Just being nosey as not heard may of your birth stories as joined BE after lo born......

At just before 38 weeks I kept getting wet pants (sorry if tmi) and I just thought it was wee as lo was pressing right down in pelvis. At 38 weeks I noticed brown blood on my liner (wearing cos of "wee") and rang midwife who said it could be a show even tho not passed any mucus. As I had no pain etc she said it was ok but to keep a watch on any change (but I did not mention "wee" to her - silly me)!!

Anyway a day later (Saturday) in the evening I felt pants and was in a very moody way. Watched a film on TV then went to bed as normal. Woke up at 3am on Sunday (13th Jan) with really bad backache and I thought this doesn't feel like normal back pain. Oh woke up and just said go back to sleep you'll be fine. Anyway pain got worse so rang labour ward - told mw about pain plus blood & "wee" from before. She told us to go to antenatal clinic at 8.30am to be checked - in the meantime have a bath & tea & toast!!

So I did and we went to hospital - pain getting gradually worse. Was checked and was told hind waters had broken - which was what I thought the wee was, and that I was 1cm dilated. Could not go home cos had to be put on antibiotic drip cos waters broken few day early.
Had active labour - was walking about for most of it. Had a bit of a go in birthing pool but surprisingly did not like it?! Had pethidine as pain relief which made me very sleepy - I snored in between contractions!! Oh was there for the whole time sponging me and giving me drinks. Also had a trainee doctor in the room - he had to do 1 week on maternity ward for his course and I was 1st birth he's seen.

Anyway at 10.20pm after some time on my knees out came Charlotte weighing 5lb 14oz and scoring nearly full marks on all her tests - good girl! Trainee doc made me tea & toast to eat after being stiched up by doctor - had 2nd degree tear and mw could not do it - thought I might have to go into theatre but managed not to.

Then up to maternity ward at 1am where oh had to leave - sob!!! Had bit of scary night as Charlotte kept coughing/choking up mucus then had major trouble breast-feeding so gave up as got so upset plus mw's were constantly waking me & baby to try & feed. Went home on the Tuesday and now here we are just over 7 months later!!

I woke on Thursday morning (24th Feb 2008, 2 weeks early) at 4am with a pain, like really, really bad period cramp. Checked the time then closed my eyes again.

Ten minutes later the same thing happened. Then 8 minutes later. So I woke OH up and said "I think the baby is coming." The pains really hurt. He just said, "Go and wake my mam" (who was staying for the week).

So off I went. By time I got downstairs they were every 5 mins. They had me doubled over. I phoned the hospital and they told me to go in. Got OH up and still don't think he believed me 'cos he was waffling on about going to work.

Anyway, I finally arrived at the hospital at 6.20ish and was examined at 7.15am and was 4cm! I was told baby was in the back to back position. Was given some gas and air and a birthing ball.

By 9am I was in the bath with the gas and air. Pain was getting worse soIi got out and was given some diamorphine.

Leaning over the back of the bed huffing and puffing on the gas and air, I was examined again at 11.15 and told I was 8cm!! It took ages to get to fully dilated 'cos I had a full bowel so I was given something to sort that out.

At about 2pm, I was examined again and my waters were broken; still not quite fully dilated. Got the urge to push at about 3.40 so I did.

I pushed for exactly an hour. It was so hard, I was leaning over the back of the bed for most of it but then I had to go into the stirrups for the last 10mins.

His head crowned with his cord round his neck, but not tight, and I tore badly! Then the rest of him was born with one last push. It was amazing. Was the most painful part but it was great.

He weighed 7lb 13oz and was born at 4.40pm.

A doctor came in to examine me and I was told I had a 3rd degree tear so I was taken to the theatre and given a spinal and was stitched up. That was scary too 'cos I have never seen anything like it before. I cried until I couldn't feel anything.

A student midwife delivered him and she was so great. was with me the whole time, never left me once!!

Oh yeah - I forgot about my water's breaking whilst I was under the influence of pethidine. I thought I was weeing the bed loads and was trying to go to the loo but mw & oh had to stop me. It felt like so much was coming out. Glad I wasn't standing up - lol!!

