Birth Stories & Announcements
kmreynolds11
Posts: 109 Member
A special space for our former members to come back, share their birth experience and formally announce their new bundles of joy. :flowerforyou:
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Hi ladies! I'm Heather...the one who started this awesome group "Fit, Fabulous, and Pregnant"! I absolutely love this group of ladies and am so proud of all of you! This group was started when I was about 12wks pregnant with Charlee and it is so amazing that now I am able to post her birth story and to watch as others go through the journey of pregnancy while staying fit and healthy!
Charlotte "Charlee" Kendall was born on November 16th, 2011 at 11:03a weighing 7lbs 13oz and was 19" long
Tuesday November 14th,2011 I woke up and decided to go through and clean absolutely everything that could be cleaned...floors to linens and everything in between (nesting much?! but not the first time I have done this in the past month that's for sure). That day I also went and got acupuncture and adjusted for the 4th time since trying to induce my own labor. Hubby and I gave it one last "go" to try and jump start things too since I was feeling extra desperate with the impending induction on Thursday. That night I ate dinner then took a long warm bath (again, not the first time I've done all this routine). We went to bed at about 930 and my body was so sore and tired from the days activities. I woke up at 11 with contractions but just went pee and went back to sleep. At exactly 1247 I sat up in bed with a pretty strong contraction. I tend to get them at night and they usually are caused by a full bladder so I got up to pee and nothing came out...so I laid back down and had 3 more in less than 10 minutes! So I got up and went to the living room cause I didn't want to wake Al, especially if this was false labor like the past few times. I sat down and started to time the contractions. They were 3-5 minutes apart and lasting 60-90 seconds long....this is where we had talked about that we would go to the hospital. So I went and woke Al up and we got our stuff together and headed to the hospital. They continued to get stronger and stronger. I can only describe them starting off as the worst menstrual cramps with a lot of vaginal pressure. That's how it all started...
We get to the hospital and check in and are brought into a preliminary room for monitoring. By this time is is about 230am. My bp was really high, I was still only 2 1/2cm dilated 90% effaced and her head was still really low. After an hour of monitoring I was given the option of walking the halls for an hour or going home....I knew this was it so I chose to walk. By 45 minutes of walking my contractions were very painful and 1-3 minutes apart and 90+ seconds long. I got checked again and was 3cm at that point. They went ahead and admitted me due to my high bp, my strong contractions, and the fact I was overdue...I guess they want you to be at least a 4 before admitting. Glad they did because almost immediately I went from a 3 to a 7. I used to jacuzzi and did several other positions to get through the most painful thing my body has EVER experienced. I was very vocal, which I would have never guessed but it is something my body just did and I had no control over. Without the support of Al and my nurse I couldn't have done it. I had a lot of back labor which was really hard to handle as well. The tennis ball and lots of back rubs from Al, the nurse, and my mother was what helped a lot. By 1050am I was complete and ready to push (thank goodness!). Within 3 contractions I pushed out the most beautiful angel on earth (in my opinion of course
)... She was born at 1103 weighing 7lbs 13oz and 19" long. She has a head full of beautiful dark blonde hair with light blonde highlights (she is already a diva and high maintenance lol). 0 -
Hey Mamas. Well I am finally going to put my birth story together a few days later! Here it goes.....
Monday I went in my exam and was told I was 2 fingers dilated. The dr. was a little rough feeling around for the head, effacement, etc. Around 3-330 I started having mild contractions so I decided to use my nifty cell phone application to start timing. They we coming about every 8-25 minutes totally randomly. Not getting closer together, not getting stronger, and not really much longer than a minute or less. I decided they weren't really painful so maybe just some very persistent BH contractions so fell asleep around 11:30pm. At 2:30 am the contractions woke me up and I continued to time them. They were still random, but getting a little closer. I determined I wasn't working Tuesday so called in and tried to rest and timed my contractions all day. About 2:30 they got to be between 6-8 minutes apart for about 90 minutes straight so I called the nurse again (she determined the contractions were prodromal (pre) labor to get my body ready for the real thing). She said if I was starting to get uncomfortable I could go ahead and go to the hospital so I could get my epidural going. So off we went with packed bags, etc. around 5pm Tuesday. After being admitted to triage, they determined I was still about 2-3 cm dilated but my contractions were 2-4 minutes apart! They checked me again an hour later and my cervix hadn't changed so they sent us home around 8pm. Once we got home I was in terrible pain. I was having 45 second long debilitating contractions followed by 2 minutes or less of no pain and then contractions. I got in the tub, on the floor, on all fours to no avail. I was crying because I knew I couldn't keep that up and I had no idea how I would deal with the pain much longer. Not to mention, I was a little worried that Daphne had been exposed to contractions for over 24 hours at this point and I was lacking sleep.
