Positive Birth Stories

[greenie]

So throughout our pregnancies it appears people just love to tell us the horrors (especially when it's your first time!) of labour and birth.
I had this one friend though, when I was pregnant with my son, who told me how great her labours and births had been with her daughters etc. And I found it so relieving.
So, here's a chance to share your positive birth stories! Maybe you had an empowering drug free labour, or a quick one or it was long but the experience was positive and great for you!
Have you got any tips on how to have a wonderful birthing experience?

 

[jgonz]

Out of 9 births (so far) I've only had 1 that I wouldn't voluntarily repeat. So my track record has been very positive!

#1~ long labor, but Very mild contractions. I did have an epidural there at the end (which I didn't like) but even that wasn't bad.

#2~ very short labor (4 hrs), intense, but no drugs. Baby came before doctor was ready (which I found funny ).

#3~ even though this baby was born with birth defects, the labor itself was no biggy. Mild contractions, very do-able with just breathing.

#4~ I was in labor all day & didn't realize it. By the time we got to the hospital, contractions were 3 minutes apart but not intense. The nurse just Had to have my current weight, so she wheeled in a scale, set the brakes on it, got me up on it, got my weight... and then a huge contraction hit, I started going into a squat, my water broke everywhere, and the nurse freaked out. She & DH got me back on the bed, where my DD just slid right out. Easiest birth.

#5~ DS didn't seem to want to be born, so we kick-started me with pit (for only 1/2 hr). After that, I was in labor on my own, and contractions were very do-able. Easy birth, with a couple of my friends there to watch & take pictures.

#6~ This is the one I wouldn't repeat...

#7~ After learning a Lot since the last baby, I was determined to do things "right" this time. I had a midwife in the hospital. Labor came on with a bang (literally~ a huge thunderstorm came up from nowhere & my water broke). Labor was very intense, but short. DH was a huge help with this one... The midwife said that if I had actually pushed with DS, he would have shot across the room like a greased pig! LOL

#8~ Home water birth, with a midwife in attendance. I ended up with back labor, but once I was in the bathtub it was soooo relaxing... DH caught DS and cut the cord (midwife coached him). Very good experience.

#9~ Hospital birth, but like my older DD, I didn't realize I was in labor until contractions were very close together. Got to the hospital at 9.5 cms, but DD was high. I asked my OB to break my water, thinking I'd have the baby in 2 minutes, but I didn't. They had me on my side (which I hated), but contractions were very do-able. Finally, 4 hrs later, I had DD Unassisted since no one was in the room. LOL

This time I'm planning to give birth in the water in the hospital, although my OB doesn't realize it yet. LOL

Tips to a good birthing experience...
Trust your body. Allow the birthing experience to happen. Don't fight contractions. Work With contractions. Educate yourself throughout your pregnancy on the physical changes during labor and birth. Educate yourself on natural birth, unassisted birth, water birth, Any alternative birthing situation vs the mainstream managed care. Be willing to be flexible since every labor & delivery is different, but don't lose control to a medical person.

 

[greenie]

Wow, that is amazing! 8/9 good births is a good track record!!

My son was my first, labour with him was a total of 6 hours, no drugs. I gave birth to him standing up (I love gravity)

My daughter was my second and very similar to the first birth except shorter! 3 hours all up (and 1 1/2 of those hours were spent driving to the hospital). Also had her standing up, no drugs. Was very quick and quite easy.

I found praying helped A LOT and also chanting to myself "every day has to end, every day has to end" also helped

 

[angelsgirl]

It's nice to hear the good stories!!!
I have been told so many horror stories of women giving birth... It really does put you off!!

Jgnoz... how can you not realise you are in labour? I don't mean to be rude... I'm just curious, as i have never been in labour before!!!

 

[jgonz]

Jgnoz... how can you not realise you are in labour?

I was trying to give a quick snynopsis of each birth 'cause it would have taken pages if I'd written each one out completley , so sorry I didn't explain. LOL

I didn't realize I was in labor because the contractions weren't that bad, and were Very irregular. 5 minutes, 20 minutes, 8 minutes, 15 minutes, etc. All over the place.

