planned on 3 or 4!
Are you happy with your birth experience- I am so happy that I got the VBAC I wanted and that I have a very healthy little boy!

[farmerjess]

Birthday? Oct. 18th
Time? 7:33am
Weight? 6lb13oz
Length? 20in
Apgars? 9/10
Vaginal or C-section? vag
Medicated or unmedicated? unmed
Where you GBS +? no
Did you have an IV? no
How long was labour? 2.5hrs
How long did you push? 45min
Hospital, birthcenter or home? home
How long did you stay? still here
Did you have a midwife, GP or OB? mw
Did you have a Doula? no
Who all was at your birth? dh, midwives
Did you have an episiotomy or tear? 2 labial tears + a 2nd degree tear, ouch.
How many stitches? about 10
Did you need a vaccuum or forceps? no
Was baby late or early? late
By how many days? 7
Were you induced or did you go into labour naturally? natural
Did your water break on it's own?yes, around 10cms
Was it the birth you planned? Yes, but I didn't ever think it could go so fast. I really wanted to use the birth pool, but I don't think it even came in the house. The recovery from my tears was a lot harder than I expected.
Are you happy with your birth experience? Yes.

[PassionateWriter]

Birth Survey
Birthday? 10/17/08
Time? 4:58 am
Weight? 9 lb. 12 oz.
Length? 23 inches
Apgars? 9/10
Vaginal or C-section? Vaginal
Medicated or unmedicated? Unmedicated
Where you GBS +? didnt test
Did you have an IV? no
How long was labour? serious contractions for 4 hours
How long did you push? didnt push. did Hypnobirthing.
Hospital, birthcenter or home? home.
How long did you stay? stayed home all day!
Did you have a midwife, GP or OB? MW
Did you have a Doula? no
Who all was at your birth? DP, ds3, 2 MW's and an apprentice
Did you have an episiotomy or tear? small tear
How many stitches? chose no stitches; healed easily
Did you need a vaccuum or forceps? no
Was baby late or early? late
By how many days? 42 weeks 5 days so technically 2 weeks 5 days "late"
Were you induced or did you go into labour naturally? membranes stripped and AROM at 42.5 weeks
Did your water break on it's own? no, see above
Was it the birth you planned? yes, other than the AROM
Are you happy with your birth experience? I am happy all went well. I wish I had been more prepared for a fast and intense labor. the other 3 labors were very long and i guess i was used to that but not the short and fast labor.

[Baby_Cakes]

Birthday? 10/2/08
Time? 4:06 am
Weight? 7 lbs even
Length? 20in
Apgars? 9/9
Vaginal or C-section? vaginal
Medicated or unmedicated? unmedicated
Where you GBS +? Nope
Did you have an IV? Nope
How long was labour? 12 hours of active labor, 24 hours total.
How long did you push? 51 minutes
Hospital, birthcenter or home? Home
How long did you stay? Didn't leave, lol
Did you have a midwife, GP or OB? Midwife
Did you have a Doula? No, but I wish I did.
Who all was at your birth? My husband, Chris, my midwife, Pam, and her student assistant, Becca. All FABULOUS.
Did you have an episiotomy or tear? I had a few tears, I didn't ask how many.
How many stitches? Ha, I asked and Pam said they didn't count. So I guess quite a few.
Did you need a vaccuum or forceps? Nope
Was baby late or early? Right on time.
By how many days? Born one day before her EDD.
Were you induced or did you go into labour naturally? Naturally.
Did your water break on it's own? Yes, around 7-8 cms.
Was it the birth you planned? Yes, but it was also so different than I thought it would be.
Are you happy with your birth experience? YES! I am so happy that everything went well. We were lucky, and I am so thankful that there were no complications or problems. I am incredibly happy that I was strong enough, both mentally and physically, to birth my daughter all on my own naturally - that is something no one can ever take away from me.