At around 10:30 we left for the hopsital again. Once they checked me I was "a good 3cm" so they left me again for an hour to recheck. In the meantime, they had been monitoring Daphne's heart rate and it had taken a couple dips. Since that happened and I was in terrible pain, they admitted me finally around 1am I reckon. They hooked me up to IV's, antibiotics, etc. but no pain meds yet! Contractions were still very close and very intense. The dr. checked me, stripped my membranes which caused my water to break and Daphne's heart rate dropped from 150 to 90. So they have me flipping on each side, on all fours, massaging my belly, etc. to get her heart rate back up. In the meantime the (only one on call) dr. got called to another room which led to a subsequent emergency C section. Once he was tied up, they decided to give me a shot to stop contractions so we could get Daphne in better shape. Next they gave me the epidural and I ended up puking and then napping about an hour. I woke up feeling like a new woman! Next they started pitocin to try to start labor again. It was about 3am or so by now. Around 4, the dr. checked my cervix and it was 5cm, Daphne's heart rate was still irregular, taking some dips that weren't terrible, but not wonderful either. He decided to call for a c-section. More drugs and an hour later, and Daphne Nichole was born at 4:57 a.m. on her due date of January 25 and she weighed 6lb, 11oz, 19" long and just perfect.
In the end I was relived for the c-section as I had been laboring for 36 hours with about 6 of them being nearly unbearable. I don't know how I would haev pushed a baby out. And once they got in and took a look, the dr. thought I could have pushed for 6 hours and probably ended up with a c-section anyways. I'm healing up well, but taking percocets for pain. I missed a dose late night before last and felt it in the morning. My stomach actually has already gone down significantly and today I feel like i'm getting around a little better but my abs and incission (about 8") are still really tender.
Daphne sleeps a TON and has been doing really good with nursing. Our biggest problem is keeping her awake. She likes to fall asleep on the boob. She has lost less than a pound, her hearing tested out fine, she is pooping and peeing normally and seems to be a pretty good baby all arond! We're pretty much in love with her.
We leave the hospital tomorrow and my parents will be coming. We've already had tons of visitors too. I'm hoping for a speedy recovery b/c while I am getting around, it is slow and things like sitting up in bed are currently a little difficult. So that's that! It was not an easy ride, but given that I had such an easy pregnancy, I figured something had to give. And she's so worth it.
I hope you all are all doing well!
-Ashley0 -
Hi everybody. So Dallas decided to join us on Fiday afternoon. This is very surreal for our family but we are extremely happy and over joyed. His birth story has been all we can talk about because I didn't know I was in labor until later on Friday afternoon.
So. I woke up and felt what I thought were cramps and totally dismissed them. I had been crampy for the last 2 weeks and had had no cervical change besides being dialated to a two. So, crampy was no biggie. Nothing major though, where I would think for sure this is it. At my 'last' actual appt was on Wednesday, Feb. 1st. I was still a 2, she said maybe a smidge over a 2 and was about 80% effaced. She asked if I wanted to do a uterus massage, which was not stripping my membranes and could or could not get things going with my due date being only a few days away. I said, sure, lets go for it. She said, you'll be a little crampy but I figured I had already been crampy and it would be no big deal. So, I cramped a little and then by thusday I was fine. So when I felt a little crampy on Friday, I had no reason to believe I was having contractions. I thought, if they don't go away, I'll call my midwife and see what she says. So I updated MFP and had several errands to run. ( again thinking this was not actual labor) When I called she said for me to come in at 2:30 so she can evaluate me. I said ok. This was around noon.
I then get a call that my car which had been hit and was sitting at a collision center was ready for pick up. I was in a rental and not wanting to take the chance of having the insurance not pay if we waited another day to return it, I told my husband for us to go return it. I then also get a call from the guy I had just purchased my new vehicle from. HA!!! So we go pick up my new vehicle, drop off the rental, transfer all the bags from the rental to our new car w/the new car seat, follow hubby home and drop off my car that was done. So all in all its around 4:45ish. I had previously called the birth center and told them that I had stuff to do and would call them back if I decided to show up.
this was right after calling them and telling them I was coming before all the vehicle stuff. I then get a call from my midwife and return her call. She said for me to power walk and if they were indeed contrations they would get stronger and closer together. So I said fine. I also had just seen my MIL and she said, no I don't think its time yet, you haven't even dropped. she's like if you were in pain, you wouldn't be here talking to me. I was thinking maybe she is right.
I then come inside the house and start walking, this is around 5:30ish. They started getting strong and I thought, these have to be it. i call Beverly back and tell her that i think these are definitely contractions becuase the cramp like pain is now starting to spread to my back. She said, I think you should make your way to the birth center now. I was like well let me sit it out for like maybe a couple hours. She was like NO, come now. We can't risk your water breaking. So, hubby is cleaning the house and he's freaking and I'm like, I think I'm going to go get a pedi while you finish. He's like no, let's go.
