Wow there seems to be a lot of people who had 'easy' and 'hard' labours, mine I dont even know what I consider it..
It was so unexpcted and fast, at 36 weeks, I was watching TV, feeling GREAT, and out of no where my water breaks, scared the sh*t out of me, I knew it was going to happen eventually, but I assumed ther'd be some pain first..or any warning signs. I was at home, so i told my dad and step mom, they said to wait for contractions before we go, which never came, about 20 mins later my step mom said we needed to go anyway because even tho there was no contrations, since my water broke they were coming no matter what (and if we stayed much longer id risk infection) No sooner then she said that i got (what i consider) the worst pain EVER...which scared me (i was SO not ready to have them!), we live about 20 mins from the hospital and about 1/2 way there i felt something happen, and I knew they were coming, like NOW, I didnt think we'd make it, luckly, we did my son was born at 430pm, 4lb 6oz, I dont remember much except they took him away, and my daughter (4lb3)I dont remember being born at all, She was breech, they told me i went into a mild shock, but was alert, and I did push her out. I dont know why i took it all so bad, i mean the pain was awefule, but everyone goes thru it, i feel like a wuss haha, i wish i rememberd and was able to tell them a beautiful birth story, but theres nothing i can do, ive gotten over it.
So anyway on one hand it was short labour, both kids (altho small and with jaundice) did amazingly, and were out of nicu in a week..but on the other hand, i remember pain, freaking out, crying..and thats it.
Oh and I was planning on having a c-section 2 weeks later, in a hospital not in my town, with pain meds, and at least be a little more prepared, just goes to show you that life happens no matter if your ready or not!

Hello Kimmie87
You pretty much summed it all up..and as far as a story to tell them later all you can tell them is what you remeber..It's a beautiful story either way..2 beautiful heathly buddles of joy came from it, and as far as labor goes whoa! I will talk about my last one at a later date..I am currently pregnant and I'm so not looking forward to the labor part, although it is coming as you've said Ready or Not... I cant remember stages in between just as you...so i'll tell you what when I have my daughter(god's will) I'll come back and post about both deliveries...

Well I know women who've had easy labors and pleasant pregnancies. No such luck for me. I spent the first five months vomiting...survived on fruit smoothies, the only thing that didn't smell bad to me. (besides lemons) I actually lost weight and had an overall gain of 19 pounds (9lb 1 oz of which was baby) After the vomiting went away, the headaches and indegestion started. Then toward the end my sciatic nerve was acting up from the pressure. (I'm only 5'4) I actually had my hip go out when I was standing at work one day. My labor lasted days...Went in on a friday evening (after having contractions for 3days) Finally delivered Sunday 3am after pushing for 2.5 hours. But my little sweetie was worth it. And she was a very easy baby to care for. So, tough labor--easy baby?

Tough labour = easy baby sounds about right to me. I had a very easy labour all things considered, and its 3 yrs later, and I'm STILL not getting a full night's sleep because my daughter still gets up at least once a night. That first six weeks, there was a period where I think I had 12 hours sleep in 5 days. I went through her first 3 months as a zombie. And don't get me started on the temper tantrums later on.

Next baby, I think I can take the tough labour - at least that ends in a few hours (days at most). Tough kids last for lifetimes! Lol, but I still adore her!

My labor was awful. Started out easy and they gave me an epidural before I even needed one because they were afraid the anaesthetist wouldn't be available later. This was a huge mistake. Not only did I end up with a spinal headache due to loss of spinal fluid on insertion, but the epidural didn't take! It worked at first, but once I hit transition i could feel EVERYTHING. They kept upping my dose, but nothing happened. It was miserable. After 25 hours, I had a fever of 104 and was only dilated to 5 cm. After I begged her to, my OB finally agreed to give me a c-section. I don't remember most of it-I passed out as soon as Nattie was born. First few weeks postpartum were also terrible, due to PPD, but my baby was great. She slept through the night on her third day home and has been a great sleeper ever since. She still takes naps. She was a really easy baby--she's more of a challenge now, but I'd say overall I have it pretty good!

--M

Both my labor were very different. I have a phobia of needles so I needed an alternate plan to the epidural and my mom directed be to the bradley method, which she used with all 3 of her labors. I LOVED IT!! Recommended to all!

