Birth stories

OK, I admit it. I love hearing birth stories. No, not the gory details. But they're just exciting. And all these birthdays (just past and coming up) are making me think of all the stories that must be behind them. So come on and give a junkie her fix. Who was in labor for three weeks? Who gave birth in a remote village in Africa? Who almost died but was saved at the last minute by Harrison Ford? And who planned for no drugs and then ended up having her significant other try to score her some weed because the doctor told her it was too far into the delivery to change her mind? And those who don't have kids, just make something up... cause we all love a good story.

I'll go first. Four kids, so four stories. But only Zoe's was super exciting.

Zaven was induced. I walked into the hospital at 8 A.M. and he was born at 11:25 A.M. The doctor almost missed it, and literally ran into the room with his hand out to catch him. But he was fine. Skinny from being overdue, but fine.

Caly was a little faster, but only by a half hour. She wasn't induced, so we had to drive to the hospital, but we made it with an hour to spare. Labor was fine, although I did have to resist the urge to hit the nurse because she was one of those cheerleader types who was giddily shouting Push, Push. And I was thinking, What the hell do you think I'm doing? But Scott asked her to chill a little and she did so I forgave her. But Caly inhaled some mecconium and the cord had been around her neck so they shipped her to a Neonatal ICU in Lexington (an hour away) and gave her antibiotics. She was fine and came home 3 days later.

Zoe's is my best story. I woke up to pee at 1:30 am. Well, I'd been waking up to pee every morning at 2 am for weeks, so I thought I wonder what's up. I peed, sat up for a while just because I thought it was so strange that I'd woken up at the "wrong" time. Then 15 minutes later I had a contration. I waited some more, and 10 minutes after that I had another. So I woke up Scott and told him we'd better go to the hospital because even though I had only had two contractions, I was sure it was time. He got up and we got dressed and I had another contraction(#3) five minutes after the last. My mother in law had been staying with us because we knew how fast my labors were, so we woke her and the kids up to tell them we were on our way to the hospital and for them to get dressed and meet us there. Scott called the doctor and told them we were coming in while I kissed Zaven and Caly goodbye and had contraction #4 (2 minutes after #3). So off we go and now I'm just having one big long contraction and I can feel the baby moving down every time we hit a bump in the road. I'm trying to tell Scott to slow down, because I know the bumps are making the labor go faster... but I can't talk that well and he's sure we need to get there FAST! Then the road smooths out a little and I can talk again and he slows down some (but not much) and we're about half way there when we see the lights of the liquor store. They're closed, but it's the last business with a lit parking lot for 10 minutes... and Scott says, Do we try for the hospital? Or do we stop?... (long pause for effect here)... But things seem to have slown down so we went on to the hospital. We skipped check in and went straight to the birthing suite, I changed while Scott filled out papers, then I calmly told the nurses that my water just broke and I had a strong urge to bear down. They said don't because they were frantically trying to get their hands sterile, but it was too late... I'd just had a baby. The nurse delivered her. She'd given up on getting sterile just in time to stick her hand under Zoe's head as she came out... 10 minutes after arriving at the hospital. The doctor got there about 3 minutes too late. The cord had been around her neck, but the nurses handled it perfectly and Zoe was fine.

Quinn's story was suposed to be exciting. He was classified a high risk pregnancy because the placenta had attached on the uterine wall right on top of a fibroid. They were positive he's be premature. But he was right on time. And I had a normal labor that lasted about 8 hours and it felt like forever because I wasn't used to that at all. I had an epidural with him (strangly because my thighs reallly hurt) and so I slept through most of the labor. It was almost boring after Zoe's big drama. But he was healthy and all went well.

yikes! Zoe's story is even scarier than chells clothes...

Adam.. I was 19. Labor lasted 56 hours ... yep.. labor.. the whole time. My OB was elderly and wouldn't wake up when the nurses went to get her to check me. It turned out he was postierior
presentation. Finally was born .. in those days they put you out.. but by the time the Dr showed up and they got around to it....

Craig.. labored 24 hours.. New OB figured out she had the wrong chart. Finally got mine.. turned out he too was posterior presentation.. ( in other words.. stuck, more or less) .
Emergency C-section. . . as things were getting dicey

Amy- scheduled C-section due to persistent posterior presentation and previous C-section.

Cory..scheduled C-section. I had scheduled appt with Same OB as last two...about a week before planned birth. Three kids at home sick.. I came down with the flu. Very sick.. felt like I was in labor.. but was so sick, not sure. Dr sent me from office to hospital... for the flu. After I got there I told them I was in labor. All hades broke loose. Turned out we both nearly died due to torn uterus .. I saw the light and the whole thing.. ( Cory didn't mention remembering that) . Turns out we didn't die.. had my tubes not only tied.. removed.. as I had gotten pregnant 3x on the pill and once with an IUD.


This all happened long long ago.

Meg- Day after Thanksgiving- Went to Doctor who said there was no way this baby was coming anytime soon. Hubby dropped me off at home and went grocery shopping. 2 hours after Dr appointment, my water broke and I spent 30 minutes trying to find hubby in a city of 80,000 people. Went back to Dr who admitted that I was in fact in labor and then went to hospital. Attempted Interthecal Morphine- relief lasted 7 minutes. Was in labor a total of 7 hours. Pushed for 10 minutes.

Nikki- Got to the hospital at 8:45am, was 4cm dilated. She was born after 1 push at 9:30am. My doctor didn't make it to the hospital in time so she was delivered by an emergency room dr. 6 med students watched, then 1 turned to attending and asked if they all went that fast. I requested, and was refused, to go home 2 hours later.