So we finally make our way out to the birth center, stop at Taco bell (receipt says 6:36 p.m.) for my son and hubby and I was in pain all the way there. I felt a twisting type of pain on both lower back area. I get there and have one right before walking in and I look at my husband and say. " tony, I don't know if I can do this much longer like this. If these are supposed to get stronger, I can't do this" He says, yes, you can. Let's go in and see what she has to say first. I walked in and had another one inside the birth center then she wanted to check me and i had another one. I finally make it on the table and have another contration and she said, you are a 9, she turns and looks at my husband and says, Tony, she's having a baby in 20mins. RUN and get the tub started NOW!!!!! I turn to look at my husband and say, can you call everybody and Beverly, says, Elce, he doesn not have time, she turns and looks at Tony and says, "RUN, we're barely going to get her downstairs." I make it downstairs to get in the tub and I started having the urge of having to push. She tells me to breathe through them until she gets all her stuff ready, she has my son running around helping her. I couldn't help it and told her I was NOT going to wait to get out and push it was happening in the tub and NOW!! She then says, ok, go ahead, first push and Dallas' head pops out and I hear my husband look at me and say, 'baby is coming!!!" Him and I are in the restroom and he's waiting to catch Dallas. Beverly, says, ok, Elce, give me another push. So I pushed one more time and Dallas joined us at 6:59 p.m. Daddy delivered Dallas just like he wanted to. It happened so freakishly fast, I look back and think, what in the world was I thinking. Poor Beverly, she was at it alone, she had no time to even get the second midwife in. As soon as the second one showed up they were like, Elce, you would have waited any longer and baby would've been born in the car.
So, now that Dallas is home we're getting used to him. He is a bit of a cry baby and he kept us up all night last night. He is very sensitive and doesn't like to be changed, moved, and lord knows even bothered. HA! Picky little thing. Funny thing is that he has been like that since in my tummy. He would move the minute we felt him poke his booty out. Lol. He is small. 6lb 14 oz. I love him no matter how much little attitude he has. Its a blessing to have him. I know he's only been home for a couple days and things will hopefully get better.
Elce0 -
Hi all! Sorry it's taken me so long to get this up! But finding the time to sit down at the computer is not that easy these days! lol
Here is Mason’s birth story:
Born Tuesday February 7, 2012 – 23:23 – 7lbs 10 oz – 20 inches
Tuesday February 7th I woke up and started having a contraction around 6:45 am – it wasn’t very strong but more intense than the Braxton hicks contractions I had been experiencing for the last 2 weeks. I have an app on my iPhone (yep they have an app for that! Lol) in order to time my contractions and keep track. Again, like I said they weren’t very strong and were happening about 1 hour apart and lasting for about 30-40 seconds to the peak. I kept myself busy all day, walking the house, squatting, bouncing on the ball, cleaning and getting last minute things ready…I thought it could be false labour but I think in my heart of hearts I knew it was time.
(A little back story for the weeks prior – I had been feeling constant pressure and sort of like muscle surges in my cervix area for about two weeks – I had been checked the Thursday before and was dilated 4cms and effacing)
So by around 5:30 the contractions were around 25 minutes apart – I was getting really tired and I started to think, man I should get some rest because if this is it I am going to be exhausted! So I went upstairs around 6:00 and had a nice bath then crawled into bed around 6:30. I was asleep for 15 minutes and was woken up by a contraction followed by what felt like a huge hit to my cervix and a loud POP – the contraction immediately intensified and I felt panicked – my husband was there and he helped me get up and when I got up a huge gush of fluid came out. My water broke! We got to the bathroom and I was still trying to gain composure after the startling intensity of that contraction. I changed into my clothes for the hospital and we were on our way.
We arrived at the Grey Nuns Hospital at 7:15pm – I had one more contraction in the vehicle and one in the parking lot. We were admitted and taken to be assessed, the nurse took my blood pressure and asked me a bunch of questions. I told her about my water breaking and then she checked me. She said I was 5cms dilated and my cervix was paper thin. She said she didn’t think my water broke though. My blood pressure was a bit high so they said they would pay close attention, but it hadn’t been high throughout my pregnancy so she said she wasn’t too worried.
My parents arrived about the same time and it was my mom, my dad and my husband Jay in the room with me. Their support was invaluable to me and everyone worked so well together. The nurse we had was AMAZING, I can’t say enough good things about her also – we gave her our birth plan told her that I wanted to do this completely natural and gave her a checklist of things we wanted/didn’t want to have happen and she went through each item with us and respected everything we wanted. I was taken to the birthing room and contractions started to get closer together and really intense – about 2-3 mins apart and up to 1 min to the peak. The room was quiet, dark and no residents or students were allowed to come in – just my main nurse. I wasn’t hooked up to an IV or an monitor so I was free to do what I wanted – although my contractions were so close together I didn’t have a chance to move very much at all. So basically I just laboured with my husband, my mom and my dad. My husband was so amazing, when the contractions started getting super intense he propped himself up behind me and I leaned back on him so I could completely relax all my muscles, my shoulders and back, my face etc and just let the contractions take over. It helped me get through them so much easier. My mom was feeding me ice chips after each contraction and encouraging me and my dad was timing contractions and getting ice chips etc. The nurse came in again a few times to check the baby’s heart rate and it stayed consistent around 145-148 – she checked me again and said that I was 8 cms. The nurse said she couldn’t believe that I was in labour and had progressed to 8 cms – she said you would never have known I was in labour because I just shut my eyes during a contraction, did deep breathing and leaned on my husband in an upright sitting position. She just kept saying that I was making her job way too easy. (my husband and mom told me this stuff afterwards because I was too busy focusing!) Soon after I started feeling immense pressure in my bottom – I told the nurse and she decided to check me again. This was around 10:30pm. She checked me and said “oh my gosh you are 10 cms!” she rushed to call Dr. Chua to come quickly because I was starting to feel the urge to push. She told me I had to wait! This was the hardest part for me. I had to do panting type breathing and it was just like my body was taking over – I had to go through 3 contractions before Dr. Chua arrived. That was really one of the hardest parts.
