Ok, here's a place for us to post our birth stories

I'll go through all the ones that have already been posted and copy & paste them here, but I wanted to go ahead and get this up and running

Originaly posted by Kimberlytm:

Here's my birth story from my perspective:
At 3pm on January 17th I went to an appointment with my midwife, Jean, to try some herbs and the breast pump to try and get things going since I was already 8 days over due. I had an appointment to go in and have a Ultrasound in the morning with a doctor. Well during my 2 hour appointment we did make some progress, Simon was lower than he had ever been. Well Jean felt good about breaking my water so we decided to come back in the morning so that she could do so. Well my mom arrived at my house around 6 that evening to be there for the next day to take care of Addy. So around 8:30 I decided to take a relaxing bath. I got in and was getting relaxed when my water broke. So I got out and got cleaned up and called the midwife on call. I was told to wait and time surges when they started. So I went out into the living room to get started on counting and then I had another very big gush of water! So I cleaned up again and called the midwife to update her. She said to call when my surges were less than 5 minutes apart. So I sat down and started timing and though Eric should do the timing. My Surges were 2 to 3 minutes apart! We called my midwife and she said to meet her at the birthing center in 30 minutes at 10:30pm.
We got to the birthing center in record time. I immediately got into the warm bath and labored in there until it was time to push Simon out. I believe a combo of the relaxing warm water, music, and hypnobirthing helped me to relax enough to let my body do what it needed to do quickly. Around 12:30 I was ready to give birth and Jean needed me to get to the bed just incase she needed room to maneuver the baby out. I didn’t think I could do it but I did. We got to the bed and Simon was born at 12:55am on January 18th 2005. We stayed at the birthing center until just after 7am and were home at 8.

Originally posted by Nikel1979:

My little girl was over 2 weeks late, but once she decided to get here, she was in a big hurry!
On Friday morning I woke up to contractions. They kept spacing out and getting closer together. It really drove me crazy. After my husband got home from work, we went for a walk to see if we could get things moving a little. When we got back, contractions were about 5 mins apart. I took a bath, and they didn't go away. My MIL went ahead and picked up my son to stay the night with her. This was around 5 PM.
By 7, i felt ready to head to the birth center.I called my midwife and doula to meet us there. We got there right around 8 PM. She checked me, and I was only 2 cm, 90 % effaced, and my cervix was still far back. Since it was late evening, we decided to stay. Linda, my midwife, called the nurse and told her to expect a call later in the night.
At that point I was feeling really nauseous, so I just laid on the bed on my side for a while. The contractions were starting to get really intense, so Linda went ahead and filled the birth tub. I started throwing up then. Linda could tell that it was getting really hard for me, so she asked me if I wanted her to check me and give some progress. I had another contraction before I could even answer her.
At that point, she said she was going to check me. In the middle of that contraction, I felt intense pressure. Then I could feel something coming out! At this point I was stll completely dressed, so everyone was trying to get my pants off. My bag of water was bulging out of me. Linda called the nurses back and told them we were having a baby. She went ahead and broke the bag of water, which was a huge relief. It really helped with the pressure. The contractions were so long and hard, and the baby was soming out even without me pushing. The heartrate was getting pretty low though, so she wanted me push as hard as I could. About 5 contractions later, the head was out. Her cord was wrapped really tight around her neck 3 times though. Linda said she'd never seen a tighter cord. She had to go ahead and clamp the cord and cut it to untangle it. I was not pushing to give her time to take care of the baby, but the rest of the body came right out. Linda had to take her out and give her oxygen for a few minutes. Her apgars were 4 and 9.
She's completely fine though, we just had a bit of a scare. Her neck was SO tiny at first from the cord. Her head wasn't molded at all, since she came so fast. I went from 2 cm to holding my baby in 1.5 hours! I did tear a little, but not bad. I can't get over how tiny she is. I'm glad I waited for her to come on her own time. It was the most amazing experience ever. I can't imagine ever delivering in a hospital again. We went home about 10 hours after she was born. I'm a tad disappointed that I didn't even get in the birthing tub, but really, I wouldn't change anything.
At 11 days old, she was already up to 7 lb 5 oz! Momma's milk sure is great!
I just copied this from when I posted on my birth board. I was still pretty tired, so I may have left out some stuff. Feel free to ask anything.