I went in to be induced (overdue) and was put on the monitor and had 2 pessaries inserted over that day. Contractions started straight away, kept me up all night though was only 1-2cm dilated and the next day at 6am they were very strong and painful and I was 3cm dilated. I was in total agony and got some gas and air which didn't help with the pain much, but made it bearable and made me feel really happy and drunk! At about 12pm I was taken up to have my waters broken, which surprisingly didn't hurt at all. I was still only 3cm so a few hours later they decided to put me on the drip and I had an epidural put in. When the anaesthetist put the canular in, blood squirted EVERYWHERE (have very juicy veins! lol!). There was blood in my waters too which i thought was weird but no one mentioned anything.
Anyway, at 9pm I was STILL just 3cm dilated and the epidual kept wearing off. I was on the maximum drip and it was just not working at all. Then at 10pm I started getting some crazy pressure and midwife examined me again (I was hysterical as thought I would poo myself!) I was 7cm dilated. I thought YAY things are finally coming on! I felt really sleepy and giddy. Almost happy. Chatting away to the midwives (my epidural was topped up all the time as I got crazy everytime it wore off) and wondering aloud whether he would arrive before or after midnight. Midwife checked my temperature and it was high so I had blood taken from me, paracetamol, and antibiotic drip. Though 1/2 hour later a doctor came in saying the blood had been labelled wrong, so they took more, to test.
4/5 hours later I was examined again, and still at 7cm dilated. I was gutted! Doctor came in and said they were going to take me to theatre. So off we went (me shaking in fear as I was terrified of having a c section!). They prepped me and stabbed at belly with a needle thingy. I said "I can feel it I can feel it!!! Dont cut me!" lol. The anaesthetist said "You're an awkward one arent you" and gave me a spinal block which was much better. I couldnt feel them cut me but I couldnt half feel them pulling him out...it didn't "hurt" as such but was a bizarre feeling being dragged around! Gabe was born at 3.26am. As soon as he was out they said "oh my god what a big baby!" the way they said it I was terrified he was going to be a 14lbs baby as they were so shocked. He was actually 9lb 1 and I said "phew!"
LOL! xxx

Well on the friday I woke up and a 'gush' which didn't seem like wee so I rang hospital they said come in and we'll check. So I went in and they said I'd probably just wee'd a little bit- so embarrassed- but I actually think it was the hind water going as (sorry tmi) it wasn't yellow and didn't smell.

I felt a bit wierd on the friday, did a mad clean and ironing, plus finished packing my hospital bag! Didn't think anything would happen but woke at 3.30am Saturday with my first contraction. It wasn't too bad so I laid in bed waiting for another. Had another at 4am, then they started getting closer together. At about 5am I woke my hubby up and told him I thought something was happening- but was a bit worried about wasting everyone's time after the false alarm day before!

At 6am I called hopsital and they said come in as I had fast first labour and contractions were every 5 mins (I was terrified of giving birth at home) so rang mum and told her I needed to get to hosp. She wanted to have a shower before we went but thankfully I persuaded her not to!

Got to hospital at just after 6.30 and asked to be checked internally but they wouldn't do it I was told to wait in my room until things progressed. Was still having contractions every 5 mins and they made me breathless but I wouldn't say it was 'pain' I could cope with them fine (that's why I thought nothing was happening)

At just before 8am they were every 2 mins so thought I'd better call mw-who came in to check my bp. She couldn't get the b.p machine to work so she left to find another and as soon as she left I felt the urge to push! Had to quickly get my trousers off and hop on the bed. Mw came back and asked if I wanted to try delivering on all fours, but I told her I wasn't moving so was laid on my back and had a bit of gas and air when pushing but it didn't hurt and Evie just seemed to slide out really gently at 8.07am, weighing 8lbs 12.5oz.

It was a fantastic experience and I felt great afterwards!

