Positive birthing stories

Two positive births here and due again in Jan. 1st in UK - midwife led - gas and air - just went with the flow and 3hrs 20mins later DD no1 appeared. No 2 here in Dubai with Dr Yulia at medcare. Again went with the flow. I missed my midwife as the nurses in medcare were strangers and very clinical but Dr Yulia was great and again 3hrs and 20mins later DD no2 arrived. I hope to have another natural birth this time but the person who really got me through was my husband. I really didn't know how he would be and he was amazing. He knew when to push me and when to make me laugh. At medcare there were a lot of people coming in and out for no real reason and he moved them on. I really am very lucky to have him :-) Good Luck!

i had my most positive birth experience 4 months ago, it was an elective c-section (after 2 NVD with no drugs). it was calm and everything went to plan. i was able to focus on the baby being born, enjoy the skin to skin immediately after his birth and put him straight to the breast this time. i wasnt even aware of when they moved me from recovery to my room as i was just wrapped up in the feel of my son's skin on mine and him nursing contentedly. with my first two 'natural' births, it took several hours before i felt able to put baby to breast and wasn't immediately comfortable doing so. recovery was also quite quick - I was up and about the day after the section, and while on painkillers for more than a week, I was mobile and very capable of looking after my newborn and 2 older children from the minute i got home. i was driving 2-3 weeks after delivery. i wasnt daft and didnt do any heavy lifting etc, took my time, rested when i needed to which i think helped. All in all, it was fantastic, almost enough for me to think about doing it again. Almost, but not quite : ) best of luck with the rest of your pregnancy and your delivery.

KS and TBD you are both sooooo right. That is one piece of advice that I would want every new mum to know - plan as much as you like but be open to change the whole way through pregnancy and the birth. My two pregnancies and births were great but completely different. One birth took 16 hrs from waters breaking to arrival - episotomy, epidural etc; the other was just over 3.5 hrs from first contraction to arrival (so quick once we got to the hospital that they didn't have a chance to call the dr to be there - lol) - nothing but us. I loved both pregnancies and births - I would even go as far as saying the second one was a bit quick - I didn't get to appreciate what was happening to my body and get emotionally ready - was all a bit shell shocked to be honest (as was everyone in the room I think) - in saying that I am thrilled that she arrived so quickly and easily so would not change it. I have heard so many amazing birth stories from my friends that I am just in awe about we have all been through and come out the other end with beautiful babies and big smiles on our faces :-)

I think you're quite right TDB. I certainly did not "want"my c section and there were aspects of my VBAC that I would have gladly done without. But I think that's the key really, to understand that wanting something doesn't mean getting something. Those of us who manage to get pregnant and give birth to healthy children are incredibly lucky in the first place. The second point you made is even more true, not being prepared for something other than what we wanted. 3-4 in 10 births will be a c section, yet so many women don't really prepare for that. I was certainly not expecting a scheduled section and spent ages making a full on birth plan which clearly never saw the light of day (although it was handy not to have to redo it the second time around). I thought I was well prepped for breastfeeding; lactation class during pregnancy- check, skin to skin immediately post birth- check, no formula or dummies- check, pure lanolin cream at hand- check....still went pear shaped, same deal with second baby and by that stage I had almost 2 years breastfeeding experience. I think its really good to be well informed, a lot of bitterness/regret post birth comes from feeling mislead by others involved in the birth process. Its also really important to control what you CAN control and accept what you cannot. So in your case you can try for a VBAC if you want to, or you can go straight to a scheduled section, and either way you can plan for how you'd like things to go along the way, in a sort of "if this.. then this.." sort of way. e.g if c section, then who gets baby in recovery, do you want them to give formula, (ask in what situations it might be suggested) bath baby or leave vernix on, take baby to nursery if she can't be with you or skin to skin with dad, what if you end up with a general, what should your husband do (take baby, feed/don't feed formula etc), could he send a camera in with a video message of the baby for you to watch in recovery etc. My hospital didn't allow phones but they did allow cameras in theatre so I made a video message for my husband immediately post birth so he knew we were both ok. I think the more things you are prepared for the more you and your husband are able to make decisions on the spot that you won't later regret/question. And ultimately you need to let go of things that you couldn't control and move forward, the birth is one day in your life and if you get a baby in your arms at the end of it then you are really blessed regardless of what you have to go through to get there. A c section can still be positive and certainly shouldn't be perceived as a failure in any way, in some ways, having been through both, if I were to have another baby I would actually consider an elective section, because truly it was the less painful of the two experiences. You can't predict how painful or long your labour will be, and there is no shame in taking pain relief, its good to understand that doing so may slow down, stall your labour and increase your odds of c section but also to understand that in many cases managing your pain calms you down and enables you to focus on getting your baby out. All the best for the expectant mummies out there! No more birth stories for me, I'm stopping at 2 (although I'm not selling my moses basket just yet....).

