Mamas who’ve given birth before!?

Question

Was your first experience with child birth better than you expected or worse? Feel free to explain! I’m 37&3 and I’m excited but really nervous. Kind of hoping for the best but expecting the worst, I don’t know. 😫

Answer

My first came early and I feel like I wasn’t ready at all (2 weeks early but still) I feel like the things that worried me so much like epidural and a catheter ended up being so easy, like I have no idea why I was even scared. Only thing that took me by surprise was I dilated to 9cm then just stopped and then out of nowhere Everything bad was happening, I had a fever, bp was high, baby’s heart rate was dropping, etc etc, it was like bad news after bad news so I had to have a c section. I FaceTimed my friend right before because she just had her first baby via c section a week before and she said girl it’s super easy, it’s the healing part that sucks but the c section is so easy like don’t worry, everything will be fine and she was right! I think i’m more nervous this time around and IVE BEEN THROUGH THIS BEFORE lol. I’m living through everyone’s birth stories just to be prepared! Good luck to you!! It’s gonna be great!!! Don’t worry!

Answer

Way better than I thought  it  would  be 
I wasn't scared but people felt the need to keep telling me horrorstories about the pain and the birth so I was preparing for the absolute  worse
So when I on 19th November 2018 got contractions  I thought it wasnt the real thing because they didn't hurt the way I thought they would 
I was 39 weeks and 4 days pregnant and woke up in the morning around 8 feeling a bit sick i had some diarrhea  and  thought oh  no i hope I dont get the stomach  flu
But luckily  the sick feeling went after a while 
My husband worked from home  that day and I was cleaning the house i had a strong period pain feeling but was still hoovering the stairs and everything 
Then my husband said I think you are in labour  I said of course not  ita just practice  contractions  these aren't bad enough
But he wanted to  call the midwife just to be sure so we did at 2 in the afternoon  she came to our house and said you are 3 cm dilated but because it was  my first she said this could still  take a long time
At 4 my contractions got stronger really painful  but still not half as bad as I was told so we called the midwife again and she came to the house around 5
I was then 5 cm dilated 
At 8 my baby girl was born in our bedroom 2 pushes in a time frame of 15 minutes 
Did it hurt? of course it hurt was it an unbearable  pain? no it was not!
Not all births are horror stories  the only thing that is sure is that you can't plan anything just see what happens and go with the flow
You'll  be absolutely  fine  you can do this!

Answer

My first was better than expected, but also some things I didn’t expect like vomiting during labor which I also did this time but twice. Overall the contractions are very painful, if you get a good epidural then they should be fine and pushing isn’t as hard as I thought! The pushing was the easiest part last time and this time!

Answer

My first was better than expected. I started having contractions the day before my water broke. But once my water broke at 38+6 wks I had him 5 hours later with only 3 minutes worth of pushing. I did get an epidural at 9cm. I jumped from a 3 to a 9 within an hour. I'm hoping this one is about the same.

Answer

first pregnancy I was young, I didn’t know what I got myself into. That I remember it was painful and I recall telling the doctor to just cut me open instead. as soon as she was out there was no more pain at all. now that I’m older I realize it was my state of mind that made it painful because second time around was a lot more difficult and I handled so much better 😌 of course you’re nervous, youre literally meeting your little baby that’s been cooking for 9 months ❤️ wishing you an amazing experience ❣️

Answer

Better.... and also worse
Initial contractions: better than expected.  They weren’t bad at all.  Actually didn’t even think I was in labor until looking back.  
After water broke: worse than expected.  oh my gosh so much worse.  Couldn’t stop vomiting from the pain.  They gave me meds to stop the vomiting and it didn’t work.
After epidural:  better than expected.  No adverse reactions.  Didn’t hurt at all putting it in.  Just pain relief. Went from a 4 to a 10 super quick.  Got some sleep.  
Pushing stage:  worse than expected.  Baby OP, didn’t turn.  Chin tilted up.  3-1/2 hours of pushing and then vacuum assist.  I think if I would have had a better idea of what to expect with a vacuum assist then it wouldn’t have been as bad.  
Recovery: worse than expected.  I didn’t know anything about hemorrhoids, so I didn’t know I had them for a few weeks afterwards.  If I would have known I could have managed them better.
But it couldn’t have been that bad... my first is 18 months and here I am 37 weeks getting ready to do it all again 🤦🏻‍♀️

Answer

Honestly it was worse than I expected but my baby was posterior and nearly 9 lb which made it way worse. All I can say is the epidural is amazing which I wish I had gotten without suffering for 18 hours first. :-) There were some mild surprises too like I didn’t expect to throw up, or have my water break while sleeping and soak my whole mattress haha, but those were just small things. You’ll do fine. Just keep your mind open for pain management and it will help with the worry. :-)

Answer

Wayyyy better than I was expecting! I was petrified but it went really well! No problems, didn’t tear! It was wonderful!

Answer

Worse because I ended up with the one thing I didn’t want - a csection. I went past my due date and baby stopped moving. Went in to L&D and they said her heart rate kept dropping. Of course this panicked me cuz I feared for her safety. They recommended csection and i agreed. Luckily she was totally fine, cord had just been wrapped around her legs restricting movement and some of the blood flow. She was perfectly healthy. Csection went fine and my recovery wasn’t even that bad. But honestly I’m still so angry I ended up with a major surgery.
I’m due with #2 next month and planning for vbac. I’m hoping that’s successful and I get the labor experience I always wanted.

Answer

I prepared myself mentally to have an unmedicated, vaginal birth. Luckily, my plan worked out perfectly and went as expected. I wasn’t scared of labor, pain, or delivery..

Mamas who’ve given birth before!?

Let's Glow!

The Top Baby Tracker App: Embrace New Beginnings with Tender Care

The Top Fertility Tracker App: Your Path to Achieving Pregnancy

The Top Pregnancy App: Nurturing Your Journey to Motherhood

The Top Period Tracker for Empowering Your Menstrual Health Journey