Just like to hear birth stories, how long were you in labor, did you have natural birth?

Question

I think i was a lucky one. My pregnancy was HORRIBLE but delivery was awesome. Went in to get induced at 6 cms (36 weeks) and within 3 hrs after induction (an hr and a half of pushing) my 8lb14oz son was born! (did have a 4th degree laceration though :( ) Trying for the second now, think it will be as easy? THANKS GIRLS!

Answer 1

For me, I have two girls. Both pregnancies were good. No morning sickness or anything at all. With my first daughter, I didn't know what to expect. I was having contractions the whole night but didn't know it at the time. I thought I had to go to the bathroom, but there was no pain. The next morning at 9:30 my water broke and I got to the hospital and by 12:30 my daughter was born, 6lbs. 11oz. It all went so fast, it felt like it all happened in 10 minutes. I didn't even have time for an epidural but they did give me IVs. I can still remember the pain from the contractions. I was screaming at my husband that I never wanted to do that again!! Almost 4 years later, we're pregnant with our 2nd girl. This one came out even faster than the 1st. I was 6cm dilated when I got to the hospital and the nurse put me in an exam room. She checked me and then left me there to wait for my doctor who just happened to be in the hospital that day doing scheduled c-sections. He finally came in and checked me and then started screaming out the door for the nurse to get me into a delivery room right away cuz I was 7 cms. He told me he was on his way to another surgery and that I'd probably have another doctor delivering my baby. So the nurse walked me to a delivery room and got me settled into the bed and then she left to go get all my paperwork cuz I was not even a patient yet. In only a few minutes I'm screaming at my husband that I felt the baby's head coming out. He thought I was joking...so he looked and I'm so lucky he didn't pass out cuz there's the baby's head. He starts to run out the door to chase down the nurse when he bumps right into my doctor walking past on his way to surgery. He screams down the hall for the nurse and comes in just in time to catch my baby. It was so funny cuz the nurse is cleaning up my baby and my doc is getting me cleaned up and then people start coming in. The nurse for the IV came in and called me Speedy Gonzales. Then the epidural guy came in too. There was no pain at all and it was actually kinda fun for me...It all happen in about 3 hours. The bad thing was that everyone missed the birth... my in-laws were there but in the cafeteria with my other daughter and my mom was on the way but 15 minutes late. I wished I had gotten everyone's expression on film. Everyone's jaws were almost hitting the floor when they walked into my room...I think I'll do it just one more time next year...can't wait.

Answer 2

I went into labor 5 days after my due date. I went to the hospital after 4 hours of contractions, and my blood pressure was high so they hooked me up to all the monitors and made me stay in bed. Big surprise, once I stopped moving around, my labor stalled. So Pitocin at 12 am, epidural at 2 am to try to get some sleep (yeah right), I had my waters broken around 4 am, and then they started talking c-section because I was still not progressing. I finally went from 6-10 cm in about 45 minutes around 7-8 am. I started pushing at about 9, after they let her move down some more on her own first. I pushed for 2 hours, had a 2nd degree episiotomy, and about 30 seconds later at 11:17 am my 8 lb 13 oz not-so-little girl was here!

The labor was nothing though - a few hours later the pediatrician took her for her exam. After 2 hours I started to get hysterical and demanded to know why my baby wasn't back yet. The ped finally came back and said that there was something wrong with her blood, and they had to transfer her to a better hospital an hour away. They discharged me only 7 HOURS after delivery, an ambulance with a NICU team came, and they took her away. It was almost 1 am by the time we got to the other hospital and got to see her. (I was awake from about 7 am Friday to 1 am Sunday morning at that point.) She had to stay in the NICU for 3 days, but no blood transfusions thank God! She only came home a day late, and I have never been so happy to be home in my life. The NICU is the scariest, saddest, most all-around awful place I've ever been in my life. She hasn't had any medical trouble since, though, and I'm already thinking about when to have number 2! Hubby's not so sure about that yet, though...

Answer 3

Early pregnancy was horrible for me...Morning sickness lasted 24 hrs/7 days a week and had to get hospitalized twice for dehydration. Also in the beginning of my second trimester I had surgery to remove a cyst that grew a cm in 3 months. So taking all that into prespective, my labor was nice. I guess I was lucky with my first one.

I was a week over due and my labor lasted from 10 pm to 7:30 am. I really didn't think I was in labor since I didn't really feel any real pain in the beginning. Also when I called the L and D nurse for advice she told me that I probably wasn't and just to take a hot shower for like 20 mins. I did and still felt "weird". Called again and they told me to come in and get checked out. I called my parents (who live 6 hours away) and told them I think I was in labor and that the nurse thought I would take another 10 hrs to deliver, this was about 3:40 am. When I was getting ready to go to the hospital, my water broke at 3:50 am and then left for the hospital. Got to the hospital about 4 in the morning and was already dilated 6 1/2 cm at 4:30. About 2 and 1/2 hrs later I was ready to push. (Yes I was screaming for pain meds and only got 1 1/2 dose of a pain medicine to help take the edge off the pain). After 30 mins of pushing, I gave birth to my son at 7lbs, 3.9 oz and 20 ins long. I had a little cut that required one stitch. So my parents didn't make it until I was moved unto the post-partum room. Oh yeah to make things even more interesting, the hospital I delivered at was fully booked in the L and D ward and I started pushing during the shift change. (All the L and D rooms were full and the post-partum rooms were full...I guess a lot of babies were born that day.)