Once Dr. Chua arrived they set me up so I could start pushing. Jay stayed behind me so I could use him as support. My mom and the nurse each took one of my legs and we were all ready. Then the contractions slowed down a bit. But not for long…contractions started back up and the urge to push was unmistakeble. It took me a few tries to get the hang of it and Dr Chua let me know that Mason was sunny side up and that he was going to get in there and try to turn him around while I pushed. He was successful. I pushed Mason John William Graham into this world in 23 minutes. He was born at 23:23 February 7, 2012 - he also had a perfect knot in his umbilical cord, it wasn’t tight thank goodness and there were no issues with it.
Mason was put to my chest straight after he was born and we had them not cut the cord until it stopped pulsing. It was such a surreal moment once he was out and on my chest – I can’t even describe it! We were also allowed to have all the tests, weighing, vitamin K, and eye gel delayed while we bonded and just got to take each other in.
The labour and birth of my son is something I will remember for the rest of my life. I feel so incredibly lucky and blessed to have had the experience I did. It was truly amazing and the experience was way more amazing than I could have ever imagined. I have to say I am so proud of myself and feel such an amazing sense of accomplishment and pride. The nurses checking me afterwards couldn’t believe I didn’t have an IV and kept asking to check my back thinking I had an epidural. One nurse even sat with me and said, “how did you do it? Did it hurt?” like she had never seen a natural birth before. It was pretty crazy the reactions I was getting from the nurses but it made me feel good at the same time because I had my doubts going into this that I would be able to do it, and I surprised myself in the best possible way. I also have to say that my team – my mom and my husband were the best team anyone could have asked for! I know 100% for sure that if they hadn’t been there and worked together like they did, and if my husband didn’t take such an interest in learning as much as he possibly could about how to help me during labour, my experience wouldn’t have been nearly as good as it was. I am so thankful.
Mason and I are home now and doing really well, just getting the hang of breast feeding and my milk just came in so things are going a lot better! He is such a good baby and being a mom is just so much more amazing than I ever could have imagined. We are so in love and so incredibly happy!0 -
~Brenda~
Here goes Luna Itzel's birth story.
I had posted friday that my Dr told me i was more than half effaced at 2cm dialated. So Saturday came around and I was feeling good, got a mani -pedi, went to my son's soccer game and then relaxed at home that evening. We went to sleep at 10:30pm and i was in deep sleep when i felt like i had to pee. i got up and noticed i was wet, when i saw my panties there was white discharge, and i smelled to make sure it wasn't pee. I couldn't make up my mind if my water broke or not, so when i stood up again water kept gushing. That's when i woke up the hubby and said it's time, I wasn't feeling contractions yet, because my water kept flowing out. I called my parents (who live in Cali) to tell them it was TIME!
We arrived at the hospital at 12am and I was at 4cm, so they monitored us. I told them No IV, no meds, no epidural so that's what it was, the contractions were 8 mins apart at the beginning and progressed rapidly, my Dr still hadn't arrived, so when the contractions were 4mins apart the nurse checked and I was between 6-7 dialated. I was feeling the pressure of the baby coming and the Dr wasn't there :grumble: he finally arrived with enough time to get ready, the hubby was supportive but it was all me, I did the breathing myself and just told myself I CAN DO THIS and I immediately began to push and finally Luna Itzel was born 2.12.12 at 2.42am weighing 5lbs 12oz 18inches long. She has a full head of hair, and is just the most precious little thing. :smooched:
Afterbirth I still didn't want IV so they acknowledged my request, I did take motrin 2 times for the cramping when breastfeeding. Still some afterbirth pain is to come.
Unfortunately, my mom missed the delivery but the important thing is they arrived an hr after the birth and were their to meet their first granddaughter out of 3 boys. As they came in the hospital the nurses congratulated them for having such a strong daughter. :drinker:
We are home as of yesterday afternoon, the only thing is my colostrum isn't filling her up much, so we do 20 mins. breastfeeding each side and she finishes an oz of bottle. Oh well!
I am glad and thankful that everything went well and both my children have been easy natural births. I have to share a funny story with numbers: My birthdate is 12-22, my son's 06-22, hubby's 9-12, and baby 2-12 our PP room was 222, any one else think our lucky number is 2? :laugh:
Best wishes to the rest of the mommies in line to have their babies.0 -
Only got a second, but I will try to post most details. First of all CONGRATS to Brenda and Rayna!!!