Originaly posted by: Samuelsmommy+4

I was lurking here and realized that I had forgotten to post my birth story....duh....well my little boy is 4 motnhs old now and SWEET as ever...I named him Samuel...anyway here is my story....I had always wanted a natural delivery but always ended up getting an epi...I delivered at a hospital that really pushed epidurals so when I found out I was pregnant with Sam I sought out different care...I found a wonderful MW and a natural birth friendly hospital....I also took Bradley (they are awesome classes HIGHLY recommended) I was determined to put everything I knew to do to be able to have the birth I wanted...I found out at my 38 week appt that I was 3-4 cm dilated and 50 % effaced...I had been having lots of intermittent contractions for a couple of weeks On Sunday August the 15th I did nipple stim and had sex to try and lure labor to come and I started having hard contractions waited a while and they continued to intensify...went to the hospital and I was 4-5 cm 80% effaced thinking this is it called my doula she met us there and then they stopped...UGHHHH so frustrating...got sent home....so hiring a babysitter getting all excited for NOTHING....called the MW the next morning to ask if she would admit me to break my water ( wasn't in my plans but heck I was already 4-5 and I was scared once labor did start it would be really fast and finding a sitter and waiting for one took time) so she agreed for Tuesday morning...We arrived at the hosptial at 8:00 and she broke my water about 8:30....waited and waited...nothing happened so she told me to walk so I walked and did nipple stim to get contractions goin..they would start then peter out she came in about noon and asked if I still wanted to try nipple stim and walking or have a tiny amount of pit to get things going I opted for the pit only beacuse I was getting tired and wanted to conserve energy for real labor...started pit at 12:45 started feeling it pretty good about 1:30 walked the halls and really with DH and my doula did the birthing ball (didn't like it) got on my knees hunched over in the bed felt relief for a while and the pain got really bad....DH was great though he kept telling me "you can do this" I finally opted to get in the jacuzzi put my bathing suit on and nothing felt good it was so painful ....I had not one exam yet since I arrived ...I figured I better get one so the nurse came and checked me and she says "you are at 7cm" I was so relived because it was almost over but I knew transition was coming too so I got back in the water and the hardest contractions hit my doula gave me two combs to squeeze...these really worked...it took the focus off the pain and lessened the pain a bit I was yelling for Jesus pretty loudly my MW came in and asked my are you pushing I said "yes" (this is a big No NO in the hospital (some stupid hospital policy) so she hits the emergency button to get me out of the tub and they are undressing me to get on the bed for delivery my bathing suit top wouldn't come undone so it was wrapped around the IV pole like I was stripping I remeber feeling like my hips were being widened for the baby moving down...( worst part) and as soon as I was on the bed he started coming out my MW barely had time to even get dressed for delivery...out he came in two pushes and the actual pushing was the scariest for me because the pain was so intense but I am so glad I did it...It was such an awesome experience...he came at 3:42 pm August 17th, 2004 at 39 weeks 1day he nurses like a champ and he lights up my life!!!! Hre he is:

Originaly posted by: Lee

I know this story is late in coming, but parenthood is definitely a full time job and a half!

Holden was due to make his appearance on April 23, but the date came and went without any great fanfare. I didn’t have any contractions other than BH contractions, no bloody show, no mucous plug, etc. I was told that Holden would probably be big (over 8 ½ lbs.) and it felt like he was never going to come! Finally, at around 5:00 am Monday, April 26, I felt a strange sort of pain. Most people describe contractions like bad menstrual cramps and that’s what I was feeling. I began timing them and found that they were coming around six minutes apart. Since Jeffrey works over an hour away, I asked him to work from home that day. He agreed and set himself up in our home office/guest bedroom. I called my boss to tell her that I was going into labor and wouldn’t be working that day (I had been working from home for the prior few months) and camped out with Jeffrey in the office/guest bedroom, watching bad talk and court TV shows. I used my Hypnobirthing techniques to relax and even dozed off a few times. The contractions went from every six minutes to every fifteen minutes to every half-hour. I had an appointment with my midwife that afternoon at 4:15, and by the time I went to see her, the contractions had pretty much stalled.