yup that was me! and thank you so much! i'm overjoyed- what an incredible sense of accomplishment.

Btw congratulations Cleo on your VBAC, it was you that I wrote my vbac story for the first time I think?

I have two children and have had two positive birth experiences, both very different from each other but both with happy endings. My first baby was born by scheduled c section due to him being posterior hyper flexed and basically wedged into place for the last month of my pregnancy. I had planned a natural drug free birth but in the end it was a joint decision between myself, my husband and my obgyn to do the section and I have absolutely no regrets. My son was delivered at 9:05 am, 3 days before his due date. The evening before he was born I dropped my suitcase at the hospital, put some fruit and yoghurt in the fridge in my room and had a meeting with the anaesthetist who would be on duty the next day just to confirm my wish for minimal sedation during the surgery. The next morning ( around 7am) I went to the hospital and was prepped for surgery, my husband was not allowed to be present once they wheeled me into theatre. My obgyn held my hands and distracted me during my epidural (which was not painful to get). I had a combined spinal epidural which took away all feeling in the bottom half of my body. Once my toes were numb they lay me down and got to work pretty smartly, it took 5 min from the first cut to seeing my son for the first time. In my birth plan I had specified delayed clamping, as it turned out with c sections they don't usually do true delayed clamping and instead they milk the cord blood down afterwards. The first APGAR was 9 and they then toweled him off in a table next to me, did the second APGAR (10) and put him on my bare chest in just a nappy. He instantly stopped crying and lay there contented for the duration of the surgery and recovery. The nurses were quite amazed as standard practice is to take the baby away and it was really due to my amazing OBGYN that I was able to get around hospital policy. During the surgery I gave my camera to one of the nurses and she ran some photos and video out to my husband to show him as soon as our son was born. Once I was out of recovery my husband carried our son back to our room while I was wheeled. For the next 48 hours my baby was skin to skin on my chest 95% of the time. All weighing and other checks were done in our room and my son never left my side the entire hospital stay. My incision healed quickly, after 24hrs I only needed panadol for pain relief and by the time I was discharged I was able to walk around, cook, do laundry etc and really the only time I was in pain was laughing or coughing. After around a week I stopped taking the panadol and two weeks post birth I had very little pain at all. My second birth I decided to go for natural delivery and my obgyn was very supportive of that decision. I have written my daughters birth story here before so will just copy and paste it here... .......At about 5am the day after my due date I felt twinges which were like period cramps, and went back to sleep. They got stronger during the day but it wasn't until afternoon that I was sure they weren't just braxton hicks. They were not debilitating at all, really I would say the day felt like the first day of a bad period until around 5pm then at that point I was definitely feeling something more, but I was still able to talk through them. I went to the hospital at around 8pm (after I put my son to bed) by that point I was struggling to talk during the peak of each contraction (for around 20 seconds I guess) but absolutely fine the rest of the time. By the time they examined me I was 7 cm/fully effaced and I went straight to he delivery suite. I didn't really have a lot of pain until I was around 9cm (obviously there was pain but not scary pain, I was sitting on the bed watching TV in between, actually it was really boring, if I had lived closer to the hospital I tink I would have stayed at home longer, once you