It was the Sunday 23rd December and I was 9 days overdue. I had been booked in for an induction for Christmas Eve and was desperate to not have my daughter on Christmas Day so I had tried all the usual... pineapple, curry, sex, even a full bottle of castor oil! Nothing had happened so, I just resigned myself to the fact I was going to have to be induced and probably have Maddy Christmas Day :\(
Maddy's Dad left us when I was 5 months pregnant but, I had met someone else when I was 7 months and we had been seeing each other regularly. I went to his house as we were intending going out for a meal. I was feeling a bit uncomfortable 'down below' and perched myself on the edge of his sofa. Suddenly I felt a 'Pop' and the sensation of gushing water. I shot off the sofa, shouting 'Oh my God!' and ran to the bathroom. I laugh about it now but, all I was worried about was ruining his cream sofa or laminate floor! I was sat on the loo, John asking me if I was ok and me laughing hysterically. You should have seen his face when I told him my waters had broken!
We did the phone calls to my Mum and sister (Birthing partners) got a pair of Johns pants and jogging bottoms for me to wear and a big towel for me to sit on in the car and off we went.
As we joined the motorway the traffic was at a standstill cos of an accident and we couldn't get off the slip road so had to call the traffic police! Lol
Got to the hospital, signed in and got checked... yes it was amniotic fluid but I was only 1cm dialated :\(
48 hrs later I was only 2 cm dialated so they decided to take me down to the labour ward at 6pm Christmas Day and give me a drip to speed things up. The midwife there checked me and discovered that the reason things were taking so long was, my hind waters had broke but not my fore waters! She broke them for me and then told me the reason for my excruciating back pain was baby was lying back to back. She advised an epidural which I cried about but finally agreed to.
Maddy was finally born at 1-51am on Boxing day weighing 7lb 12oz

It was the Sunday 23rd December and I was 9 days overdue. I had been booked in for an induction for Christmas Eve and was desperate to not have my daughter on Christmas Day so I had tried all the usual... pineapple, curry, sex, even a full bottle of castor oil! Nothing had happened so, I just resigned myself to the fact I was going to have to be induced and probably have Maddy Christmas Day :\(
Maddy's Dad left us when I was 5 months pregnant but, I had met someone else when I was 7 months and we had been seeing each other regularly. I went to his house as we were intending going out for a meal. I was feeling a bit uncomfortable 'down below' and perched myself on the edge of his sofa. Suddenly I felt a 'Pop' and the sensation of gushing water. I shot off the sofa, shouting 'Oh my God!' and ran to the bathroom. I laugh about it now but, all I was worried about was ruining his cream sofa or laminate floor! I was sat on the loo, John asking me if I was ok and me laughing hysterically. You should have seen his face when I told him my waters had broken!
We did the phone calls to my Mum and sister (Birthing partners) got a pair of Johns pants and jogging bottoms for me to wear and a big towel for me to sit on in the car and off we went.
As we joined the motorway the traffic was at a standstill cos of an accident and we couldn't get off the slip road so had to call the traffic police! Lol
Got to the hospital, signed in and got checked... yes it was amniotic fluid but I was only 1cm dialated :\(
48 hrs later I was only 2 cm dialated so they decided to take me down to the labour ward at 6pm Christmas Day and give me a drip to speed things up. The midwife there checked me and discovered that the reason things were taking so long was, my hind waters had broken but not my fore waters! She broke them for me and then told me the reason for my excruciating back pain was baby was lying back to back. She advised an epidural which I cried about but finally agreed to.
Maddy was finally born at 1-51am on Boxing day weighing 7lb 12oz

I Woke on the 22nd April my due date with back pain and felt very umcomfortable. Went to my midwife appointment, she thought i was in slow labour! went home bounced on my ball hoping things will happen. At at 7.30 i had a contraction. went on my ball and hubby timed contractions. called hospital told to call when 5minutes apart. at 2am went to hospital. I had my tens machine on from about 12. Took ages them putting me on a machine etc got check i was only 3cm, so they kept me in and put me on ward at 5am. by 11am was still 3cms so was given a sweep.

At 1pm my hubby came at visiting time. We walked around the hospital and my tummy pains were getting worse. Asked for some more pain killers but couldn't have any for another couple of hours. In the end had gas and air. Was put on a machine to be monitored. Remember waking up feeling very wet. My waters had gone and was 5cm so went down t delivery suite. had gas and air and pethdine. Alyssia was born at 8.35pm on Wednesday 23rd April one day late.She was 7lb 11oz and beautiful. I had no stiches just a small graze.