[trimestersdoula]

Birthday? October 23rd 2008
Time? 3:16 PM
Weight? 6 lbs 9 oz
Length? 19 1/2 inches
Apgars? First one was a 9
Vaginal or C-section? C/S
Medicated or unmedicated? Mostly unmedicated (37 hours), medicated (8 hours)
Where you GBS +? Wasn't tested but was treated for it
Did you have an IV? Yes
How long was labour? 45 hours
How long did you push? I didn't
Hospital, birthcenter or home? Hospital
How long did you stay? 4 days
Did you have a midwife, GP or OB? OB
Did you have a Doula? You betcha!
Who all was at your birth? My DH, Mom and Doula for the labor, DH for the birth
Did you have an episiotomy or tear? Didn't get the chance to do either.
How many stitches? N/A
Did you need a vaccuum or forceps? N/A
Was baby late or early? Early
By how many days? 4 days
Were you induced or did you go into labour naturally? Induced
Did your water break on it's own? No
Was it the birth you planned? Absolutely not.
Are you happy with your birth experience? Not at all.

[Bella Catalina]

Birthday? October 26, 2008
Time? 9:50pm
Weight? 7lbs 10oz
Length? 20.5 inches
Apgars? 10 and 10
Vaginal or C-section? Vaginal
Medicated or unmedicated? Unmedicated
Where you GBS +? waived
Did you have an IV? no
How long was labour? 1 hour 5 minutes
How long did you push? 20 minutes
Hospital, birthcenter or home? home
How long did you stay? n/a
Did you have a midwife, GP or OB? Midwife
Did you have a Doula? no
Who all was at your birth? DH, and the midwife just made it. 2nd midwife arrived after
Did you have an episiotomy or tear? 2 labial skidmarks (1 stitched) and one 2nd degree internal tear (same tear from DS1's birth)
How many stitches? I didn't ask, too traumatizing
Did you need a vaccuum or forceps? no
Was baby late or early? early
By how many days? 11 days
Were you induced or did you go into labour naturally? Naturally
Did your water break on it's own? Yes, before the start of labor
Was it the birth you planned? Yes, aside from the tearing
Are you happy with your birth experience? The actual birth, yes. Allowing the apprentice mw to stitch me, no (she did fine, just very slow and I was not in the mood to be a teaching guinea pig and I didn't know how to voice that without offending her).

[Baby_Cakes]

Originally Posted by Bella Catalina

The actual birth, yes. Allowing the apprentice mw to stitch me, no (she did fine, just very slow and I was not in the mood to be a teaching guinea pig and I didn't know how to voice that without offending her)

OMG - I just have to comment on this. The same thing happened to me! My midwife's apprentice did the sutures! Stitching took FOREVER. I really wanted to get Nora on my breast and it seriously took her 40 minutes to stitch me. That was after the 15-20 it took to get my placenta out b/c it had detatched from the cord. They had to manually retrieve it.

Of course, I was swooning and fawning all over Nora, so I didn't really notice the time, but I knew it was taking a really long time to be stitched and my midwife was teaching her and showing her how to suture and I was like, come on people. Lets get a move on. I'm really done with this now, and I need to get my baby eating and I need to REST.

[crosscat]

Birthday? 10/11/2008
Time? 3:58 AM
Weight? 8 lb 7 oz
Length? 21.5"
Apgars? Dunno - Was too blissed out to ask
Vaginal or C-section? Vaginal
Medicated or unmedicated? Unmedicated
Where you GBS +? No
Did you have an IV? No
How long was labour? Around 8 or 10 hours
How long did you push? 25 minutes
Hospital, birthcenter or home? Hospital
How long did you stay? 1 day, but left in the evening so we'd have more time to practice BF with the LCs
Did you have a midwife, GP or OB? OB, but my doula is a midwife, too
Did you have a Doula? Yes!
Who all was at your birth? DH, Doula, Hospital Staff, & OB
Did you have an episiotomy or tear? Nope!
How many stitches? 0
Did you need a vaccuum or forceps?No
Was baby late or early? Early
By how many days? 2 days
Were you induced or did you go into labour naturally? Naturally - well DH fed me lots of spicy food and loved me a lot trying to get stuff started early.
Did your water break on its own? Sprung a leak, which sealed up. Decided to break the water to speed things up at the hospital. Don't know why I did that, because I liked the idea of giving the baby an opportunity to be born in the caul... I think I was just anxious to meet my baby, though.
Was it the birth you planned? Pretty much! Everything went so well that DH is fine with (or I should say excited about) home birth for any future babies!
Are you happy with your birth experience? Thrilled! My most cherished memory.