I was scheduled to be induced on Thursday February 9th, well about 10 minutes before my appt. I called to say I was going to be 15 min late and they informed me not to come, they had no rooms available. Call back at 8. So I called back no rooms. After waiting all day, my doctor called to say for me to come in at 7 p.m. so I went to the hospital and they had a room by then. I got all situated and at 9:10 she checked me and said I was dialated to 3.5, so they started my IV and pitocin. At 10:30 the baby had dropped and doctor broke my water. By about midnight after walking and walking and walking, I decided to try the jacuzzi (not recommended), that only lasted 15 minutes then I asked for an epidural. The pain of the contractions was so weird, was way different that contractions with my son, all the pain was super low like cramps but hurt so BAD!!!! After two hours of waiting and getting the epidural, it didn't work! I have scoliosis, so it was hard to get it in the correct spot. They ended up doing an intrathecal (sp), and that didn't last long. It was about 4:30 a.m. after being able to relax for about an hour, she was ready and I pushed her out in 15-20 minutes. The labor and delivery wasn't too bad. For some reason the placenta didn't want to come out, and my doctor had to pull it out and it was all shredded, and coming out in pieces. Not sure of the cause, but after that my stomach and uterus filled up with blood clots 4 times which was the most painful thing I've ever dealt with. Way worse than labor!!!!!! But after all that I was OK. Still feel like my tailbone is broke because of all the needles going in my spinal cord, and apparently there are open nerves still, but getting better every day!! I'm just so thankful that baby Aspen is healthy chubby lil' girl!!!! I feel like my family is complete now!!!!
Aspen Louise - 7lbs 13oz 20.5 inches long born on Feb. 10th at 5:44 a.m.0 -
Here is my birth story, I'm sorry it took me so long blushing
Monday I woke up around 4:30 am with very mild contractions that i thought were just BH. I had like 4 of them and i felt like going to the bathroom ( the usual thing in my last weeks), when I get of of the bed a felt water running down my legs, I just thought OMG IT'S HAPPENING!! I woke up my husband and told him that i think my water just broke. I then went to the bathroom leaving behind me a trail of water around the apartment. LOL
Then my husband called the Dr. and she said we had to go to the hospital, because after the water breaks there is a high risk of infection. So i took a shower, finished packing my bag and walked to the hospital, it was about a 20 min walk and I think maybe the walk helped me to dilate and get the contractions going because at that point they didn't feel strong yet.
We got to the hospital around 8:30, they checked me and I was 1cm dilated :O I just thought OK this is going to take a while, lol.
By 10am a resident came in and told me that they knew that in my birth plan i didn't want any drugs but they need to put me on Pitocin because i was not progressing & they didn't want check me again because of risk of infection. I told him that I wanted to wait for my OB to come. She came like an hour later (I was now 3cm) she told me the same thing and that we shouldn't wait longer for fear of infection and that my cervix was still to thick and if we wait more it could end in a possible cesarean. So I let them give me the Pitocin
this was around 12.30pm.
The contractions started getting stronger and were like 4 to 5 min apart. I was in pain all afternoon until 5pm when they started to come 2 min apart and were very strong. At this point it was really painful. The doctor came to check me (before she did she told that she didn't think i was more than 5cm)
I just said to my husband if I'm less than 6 i want the epidural, I cannot take the pain anymore, but the Dr. checked me and I was on 7cm. So I said OK I can do this, 3cm more to go, the doctor reminded me that there was nothing wrong if i decided to take the Epi but i told her that i was almost done and i think i can do it. The last hour was the most painful experience of my life, I was trying to concentrate on my respiration and just let the pain take over and try to not fight the contractions. My husband on one side and my mother- in- law on the other side helped a lot, I could not have done it without their support, they reminded me to breath and let me squeeze them when i was falling into the pain. At 6pm the OB came back and i was fully dilated and i couldn't resist the urge to push. My entire body was all shaking like if i had a convulsion ( the OB said that that was normal for the kind of pain that i was feeling) they prepared the room for delivery and in 4 very strong and painful pushes at 6:37 pm I gave birth to the most beautiful girl in world. 7 pounds 1 ounce.
They put her on my chest, my husband cut the umbilical cord and my mother in law was crying and taking pictures of the baby.
it was a very emotional, happy and indescribable moment. Then the Dr. congratulated me because I did it all natural and i didn't cry and didn't scream lol. My husband said that i was just focused.
