How was your birth experience?

[anna1986]

my daughters birth was very traumatic

waters went @ 35 weeks - checked @ hospital not in labour but had 2 stay in - 30 mins laters ended up being rushed in for emergency c-section n knocked out due to a prolapsed cord - Sophie was delivered within 2 mins of them putting me to sleep and i didnt get to see her as she was in SCBU until she was 5/6 hrs old

 

[Thegirl]

Booked in for a home birth. Midwife popped in to have a quick check how I was after three hours of labour, baby was in trouble, transferred to hospital, crash c-section, they got my little man out with just five minutes to spare according to the cord tests. They don't know what went wrong.
I was asleep so I think it was more traumatic for my other half.

 

[pinklizzy]

Mine was just odd! I was admitted due to contractions (breech baby and c-section scheduled for next day) Spent most of my labour in the ward bathroom as I didn't want to wake the other ladies. MW's ignored me as I wasn't making 'enough fuss' until my waters broke, by which time I was 10cm and pushing!

 

[Starmoon]

So bad that I would NEVER do it again. I was in for 6 days being induced, my epidural failed an had to be resited when I was about 8cm and in agony. My placenta would not come out and I had to have it torn out by hand in theatre (I was not fully asleep) and lost 2.5 pints of blood which they decided after saying they would, not to replace. So for a few weeks postpartum I had zero energy at the time I really needed it. It was horrendous and a wonder that I didn't get PND.

 

[Lover]

Best day of my life, amazing experience and I can't wait to do it all again. My waters broke at 7am, I gave birth at 10.30pm after 45 mins of 'established' labour

 

[xSophieBx]

Traumatic... Well the actual labour bit was easy going once I'd had the epidural, but the pushing bit was horrific(forceps and episiotmy, narrowly missing a emergency section). Would do it all over again for her any day thou x

 

[supertabby]

Awful.. and I didn't even have a single contraction.

I was hoping for a water birth, I had a straightforward pregnancy with no complications. I was a week overdue and had just had a check up where everything was fine.. when I got pain in my ribs. I rang the hospital who told me to go in, pre-eclampsia was diagnosed and induction started (the gel insertion was really painful as Isobel's head was in wrong position and I wasn't dilated at all).

I had two hormone gels and no contractions when my blood tests showed I had a rare complication of pre-eclampsia called hellp syndrome. It can cause liver rupture, convulsions, stroke and death and often involves a blood transfusion - fortunately I didn't know most of this until after! I had to have an emergency c-section under general. To treat the condition I needed a massive dose of drugs before going into theatre, the doctor said it would make me feel hot and flushed - biggest understatement of my life! It was like I was injected with fire... I could feel it move through my veins from the drip in my hand and it was like my blood was boiling! It was horrendous and made me throw up. Afterwards I had to have more of it for 3 days but in a slow steady drip so was much easier, however you can't have much liquid intake with it so I was only allowed an ounce of water per hour for 3 days - and it was so hot.

On the plus side though... my beautiful baby was unaffected by it all. She scored 9 on the first apgar and 10 after that. My liver was ok again 8 weeks later. I'm scared about having another though as if it happened earlier in the pregnancy Isobel would've been premature, and I am at risk of it happening again.

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Contractions were bloody painful but I learned to manage them quite early on, I was in control the whole time, no interventions, and it was a very rewarding experience.

 

[Lydiarose]

traumatising and horrendous in hostpital for a week with pre eclamsia,in labour for 18 hours after 3attempts of induction the last pessary worked contractions came on vry very thick and fast and knocked m sideways i spent 5 hours in a bath wanting to drown with pain when they finally gave me the epi it was PARADICE the relief was overwhelming i worked for around 8 hours i had so many drugsand hormones oscars heart then stopped but luckily thank od picked up again.

My placenta wouldnt come out so had to have it taken out by hand ;sick: but at his point i wasnt botherd as i had my beautiful little boy!

Until i realised i couldnt wee because it was likeburning acd going into a wound whre a grazed for 3 weeks.


Plus the fact dan kept moaning about his foot hurting

 

[BabyBoo36]

Mine wasn't great, but not as traumatic as some. Went into be induced on the sunday. Due to no staff, I had to wait 36 hours between the 2nd and 3rd pessaries, so didn't dilate and eventually, my OH demanded to see my ob as nothing was happening. It took the staff 4 days to believe me that a) my resting heart rate is always slightly high, and b) they were taking my BP with the wrong sized cuff which was giving a high reading. During this period they made me have ECG's at 2am and all sorts. I also had staff tell me I was on my 2nd pessary when I was on my 3rd! I eventually ended up with a section (which was fine) but after, the paediatric registrar was a jumped up little a***e. Freya had some special needs, and wasn't BF'ing (due to a tongue tie they missed!) and she told me I couldn't go to the children's hospital with her as I wasn't breastfeeding. I'm not traumatised specifically, but I am meeting the hospital birth "Afterthoughts" service to discuss what happened. x

 

[GeorgeyGal]

It was completely unexpected, nothing went to plan, I had planned a home birth but LO was 17 days late, ended up getting induced which was manageable even though the contractions were all in my back I didnt know at the time but LO was back to back, after 10 hours of not being able to lie down because the contractions were back to back and intense, (I had my TENS turned up full and didnt even feel it was on!) I got an epidural as was exhausted and it was fantastic!!! 10 hours later fully dilated bubs not dropping so went in for c section which was great, I loved it, didnt feel any pain at all, epidural was just topped up, would have no worries having a c section in the future!