I think the second time around will be easier, but I'm not an expert. I only have one and sticking to one for a couple more years.

Answer 4

My pregnancy went well... I had ALL DAY sickness the first few months, and really swollen feet the last couple, but other than that it was great. I Started small contractions late on a Weds night, they were very far apart. I stayed in close contact with my doctor. My water broke at 9am on Friday morning (my contrations were still 6 mins apart or I would've already been to the hospital.) When I got to the hosptial I was 8.5 - 9 cm dialated!! No time for an epidural! (or so they thought). Around 1pm I was at 9.5 cm... where I stayed ALL DAY... The nurse had me try pushing on and off, once the babies heart rate dropped very low, so we had to stop for a while. I got an epidural and pitocin around 9pm because my contractions were awful and I was so tired of breathing through them, I had HORRIBLE back labor and was stuck at 9.5cm. Unfortunately I'm not a complainer or screamer... so they didnt believe my contractions were very strong, until they hooked me up to some machine to check the strength - thats when the epidural came in! haha. I finally hit 10cm around 10pm... pushed about 30 mins (after pushing on and off ALL DAY!!!!) and the doctor told me part of the cervix "un-dialated" and I was back at 9.5cm... how does that even happen?? lol. And it was finally time for a c-section. In a way I was relieved... over 12 hours at 9+ cm was no fun. Emily was delivered at 12:09am on a saturday, 8lbs 9oz and 20 inches long. Yup... it was a LOOOONG DAY! Especially since when I walked in at 9:30am... they said I would be pushing by 11am! haha!

Answer 5

I wanted so bad to have a natural birth but my baby was breech so I had to have a c-section at 39 weeks. The procedure only took about 10 or 15 minutes from start to finish, I think, but I can't be sure because I was so drugged up. The c-section scar hurt like hell for over two weeks and ruined my muscle tone but I started excercising at 6 weeks post partumn and it's looking much better. My baby girl was born on May 9th 2007 very healthy, except she had a little jaundice and had hip dysplacia, which is common in breech babies. My husband stayed with me in the hospitol the whole time and we came home on Mother's day.

Answer 6

Let's see...I woke up around 2 am on a Sunday morning to go to the bathroom and my water broke. I felt fine, no contractions or anything. So, we went to the hospital, and I wasn't dilating so they gave me pitocin. Still wan't dilating. More pitocin. Still wasn't working. So late that night, they gave me Cervadil (sp?). That started to work. But, in the middle of all of this, I started having contractions, but they wouldn't give me an epidural, so I got Stadol. That did nothing. So, when I was about to hit the 24 hour mark, they gave me a lot of antibotics so that I the baby nor I would contract any infections from my water being broken for so long without having had the baby yet. There was talk of a c-section, but since baby wan't in any stress (just being stubborn, lol) they decided to wait it out. Oh fun. Well, I finally got an epidural after all of the antibiotics and them got some sleep. When I awoke a few hours later, it was Monday morning and I still wasn't progressing very well. So, I got another dose of Cervadil. Finally about 11:30, I was ready to push (oh, after having been ''topped off'' with more epidural meds). After about 3 hours of pushing, the doctors decided to use the vacuum to help me out. At 3:30 pm on November 20, my son was born. So, that puts me at about 37 1/2 hours. I had three tears, two of which required stitches. But of course, I forgot all about the pain when I saw my little boy. He was 8 lbs., 3 oz. and 21 1/2 inches long. :)

He is now almost 9 months old and is learning to terrorize his father and I with his new crawling skills, lol.

Answer 7

This was my third baby. Early pregnancy was awful, with all-day sickness, which I'd never had before. But the rest went well. Went into labor on my own (another first) and had my second VBAC with only one very tiny tear. I was shocked though, because all along I thought for sure I was having a boy and she's a girl!!! Now I have one boy (oldest) and two girls. My youngest is now 14 months and I just got my cycle back so I'm ready for #4!!!

Answer 8

I was in the hospital at 30 weeks with preeclampsia and by 32 weeks the protein levels were far too high so they induced. I was in active labor for 25 hours before they decided to go ahead and go in for a c-section. I was VERY upset, but I trusted my doctor. My son was born at 11:16 weighing 4 pounds and was in the NICU for nearly a month.

HOWEVER, I did start to walk within 5 hours after my c-section and was about to walk around the ward about 12 hours after my c-section.

Now we're due to have another baby in a few weeks and it's going to be a c-section. We're just praying that there's no preeclampsia and that this one turns out a LITTLE larger. :-)

Answer 9

I had a great pregnancy. I went into labor 3 days post date, was in labor for 9 hours, pushed 2 hours, and ended up with a c-section because my pelvis was just too small and she was facing the wrong way. C-section incision ended up with a painful hematoma under it that ruptured (blood everywhere!!!), but I 8 weeks post partum and would do it all again in a heartbeat! I love being preggo and being a mom :)

Answer 10

I was induced, and the only thing that got my cervix to dialate was an epidural, and thank God for it. I had had hard contractions for about three hours and had only dialated two cm's over about a 12 hour period. Then the epidural made my muscles relax and within 3 hours I was pushing..pushed for 7 minutes and out came my girl.

The way I see it, and this might be TMI, she came out of (a hole in) my body, so it was about as natural as it gets.

Now trying to decide if we want another one or not...