Now my baby is 8 days old, healthy and happy and we feel so blessed to have her 0 -
parker alexander's birth story..better late then never :flowerforyou:
it was one week after my due date and we were scheduled to go into the hospital to be induced at 7:00 AM. i called the hospital at 6:00 AM as instructed and they said to come in for 8:30 AM as they had a busy night! so kory and i pecked around the house...gathered last minute things and headed out the door a little after 8:00 AM. the butterflies were definitely there on the way into the hospital and when we finally got there they were about the size of small birds! we got to the ‘special maternity elevator’ which was supposed to take us straight up to the 6th floor...and we ended up taking a little joy ride. the special elevator was definitely not working correctly and kory was not a happy camper about it. after going up and down for a bit we ended up getting off on the 5th floor and walked the last flight - thank goodness i wasn’t in real labor!!! once we got up to the maternity floor we were checked in and i gave them the names of my 3 support people - kory (obviously), my mom and my dad - then we were taken to the labor and delivery room with our first nurse, betsy.
once we were in the l&d room betsy went over the basics with kory and i and started to hook me up with my IV, pitocin and penicillin (needed this because i tested positive for strep b)...i was all hooked up and ready to start the process at 9:50 AM and was also checked at this point and was still 1 1/2 cm. kory called my parents to let them know it was a-ok to come up to the room. the next four hours were pretty un-eventful. i was not feeling anything. every hour the nurse would turn up the pitocin a little bit...but i was not progressing. at 1:50 PM the doctor came in and said that we should go ahead and break my water. once she did that i started to feel contractions after about 15 minutes...so that definitely got the ball rolling. within the next 3 hours...the contractions got stronger and stronger. by 5:00 PM i was very uncomfortable and wanted the doctor to check me just to know where i was in this journey. she checked me and i was only at 2cm dilated which was not what i wanted to hear because i was experiencing a whole lot of pain and was certain that i had dilated more than a 1/2 cm:sad: . the doctor said that i could take the epidural at any time - this was hard for me because i felt like i would be cheating if i took it this early. after another hour of contractions i decided to get the epidural...i was at the point where each contraction was making me cry and i was holding my breath through them which is not the right thing to do. with kory and my family there...they assured me that i was making the right decision for me and parker. so at 6:00 PM i was given the epidural.
after the epidural i felt a huge relief. over the next couple hours i could faintly feel the contractions...but nothing compared to what i was feeling before. at 8:45 PM the nurse came in to check me - i was at 5cm. then at 9:30 she came in again to empty my bladder and check me - i was at 6cm. after she emptied my bladder...it felt like i went from zero to sixty! i started to feel an immense amount of pressure and was told that the epidural would not take this away...that i was supposed to be feeling this. i told the nurse at 10:00 that i was feeling like i was holding something in...like i was ‘clenching’ and wanted to start pushing. she assured me that i was not where i needed to be - but i urged her to check me. she did and i was 9cm dilated. at this point she went to get the doctor. the next 15 minutes were very tough...i could not resist the urge to push...it was such an intense feeling - my mom, dad and kory were all by my side telling me how good i was doing through each contraction - i honestly do not know if i could have gotten through this without them. the doctor finally came in at 10:15 PM - i was 10cm - and this is when the pushing began. my parents left the room and kory got on my left side holding my leg back. the nurse was on my right and the doctor was in the room. the nurse (who was a spitting image of philis on the office) was giving me the best verbal directions on pushing. telling me to take a deep breath in through my nose...hold it...tuck my chin to my chest and push as hard as i could. i was getting three good pushes in every contraction and boy was that tough. between every contraction they were giving me oxygen and i was asking for water because my mouth was so dry! kory was so amazing during this time - telling me how wonderful i was doing and how proud he was of me. we were getting close and everyone was saying they could see his head...we were minutes away from seeing our little boy!!! after some very intense pushing and almost feeling like i was going to collapse after each contraction our little guy was born at 10:50 PM. kory cut the umbilical cord and parker was put on my chest...all three of us cried and it was the most wonderful moment of my life.0 -
Great story Jessica!!! Our stories have some similarities with the pitocin and not dilating. lol With that being said, here's my birth story....