are in the hospital you have no distractions and nothing else to do but sit there or pace around an ugly hospital room) at 9cm the OBGYN broke my waters, in retrospect I wish she hadn't, things got a lot more intense after that and I think it would have taken slightly longer but been less painful maybe if she had left things as they were, I can't help but wonder if she was getting tired and just wanted to hurry things along a bit (she technically wasn't actually on duty but came in as a favour to me). At 9cm my body actually started pushing, as in I wasn't trying to push but I could feel that I was probably actually pushing with each contraction, I would say I had about an hour of things being pretty full-on until I was fully dilated and got the green light to actually try and push, from that point apparently I pushed for 5 contractions and baby was out (so that's really only properly pushing for less than 10 minutes although I had no real concept of time). So all went very smoothly and it was technically an "easy" birth although I don't think there is really such a thing is there . Everybody's labour is different though, some people have more pain and for some the pushing phase is longer. I do think it probably helped that I was active in the early stages (I took my son to the mall and even did a supermarket shop) and that because I didn't have an epidural I was able to be pushing in the kneeling position rather than on my back. I felt very calm/in control during my labour and honestly I would have loved it if I could have just been completely by myself at home in many ways (although I'm far too over-cautious to ever actually have a home-birth. I did try the gas and air but I didn't really like how spaced out it made me feel and I just couldn't really focus with the mask on so I didn't end up using it. I think you have to give yourself a break though, if I had felt the pain was too much I would totally have had an epidural, I just wasn't keen on an instrumental birth or emergency c-section which obviously result in more pain afterwards so I figured as long as I could cope then I wouldn't bother with one. One thing I would do differently if I could go back would be to have a doula present, my husband was great and my Dr was great but the nurses were not that helpful and I can see how a doula would actually have been really good and keeping them on their toes and suggesting ways to make me more comfortable....... My daughter was on my chest immediately post birth and they then did a quick check on a table nearby while I delivered the placenta. The paediatrician was male and visibly uncomfortable at me not letting them draw a curtain around me while he was in the room, and so did was was probably the quickest check ever lol! It was nice not having had an epidural and immediately being able to sit up in bed and go to the toilet etc post birth. I felt exhausted but well the next morning and asked to be checked out early as I figured I would sleep better in my own bed, I went home at lunchtime so spent less than 24 hours in the hospital all up. Three days post birth I went out for coffee and did a quick supermarket shop. Both births had their pros and cons, both did involve a level of pain and recovery afterwards. I had two excellent OBGYNs and I think that helped a lot. I also had a comprehensive birth plan which covered multiple scenarios and I made sure my husband, my obgyn and I were all in the same page before the births. Breastfeeding was actually initially extremely challenging with both babies, with the right support though I was able to breastfeed my son for 22 months and am still feeding my daughter who is now 1 year old. All the best, you can have a positive birth experience regardless of the type of birth you have so long as you feel listened to and in control of your choices. Consider all scenarios and communicate clearly ( to your dr and to your husband) your preferences in each one. edited by kiwispiers on 28/10/2013 <em>edited by kiwispiers on 28/10/2013</em>