Drew- Had to be induced 10 days late. Labor went fine until Epidural. I had a bad reaction to epidural and blood pressure dropped to 40/25. Amazing how many people can come running. 1 hr later the doctor checked and I was at 6cm dilated. "Oh it will be another couple of hours". She got her gloves off before I informed her that the baby was coming NOW. 1 push later... 9 lbs 11 oz.

ack!! Karen!!

LOL kath! yours are as bad as Karens..


OMG momto3! thats a big baby!!


Mine were normal.
Brett was due Dec 23, on Dec 15 my water broke at 3pm (that old wives tale is true). So we went to the hosp. I wasnt allowed up and had to lay there. I hated that. I never really hurt, and when my contractions started showing up as 'good ones' they said I should get the epi. I did. All I could think was "WOW! My feet dont hurt!" ( I had surgery in high school on both feet, and have resulting nerve damage, they fell like they are 'waking up' all the time) They did use that suction cup thing on him. He was 6.6 and I had 4 hours of labor, not hard labor, just labor. I was released and went to walmart for premie diapers.


With Matt the Dr said I wouldnt make it and told BR to be sure to stay near a phone at work, (he worked 30 minutes from me, then it was an hour to the hosp.) He told the doc that he was going to be 2 hours away in training the next week, so we scheduled to have him. I went in at 6am they broke my water and I laid around. Eventually I started to hurt a little, They said I should be hurting ALOT so when they came in and checked me, I was getting ready, they called the epidural person and while they were putting it in they told me NOT to move. I had a contraction, so I was just bearing down. (They told me NOT to move) I knew this contraction hurt worse than anything I had ever expierienced. But the epi worked anf I went to leep for 45 min. then they came in to check me. it was 10 am and he was crowned. They ffreaked. begged me not to push. my dr was in the next room. They didnt even get me in stirrups and the DR was running in, Matt was there. the cord was wrapped 3 times and he was in the birth canal for 45 minutes. they bagged him and he was fine. He weighed 5.8 .
We had to stay the night, the next day they wouldnt let us leave till he pee'd.. he NEVER would pee. then the Dr came at noon and asked why we were still there. They told her. She told them he had pee'd all over her when she did the circumcision and she had to go and change clothes. she released me. I again went to the store to buy some Dr pepper and other stuff.

With Rayley How I got her is more funny than how she got here. WHen I had BRett my best friend from HS came, she fell in love. Went home, told DH she wanted a baby and was pregnant that month.
10 months later her daughter was born. by then I was pregnant with matt (the boys are 15 months apart). Well she came over when the boys were 3 and 4 to help me decorate my Christmas tree. It was my birthday and that is what I always did on my birthday (nov 11th) The kids played in their room. Matt came out and said he wanted a little sister. I laughed and told him to ask Santa. He did. On Christmas morning I gave them a sonogram of their new baby. Come to find out Santa DOES listen to little kids. (ACK!!)

my water broke around midnighton the 16th of June. It was fathers day. SHe wasnt due for 5 weeks. we called my mother in law to come for the boys. THey came over and I stood around talking to my FIL about my fish tanks. MIL and DH were freaking out (I have short labors). We drove to the hosp. When we got there they started rushing around. Then did a sonogram. She was breach. They insisted on a C section. There were women EVERYWHERE (again, the old wives tale works....) THe Dr came in and I begged him not to do a C . They insisted. She was born with no problems an hour later. 4 pounds 13 ounces. I was pissed at the Dr. I told him I had turned Goats bigger than her. My sister in law (who works at that hospital) went and got her doll clothes. They made me stay for 3 days. Rayley would have been released already (the insurance company was throwing a fit). She came home in a cabbage patch kids dress. I was miserable. I hated the C section. She didnt even have a name till she was 3 days old. We hadnt decided on one yet. Finally BR decided on Rayley (his middle name is Ray and mine is Lee) Lorena (after the .... lady of the night... on Lonesome dove). My sister in law (not the nurse) came in and it was driving her nuts she was nameless, I was doped up and hadnt filled out the BC. So she did. And mispelled Rayley. I went out to eat the night after I got out of the Hospital.
She was my last.

Then last easter I was talking to DH on the phone. He asked me if I remembered what it felt like to be pregnant. I told him no, I really didnt. other than the indegestion. He said I should think about it. Come to find out I was 2 months pregnant. We really didnt think I could get pregnant again. I have really bad endimetriousis, and a tilted uterous.

They insisted he be a C section. And scheduled him 2 weeks early ( the Dr belived me when I said I planned on going into labor and NOT going to the hosp. ) I went in that morning, he was born 2 hours later. 7 pounds 7 oz. He didnt have a name till after he was born. I gave BR a peice of paper that had two names on it. I grabbed a old walmart reciept as I was getting out of the truck and scribbled them down with the nurses pen. Beau Landry and Bowdrie Marshall. Whe I was wheeled back into the room he was calling people and telling them his name. Again, the C section was MISERABLE. But I drove the nurses nuts cause I wouldnt stay in the bed.