Saturday, March 3rd, Eric and I had a VERY uneventful day. He worked in the garage all day and I laid on the couch all day doing absolutely nothing. We were even too lazy to make dinner and just ordered pizza. lol We went to bed around 10:30pm or so and I woke up at 12am to the feeling of a "pop". I sat up in shock and said, "um, I think my water may have just broken." I went to the bathroom and sure enough lots of light pink fluid. I sat there for a minute in disbelief and decided to call the hospital. They instructed us to come in. Eric had already started the car and gotten the bags before I could even get dressed. haha! We got to the hospital and I was admitted around 1:00am. I was only a fingertip dilated at that point. It was pretty hard to sleep because they kept checking my blood pressure every 30 minutes. I could feel mild contractions every now and then, but nothing intense and definitely not regular. Around 10am on Sunday the 4th I agreed to be started on pitocin because my contractions were still very weak and irregular. The nurse came in every so often to increase the amount of pitocin I was receiving. At one point she had to back it off a little because they were too close together. The pain was getting worse and worse, but I was so determined to do it without pain medicine. Well, around 3pm I couldn't take it anymore. The nurse said they could give me stadol (spelling?) to take the edge off and hopefully I could avoid the epidural. I took that and all it did was make me feel drunk. It didn't take the edge off at all. lol They didn't want me walking around since my water had broken. They said they were worried about a possible umbilical cord prolapse. An hour or two later they checked me because I was really wanting the epidural. I just knew I had to be a 4 or 5 at least. A 2, a freaking 2! I was in shock because it had already been so long, but yet no progress. I knew going into this that I may have trouble dilating due to the LEEP I had done in 2007. I have a lot of scar tissue on my cervix and they told me it could cause those problems. I decided on the epidural. Actually I begged for it. lol Getting the epidural was the best thing I could have done because it finally allowed me to relax. At that point I started dilating better. About an hour and a half after I got the epidural the doctor got there. I was feeling a LOT of pressure. I told them it felt like I might poo in the bed and I was having to hold it in. lol The doctor checked me and said I was ready to push!! Eric and I just looked at each other and couldn't believe the time had finally come. We were so excited. So around 7:10-7:15pm I started pushing when the doctor told me I was having a contraction. Eric was holding one leg while a nurse held the other. He was so wonderful the whole time. Soon after I started pushing I could feel her moving further down and I could tell when I needed to push. The doctor was great too. We were joking about Sean T and Insanity between pushes. Haha! She kept telling me to "Dig deeper!!" lol Right before she was born the doctor let me touch her head as it was crowning. That was amazing. Even more amazing? When she had her head and shoulders out the doctor let me pull her out the rest of the way and pull her to my chest. That was such an amazing and emotional moment I will never ever forget. Abigail Elizabeth Moss was born at 7:48pm on March 4th at 37 weeks and 2 days. I was able to breastfeed her shortly after birth and it has been going well ever since. I love my baby girl so much! I also have to mention again how great Eric was through the whole ordeal. I am truly blessed with an amazing husband.0 -
Well...I am excited to finally post on this board! Although my birth story is rather boring.
I had a planned c-section. April 4th we were expected at the hospital at 6AM. I set my alarm for 4:15...I wanted to be sure to get in a nice long shower and shave my legs, since I wouldn't be able to do that again for a while. After my shower, I woke my husband and he headed downstairs to use his bathroom while I was finishing in the upstairs bathroom. A few minutes later he comes running upstairs cussing...our basement was flooded from sewer water...our drains had backed up (something that happens every once and while due to tree roots invading the pipes). So...the shower I had taken was now all over our recently re-done basement...all the new area rugs were soaked! GREAT start to the morning. So, he ended up running to the gas station to use the bathroom while I finished getting everything together for the hospital. We had to leave the house wet like it was! So, on we went...
The rest was pretty normal...checked in at 6AM...they hooked my up to a monitor and watched the baby. Drew some blood, started an IV, met with the anesthesiologist and doctor...then I headed back to the surgery room. The gave me the spinal (which acted SO fast...numb from the armpits down) and then brought my husband in to join me.
We started the surgery at 8AM...and at 8:17 AM I heard my brand new baby DAUGHTER wailing for the first time...very healthy set of lungs! My husband cut the cord, they cleaned her up and brought her over to me. After I had my moment with her (the best moment) my husband went with her to the nursery while they delivered the placenta and stitched me all back up. I was taken to the recovery room when they were finished where my husband met me. And as soon as they were finished checking her all over, my sweet Reagan Jane was brought to me! 6 pounds 9 ounces and 19 inches of perfectness! I was completely in love!
About an hour later, my daughter Kadence arrived and was SO thrilled to meet her baby sister! It was a proud Mommy moment for me! It still gives me goosebumps...such a wonderful thing to experience! I could not be happier with my family of FOUR! 0 -
Checking in to see if any of the new birth stories are posted! Can't wait to hear about them!!!! 0
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yup there r some pending birth stories!0
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Okay, so I know I'm WAY late in posting this, but here goes anyways...
My lovely little man, Chase, was born on March 15th @ 12:19am. 7lbs6oz & 22" long.
I was a week overdue, so I went in to get induced. They started w/ cervidal (sp?) to soften my cervix. 2 hours later at 1130pm, my water broke on its own & they took the medicine out. Half an hour later, I was making my way back to the bathroom (I didn't realize just HOW much fluid there was!!!) the other nurse came in b/c she saw the baby's heartrate drop. Me & the original nurse thought it was just the monitor moving around b/c I was trying to get back up. They said to sit back for a minute just to check it out. Then I started gushing blood....
More nurses & the doctors all rushed in, got me on all 4s & gave me oxygen. I wanted to tell them to just cut me open already to get him out! (It seemed like it was taking hours, but my husband said it was all so fast). They wheeled me across the hall for an emergency c-section. My husband wasn't allowed in. I remember them counting equipment, asking me questions, scrubbing my belly & then I was out (from a gas mask). I woke up a little over an hour later in SO much pain....and then found out what had happened. When they got Chase out, he wasn't breathing & had to resuccitate (sp?) him for 4 minutes. He lost a lot of blood, so needed a blood transfussion (I was also given a couple bags of blood). He was brought to the NICU after that, given more blood & put on a cold therapy ---> they cool his body temp to 93.2 to slow everything down to prevent any injury to the brain & other organs. They did that for 3 days. He had several tests done while in the hospital (we were there for 12 days)....and all came back perfect! He did have some oxygen dips when he went into a deep sleep, so he was monitored for that & had to be off of oxygen for 2 days before coming home - along w/ passing all the other tests. The doctors are all amazed at his test results & how well he has been doing. It's like nothing even happened. He's now 16lbs & a good 26" long (he's in the 99th percentile for height!).