At 26 weeks, I came back home to Canada to deliver my 2nd. I had my first via c-section in 2011 and was intent on a successful vaginal delivery (vbac). I did so much of my own research and tried to inform myself as much as I could so that I can make informed decisions.The dr who was on call the night i delivered my first told me due to the shape of my hips- i would never be able to birth a child vaginally, my actual OB felt otherwise so with her support we decided we would give this a try and if I absolutely needed a c-section I would be ok with that. I was ready to accept whatever outcome as long as my baby was fine. So 5 weeks ago, at 37 weeks, after a tiring and painful pregnancy (i'm 5'0 and gained 60 pounds each time- I don't make a good pregnant lady), my water broke at 7 am as I was getting out of bed. Thankfully my husband happened to be in town. He was hoping I would go into labour while he was here because he wouldn't be able to get more time off of work and would have to return to dubai. I knew I was StrepB positive and i needed to start the iv antibiotics soon due to risk of infection. So I quickly showered, packed last minute stuff into my bag and went to wake my husband. In the meantime, I cuddled with my 2 year old, told him how much I loved him and I would see him soon with a little brother. I couldn't really labor at home (as I would have liked) but, you can't have it all can you! lol As soon as hubby was ready- off to the hospital we went -i was starving though and so was this close to wanting to stop for breakfast, but then my water started really gushing while on the road so we went straight to the hospital. We arrived and they admitted me to the delivery room but by 12 in the afternoon i was still not having any real contractions and the Dr on call said I looked a little too comfortable. She started to doubt wether my water actually broke, thinking if could just be cervical fluid. When they did the speculum test I pooled and pooled and they were more than convinced. They were just concerned as to why I had very little to almost no contractions.They decided to give me small amounts of pitocin around 3 pm because my contractions were going nowhere. They had to be careful though because, I had a previous scar and giving my pitocin carried the risk of my scar rupturing and compromising the my life and the life of my baby. They gave me very very small doses but it was enough to get me really dilated. I spent most of those hours on a birthing ball. They had to keep the baby monitored, I also had antibiotics running through me so I couldn't walk around, but I was able to be mobile around my bed. When I got to 5 cm, the pain was really unbearable and I asked for an epidural. The anesthesia dr was in the OR with two more emergency surgeries so it was almost 9pm when he finally came with the epidural. It was a heaven sent. I had to lay down in bed, but I was able to rest and close my eyes for about 30 mins until the contractions became really bad and I started crying. They were coming every 2-3 minutes and they were strong and painful. The dr checked me, and within 30 mins of getting the epidural I dilated to 10 cm and was 90% effaced. I started to really push at midnight, but the dr's were worried that if I didn't deliver soon, they would have to take me to the or just because my water had been broken for so long and even though i received the antibiotics they still didn't want to risk infection. I pushed, from midnight to 4 am...it was really hard but I was determined not to have another c-section. I kept asking how the baby's heart rate was and everything was fine. So I kept pushing. I was pushing correctly but I guess just not strongly enough and my son was slowly making his way out. At 4 am, the Dr's changed shifts and the new Dr came in and he was my hero. He sat down, coached me, instructed me, and by 5 am, they put a screaming baby on my chest. I was ecstatic- exhausted!- but soo overwhelmed with joy that I did it! The dr who told me 2 years that I would never be able to do it, happen to be the head DR that night and he when he came in, he was so upset because I proved him wrong. It was amazing. I delivered the placenta right away as I held my new bundle of joy. I had a second degree tear which 5 weeks later...is doing much better although I still have some swelling (pushing for 5 hours is no joke). I still have my aches and pains- but soo soo much better than my c-section and I delivered a beautiful healthy baby boy. I'm able to breast feed this time around- my baby latched right away. It's just been one positive thing after another and I'm so happy. Call me crazy but I'm even considering #3 so soon just because I had such a great experience!