Alyssia is now 17weeks old and a really good little girl.

hi my birth story
well i had 2 big baby before 10,5lbs 10.8lbs fist was 5 day late and the other was 1 day early
It start about 37 week when i had a first sweep it did not work as i suffer from heart problems and might be carring a big baby they told me that they will try next week 38 weeks it worked and was 1cm dilated but still did not go into labour. At 39 i went back again to see the doctor again told me bring me in on Monday to be induced that made it 40+2 days i went in on Monday but there was no room in the delivery suit so went back home i went back on Tuesday and had a pessarie at 11.00. at 6.00pm i started with some pain but i had not dilated any more so the doctor were keep a close eye on me and might give to go to theatre i did not pay any attention to this i was ok with other two children , The pain carry on so went and had a bath by time i got out i was nearly in tears they had look at me i was 4 cm and i went down to delivery suit i had gas and air and pethidine they next thing was mum arrived and i saying need to push i try to stop my self as my waters had not gon so the midwife had a look to brake my waters but she look my little girl head was there as the anaesthetist come to take me to theatre midwife said we dont need you now . i deliver her in less than an hour of being on deliver suit. she weighed 8.6lbs and is called Faith i am now ok i have bin not back on medition and they keeping an eye on me and not going to do it again

Just found mine and it brought back all the memories!!

I've copied and pasted it...

I'm so proud to say that baby Ruby Louise was born at 3.33am this morning, Thursday 6th March weighing 8lb 11oz! She is so amazing and me and my husband are absoloutely besotted! She is so funny as whenever Dean walks into the room, she must recognise his voice and turns her little head to find him!

I was due to be induced at 8am as 12 days overdue but woke up at 4am with contractions! I was so excited! I timed them and they were around 5-6 minutes apart. I went for a bath to relax myself, then woke hubby up!

We got to the hospital as planned for 8am and explained that I had gone into labour naturally, however the contractions were slightly irregular so they gave me a 'Prostin' pessary at around 10.30, By 1.30 I was in so much pain and was convinced I wasn't far away as the pains were every 1-2 minutes, however when I was examined they said that my cervix hadn't even started to dilate and was still really far back. I couldn't believe it. Because of this I couldn't have any epidural, and the bath was broken so couldn't even relax in that! They wanted to wait until 5pm to examine me but by 3.30 I couldn't take it anymore, they examined me to find that I was 3cm!!!

They said they'd move me to the labour ward when I was 4cm and give me some pain relief! The ward was so understaffed and when the staff changed over at 7pm I had the most 'old school' midwife you can imagine! Saying I didn't need pain relief as was only 3cm. Hubby kicked off big time as I was in so much pain by 11pm and they finally sent me to the labour ward, to find that I was fully dilated and too late for an epidural! I was furious!

My waters then broke and was told to start pushing. I was so exhausted and scared of pushing out this baby with no pain relief that I refused to push!!! Hahahaha!! I TOLD them to get me an epidural and that I didn't care if I was minutes away! They finally let me have one and oh my god it was amazing, Its so worth standing up for yourself in that situation and MAKING them do something!

Then at around 3.10 I had to start to push again, which was so much better but her heartbeat was dropping and she became very distressed so needed a ventouse which really wasn't that bad. I wish I had not been such an idiot and done what they said though, as they said to push into my bottom but I was so convinced that I was about to pass wind, right into the doctors face, that I was really half heartedly doing it! In the end I just went for it and out she came! They put her straight onto my chest and I burst into tears! She was so perfect!

She didn't cry though so they took her over to the resucitor thingy for about 10 mins and she was fine after that!

Unfortunately I tore really badly (3rd degree) and had to have a lot of stitches. I'm very uncomfortable now and can't sit down very well so will be buying a childs rubber ring tomorrow in the hope that helps!

I was released from hospital at 1pm and have had a lovely afternoon at home as a family! My parents came round and my Dad cried! They are so in love with her too and i've never seen so many cameras going off!

She really is amazing and more perfect than I could have ever imagined!!!