We learned that the umbilical cord didn't attach to the correct place in the placenta & when my water broke & contractions got harder, the cord tore....resulting in the loss of blood & what had all happened. Apparently it only happens in 1% of pregnancies. Go figure it had to be me! We thank God everyday that we were in the hospital when it happened (we live an hour away).....had we not been, neither of us would be here today.
And now I'm doing the best I can to stay active on this site, however, it's proving to be a bit more challenging
~Heather0 -
Congratulations Heather on your baby. It was all worth the trouble. And thank God that both of you are doing good.0
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Congrats Heather, u have gone through a lot but now u have most precious gift of God! just for you!0
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Wow! I was reading along thinking this sounds a lot like my delivery (water broke, heartrate dropped, get on all fours, emergency C) but sounds like you all went through some stuff! So happy to hear Chase and you are doing well. Congrats again!0
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I want to rejuvenate this post! Any recent birth stories? 0
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I joined this group four years ago! I never shared my birth story. I now have 3 birth stories for 3 wonderful little boys! I will try and keep them short :P
Boy number one- went overdue by a week and the doctor determined that the amniotic fluid level was much too low, so we opted for an induction 2 days later. Was already walking 3 cm for the past 7 weeks, but hadn't had a single contraction that I felt. Was hooked up to pitocin at 12pm on May 30, 2012 and it gave me regular but not painful contractions for about 7 hours. I progressed from 3 to 4 in that time, with no pain. They decided to break my water and 1 hour later, Levi was born. It only took my body 20 minutes to get from 4-10 cm dilated. He was 8 lbs 2 oz.
Boy number 2- went 13 days overdue, ultrasound determined that his head was really large and starting to oscify, so the doctor opted for induction. Had a bunch of "pre" labour for the past 4 weeks, and I was 3 cm dilated on the day of the induction. They just put cervical gel on to see if it would bring contractions, and I walked up and down 5 stories of stairs many times, hoping to not have to be hooked up to an IV again. Contractions got regular about an hour later. I had 3 hours of bearable contractions that took me to 6 cm. They broke my water and 40 minutes later Isaiah was born- 2 days before Christmas and waaaay overdue at 10 lbs 2 oz.
Boy number 3- Another induction a week overdue, and because my last baby was so huge we decided not to wait longer. I got the gel put on at 10 am at already 3 cm dilated from weeks prior. Had regular non painful contractions for the next 2 hours. Didn't progress because the contractions were miniscule (felt like period cramps). They broke my water and 20 minutes later he was born. My body went from 3-10 in 12 minutes and I only had to push with two contractions. James was born weighing in at 9 lbs 8 oz.
For some reason my babies are just to comfortable to start labour on their own. But inductions have been rather successful. God forbid that my water breaks anywhere but the hospital though! That would be an emergency.0 -
Wow! You have been a busy momma! Thank you for sharing!0
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These are wonderful, congrats everyone!
My son was born Jan 31, 2016. After a few days of false starts, contractions finally started coming on pretty strong that Sunday afternoon and being my second I knew this was it. We paged my midwife to meet us at the hospital in a few hours.
When I arrived I was about 5cm and contractions were about 5 min apart, 60 seconds long, they were strong but manageable. I was able to handle them by leaning on the bed, swaying my hips while my husband provided hard pressure to my back with his knuckles. Soon contractions became 3 min apart and were getting more intense. I decided to get into the tub to manage and try something different.
Shortly after I started to moan through the contractions, they were getting very heavy and I could feel myself going into transition. Midwife came in and told me to moan lower rather than high to help move the baby down. My water broke soon after as I was on hands and knees in the tub. I wished the tub was a little larger because I felt kind of crammed and my bump almost didn’t have enough room in that position and my hands were kind of going numb but maybe these were all good distractions to take me away from the intensity of the contractions. All of a sudden the contractions started to feel like I was falling off a cliff repeatedly and all my organs were dropping out of me. That’s when I knew I was really close because that is how I felt during my first labour before I had to push. Soon after there was some bleeding and I felt the urge to push. They got me out right away and she called another midwife for assistance.
They checked me and I was fully dilated and said with the next contraction I could start pushing. After about 10 minutes of pushing my baby came out.. for some reason this time I really felt the “ring of fire” but thankfully only had a minor tear. I quickly saw my baby and it was… a BOY!!? I actually couldn’t believe it since I was expecting another girl. Our gorgeous baby boy was born 7lbs 10oz. It was such a beautiful experience, a lot smoother this time around (compared to my daughter’s birth which was longer and more intense, but still wonderful of course). 0
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