Can I please hear about your labor experience ?

Question

I’m pregnant with my first child. The only part I’m afraid of is labor. Please tell me your labor story. 
I’ve watched videos of birth and have heard some labor stories from my friends. But I’m curious. 
Thank you everyone!

Answer

Mine was unusual easy. I went to the hospital for a headache (I had high blood pressure). I was 37 weeks so they checked my cervix just to see if I was dilated at all. I was 7cm and his head was coming out. I had him 15 minutes later. No issues with labor or birth but he did have to go to the NICU for a blood sugar issue but that's unrelated to this post.

Answer

There is a birth stories group

Answer

I worked the day before my labor since I was scheduled for an induction. The entire shift I had back pains I didn’t know was my contractions. Contracted all night without knowing, and showed up to the hospital in the a.m 4.5 cm dilated and already in labor 🤷🏼‍♀️. I got there at 6 a.m, they decided not to start the pitocin they had for me since I was already progressing. Around 4 I hit 7 cm and my water broke. It progresses quicker from there and my baby was born at 5:19 after a few pushes. 
Somehow I had such an easy labor which I’m thankful for, and they scheduled me to deliver the exact day he was going to come anyways. 
Now, the only scary part was he came with his cord wrapped 3xs and wasn’t breathing at all. To be thankful we were in the hospital is an understatement, because I never felt like I was in labor until my water broke. A lot of people before hand had told me once your water breaks you’ll have a few hours, enough time to take a shower, be sure you have everything, etc. I did not. I only had 1.5 hours so I would have had him on the side of the road, and we probably would have lost him. As soon as my obgyn saw his neck they had a whole team come in ready to resuscitate. She had to cut the cord from around him and hand him off. Thankfully it was only about a minute before they had him breathing, but it felt like the longest wait of my life. 
He’s 6 now, and we’re expecting baby #2 a week after his 7th birthday. I’m hoping this one goes as easily, without complications 🤞

Answer

My first labour my water broke at 1am with no other symptoms. Contractions started at 10 am I had really bad back labour which was hard. I managed the pain by being in the shower and moving  around, in the end I went in the bed and it made the pain worse lying down. Only pushed for 12min
Second labour woke up with slight twinges and losing my mucus plug wasn’t painful so went on with my day. At 7pm started to feel the contractions went to the hospital at 11pm and baby was born at 2am, again I found the shower to help a ton with the pain. Only pushed for 5 min
I

Answer

Look up a podcast called the birth hour! It's so great and informative! It's also nice because you can put it on while cleaning, commuting, etc. Instead of having to read all of the stories.
I cannot recommend it enough

Answer

Following

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water broke and an hour later she was here. i was induced at 8 pm and had her at 11:47 am. no complications and only two minor tears internally

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I had a scheduled c section because he was breech. It went wonderfully 🥰 I loved my birth experience.

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Mine were both pretty easy. I was induced both times and labor lasted about five or six hours. I pushed for about ten minutes with my first and I pushed three times with my second. 😏 
My advice is to have a loose plan of how you’d like yours to go and also be open to that changing depending on what happened during labor

Answer

For me, labor was probably the easiest part. My pregnancy was pretty easy, but it was exhausting. Labor was pretty easy. I went into labor naturally, and pretty unexpectedly. I didn't have contractions until labor full-on started. I basically felt fine all day, and then when contractions started they lasted about 40 seconds to a minute and were 5 minutes apart right from the start. I had my baby about 7.5 hours after that first contraction. No pain relief, just a birthing tub, breathing exercises, and a supportive husband and team of midwives. Honestly, it was pretty smooth. Transition was the hardest part. I just wanted to sleep, and my contractions were right on top of each other, giving me basically no breaks whatsoever. Pushing wasn't bad either, even though his head wasn't quite positioned properly. I probably would have only pushed for a half hour or so if his chin would have been tucked, but since it wasn't I pushed I think for around 1.5-2 hours, and had some nasty tearing. Which also could have been caused by how fast he came out once we realized he needed his chin tucked. Basically, his head was almost halfway out, but I was having a really hard time pushing him further. Once my midwife realized his chin wasn't tucked, she adjusted it and his entire head and body basically flew out almost instantly with my next push 😂
And once all that was over, my whole body just relaxed. It was the most amazing feeling. 
The hardest part of having a baby for me was actually the recovery. It took the entire 6 week recovery time for me to really start feeling like I could go about my day even remotely normal. Due to the tearing, I was uncomfortable sitting or walking for the entire 6 weeks. I also lost a good bit of blood due to hemorrhage, which I think made my recovery harder as well. I was more tired, as if the lack of sleep schedule from a newborn wasn't bad enough. And then breastfeeding was even more painful than I could have imagined, probably for a good two weeks pp. It all kind of added up and I actually spent the first couple of weeks wondering why people have kids, and why they say it's so great, when obviously it wasn't 😂
I think after 8 weeks is when I really started to feel like myself, both physically and emotionally. Now I can honestly say it was all more than worth it, and I love my son more than I ever could have imagined. I'm expecting my second boy next month, and I couldn't be more excited to meet him.

Can I please hear about your labor experience ?

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