Next time Ill throw away the birth plan, not go overdue so much, gas and air is fab, and go from there! x

The worse part by far was the stress of going overdue and being monitored, not sleeping for 2 weeks before the birth as unbeknown to me I was in slow labour, and the 4 day recovery in hospital was hell, I didnt sleep at all, was hot and noisy and half the nurses were moody. I was sore, struggled to breast feed, didnt feel I got much help at all, my notes were not accurate at all!

First 2 months I thought never again, now I cant wait to start trying for no 2!

 

[LockandKey]

Just thought it would be interesting....

I found my birth absolutely traumatizing! It was the best and worst day of my life!

you're not alone there, mine was horrid and ended with a nightmare, only good thing was that DD was alive and healthy. I wanted an all natural labor and birth, so when labor started at 3 am, water broke at 5 am, I was ready. Everything was going well until I reached 5cm, then I had contractions on top of each other, it was horribly painful and my progression stopped because my body wasn't able to rest. I had to get an epidural, but I was able to avoid the pictocin that my doc threatened me with.

Right as DD's head was engaged, I pushed but she wouldn't come out, her heart rate was dropping, and before I knew it, a million people were in the birthing room. I was given an episiotomy without being asked and they first tried to get her out with vaccuum, when that didn't work they had to use forceps. They got her head out but her shoulders got stuck, her collar bone was broken in order to get her out. Basically she was much too big for my body, I'm 5'2 and 118 pre preg, and she was 8lbs 6oz and 23 inches long. Well I couldn't hold her after she was born as I was being sewn back up by a student, and then I wasn't able to bf her till 3 hrs after she was born. Her collar bone is now healed, but she needs to go through physical therapy. If I do have another, I may opt for a either an early induction or an elective c section to avoid going through the same experience a 2nd time

 

[poplet]

not great, waters went 3 days prior but no contractions until just before I got induced, but they stopped so I was induced, with terrible contractions at just 4cm - epidural done wrong and turned into dural tap, episiotomy and 2nd degree tear. Fair amount of blood loss, kept in for 4 days then home but had to return for blood patch as had terrible migraines due to dural tap. Still, the more weeks pass by the more I come round to the idea of going through it all again lol! I ythink had I managed to avoid induction I might have been ok, as I was managing contractions well until the midwife ramped up the dosage all at once - then I fell apart

 

[Armymummy]

Traumatizing, scary, fast and has scarred me for life!!

xx

 

[SazzleR]

Tbh mine was great. Quick for a first labour - 7 hours from waters breaking which was first sign to him being placed on my chest. And nowhere near as painful as I dreaded. Had G&A between 8cm & 10cm (was already 8cm when examined otherwise would pron have had it a little earlier!) but they tool it off me for pushing. Pushing was the worst bit. Went on for an hour & half. He was just not getting past the u-bend bit!!! Turns out it was cos he was big (9lb 1oz) and tried to turn too early so his shoulder tore me internally. But once they started talking about episiotomy & forceps, I pushed with all my strength & got him out quick sharp!

 

[jackiea85]

First time: horrific! Painful, begged for epidural but was too late, ended up with ventouse after pushing for 2 hours and getting nowhere, had an episiotomy that was sore for months, a post-partum haemorrhage and a blood transfusion.
Second time: Amazing! Went in to be induced, told them I was having an epidural as soon as labour started! In the end, did it on gas and air and it was over within an hour. Had a second degree tear but compared to the pain of my episiotomy it was nothing!x

 

[Cupkake.Luver]

It was awful because of what happened to me and LO. However it was the most beautiful day of my life because it was the day he was born.

 

[Louppey]

I had an elective c-section, and it was relaxed and absolutely amazing. Best day of my life, and i'd relive it everyday if I could

My story is in my siggy

 

[lynnikins]

first was 56 hours , very much an exausting experience that "failed me" ( how i felt ) because after all that he was still stuck and i needed episiotomy and ventouse to get him out,

second, induced and under 8 hours, aside from the induction which was pretty simple just one lot of gel then it was a beautiful experience and i loved it even with the spd making it difficult to get around

could have done without the stiches both times though my body doesnt accept local anesthetic so i felt it all when they were stitching me up both times oWWWWW!

 

[poppy]

My first labour was quite complicated: 27 hours active labour with an epidural and needed forceps, leading to a near third degree tear. The placenta also stuck which had to be manually removed in theatre afterwards.

Second labour was amazing: done only on gas and air (the last hour), five hours in total and only two in the hospital - 14 minutes pushing and placenta came out on its own. Breathing techniques really helped and the pushing was no where near as painful as I thought it would be!