[nccrunchymama]

Birthday? - 10/13/08
Time? - 6:38pm
Weight? - 7lb 8oz
Length? - 21.25in
Apgars? - 8/9
Vaginal or C-section? - vaginal
Medicated or unmedicated? - unmedicated
Where you GBS +? - no
Did you have an IV? - no
How long was labour? - about 6 hours of "maybe" followed by 10 hours of nothing. Then 5 hours active.
How long did you push? - 2 "kinda" pushes 3 minutes apart
Hospital, birthcenter or home? - home
How long did you stay? - still here
Did you have a midwife, GP or OB? - midwife
Did you have a Doula? - no
Who all was at your birth? - dh, mw, her assistant arrived 8 min before birth , dd1 came in about 30 seconds after birth.
Did you have an episiotomy or tear? - slight tear over scar from previous tear
How many stitches? - 3. mw would have used glue but I didn't have anyone coming to help with dd1 after birth. We decided stitches would work better.
Did you need a vaccuum or forceps? - no
Was baby late or early? - late
By how many days? - 5
Were you induced or did you go into labour naturally? - naturally after dtd.
Did your water break on it's own? - yes. about 15 minutes before birth.
Was it the birth you planned? - yes except much faster than I expected. I kept thinking I had hours to go.
Are you happy with your birth experience? - YES! It was a peaceful, undisturbed water birth in my own bedroom. Never had a cervix check. No one told me what to do. I just gave birth to my baby the way my body needed to. Except for the tear, absolutely perfect!

[Changed]

Birthday? Why, October 7th of course!
Time? 3:35 am
Weight? 6.8
Length? 18.5-19
Apgars? good?
Vaginal or C-section? vag
Medicated or unmedicated? unmedicated
Where you GBS +? no
Did you have an IV? no
How long was labour? not sure
How long did you push? didn't really push... FER only took 2 contractions to deliver
Hospital, birthcenter or home? home
How long did you stay? n/a
Did you have a midwife, GP or OB? OB for prenatal care but not for birth
Did you have a Doula? yes, but she didn't show
Who all was at your birth? DH and my mom- my kids were asleep
Did you have an episiotomy or tear? no
How many stitches? n/a
Did you need a vaccuum or forceps? no
Was baby late or early? right on time
By how many days? n/a
Were you induced or did you go into labour naturally? naturally
Did your water break on it's own? no- i tore it after his shoulders delivered but he was born in the caul.
Was it the birth you planned? it was perfect.
Are you happy with your birth experience? absolutely!

[mkmb129]

Birthday? Oct 23rd
Time? 6:04 pm
Weight? 7lbs 1oz
Length? 18.5
Apgars? No clue
Vaginal or C-section? Vaginal
Medicated or unmedicated? Unmedicated
Where you GBS +? No
Did you have an IV? Yes
How long was labour? Not really sure; it was only painful for an hour or so
How long did you push? Less then 10mins
Hospital, birthcenter or home? Hospital
How long did you stay? 24hrs
Did you have a midwife, GP or OB? OB
Did you have a Doula? No
Who all was at your birth? DH, my nurse, baby nurse, and the doctor just made it!
Did you have an episiotomy or tear? Episiotomy
How many stitches? No clue
Did you need a vaccuum or forceps? No
Was baby late or early? 6 days "late"
By how many days? 6
Were you induced or did you go into labour naturally? Naturally
Did your water break on it's own? No
Was it the birth you planned? Yes in that it was natural & unmedicated, no in that it was so quick!
Are you happy with your birth experience? I'm happy that it was unmedicated (what I wanted) and quick-- but still feel a little traumatized by it all.