My midwife examined me and when she pulled her fingers out of me, they were dark with bloody show! I was so excited! She reported that I was 80% effaced and 3 cm dilated, and told me that I should have the baby either that night or the next day. She said that when the contractions are four minutes apart and “knock-your-socks-off bad� I should call her office and go to the hospital. I went home and camped out on the couch, waiting for the contractions to once again reappear. They came back at around 6:30, but they were much different…instead of being concentrated around my lower abdomen, they were wrapping around my lower back. The contractions were coming every ten to fifteen minutes, and with each one, my back felt like someone was driving an axe into it. I tried so hard to get into that relaxed state, but the pain was so severe I just couldn’t. I got into the bathtub at around 11:00 pm, hoping that it would make my back feel better, but it didn’t help one iota. The contractions were now coming around every six minutes or so. At 1:00 am Tuesday morning, the contractions finally began coming every four minutes. My husband called the midwife, and we headed for the hospital.

Once at the hospital, I went into triage (I was the only one there) and they hooked me up to a monitor. The nurse determined that I was indeed in labor and could stay. When the nurse checked me internally, she determined that I was 4 cm dilated, and that the baby was faced sunny-side down, putting pressure on my backbone; hence, the horrific back pain.

Once I got into my suite (at my hospital, you labor, deliver and recover all in the same room) I was in so much pain that I asked for a basin and began vomiting bile. I had so wanted a natural childbirth, but was convinced that I couldn’t do it with the back labor. My hospital is very pro-natural-childbirth, so my nurse suggested that I try the whirlpool to see if that would help alleviate some of the pain. I got into the tub, but with every contraction, I sat right up like a bolt and vomited more bile into my basin. Jeffrey got the nurse, who led me back to my suite. At this point, I was around 6 cm dilated. I was also really leaning toward some sort of pain relief. I asked what I’d need to do for an epidural, and my midwife told me I’d need to empty a bag of fluids via IV prior to receiving one. I asked for the IV just in case. My midwife broke my water, raised the back of the bed completely upright (into an “L� position) and told me to get on my knees and lean on the back portion of the bed in the hope that the baby would flip over and take the pressure off my back. My husband kept putting counter-pressure on my lower back, which helped a little bit. Every time a contraction hit, I’d chant either “Ow…ow…ow…� or “Omigod…omigod…omigod…� until it passed. Hypnobirthing went right out the window. My poor husband stood behind me for three hours putting counter-pressure on my back. He had to beg me to go use the bathroom.

At around 6:00 am, I felt the urge to push. Jeff rung for my nurse, who checked me and told me that I was only 8 ½ cm dilated and wasn’t allowed to push. I almost lost it at this point; I think this is when transition really started to kick in. I really began to wish that I’d opted for the epidural. I’d pant through each contraction, and then give a tiny little push at the end. Finally at 7:00 am, my midwife checked me and told me I could begin to push. This is where things began to get scary. In fact, two months later, I’m still a bit fuzzy on some of the things that happened during delivery.

Apparently, as I began pushing (BTW…pushing felt GREAT! I thought that pushing the baby out would hurt, but it truly doesn’t. The contractions are a million times worse), Holden’s heart rate would drop down to 50. The nurse called the NICU team, who set up next to my midwife. Someone slapped an oxygen mask on my face and told me that I had to take deep breaths “for the baby�. My eyes were closed and I heard my midwife tell me in a very stern voice that I had to get the baby out…NOW. I began pushing as hard as I could. My husband kept telling me to push harder; I could hear the fear in his normally calm voice. I pushed when I had contractions and I pushed when I didn’t have contractions. I just kept taking deep breaths and pushing with all of my might. Finally the midwife gave me an episiotomy (I didn’t feel a thing) even though only 13% of deliveries in my hospital required them and a moment later the baby’s head popped out. I wanted to push out the rest of his body, but was told to wait until the midwife delivered his shoulders. When I was able to push the rest of his body out, it felt kind of squirmy, like a bag of noodles. Believe it or not, I managed to push Holden out in 22 minutes; he was born on April 27 at 7:22 am.