William-I wasn't due for 3 more weeks, but I got up at 6 in the morning to pee, when I got back to the bed, I sat down, felt a pop and jumped up with the sound of a woosh (water hitting the kittie that was threading between my legs!). I stood there speechless for a minute, then turned to my hubby and said I think my water just broke! He told me "No it didn't, you just peed the floor, we'll clean it up later!" Me, being somewhat in shock, went to get back in bed, and I had another woosh! Hubby jumped out of bed and said "I think your water just broke!" I wasn't having any labor pains yet, but the doctor wanted me at the hospital. So, off we went. We stopped at Burger King for hubby's breakfast since we didn't know when he would next be able to eat! Soon after getting to the hospital, I was having strong contractions. I didn't want an epidural unless I had to, so I was waiting it out! 8 hours later, they checked because they thought I was in early labor since the contractions were erractic (but strong to me!) I was 5 centimeters (which surprised everyone!) Turned out he was upside down. I got demoral, and 1 hour later was fully dialated! YEAH! Pushed for over an hour, but it was all good!

Jason-We had been up until 1 in the morning putting the gifts under the Christmas Tree and putting together the horse on springs thing that we got William. We went to bed, and around 3:30 my water broke. We called the doctor's office, and we tried to open a few gifts for William, but the contractions were too strong. Off we went. I got to the hospital and was only 2 centimeters. I thought we had plenty of time. At this point it was around 6 am. I sat watching tv and around 7:15 I had 4 sharp contractions in a row. I decided it was shower time, but then I felt the urge to push! LOL! I started yelling because I had sent hubby off to get some demoril (I wasn't waiting this time!) My regular doctor was on vacation, and it was Christmas morning, so no interns or anything! LOL! The nurse and my hubby delivered him, the doctor came in just as I finished!

Logan-The morning I was to be induced, I went into labor at 4 in the morning. I called the doctors office and he told me to head in. We got in the car and headed off to the hospital (45 minutes away). Hubby said he knew we were in trouble when I stopped complaining about how fast he was driving. My parents met me at the hospital to take the other children, and my dad wanted to talk! LOL! Hubby was like "What are you doing??", so we said goodbye and headed in. When I got to the maternity ward, I told the nurse very calmly I was in transition. She patted me on the hand and sent me to get changed (I was walking and talking, I couldn't be in transition, right?) So, about 15 minutes later she strolls in to check me and she exclaims "You're about to have the baby!" I told her I knew that! LOL! I didn't want to lift my legs when I was pushing because I had found a position that didn't hurt, so the nurses got on either side of me and pulled my legs back when I pushed. The baby literally shot into the doctor's hands! ROFL! The worst part was that they gave me potosin to keep the contractions going since the labor was so fast and they didn't want me to go into shock, problem was, they didn't tell me until I asked why I was still having such strong contractions! UGH!

Ceilidh (pronounced Kaylee) - She was due March 7/04. I finished packing my hospital bag on March 6/04 (yeah, I procrastinated, LOL). I was watching Law and Order SVU (on March 6th), when I needed to pee. Well turned out my water broke. I wasn't having contractions at all (well not that I could feel). I went upstairs and told DH that my water broke. I got dressed and off we went. When I got to the hospital, they hooked me up to the monitors, and I was having contractions but they weren't doing anything. The nurse left the room shortly after that, and showed DH where he could sleep. Well shortly after that, I started to feel the contractions. No one came back in to check on me, and no one told me what button to press incase I needed someone. When the nurse finally came back in at 6ish that morning I told her I was having contractions all night and got no sleep (they were coming pretty fast). When she checked me I was at 4cms. She asked if I wanted an epidural, and I said yes. They called the anesthologist (sp??) and by the time when he showed up at the hospital shortly after that, he asked them to check me again just to make sure it was still fine. I was at 7cms just 1 hour (if that, the times are fuzzy, LOL) later, so he said NOPE! Shortly after that Ceilidh was born. When the baby was born, the doctor announced you had a baby. No sh!t sherlock, but is it a girl or boy (they won't tell you here before hand) LOL. Anyway, her labor was 9 hours start to finish and she was born right on her due date at 8lbs 8oz

Zachary was due June 9/06. DH said he didn't care when the baby would be born, except for June 6 (06/06/06). Anyway, around 3ish on June 6, I woke up having contractions. DH came downstairs and asked what I was doing awake. Anyway, I decided I wasn't going to get any sleep, so I came upstairs to use the computer. Around 5ish I decided to get in the shower to see if that would help. The only thing that did was speed things up. LOL. I woke DH up and told him we better go. He packed Ceilidh's bag since she would be staying with my inlaws (yeah, there's that procrastinating thing again, LOL). We dropped Ceilidh off at my inlaws around 7ish, then headed for the hospital. The nurse there remembered me from when Ceilidh was born, and she knew that once my contractions started I went fast, so she cheched me right away an I was already at 7cms, so no epidural for me again! There was a resident OB there, so she was able to prescribe drugs, altho not good ones since I still felt EVERYTHING. The nurses were trying to get an IV in and I forget how many times they tried before they could get it. They were actually feeling really bad for me since the contractions were coming right on top of each other so I had to deal with that and the pain of them sticking me constantly to get the IV in. They checked me again, and I was at 10cms, but my water didn't break yet. They said they didn't want to break my water until my doctor got there (the resident didn't deliver any babies on her own yet) because they knew the baby would come as soon as they did. They said they would have no choice if I felt the urge to push. A few minutes later, I felt the urge, so the resident broke my water once she got ready. My doctor walked in the room shortly after. He just stood back while the resident did the work. When Zach's head was out they noticed the cord wrapped around his neck twice and the resident froze. My doctor pushed her out of the way (I didn't notice this, my DH told me afterwards). The nurse kept telling me to push and getting mad at me when I said I couldn't (I wasn't having any contractions). They wouldn't tell me what the problem was, but kept making me push. Everything turned out fine. He was 9lbs 6oz. Oh yeah, there were 6 boys born at my hospital on 06/06/06 and Zach was number 5.