Mine's very boring! Evie was a planned c-section due to a previous emergency one. Went in at 8am on 5th March at 38+2 with OH in tow. MW told us that there were only 2 of us booked in that day so, barring any emergencies, we'd both be done and dusted by lunchtime. She put catheter in so that we were ready to rock (her words!) as soon as theatre was ready. At about 10am she came back to say that there'd been an emergency but as soon as that was done I was next. At 12 the anaethetist (sp??) came in to talk me through the spinal and at half 12 they walked me down to theatre (with my catheter bag in my hand-classy!!). I can honestly say it was the scariest walk of my life! The emergency section first time round was one thing but the fact that I was willingly going to let them cut me open whilst I was still awake seemed to hit me right between the eyes and I got very shaky. OH was whisked away to get changed into his scrubs and the MW got me sat on the operating table ready for the spinal. At this point the knock out man (decided I can't spell their proper name!!) came in and told me I'd have to go back to my room as another emergency was on her way up. I promptly burst into tears and waddled outside to OH who wondered what on earth had happened. Anyway, I was back in theatre at 1.30pm to have spinal, new knock out man was lovely and kept me really calm, spinal worked first time, OH allowed in at 1.50pm and Evie Grace was delivered at 2.04pm weighing 8lb 1/2oz with a mop of black hair, gorgeous girl!! Was stitched up and in recovery by half 2 and feeding her by 2.45pm, lil piglet!!!! We stayed in for 3 nights, was def ready for home!!

Just found mine from the 'due in Nov 07'

I am very please to announce the safe arrival of Joseph Michael born 6th December

I was all set to be induced on Friday night as I was sooo overdue and totally fed up from waiting! Instead I woke up on Thursday morning about 7.30am and got up to go to the toilet and had a really strong pain, got back in to bed and said to hubby that I was in pain. He got up to get ready to go to work as I didnt really believe that anything like that was happening!! By the time Hubby went to work just after 8am I was having quite strong pains and when I tried to time them they were coming all over the place every 5 mins then every 7 mins and I remember thinking this cant be labour surely it doesnt start off this painful. Anyhow I rang the hospital for advice and midwife just said take a bath and paracemtamol making me believe that if anything was happening it was ages away.

Got in the bath and I got hardly sit down for the pain,by now the pains were every 3 mins but I just thought that I mustnt be timing them right! I got out and took some painkillers and phoned my Mam to ask her to come over. Tried to go on birthing ball but again could sit down, by this time I was also passing quite a bit of blood. When Mam arrived I rang hospital again - spoke to same midwfe who said 'you sound a lot more distressed now'!! and advised me to go in and get checked. Phoned hubby to come home and take me to the hospital and arrived there at 11.45am. When the midwife examined me I was 8cm dialated and it was only this point I realised that it was actually happening!!

They prepared the delivery room for me and as soon as I got my hands on the gas and air my waters broke and and I had an over whelming desire to push. The midwife advised me to just do what my body was telling me and (im still standing up at this point as I still couldnt sit down!!) This felt like it went on for ever and the need to push completely overtook me but still nothing was happening at about 4pm the midwife finally got me on the bed and I was asking for pain relief as I stopped using the gas and air when i started pushing as I couldnt get the hang of pushing and breathing at the same time! but she told me it was too late. My contractions started to slow down from this point ,After another half an hour of me telling everyone I couldnt do it anymore and my wonderful hubby telling me I could and I was doing fantastic and my Mam telling me I had to I didnt have a choice the Midwife advised that she needed to do an episiotomy. I told her to do anything to get the baby out so on my next contraction she cut me and he was born at 16.57pm - He was back to back which they hadnt realised and thats why he was stuck. He was absolutley fine and weighed 8lb 5oz

Though hubby is still traumatised by the blood and stiching I had to go through! We stayed in hospital for 2 nights as the staff were all fantastic and we wanted to get breastfeeding established. Home now and both me and hubby are totally besotted with our gorgeous little man!!

He is now nearly 9 months old and I still cant believe you can have so much love for one little person, im constantly amazed and overwhelmed by him:\)

Think I must be mad but it almost makes me want to go through the whole thing again!