My eyes were still closed at this point, so I couldn’t see what was going on. My husband later told me this portion of the story: The midwife thought that the cord was wrapped around Holden’s neck, but it wasn’t; it was wrapped around his abdomen. He also told me that when he saw deliveries on TV and in Hypnobirthing class, the baby always came out with its mouth open, squirming and crying. Holden’s mouth was completely shut, and he was limp, purple and silent. I had planned for immediate skin-to-skin contact and nursing, but the NICU team took Holden and suctioned him for a good while before he finally cried. They weighed and measured him, and everyone was shocked to see that he weighed a whopping 9 lbs, 14 oz and was 22 inches long. I was finally able to hold my son 10 minutes later. He was absolutely beautiful and looked just like his father. I fell in love immediately, and it keeps on getting better and better. He has no bad affects from the messy delivery.

A few important lessons I learned:

1. With Hypnobirthing, you are supposed to remove any negativity regarding delivery from your mind. As such, the instructor never prepares you for what could go wrong. It’s important that you educate yourself so you aren’t shocked when things aren’t perfect or exactly as you planned.
2. It is possible for a normal-sized woman to push out a large baby (I wore a size 8 pre-pregnancy) so don’t be scared or automatically opt for a c-section if you happen to be told that you’re having a large baby.
3. My midwife now believes that I may have developed GD sometime after I was tested for it, as Holden was huge, I suddenly began gaining weight at a very quick pace (I was gaining at the textbook rate, but I suddenly began gaining 2-3 lbs/week) and Holden had problems regulating his sugar after birth and had to be supplemented for a day. Be aware that this can occur if you find yourself exhibiting signs of GD after you are tested (extreme thirst, sudden weight gain, etc.) and ask to be re-tested if necessary.

Sorry this is such a novel. Congratulations to all of the new mommies, and good luck to all the future ones! <<<NCB VIBES>>> to you all!

Originaly posted by: Clare

Early Monday morning I started to get contractions, not too painful though, and I was able to get some sleep.

BY 9AM the pains started regularly and more painful, yay, I knew it was it. I was so pleased to go into Labor naturally. Steven rang the Birth Centre to let them know what was happening. They said keep timing, walk around more and keep them updated.
By about 9:50am I told Steven to ring them again as I needed to go now!

After getting things in the car and saying goodbye to the boys and a very teary and excited mum, Steven and I left. We got to the Birth Centre at about 10:20am and I spoke to the Midwife Belinda. She checked bubs heart rate and showed me to room 3. By that point I was hot and just stripped off. Another midwife, Kate came in and asked if I wanted to get in the shower. I said yes!!

Kate stayed with me in the shower for the whole first stage and was wonderful. Her words of encouragement and support got me through the most painful experience of my life. The closer I got towards the end of first stage the more intense and painful the contractions were. She helped me breathe deep in my chest to help bubs engage lower and lower, while Darling Hubby sprayed hot water on my lower back.

The pain got extremely bad at about 12pm, Kate and Belinda knew I was close to transition and kept me going and constantly kept positive. After the most painful contraction I felt the urge to bear down and push. Inbetween a contraction I managed to get out of the shower and over kneeling beside the bed.

I started pushing just after 12pm, it was very hard to control the pushing and to take it slowly, so I wouldn't tear. It took all my strength to push her head out slowly, and when I did I could feel something was different. A few more pushes later and with Belinda supporting Layne she was out!!! Oh what a relief! She had her nose suctioned gently and was passed through my legs and into my arms, she was covered in vernix but absloutely beautiful! I was instantly in love. Belinda then told me that I had pushed her head out as well as her right arm which was stuck against her head!! Thankfully her arm was fine.

Daddy got his first cuddle when mummy had the fun bit of delivering the placenta. Her eyes were wide open and she stared at Steven, it was wonderful. The midwives had a shocked look on their faces and I couldn't understand why. Kate seemed very excited and asked if we could weigh her right then. They bought in the scales and when they said 11 pounds 12 and a half ounces I nealry died. I said "Are you serious?" I couldn't believe it. Her head circumference was 38cm (plus her arm, lol )
Her apgars were 9 and 10.

After getting checked and cleaned DH held Layne while I had a shower. She fed not long after has been so good since. We stayed at the Birth Centre till Wednesday afternoon.
Before we left we were told that Layne was the biggest baby ever to be born naturally and without drugs at the Hospital. The Birth Centre is in the Mercy Hospital for Women. I couldn't believe it, I have been on cloud nine ever since.