The text book way to have contractions, that we're all told to look for, is for contractions to get closer together, have a specific pattern, and for each contraction to start lasting longer (30 seconds for early labor, 60 seconds long for active labor, 90 minutes long for transition contractions). With both of my girls' labors, none of that happened. I ended up going by what the Bradley Method calls "emotional signposts". I was getting Really serious, stopped talking, and went inward during each contraction~ even though they were all over the place. I started getting a sneaking suspicion that something was going on beyond just intense BH contractions... so that's when I told DH maybe we should go get checked both times.

Did that explain it?

 

[seamonster]

When I was in active labor, I really enjoyed walking around the hallways of the hospital and sitting in the jacuzzi while my husband rubbed my back and chatted with me. I wasn't doing much talking back, but it was nice to have him there and discussing random things with me to help keep me focus. He also was constantly reminding me to BREATHE through the contractions since I like to hold my breath when I feel pain. He breathed with me, which I didn't expect, and which helped.

I ended up with an emergency c/s, which I'm sure would cause many to label my birth as "not positive," but I think I was pretty well prepared for labor and had a good support group of my mom & hubby. I think because I was expecting a lot of pain, when the pain did come, I felt more relaxed about it and realized that it wouldn't last forever. Plus, my husband kept saying "We're having a baby! We're having a baby!"

 

[~Mrs. A2J~]

My first was in the hospital. Seven hours of labor from when we "knew" it was time until I had our daughter. It was a very easy birth and not very painful. Mostly a good experience except for the unecessary episiotomy.

My second was the polar opposite (though I wouldn't say a bad experience). I didn't know I was in "real" labor either. The contractions were all over the place and even stopped for a while. Only reason I said to hubby we should go to the birthing center was because they started getting really painful. Labor really progressed in the car even though the contractions still weren't regular. DH turned the 35mins car ride into 20mins When we got to the birthing center my water broke as I got out the car. The midwife wanted to see how dilated I was so we went the few feet to an exam room. I never made it onto the exam table and started crowning. I gave birth to my son sitting on a midwife's lap only 17mins after we got there I can't believe how close we were to having DS in the car! It was a much more painful birth than the first but much quicker so I gues it's a trade off. It was an empowering experience though because I birthed a monster of a baby (9lbs 12oz and 21.75in) unmedicated.

I'm hoping birth number 3 will be somewhere between the two. I would at least like to make it into the birthing suite at the birthing center anyways

I didn't realize I was in labor because the contractions weren't that bad, and were Very irregular. 5 minutes, 20 minutes, 8 minutes, 15 minutes, etc. All over the place.

The text book way to have contractions, that we're all told to look for, is for contractions to get closer together, have a specific pattern, and for each contraction to start lasting longer (30 seconds for early labor, 60 seconds long for active labor, 90 minutes long for transition contractions). With both of my girls' labors, none of that happened. I ended up going by what the Bradley Method calls "emotional signposts". I was getting Really serious, stopped talking, and went inward during each contraction~ even though they were all over the place. I started getting a sneaking suspicion that something was going on beyond just intense BH contractions... so that's when I told DH maybe we should go get checked both times.

Did that explain it?

It's so good to hear an experienced mom say this! DH still can't believe I didn't "know". But I kept waiting for the contractions to get regular and they never did. So it was only when they got really intense that I knew this was "it".

 

[Sign Of The Fish Burger]

My first was in the hospital. Seven hours of labor from when we "knew" it was time until I had our daughter. It was a very easy birth and not very painful. Mostly a good experience except for the unecessary episiotomy.

My second was the polar opposite (though I wouldn't say a bad experience). I didn't know I was in "real" labor either. The contractions were all over the place and even stopped for a while. Only reason I said to hubby we should go to the birthing center was because they started getting really painful. Labor really progressed in the car even though the contractions still weren't regular. DH turned the 35mins car ride into 20mins When we got to the birthing center my water broke as I got out the car. The midwife wanted to see how dilated I was so we went the few feet to an exam room. I never made it onto the exam table and started crowning. I gave birth to my son sitting on a midwife's lap only 17mins after we got there I can't believe how close we were to having DS in the car! It was a much more painful birth than the first but much quicker so I gues it's a trade off. It was an empowering experience though because I birthed a monster of a baby (9lbs 12oz and 21.75in) unmedicated.