Anyway, with my daughter I was living in CA and my mom in AZ, and everyone was like is she really planning to just drive out when you into labor? That was the plan! We got into thinking of alternates closer to the due date, but I was in labor 26 hours and so she had plenty of time to drive, my dad even caught the last flight out that day and made it in time. I stayed very active all day, was uncomfortable but not so terribly painful. We went to the hospital about midnight because my contractions were about 30 secs apart. Maddie (6 in may) was born at 4:08 am, 8lbs. 10oz. I dont recommend having a baby in a hospital. The entire experince of labor was doable until we got to the hospital, they wouldnt let me walk, made me have a blood pressure monitor and spent about 2 hours trying to convince me and my parents that an epidural is the way to go. They're just crazy! Anyway the only part about natural labor I could have done without is the crowning, OH MAN, but the second she was out it was the most relief i had ever felt in my whole life. Funny thing, about 4 mins before she came out I said "I want a cigerette!" Got the whole birth on tape and all, she was soooo beautiful. She was one day early.

My son I had at a Birth Center, highly recommended. But my pregnancy, I was miserable. About 2 days before i had Jake (2) my husband called his work and said I cant come back in until my wife has this baby. I could not function. I went into labor for about 6 hours, 2am-9am, nothing, sent home, that night i went back. The birth center gave me a shot of moriphine and two valumes, its called a velvet hammer. They said get some sleep, your body is tired and thats whats preventing this. I went home puked, cause my body cant handle narcotics very well. Slept on our lazy boy and at 7am I woke up still miserable. My husband and i started our morning walk, but I only got to the end of the street and broke down in tears, I was ready to go to the emergency room, get the epidural and have them "pull the plug", I was done. My husband new natural was important to me so he called the birth center, they said come in, we'll check her and if still nothing than TMC it is. We got there at noon. I was dialated to 9cm and jake was born at 2:48pm, 10lbs. 1oz, one day late.

i tore a little with both, needed a few stiches and was sore for a week or so, that first poop, OH MAN! But worse than the labor pains was that miserable last month, and especially last week, of pregnancy.

Mine was looooooong.
Overall it wasn't a hard one though it was very LONG and not necessarily easy.
But thankfully I felt wonderful, even 5 days past my due date I was out playing DDR (dance dance revolution) at Chuck E Cheese with a friend and her son. I had a wonderful pregnancy, I hope my next is the same!

I went into labor 1 week and 2 days past my "due date". I stayed at my house for as long as I could. I ended up laboring in my home for three days (yea, three freaking days lol). I even went out to eat once and went to the mall to buy sweat pants. The worst part was that my aunt, who tried to have me give her my baby (wtf?), stopped by unannounced. My labor completely STOPPED the entire time she was there which was about four hours. Then it started back harder than ever.

Finally go to the hospital because my doula said that I was really effaced and she said that it was my choice, and at this point I wanted to because I was sick of seeing my walls. I went in and was only 3cm, but 95% effaced. To make a long story as short as I really can...
I ended up going all the way to pushing without an epidural (I wanted an unmedicated birth). This included 5 hours of locking myself in the bathroom and laboring by myself because I just didn't want to be around any one. I pushed for a little over two hours. My midwife checked and told me that he hadn't descended whatsoever. At that point the midwife, who is very anti c-section unless completely *necessary*, said that she would allow me to keep laboring as long as I wanted, but if I kept going she was nearly 100% sure I would end up with a c-section.

I had a talk with her and my doula (as much as I could through hardcore contractions) and we decided that at this point the best thing for me and Jacob was to get an epidural (most hospitals tend to not let you have one this late in the game so I was lucky) and take an nap before pushing again. I had been in labor at this point three and a half days and my uterus was just so given out that I had no strength to push him out. I woke up after an hour and a half, they checked and he was only an inch from coming out all on his own! So I got up, pushed for about an hour and out he came! This was about 2 hours shy of 4 days of labor. The best part was that once his head and shoulders were out my midwife let me reach down and pull him out the rest of the way myself, so I basically caught my own baby

It was an empowering experience and despite such a long labor and all that - I would still try to have an unmedicated birth next time. I just hope the next time I'm actually able to .

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and my mom directed be to the bradley method

The Bradley method is wonderful. I didn't actually use it because I didn't have the classes. But my doula is actually the daughter-in-law of the developers of this method, so I had someone great on my side

I'm really glad to be reading over some of these stories. Gives me a partial idea of what to expect. I know that everybody is different, but the more stories I can read, the better I will feel and therefore the less terrified which will make the impending birth easier (so I've read!)