She is a great feeder and very placid baby. The boys adore her and we can't stop looking at her, even though we should be sleeping, as we are all pretty tired still

If you made it this far thank-you for reading our story. I hope everyone is well and the preggo mom's are going well and taking care

Love Clare and Layne

I will start with my 1st Jade almost 12 yrs ago. I was 19yrs then. I had lost my mucus plug at 35 weeks, only had the tip of a pencil left. I lost that after DTD with hubby on October 23rd with blood as well. I took a shower called my mom and asked her to drive us to the hospital as we didn't have a car back then. We got there around 5 or 6pm I think. I was having very irregular contractions. They checked me I was at 3cm don't remember how effaced at 11pm they told me about the options I had still very irregular contrax. I decided to let her break my water I was 4cm by then. Now that did the trick. I had one contrax over the other was awful one wasn't finished coming down then another one was starting. I then walked for quite a while I think until I was 6-7cm then couldn't take it anymore. I sat by the window (1st snowstrom that yr) and was breathing while circling the words in my crossword puzzle after a while I laid down on the bed until I was fully dialated around 4am and I had to have an emergency epsiotomy because her h/r dropped to around 60/m. Out she came at 4:24am sunday morning october 24th. I was elated, excited, overwelmed with joy My mom was there very discrete the whole time. I remember her coming up to us and saying you think your children can never make you more happy and proud well you just did. My mom & DH went with Jade to the nursery to have her weighted measured and cleaned up back then they did that right away while hubby got back by my side he didn't want to leave me alone too long. My placenta then litterally exploded yes really all over my doc and nurses was hilarious they all got cleaned up then they then stiched me back up. I got wheeled to my room. During labor I had eaten and drank. Told then no way I was going on only ice chips or I would pass out. I remember while pushing I was burping lmao While that is my 1st one. Next one coming up below

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Ok now for Cédric 5 yrs ago. I had preterm labor around 34 weeks which they stopped. On saturday morning April 8th 2000 I started loosing my mucus plus in big chunks. That was that I kept loosing it little bits and pieces at a time. On saturday April 15th lost the last of it and contrax started at 10:30am very irregular. I called hubby who was working out of town to tell him to come over but take his time. The I went outside with Jade to walk and relax while breathing. It was a beautiful spring day. I called hubbby back at 12:30 and told him lucky he wasn't there or I would rip his you know what I thought ok he is on his way. I then made lunch for Jade and me hot dogs lmao. I still wasn't sure if it was labor or I should say I was in denial at around 3pm I called my grandmother to tell her she said I should go to the hospital. Still no hubby he was only an hour and a half from me. SO I started calling some moms of Jades friends. Heck I needed a babysitter and a way to get to the hospital. I finall;y reached one who had just gotten home. Explained the whole thing to her and she was sweet enough to come get me and Jade. She dropped me of in labor and delivery she wanted to make sure I got there safely Still no hubby by that time. When I got to L&D the nurse said are you the one that just called. I said yes she said we better check you. I said ok. I was 5cm she said ok we are admitting you. My contrax were by then very regular. My doc showed up and I told her I would like to wait for hubby I was 7cm by then. Labor was going quick and well. She said ok but I tell you if I break your water now you will be done in half an hour. I said well hubby should be here soon so I'd rather wait she said it was ok. She stayed the whole time. At around 5:30 I was fully dialated she said you know you can't wait anymore ya still no hubby! I said I know she said your water is buldging it'll break I said I tell ya it ain't you'll have to break it. Which she thought she wouldn't have to but when she saw the head she had to I pushed for about 10 minutes had been 25 minutes with Jade and a boy came out! I was in shock they had told me girl at u/s 28.5 weeks along. I knew it was a boy I have it on tape arguing with the OB still in shocl though I started bawling I was so happy a little boy I was in heaven. I told then to not please tell my hubby when he got to L&D which he finally did 4 hours after I had him ughh. He told me well my landlady was having problems with her son and she needed to talk I was like you fool when I tell you to get your butt over here right now you do. He then proceeded to pick up the baby which the nurses had just brought back in. He said "she" is beautiful I said hun we had a baby boy! He clearly didn't pick up on that he said Coralie the name we had picked I said hun no it's Cédric a boy he started crying and said omg I love you he was so excited. He was 8lbs 3 1/2oz 20 1/4 inches. Jade was 7'11 20 3/4 inches. Ok now unto baby #3

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