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!
-Ashley

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!

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.

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.

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!

yup there r some pending birth stories!

Congratulations Heather on your baby. It was all worth the trouble. And thank God that both of you are doing good.

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!

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.

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).