I told my doctor that if there was a third baby, I wanted the epidural at 7 months, or I was going the hospital at the first twinge. LOL I was not going through that a third time with no drugs. LOL.

I had a few random contractions in the afternoon on Superbowl Sunday 2006; they were strong, but not exactly painful, so I didn’t think much of them at the time. I ducked into the bathroom and felt around to see if my cervix felt any different than it did the day before, and I could feel a tiny bit of dilation, so I thought maybe Norah would be arriving by the end of that week at the latest.

We had made plans to go to my mom’s house to hang out with family and watch the Superbowl (which I actually did watch, despite my intense hatred of football). My stepdad picked us up at my apartment and we swung by Shop-Rite to get cheese for mom's blue cheese dressing. A customer from work swore by seafood to get labor going, so we also got one of those frozen shrimp rings – you know, to humor her, and because I was desperate to get the baby OUT.

During halftime, I had four contractions that were about ten minutes apart. As soon as I was sure, I announced it to everyone. From that point on, I had contractions for the duration of the evening, the time between them varied greatly, so I wasn’t too sure if I was actually in labor. Sean got online and sent emails to his family letting them know that we were most likely going to have a baby the next day. We took Mom’s car and headed back to the apartment, where my contractions promptly got much worse and I paged the OB resident at the hospital. She told me that they typically don’t admit until 4cm dilation, and that I should rest and drink some hot tea and call back in a few hours.

So Sean made me some hot tea and kept a log of how frequent my contractions were, and how long each one lasted, and they got worse and worse, so I paged the OB resident again. While I was waiting for someone to call back, I was struck simultaneously by a severe contraction AND the need to poop. So while I was writhing in severe pain on the toilet, the OB resident picks that moment to call back, so I just had her talk to Sean, since he was documenting my contractions and knew more about the frequency than I did. I had minor bleeding when I wiped, so I knew I was really going to have a baby very soon.

The OB resident told me to come on in and they’d decide once they saw me whether or not I’d be admitted, so we really just jumped in the car without any expectations. I really didn’t want them to send us back home, so I was hoping that I was dilated enough or effaced enough or anything enough.

We got to L&D okay, and they got me hooked up to the monitors and checked me internally, where they announced that I was only dilated to the width “of a Cheerio” but I was 90% effaced. They were also pretty surprised at how intense my contractions were showing up on the monitor. They did an ultrasound, and claimed I had lower fluid than they liked, so they went ahead and admitted me, and finally I got my epidural. The resident came in and broke my water, and mentioned that she could feel a lot of hair on the baby’s head, and that I was 4cm dilated. We called my mom and let her know what was going on, then the nurses let us get some sleep.

After a few hours, we both felt a lot better, and I think my mom showed up at around 10:30 maybe. Irv and Phyllis (his mom) showed up with Gabe (my youngest brother), and my epidural ran out!!! So they re-upped me, and the whole afternoon was pretty uneventful, just a matter of waiting to be dilated enough.

Right before 3pm, the “delivery team” pretty much announced that it was time to have a baby (there were like three or four nurses/residents presiding over the delivery). One of the nurses gave me instructions on how to push and all that stuff, and pretty soon, it was on. I rested between contractions/pushes, and it seemed to happen quickly enough. Once her head crowned, I was able to reach down and feel her scalp, and they kept her there for a few minutes to make me able to adjust a little more. When her entire head was out, she was making these really strange muffled noises, like a kitten. They suctioned her mouth and nose (I think they did both), and I basically just pushed the rest of her out.

The really bizarre moment for me was when they placed her on my belly while Sean cut the cord. I got to play with her little fingers and talk to her. She screamed bloody murder while they had her at the warming table and were stamping her feet – she didn’t like that very much.

Finally, I got to hold her. It was a pretty easy delivery for me. I don't know if we can post pictures, but I have a pretty safe pic from when she was lying on my belly and Sean was cutting her cord.

OK, here goes

Kristin ( this was almost 20 years ago so bear with me) I was 18, and graduated from High School 8 months pregnant, DH and I walked together to get our diploma's , alphabetical order and all that crap.
Anyway, she was due June 27th, I went to the Dr on July 11th, STILL pg. He mentioned our dates being off, and I said " NO way, I KNOW when it happened". They did an ultrasound, and decided she was ready, so he scheduled me for an induction on the 14th.
We went in at 6 am on the 14th, the Dr broke my water at 9 am, and started Pitocin, he told Dh it would be 24-36 hours, so not to get in a hurry. at 10 am the nurses came in anc checked..nothing, no dilation, nothing, they checked at 10:30 and 11. By 12 the Dr had pretty much decided the induction would not work and he was going to do a c/sec. They stopped the Pit, and told us we could walk around, or whatever the c/sec would be at 2Pm.
At 1:25 I told DH something "wasn't right", he called the nurse and she started freaking out and telling me NOT to push, I was at 10. I wasn't pushing, it was just happening. At 1:30 the nurse told someone to call the Dr, and she turned around to grab something and DD was there on the bed when she turned around, she weighed 8lbs 3 oz, and was severely Post mature. She never cried, just looked around at everyone like she was saying "I am here". We went home the next morning, and stopped at a local Mexican restaurant on the way home.


Bayley, 9 years later, I was 27, the exciting one.