xxx

Just found my birth story it brought back some lovely memorys

Hi all ive only just got chance to write my birth story even though Grace is now 8days old and was born on the 18th feb we only came out of hospital on fridat 22nd due to grace having jaundice and needing phototherapy treatment but all is well.As you all will know from my other posts ive had an eventful last few weeks going into labour twice getting to 3cm and stopping,well thats what happened again to start of with on the saturday morning the 16th feb.Contractions were coming 6mins apart again but then stopped so they kept me in and wanted to give me a growth scan on the monday(the 18th).The midwife examined me on the sunday morning due to pains starting again so while she was doing it she gave me a sweep.Started getting period pains about 4hrs later but nothing bad.Husband and kids came to visit then abt an hr after they'd gone pains started coming abit worse so i got on the birthing ball which may i say was fantastic.Midwife examined me at 11.30pm and i was 5cm so husband came back and we went upto labour ward.I had to stay on moniter due to having diabetes but once i was on the bed the contractions stopped so she let me stand up and they soon started coming back every 8-10 mins.At 3.05am she examined me and i hadnt dilated anymore so she popped my waters then that was it abt 30mins later they came thick and fast so it was time for gas and air then.By 4.30am i was ready to push and 10mins later my beautiful baby girl was born weighing in 7lb 12oz which they say was a good weight for 37wks.There was abit of a panic at the end cos the cord was tight round her neck so she was blue when she came out but after what seemed like ages she let out a good scream and was put straight on me for skin to skin contact and i can say right at that minute i felt like the luckiest person alive it was brilliant.Then after a nice hot bath it was down to the ward for a rest not that you can sleep cos your that excited.My husband brought our 2kids in to see us and we were the happist family around.we only came out on friday but we've settled into a nice routine already she has a bottle at abt 1.30am then sleeps till 7am so i cant complain.Hope everyone elses goes smoothly .

I never told my birth story on here cos i also joined after Erin was born. So here goes.

It was 21st March (Good Friday) and i had a midwife appointment i was due on the 24th March. I had high Blood Pressure for the first time lots of protein in my wee and very very swollen so m/w said to go to the labour ward for blood tests and monitoring. Blood tests apparently were very abnormal although i felt fine and BP returned to normal but because of the blood they wanted me to stay in over night for monitoring and possible induction in the morning. So i went down to the maternity ward. I had regular checks on the baby monitoring machine thing round my bump! Everything was fine so she said she wouldn't disturb me anymore at 1.30am woke up wet, told the m/w who said it was hind waters and not to worry, tried going back to sleep but couldn't as pains started told m/w - she said it was probably braxton hicks. Although the pains got stronger and stronger so kept on pacing the ward up and down up and down didn't want to keep still. The pain increased and got faster (i knew) the m/w insisted i went back to bed and told me not to worry but i couldn't lay there and i thought they were thinking i was making a fuss so just continued to pace up down! the pain got really bad and realised it was less than 2 mins apart (about 5 am) so went to tell them again. she reluctantly said she would do an internal, to find i was 6 cm dilated (the look on her face i think she thought i was causing a fuss although don't know why as i was only 2 days away from due date) so called oh into hosp. oh arrived at 0530. i wanted to push at 0730 so they took me to the labour ward. Kept telling me i wasn't ready to push yet and it was still early stages i convinced them i wanted to push. So started to push Erin was crowning instantly every time i pushed they said she was nearly there but nothing happened for 1 and half until a senior midwife came in and said its a big baby she going to need an episiotmy so they cut me and Erin was born at 0919 on 22nd March 08 at 8lb14oz. All taken into account it happend so fast no pain killers (just cos of the speed of things not by choice, lol) and looking back on it it was the best experience from start to finish. (although had loads of problems with stitches post natally)

I can not wait to have another one, lol xxx

mine started when i woke up friday morning (17th aug) with bleading and tummy ache rang the hospital and explained what was happening and they asked me to go in and checked out they said it wa a show and that i was not in labour and they didnt expect to see me until at least sunday so went home carried on my day as normal got to 7 and the pain was still there so had a bath but when i got out the pressure down below felt like i was falling out of my self so rang the hospital thy asked me to come and get checked again so arrived at 8pm was checked over and was 1cm so not even in real labour the midwife asked me to do a water sample as she thought i may have had a water infection and thats why i was in pain well went and did the 'wee' and she said it wasnt wee it was my waters so sent me down stairs got examind again at 8.10 ish i was only 2 cm so they left me alone with in 5 mins i was in so much pain my oh called the mw back good job aas fin was on his way out 2 pushes later he was born at 8.22 pm no pain releif of stiches best labour ever