I'm hoping birth number 3 will be somewhere between the two. I would at least like to make it into the birthing suite at the birthing center anyways

It's so good to hear an experienced mom say this! DH still can't believe I didn't "know". But I kept waiting for the contractions to get regular and they never did. So it was only when they got really intense that I knew this was "it".

 

[Leanna]

I'd like to give birth as soon as I get there so I don't have time to freak out.

 

[~Mrs. A2J~]

I think I'm pretty famous at the birthing center LOL Since I had my son the birthing center closed down and reopened. They reopened with an almost entirely new staff. A midwife whom I had never met before today came up to me at my appointment and said "so you're the one who gave birth in the middle exam room" LOL My son's birth must have been one of the more exciting births that they've had there

 

[-~Truth_N_Trust~-]

My friend gave birth to her 3rd on the floor of the hospital foyer, the midwives later told her they get a couple a week like that! My closest friend had her first baby just 7 weeks ago, and had her within 45 mins of getting to hospital, she had a less than 3 hr labour.

Almost every person I know in real life who has given birth has been able to do it mostly drug free. The only exceptions were one who chose cesarian, and one who had twins.

Both my births were incredibly positive experiences for me, although I had some minor complications.

My daughter, my waters broke on my due date, 30 hrs of very mild contractions (very annoying!) then I was induced with oxytocin drip. 7 hrs later I had my daughter, I only used gas, had no stitches, went home the next day.

My son was 5 days late. Text book spontaneous labour, 7 hrs, only gas, no stitches again. Some placenta complications which required a spinal block and manual removal, but I had such support that it was quickly dealt with and I was able to move on. Went home the next day again.

 

[angelsgirl]

Jgnoz... thanks for explaining!!!
It is good to know though... cause you keep getting told that labour will be like this and labour will be like that and this is how you know you are in labour...
I've always wondered about that as each woman/baby is different and will experience things differently!!!

 

[AJ29]

Both of my labours were drug-free and very positive experiences. Both were pretty large babies too.

I think the keys to positive birth experiences are:

• Trusting your body - knowing that it was designed to give birth, and trusting yourself to know what to do and when to do it.
• Choosing good medical professionals - be sure that you have a midwife/OBGYN or other medical expert who you trust and feel comfortable with. If you are unsure about someone you go to, "shop" around until you are happy that you have the best person looking after you.
• Make sure that you are informed about the birth experience - know the good, the bad and the ugly - even if you want the most natural drug free birth, make sure you know some of the risks, and that you are aware of possible interventions - that way if/when those things are suggested, you know what/why they are being suggested.
• Get your partner involved (hubby, or birth partner) - make sure they are also aware of what you want. That way, when you can't talk during labour (sometimes you are too intensely focussed) someone else has a pretty good idea of what you want!
• Trust God!! Pray!!

 

[coffeegal]

my frist 3 births were not bad, but they were not my favs. they were all hospital births.

my favorite birth was my 5th or 6th. both were homebirths.

with number 5 my water bag broke at 4:30 in the morning. i had a home birth dr come, and he arrived about an hour later. i was only dilated to 5 and was bumbed cause i thought i was in for a long ride. well by 8- 8:15 am i was dilated to 10 but didn't feel like pushing. i just laid there letting my body do the work.
i ended up pushing only 5- 10 times. and i didn't really start pushing till i was told that they could see the head and i was ready for it to be over.

number 6 i had contractions all day, but they were far apart. by 10 pm they were 8- 10 minutes apart. i had had several times already where i would contract every 5 minutes, so dh didn't want to call the dr at 11:30 like i asked him to.
at 12:15 my water broke, than he called the dr who was 45 minutes away. well dr arrived just after i finished pushing my son out.

 

[gracepaints]

My birthstory is the last post in my blog (wow, I really need to update). It was an awesome experience - really hard work - but really amazing.

 

[Green Orchid]

My labor was great - 7 hours, but 3 hours of hard work and 1 hour of pushing. All natural, in hospital, with a doula and an awesome non-interventionist doctor.

My advice would be to prepare yourself mentally to relax (do meditation/relaxation a few minutes a day), do not be afraid (fear increases pain) and don't have expectations of how long it's going to take. Take one contraction at a time and breathe through your nose, through your belly. And enjoy your new baby!