Bnut was due on July 17th, My dates were accurate, and everything was fine. I went to the same Dr who knew I dialited fast the last time, and had gone WAY over due. He wanted me in the hospital before it happened. I went to the Dr on the 16th, and he said he would induce me on the following Monday.
That night my back was killing me, so dh and I ate a bunch of ice cream and watched a movie. I woke up at 5 am, told Dh "I am peeing and I can't stop". He said WTF? I kinda calmly said " I think my water broke, we should call the Dr". He got up, got dressed and I said "never mind, the hell with the Dr, I am having this kid here" DH said OH HELL NO YOU ARE NOT!" and picked me up and put me in the truck. We got to the hospital and I was not even dilated, they said it was likely "false labor", but since my water had broken they were gonna call the Dr. They put the monitor on,but NO contractions showed up at all, but my back was killing me, like someone was squeezing it in a vice. the nurses kept coming in, poking and prodding, and trying to shove an IV in my arm...which I kept taking right back out. About 9 am or so the Dr finally shows up and says" we are going to start pitocin, I said OK, get this kid out.
so 10AM, no contractions, 11 am, no contractions no dilating. Dr says "we are gonna have to do a c scetion". I said NO, you are not! He then told me some crap about her being turned wrong, and labor not being effective. As he was walking out of the room we heard this loud POP, I felt it, but Dh , and he Dr both heard it. The nurse came in a minute later anc checked me, told me I was dilated to 10 and the baby was coming right now. Bnut was born at 11:32 am, 8 lbs. We went home that evening, about 7 and stopped and Burger King on the way this time.

I had my tubes tied 6 weeks later, No more kids...........or so I thought.

What great stories!

Jennifer: I was 19 and my due date was March 6th. My dh worked graveyard and March 5th I was laying in bed doing crossword puzzles when labor started. The contractions were pretty spaced out so I didn't call him until they got much closer together which was around 5 am March 6th. The hospital was about 30 mins away but we got there in plenty of time.
When I walked in the nurse started asking questions and one of the first was "when is your due date?" I told her it was that day. She looked at me like I was the dumbest person in the world and said "Oh honey, just because it's your due date doesn't mean you will be having the baby today".... ummm really? LOL.... finally got her to believe I WAS in labor and get admitted.

Dustin: Super easy! This was back in the days of actual labor rooms and delivery rooms.. there was one other lady in the labor room with me and she was trying to deliver vaginally after having 2-3 c-sections. Just before they took her to the delivery room she was in SO much pain and moaning and groaning. The nurse checked me and said "I bet you will be delivering in the next 15 mins or so".. I told her she must be nuts because I wasn't even at "that" stage yet (meaning the lady next to me in terrible pain). I really never hit a huge amount of pain and didn't make it to the delivery room but 15 mins later, there he was.

Kirstin: Again, easy. She was one of those that didn't have a name for three days. Im not a decisive person and my dh was in Germany in the military when she was born so I got to name her all on my own. I loved Kirstin and also loved general hospital and Luke and Laura. In the hospital I was watching some other soap opera and they had a paige. I thought that was a cool name too so had a ton of napkins with names on them.. Kirstin Laura Paige, Kirstin Paige, Laura Paige Kirstin, etc. I finally settle on Kirstin Laura.

Katie: She was a fun one. I had the other three kids naturally and had a friend who had a surprise baby and said with that one she decided to go with the epidural and enjoy it. Good idea.. So that was the plan. My water broke around midnight and we went to the hospital but the contractions weren't getting much stronger. Around 3-4 am the nurse came in and woke me up to say they needed to wake up the baby.. she put some kind of zapper on my stomach and zapped my baby! WTH? I did NOT like that at all! Then they decided to give me pitocin. I don't like it either I have found.. It worked but the contractions were very intense. Finally get to the point that I can have the epidural and they go to find the anesthesiologist. In the meantime my ex mil is there (more like my second mom) and takes Kirstin (who REALLY wanted to be there for the birth) down to get her something to eat. The nurse tells me that after the epidural I won't be able to walk around so if I need the bathroom or anything do it now.

Okay, go to the bathroom and come back out and just as I get next to the bed I feel the urge to push. I could barely talk so kept telling dh that I needed to push, he has never been through anything other than a c-section so he says "I don't understand what you mean". Tell him: "I mean if you don't get a doctor you are delivering the baby"... "oh"... so the nurse comes back and doesn't really believe me. Checks me and agrees.. oh yea..

THEN the anesthesiologist pops in and says "oh I guess you don't need me afterall"... Thanks bud!

Kirstin gets back RIGHT after Katie was born.. she was pretty disappointed that she missed it all.. they were gone less than 10 mins and NOTHING was happening when they walked out the door.

Our fist baby was born while my hubby was in the Air Force in Florida. It was the time when you rang the bell of the maternity ward, hubby kissed you goodbye and didn't see each other again until the baby was born. I think I went in one morning about 9:00 and she wasn't born until 10:30 the next day. Hearing all the scary stories in the service, I knew better than to make a peep. Didn't matter anyway, first thing they did was give me sleeping pill- I guess their theory was if you were asleep you wouldn't bother them. Anyway, I started telling them I thought the baby was coming and coming fast. No way- was their retort every time. The said I couldn't have the baby yet cause there was no Dr nearby. I think I said, tell the baby that then. They tried various things to slow down the labor which didn't do a lot, but cause problems

Finally a medic came and said he wasn't supposed to check us- I said someone better. So the panic in my voice must have convinced him- as he did so- he caught the baby being born. Need I say through all this I had absolutely no pain medication of any type. Guess what that taught me- next time I wanted everything and anything I could get for the delivery

We didn't discover until months later when she rolled off the bed and onto the floor- she had suffered a skull fracture when they tried to hold her back during my labor. That wasn't the only problem she had though. Because of such a restrictive diet during my pregnancy , her bones were too soft- she had to wear braces for a long time on her legs. She had almost no white blood cells, so had to have gamma globulin shots for a year or more. Also as soon as her teeth came in they were decayed. The diet they had me on when I was pregnant was 600 calories- that is starvation. That did all the additional problems.