Loving hearing everyone's birth stories.
Mine is not quite so dramatic. I had a fantastic pregnancy and had a carefully thought out birth plan, but then at 35 weeks I was told Lily was breech (we didn't know baby was a she at that stage!). At 37.5 weeks I went in to have an ECV, which didn't work so I was booked in for a section at 39 weeks and my birthing plan went out the window! So on 3rd Oct I arrived nice & early at the delivery suite, another scan confirmed baby was still breech so I was on my way to the theatre with OH. All the staff were absolutely brilliant, explained exactly what would happen and really put me at ease. To be honest I wasn't really nervous anyway, just excited, and I felt all calm & serene. I had a spinal block, which was the weirdest sensation ever. Didn't feel anything during the operation just strange tugging & pulling and Lily was born at 9.48a.m weighing in at 6lb 9oz. She was cleaned up and dressed then placed on the table next to me whilst I was stitched up. I was then moved to the recovery room where I gave Lily her first breast feed. To say a section was the last thing I wanted the whole experience was very positive. I spent 2 nights in hospital and had a great recovery afterwards.

Went into labour about 10pm nd got to hospital at midnight. Told was 1cm (boo - had been that about a week before!). Put n heart rate monitor as mentioned had not felt baby for an hour or so. Heart rate dropped right down after about an hour. Midwives rushed in, tried to roll me over in case baby was on cord then bed back was put down and they literally ran with me on the bed through to other side of maternity unit.
ABout five people in the room, someone burst my waters which just gushed thick meconium (baby's poo) and a lady surgeon was explaining how they had to get baby out this minute and she was sorry but ther wasn't time for an epidural in theatre.
Rushed straight to theatre. Given a general anaesthetic to knock me out. Hubby not allowed in theatre. Next thing I know I am waking up in pain and someone tells me i have had a baby boy but he is in special care.
To cut a VERY long story short. Baby was 8lb 12oz and on life support. We were told several hours after birth that he had taken a turn for the worse and may not make it. Finally wheeled in to see him 6-8 hrs aftr birth and couldn't recognise him which upset me. Then later that evening he was taken by ambulance with hubby to a bigger hospital for more intensive treatment (his lungs were blocked with meconium so couldn't breathe). I didn't see him then ntil I left hosp some 3 days later. Baby spent nearly 2 weeks fighting in intensive care but finally was released and we took him home. Never opened any cards or had banners announcing birth etc but we are making up for that now.
Noone can give me back the birth experience and I still cry when I think how I didn't see him born and that my parents saw him before I did (they arrived just as he was being rushed out of theatre with breathing mask) but I guess I should just be grateful he is alive.
Now 7 months old and definately a high maintenance child!!!
Would I have another? hmmm not sure am petrified of giving birth now as pain was excruciating at just 1 cm, with contractions evry few mins and think they would just give me a c section anyway.

love reading these, i haven't written one on here before so i will see what i can remember??

sunday 10th december (10 days over due)
oh was off work so had the sudden urge to go food shopping!! wasnt feeling 100% walking around morrisons but thought nothing of it, on the evening friends came over for food ect they left around 9pm just as top gear was starting, me and oh really like top gear and was looking forward to watching it, at around 9:15 i felt a popping sensation in my lower stomach a sudden wave of fear came over me, went up to the loo wear a had a small amount of pinkish liquid (tmi) so wasnt sure whether it was my waters, shouted oh to come and have a look (bless lol), i came down the stairs and felt like i was weeing myself (tmi) went back to loo again some more pink liquid, sat back down to watch top gear and just felt like a needed a number 2 so i thought right this is it then

i tried to lay down, sit watch top gear but i felt most comfortable in the bathroom (weird i know) contractions came thick and fast stating at about 9mins apart, i rung delivery suite and explained what had happened they said you will have ages yet try and stay at home, ages omg didnt think i could cope much longer!! i tried to keep calm breathing ect oh was great very relaxed which helped me loads

i then the contractions were every 3 mins we decided to make our way into hospital (2am) oh clutching bag and notes we headed off hospital only 5 mins away so journey wasnt too bad, it was like something offa film i kept having to stop in the carpark, add the door by the lift in the lift and so on until i got to ward lol lol

midwives were lovely, i got into nighty to get comfy whilst she examined me, i was only 4cm!!!!!!!!!!!! i was in a lot of pain by now but still coping, the one thing i do remember is the mw asking me to do a water sample is she serious i cant even sit on the loo let alone wee in a container!!!!!!!!!