I too had a great pregnancy and birth first time round. Labour from start to finish was 33 hours but 24 hours of this were light contractions (a little like period pains). I tried gas and air but it didn't do anything so I gave up as the pains weren't that bad. I do have a high pain threshold though. The contractions started getting a bit more serious after 24 hours so I took a shot of pethidine. This didn't stop the pain but eased it a lot. The shot lasts for 3 hours. When it started to wear off (3 hours later) I asked for another shot but nurse was hesitant. 5 mins later and a nurse shift change I got my 2nd shot of pethidine. 45 mins before I gave birth Dr came in, took a look, saw I was full dilated so broke my waters for me. As soon as he did this I felt baby making it's way out. I didn't have to do much pushing as she was coming out all by herself. The pain was quite intense but at this stage I just wanted to see my baby. It was tough pushing her head out and at one point I tried to push her back in as I thought I couldn't do it, but once she was out I was numb, amazed, relieved, excited, in love, there's just no words to describe it. I needed 2 stiches but couldn't feel him do this. I was too busy falling in love with my girl and asking hubby if he was ok! He was very pale

I love pregnancy and birth! Both of my deliveries were great. With DS my water broke but no contractions 40w+5d. Waited things out at the hospital for a few hours before agreeing to start pitocin to get things moving--it was dinner time and I realized the longer we waited the longer the day/night etc was going to be. Made it to nearly 7cm before I got an epidural. Actually realized in retrospect that I was in transition at that point and should have just waited it out and delivered naturally, but first time mom and not well informed, I didn't know better. Epidural worked like a dream. I could still tell when contractions were coming and push easily but wasn't feeling the pain. Pushed for awhile and out came DS. 1 tiny tear and a single stitch and all was great. With DD I knew I could go natural given my experience with DS. Just wanted to avoid the pitocin as I know that makes contractions worse. I'd planned a hospital water birth. Took a great natural childbirth class (we were the only 2nd time parents!) and was ready. Woke up 12:30am with first contraction. Couldn't rest or sleep through them. They were less than 10 minutes apart from the get go but only 35-45 seconds. Did some laundry. Took care of a few things around the house. Woke DH up. We called the hospital and they told us to come in despite the fact that my contractions weren't lasting the 1 minute I'd read they should. By that point they were every 3-4 minutes. Staying upright and breathing through them made them much more tolerable. Had a major contraction while DH was on the phone with the hospital and I remember telling him that if it was going to be this bad, I'd better get there now and get an epidural because I don't think I could take much more. Yup, that was transition (but neither of us realized it until after that fact)! He went to get the rest of our things together for the hospital and I sat on the toilet. Had a great reprieve from the contractions and everything was very tolerable. (Sign 2, I'd gone through transition!) Got in the car, pulled out into the street and by the time we reached the corner I told him I NEEDED to push. Uh oh! There was no fighting my body. 5 pushes a minute or two apart each while DH was driving and she popped out on the seat while driving down the highway. DH pulled over. I looked at him, asked him if he was crazy, said she's crying, she's fine: DRIVE! We were just down the road from the hospital at that point and I knew calling an ambulance would just take longer. 2 hours 22 minutes start to finish from the first contraction, she delivered herself, the completely natural birth I'd wanted, everyone was healthy and perfect. They said I had a tiny tear but didn't require a stitch. Couldn't have been more perfect. People talk about baby born in the car as a tragedy, but for us it was amazing and wonderful and just her birth story. ETA: DD was 37w 5 day. I think her birth naturally was all the more special because at 35 weeks I was nearly induced for low fluid and actually was told to go to the hospital for the induction before the OB and midwife decided with close monitoring it was safe to keep her inside. At 35 weeks I'd feared my hopes of a natural birth were going out the window and I'd have to experience pitocin contractions all over again and wouldn't make it without the epidural. <em>edited by Meagle on 27/10/2013</em>

I am not and have never been one of those maternal ladies that ever wanted kids. The thought of giving birth has always kind of grossed me out (sorry, but it has). Then I fell pregnant, and LOVED IT! I delivered 5 days past my due date after being told I should be induced a week early. I decided to wait and see if my LO would make an appearance on their own. My water broke at 11pm at home. I had a nice long bath, and woke my husband at around 1.30am for a bit of a massage. We headed to the hospital at around 4am, and even though I was told that I would have to have a C section for the last three months of my pregnancy (due to a previously broken tail bone and what I was told was a rather HUGE, that actually turned out just to be a very long baby). I disagreed with my doctors instructions to go ahead with the C section at 9am as it just felt like the wrong thing for me to do at the time, and 2hrs later I naturally delivered my very healthy baby. I won't kid you that there wern't times that It hurt and I was doubting my decision not to have any drugs. However the second I was handed my dear little one, I would've gone through it all again in a flash just for that moment. It was the best experience of my life! Congratulations, and I hope you too have a positive story to share with someone in a few months from now :)

I have had 2 amazing births! My first was one of the most empowering experiences of my life. no drugs, natural birth taking about 6 hours. Spent most time in the shower and birthed in the shower. I used pilates breathing (counting) to get through it. He was very little and spent 2 days in special care before we went home on day 4. Ie. 4 pds 5 oz only! Second one was also pretty amazing but much faster and much more intense! Under 3 hours from start to finish. Was a very hairy ride in the car. Didn't get much time for the shower and he came very quickly. Much less time for any birthing techniques at all and no real input from any midwives who just left me to it. I was only in hospital for about an hour. The most amazing thing about my second birth was that we went home together when he was 6 hours old. I was euphoric. In both births my wishes were adhered to. No talking unless necessary, use of shower etc.