So when I got pregnant the second time, I had a private Dr. He said I may want to try and not gain weight and I said- I went through that once, will not do it again. I ate sensibly and she was born without any problems.

Make a long story short- we were blessed with two beautiful daughters, 8 years apart.

Well, I only have one child, so one story from me. But it is interesting...

July 31, 2004, I woke up like it was no differant. Tim (my hunney) got a call from a friend. This friend had to get his car repaired, and would he like to go with? I told him go on, I just planned on making sure that the babies room was ready and catch up on a few things. My due date was August 5, 2004, and I had just stopped working July 22nd, due to numerous Braxton Hicks and false labors.

Tim was gone most of the afternoon as I watched the Cubs game for what trades were happening, and cleaning up. I felt a little weird, so I called my cousin, who just had a baby July 8th of that year, her first too. I asked her what made her decide to go to the hospital when she had her daughter. She explained some of the pains and feelings that she had felt and I came to the conclusion that maybe I should go in too. My Mom had just left to go to Monticello, Indiana Beach for the weekend, and her cell phone was unreachable at the time. I usually get her opinion on a lot of things, and I wanted to ask her if she felt I should go in, or bother the DR yet again this week.

Since Tim and his friend were still gone, and it would be a little more time before they would return, I decided to call my SIL, who had a baby June 30th of that year as well (I had a lot of support during my pregnancy, and what I find funny is that I was the last one to have her baby, but the first one to announce it to the family). She agreed that maybe it wouldn't hurt to go to the hospital just in case. Worst case scenario? I got sent home. She asked if I wanted to have my brother come get me and leave a note for Tim. I told her that I would hang on and wait for him.

Around 3pm, Tim walks in. Happy about some of the trades that he overheard on the radio (we are both Chicago Cubs fans, he had worked at Wrigleyfield for about 3 1/2 years as a beer vendor) and started to make himself a tuna sandwich. He sits at the table and asks how I am doing and what did I do with my day? I proceeded to tell him about what I cleaned and how I packed a bag for the hospital. (*Mind you, I am, the whole time, talking in a calm voice, normal, like NOTHING is going on--Tim still can't believe that to this day)

Finally, as he starts in on his second sandwich, I tell him, "I think we should go to the hospital." Maybe I should have waited for him to be done eating... maybe I should have let him swallow first. He nearly chokes as he panics and jumps from the table. I told him to sit down and finish eating. That if I was going in, who knows how long this will take and when he will eat again? Besides, I already had the bag packed, and this will give me time to make the proper calls to tell people that I am at least heading there.

We get there around 4:30pm and wait to go in. They finally bring me to the ward and put me in a small room with only a table and a chair (and luckily a tv) and attatched me to all these monitors and beeping things. I guess to register labor. Half hour later, no contractions. So the nurse brings in an ultrasound machine, just to make sure. Then I could get ready to go home. As she is rubbing the thing on my tummy, she asks me if I knew that my water broke. What? My water was broken, so I would be staying. Did I take a shower or bath that day? I took a bath because I wanted to relax. Must of happened then.

Tim and I were in shock. So I missed out on the whole "water breaking" experiance.... Not sure if I am happy or disappointed... But I digress... They decide to give out me in a birthing suite and induce my labor. I get up to the room and they inject a medicine into me (I for the life of me can never remember the name of it). Before that kicks in, Tim is on the phone with his mother, updating her. Could she come down? I checked with the nurse on amount of people I could have and that was fine. She didn't want to step on my mother's toes, but my Mom was over 2 hours away and I was still waiting to hear back from her.

His Mom came down and we all chatted for a bit. She and I about what I was missing at work (we worked at the same place for a bit) and I was getting advice on what I was gonna go through. My Mom called, she would not be able to turn back around, but call her anytime and let her know what was going on. She would be calling back in a few hours to see how I was doing (I think she ended up calling every hour on the hour. I am her only daughter and am the closest to her, so I think she was a little sad she wasn't going to be there.). Other family members started to call. But by this time, I was feeling the pain. WOW

I laughed when I got most of my piercings, as I was getting them. I laugh when I cut myself... But this pain... It was tremendous!! I was not far enough along to get the epidural yet. I knew I was going to get one from the start. A little over an hour after the meds kicked in, there was a weird beeping and the nurses rushed in. They adjusted me and told me not to move from that position. What is going on? They wanted to see if maybe the cord was around the baby's neck because the beeping was his heartbeat. I got scared.

I heard the beeping once more, and this time they gave me an oxygen mask to wear to make sure that he was getting enough oxygen. My cousin calls again a bit later to see how I am doing. Between the pain and the worry, I could barely talk to her. I took the mask away to tell her that I would have Tim call later to update everyone, when I heard the dreaded beeps. I threw the phone at Tim to tell my cousin the message and put the mask back on.

The nurses came back in and fixed me again. Tim took a moment to go out and grab some coffee. His mom and I just sat back and she told me stories of when she had her 5 kids. While Tim was gone, the beeps started again and the nurses came back in. There were more than before. I just hear the word c-section and I went into hysterics. It wasn't even aimed at me, but I got scared. I did not want to lose my baby! Someone save my baby!! I started to shake really bad, while Tim's mom is trying to comfort me, to wait for the DR. Tim walks in, takes one look at me and is scared to death.