My sister has had 2 kids, and both were fairly easy. She was actually home 8 hours after giving birth to my niece. The labour wasn't long. It started on Wednesday night and as I was visiting at the time (she was living 500 miles away) both myself and her husband took her to hospital. Nothing much happened after that, but the midwifes felt it was too close to let her go home so she stayed overnight. I felt bad but if I hadn't been there, her husband wouldn't have had to have taken me home and could have stayed with her. He went back about 9am the next morning and I got a call to say "hello auntie" at 10am. He'd just made it in time. No pain relief, 17 minutes of pushing and only 3 stitches.

My nephew on the other hand was longer and harder. but I'd agree with the statement of easy birth difficult baby. Toni (niece) barely eats, temper tantrums and has trouble concentrating on anything with even the slightest distraction (ie her mother speaks to her while adverts on tv... she doesn't even realise her mother is there.. its scary to watch) my nephew Ryan is so sweet natured, and no trouble at all.

I'm hoping for a middle of the road birth, not too long, not too short, dont mind a few stitches and losing a little blood, dont mind being exhausted for 3 days afterwards, and hopefully I'll have a fairly easy baby, who's very healthy and lets me sleep through the night occasionally!!!

quote:

Originally posted by first-timer:
hopefully I'll have a fairly easy baby, who's very healthy and lets me sleep through the night occasionally!!!

Oh I'm still waiting to sleep through the night!

im also glad to read these stories. I'm due in two months with my first baby and I'm not sure if I'd go the natural method or get pain medication. Been doing a lot of walking and prenatal yoga to help with labor, but I think I'll never know what I'll need once I'm there. Sometimes I wish I'd just fall asleep like my mom when she had me, and just woke up to find that it was all over!

Dawn,
Walking and prenatal yoga definintly helped me! Not in dealing with the pain (I got an epidural at 6cm dialated) but my labor was SO smooth, my midwife said that staying in good shape is the best way to avoid complications and tearing, as well as pushing a long time. Birth is such a beautiful experience, I can't imagine missing out on it like women years ago had to, given a drug, go to sleep and wake up afterwards, that's scary to me. Giving birth is a very empowering experience, I think women in the past were robbed of such a life changing event.

Thanks mountain lady, i needed that info. did you do walking and yoga everyday? i only do it three times a week, but i think i need to shift to a daily exercise routine. I already stopped working fulltime so I really need to do a lot of physical activity to keep my blood circulating.

Very textbook pregnancy and labor here. Started with contractions at 9 a.m. on Saturday and they were easy and I went about my day at home packing and such but resting and taking it easy. I lost my plug that evening. The first 12 hours were "easy" but by midnight I was in tears as they weren't getting closer together but they were getting painful...called the hospital and they told me I could come in or wait it out a bit more. I tried to rest but I had to get up every 7-11 minutes to "walk out" the contractions. By 5 a.m. I couldn't take it anymore and had Steve drive me to the hospital, I was a 4. I was definitely in pain but I kept expecting it to get worse. When I wanted to give up I got in the shower and would fall asleep on the plastic lawn chair they had in there in between contractions. I was exhausted and sick of being in labor. When I ran out of hot water at 9 a.m. (24 hrs from my first contraction) they checked me and I was a 9 with a bulging bag of waters. I told them to break it. Two hours of pushing later, and with the help of a vacuum, Lacey was born at 11:17 a.m. Her cord was wrapped around her shoulder which is why I had trouble getting her out. I had 7 stitches I think? But not even an IV! I plan to go all natural with this one too but I hope it goes a bit faster, although I did go from a 4 to 9 quickly. I also read a lot of books on natural birth and made a huge list of things that my mom and Steve could do to help me through labor but I didn't want anyone near me and the shower was my best friend!

Dawn, I did yoga almost everyday and walked at least 5 times a wk. If I skipped a day I felt like ****, my back would hurt and legs would ache. I remember walking 2 miles on my birthday, 3 weeks before my daughter was born. Walking and yoga are the best things you could be doing, not too strenuous but gets your blood flowing and yoga keeps your muscles relaxed and strong. Keep it up!

thanks mountainlady! I actually do the walking and the yoga alternately. I wish I could do walking daily, but I can only do so in the malls (it is sooo hot in this country to be walking on the streets, so I choose the malls where there is airconditioning). If I dont get to walk, I do yoga. It does help! Before I used to get some cramps on my legs at night, now I dont! Thanks for the advice, I think I'll make my walks and yoga more frequent now.