His Mom explained what happened and for him to just wait with me for the DR. 2 minutes later my DR walks in. He is so cheerful (I love him and would love to have him deliver my other babies. He delivered the babies to the family members I mentioned-we all stuck through it together!) and explains to me what the problem was.

That they were taking me off the labor meds, that the meds were causing my son's heart rate to fall. I then had 2 options. I can have the baby the natural way and take a chance on losing him, or get a c-section and to get him out now. In the meantime, he was having the epidural scheduled for me to get. I chose c-section. Who knew how long I was going to be, and what if I lost my baby after all this? I want my baby out and I want him out now, and alive.

We removed my piercings that I hadn't taken out (labret, tongue and ears) and prepared ourselves. They allowed Tim to go into the surgery room with me, so he had to get scrubbed up.

They brought me in around 1:00 am and by 1:11 am, they were starting the surgery. I don't know if it's because of my laid back personality, or all the drugs, but I laid there and talked sports with all the staff. We talked about who got traded, who we felt should have gotten traded and any games we were hoping to make. By 1:23 am, I hear... "It's a BOY!" and look up at the top of the curtain (seperating Tim and I from the whole procedure) to see my son. Tim cries, I cry, the baby cries. While they are doing what they need to fix me back up, I stop hearing the baby cry.

I panic... and tell Tim to check on the baby. He stood up and then we both heard crying again. He made the mistake of looking to see what the DR's were doing to me. He to this day will not tell me what he saw. I just know that he sat down fast and looked like he was going to faint.

A few minutes later they bring my son to me and show him to me, all clean and wrapped up. I kiss his nose and touch his chin. He has the family chin....

I send Tim to go with him and be near him while I am waiting to go to recovery...

The rest of the story is the basic, go to room, hold the baby, have visitors, go home. I was up for over 24 hours during all this. When I woke up July 31, I did not return back to sleep until late August 1.

Timothy Patrick born August 1, 2004 @ 1:23 am

5 lbs, 12 oz and 19.5 inches long



^^That is Tim all scrubbed up before we went in^^



^^First picture EVER of my son^^



^^First time holding his son.... if you look close enough you may see the tears^^



^^He got mad being away from Mommy for the first time..lol^^

I have enjoyed this so much! But Idatater, your story of your first daughter brought tears to my eyes. Is she OK now? Did she have permanent damage? Those were dark times when Doctors first started taking over the pregnancy and delivery, but didn't know what they were doing and made things worse instead of better. Thank God those horror stories are becoming more and more rare.

And Missy, I didn't even think of putting pictures in! I loved seeing him, especially with his dad.

I added my delivery room pic too. It makes me wanna go snuggle her.

I love reading these! They're as addictive as belly pics!

Rachel, Nobody should look that good after giving birth.

Missy, he looks so alert in that pic! very sweet

Even with my first 2, when I had no pain I looked like a train wreck.

the second two I looked like... well, a shit on train wreck.

and with Bow, I swole up like a toad frog. I was alergic to soemthing, and literly swole up so bad that when I came home 3 days later I couldnt recognize myself. They kept telling me at the hosp. that I was swole up. and I itched real bad, but honestly, my eyes were almost swole shut for a week.

OH and with Bow, I got a bad epidural. I could feel it, he didnt go in the numb place. I was in so much pain I bent my own fingers backwards. the nurse finaly realized and made him stop. but when I got home BR saw my 'little prick' and said I looked like I had been shot wiwth a shotgun. it was a fist sized bruise and a knot.

I never got an epi, or any drugs, I do not recommend drug free labors.

Rachel, you and your daughter are beautiful! I will have to hunt up some pictures to add to mine.

edbson wrote:I never got an epi, or any drugs, I do not recommend drug free labors.

Me either edbson, and I was doped on all mine. But I knew it going in. my dr asked about midway through. I told him that Yes I wanted drugs. and GOOD ones.

He laughed, and BR told him 'yes, give her drugs. preferably ones that will last the next 18-20 years.'


But I always recommend drugs. it makes it sooo much more enjoyable. LOL

Out of four kids, I had one natural, two with demerol, and one with an epidural. The epidural did make it much more comfortable, but I think I kind of liked the demerol the best, because I could still feel what was going on. The epidural almost made it feel like someone else was having a baby. I couldn't tell when he was crowning, and I couldn't push as effectively. But I think it varies quite a lot and we should all do what works best for our situation. And I know the size and positioning of the baby makes a huge difference. All of mine were big (8 lbs, 12 oz. or so) except for Zoe. She was only 6 lbs, 8 oz. I told Scott that if all babies were that easy, I could deliver three before lunch every day. But Zaven and Caly had me hobbled for weeks. Big babies and fast deliveries make for very sore mommies.

Rachel


No one should look that good moments after giving birth..
sheesh!


And ye gods Ida! terrible! glad all is fine with both girls now...

As I read all the stories, a majority of them make me mad at the DRs and nurses!

You would think that we know what is happening to our own bodies, right?

I haven't heard a story yet where we insisted that we were in labor, the DR says no your not, and sure enough we are not.

I knew I was pregnant at 2 weeks. Not sure why, I just had a feeling. I also had a friend that joked about it one day, about a week before I took the test.

I waited until I was "late" just to make sure. To not friek Tim out. I remember I called him up from work, and told him I had to stop at the Walgreens on the way home. He didn't think anything of it until after dinner I brought him into the other room and told him what I thought.

3 tests later, and I finally found one that confirmed a yes. Next day, made an appointment with the DR to make sure. My immediate family knew right away. We waited until after the holidays to tell the rest of my family and his family. We wanted to wait until we heard from the DR on what he had to say, how far along I was, etc...

I know that myself, I pretty much know when something is off. I imagine most of every person here does as well. I would expect that the DRs and nurses listen to us more. We have lived in our bodies and know what is going on, when something changes, when something is off.

If I ever have a DR or nurse tell me that I am not ready, but I am... well, they will be looking to transfer away from me during the duration of my stay.

In all fairness. (y'all dont laugh too much).

I was abotu 2 weeks away from my C section and was here at the house alone. (BR works nights). I had a hell of a head cold and was playin on the puter. well I sneezed, and my water broke. I am talking SOAKED the couch.

I wasnt sure that is what really happened, it was 1 am. I called my SIL to come and get the kids, called BR at work, then decided i would wait a little while. Nothing else came out. So I called it all off. I spent the next few hours putting down towells and soaking up the mess.

BR came in at 5:30. And told me we needed to go in anyway. we drove the entire hour away, for them to tell me that no, my water hadnt broken. THat even thought I THOUGHT I had an empty bladder(cause I had JUST sat back down from going) , due to it being not where its supposed to be, and being kinda crooked, it holds quite a bit.


I was so pissed because I missed a PTA meeting that morning.

But the moral of my story is:

Can you imagine the idiots they put up with on a daily basis?? LOL

Granted, many of us had quick labors, and since thats not supposed to be the norm, they dont belive it.

Ok, let's see...
With Devon I was a week before my due date. I woke up around 1 AM to roll over and realized the bed was wet (luckily I had a plastic cover on the mattress. At that point I wasn't sure whether my water had broken or if the baby had been sitting on my bladder while I slept. I inspected a little more and decided it had to have been my water. I grabbed a shower thinking that hubby would wake up when he realized I was puttering around, but he didn't. I woke him up when I got out of the shower. He asked if I was having contractions. I said I had had a few, but nothing regular. He thought he was going to get more sleep. I told him I was going to the hospital -- you're supposed to go into labour after your water breaks and if you don't they start it for you! He decided to come to the hospital with me after all.
I had a few contractions on the way there, but nothing too earth shattering. They sent us to pace the halls for a while, but as I suspected nothing happened so they started pitocin. For several hours I was stuck at 3 cm. The nurses told me I should think about getting an epi because it looked like they were going to have to do a C-section. They checked me again, still 3 cm. 20 minutes later I was pushing. No drugs -- but it didn't really hurt that much anyway.
Then the problems started. I had delivered Devon's head, but his shoulders got stuck. My heart rate started dropping and so did his. 3 doctors, 4 nurses, and a more stitches than I could count later they got him out 5 hours after starting pitocin. He was 7 lbs, 12 oz so not really big. Devon was fine, but I was a mess for weeks. Between internal infections and that many stitches I did not have a good recovery at all.
With Sam it was all much different. We hadn't planned on having another one right away, but these things happen. With my endo it's probably just as well he came along when he did, but I had wanted to give my body more time to heal than it ended up having. I was a month away from my due date. I felt fine and had to leave for work in 10 minutes. I was sitting on the couch, leaned forward to get something off the table and felt my water break. I had hubby call work and tell them I wouldn't be making it in and my mom came to stay with Devon.
Again I didn't have any contractions. They started an IV with antibiotics to help Sam's lungs since he was going to be a preemie (plus I figured they wouldn't hurt me after the last time either!). Then they started the pitocin again. Again there was no change, but at one point I looked at the nurse and said that she had better check me. Sure enough I had gone from 3 to 10 in less than half an hour again. When it came time to deliver the nurse pointed out my scars to the doctor and told her not to let that reopen. Sam was born 4 hours after they started pitocin again without drugs and this time without stitches. I felt so much better after he was born than I did the first time. I was probably lucky he was early though (and he was definately early!) because he was already 7 lbs 2 oz!

Zaven's shoulders got stuck, too! But his were only for a few pushes. Three or four tops. I remember thinking that he'd have to come out eventually... and then visualizing walking around with a head between my legs for the next 18 years.

I have to tell this story because Missy's comment about how we know our own bodies reminded me of it, and it's such a good story. (And has a happy ending, so don't worry.)

Scott's best friend growing up is named Ward, and his wife is Jane. When Jane was pregnant with their first child, Ward worked nights as a security guard. And one evening a month and a half before the baby was due, Jane told him that she didn't want to be alone that night. He asked if she felt OK and she said yes, but she didn't want to be alone so could she come to work with him. He agreed and when they got there, she napped on a cot while he watched the security monitors. A few hours later, she sat up, said, "I don't feel good" and passed out. Blood started streaming down her legs. He grabbed her, put her in the car, drove to the hospital faster than the speedometer would register. He parked on the grass in front of the emergency entrance and as he carried her in, a doctor who lived across the street ran over (he was in his PJ's and robe). Ward laid her on an empty gurney and the doctor ran into one of the ER rooms that had a patient in it, grabbed a used and bloody scalpel, ran back to Jane, cut her open in the hallway and took out the baby. The baby was not moving or breathing, was blue and limp. The doctor passed her off to another doctor who ran down the hall with her. More doctors did CPR on Jane as they wheeled her down the hall at a dead run. Then the first doctor turned back to Ward and said "Don't worry. Everything's going to be fine." And he turned out to be right. They were both revived and had no lasting damage. They later found out that the uterine artery had ruptured (cause unknown) and if she'd been alone mother and child would have bled to death within fifteen minutes. That baby (Gwen) got married last month.