god i just couldnt get comfy i had to keep moving around, then mw suggested going on all fours and thats where i stayed for ages, by now the only way i can describe the contractions is like a bowling ball be thrown down my bum (tmi lol) it a was agony, so i shouted at mw to please have a look cuz i was convinced baby was coming, she said oh katie it will be a while yet we wont have a baby untill at least 8am, omg i couldnt cope with this, but its true what they say you know your own body so i kicked up a fuss until she finally looked and yes i was 10cm dialated this 4am!!!! finally she gave me some gas and air what i relief!! it doesnt take the pain away but for me it made me relax inbetween contactions

ok baby got into a bit of distress, so had to push quickly, this part wasnt too bad (believe it or not) i had to be cut but after 20 mins freya zena was born 4;50am monday 10th december ;)

she didnt breathe straight away which was sooooo scary but after a little help she started to cry!!

after being stitched up, which to me was worse than childbirth itself, and a wash, me and oh shared the first magical hour staring at our beautiful baby as a breast fed her, i will never forgett those first moments where you realise what you have accomplished and that you have the perfect baby in the world x x x

It's great having all these birth stories in one place. Here's mine from 2 weeks ago!

For those of you that have been following you'll know that I was unsucessfully induced at 10 days over just over a week ago. After being sent home to rest for the weekend I was back in the hospital on Monday (4th Aug). After having an internal it was obvious that nothing had progressed over the weekend so after a lengthy discussion with the registrar and a scan to check the condition of my placenta it was decided that we would try one more dose of the prostin to try to get things moving with a view to having a section on Tuesday morning. Overnight I had plenty on tightenings but no real contractions and the following morning the doctor did an internal and tried unsuccessfully to break my waters. The section was scheduled for 10am.

At 10.46am Aoife Mae Starr (pronounced eefa) as delievered by section! In the end it was the best thing all round as the consultant said that although she appeared to be engaged and in the right position on the scans she actually wasn't! If we had of persisted with the second induction the position she was in would have made delievery impossible so it would have ended up being an emergency section with all the additional risks and problems. As it was everything went very smoothly.

I am now back home with my beautiful baby girl and her dad is absolutely besotted!

Actually it was quite funny during the delivery - we didn't know what sex the baby was before hand. When they had delivered her and held her up over the screen for us to see it was hard to tell what sex she was as the umbilical cord was hanging down between her legs. My husband looked a bit stunned at seeing a real live baby in front of him then the doctor said it's a girl - his face lit up 'Oh my God it's a girl' and he sat there grinning from ear to ear. It wasn't that he didn't want a boy but his side of the family are all boys (he only has brothers and nephews!) so he really wanted a girl! He so in love with her now it's adorable - I'd be jealous but I'm in love with her too! LOL!

Anyway I wanted to say thanks to everyone for their support on this forum. Hopefully we'll catch up again on the baby forum!

All the best,
Steph

seemsto be common that ppl think there wetting there selfs,heres my story....

i finished work on the tues 10th april i was 35weeks,i booked 5 weeks holiday and my maternity leave was starting 5 weeks later,,on the tues i had a a/class this was the 2nd i had,just told us about pain relife anywayz ,i woke up at 5am on the 11th april wanting to go to the loo i got up and it trickled all down my leg,i thought i was wetting myself i went to the loo and had a wee,got back in bed and 20 mins later i wanted the loo again so got up and it happened again,went to the loo had another wee went and sat on the bed,my oh got up cos he was getting ready for work he asked how i was,i felt so embarassed,i didnt tell him i thought i was wetting myself,i said i was fine,this carried on all morning,i got up at 9 and thought i better collect a sample as i had a mw appoinment later in the day (good job cos i would have stayed at home) so i searched the house for the biggist s/towel i could find and put it on,at 11 i toddled of to see the mw,i told her what was happining and she said it sounds like your waters could be braking,so she phoned the hospital and told them i was gonna come up,got back in the car and phoned my oh and told him what the mw had said he said shall i download tools and pack up and come home (he was working about 3-4 hours away from home) i said no,not yet,got to the hospital they asked for another sample which had quite alot of protien in,so the hooked me up to the machines to check my ds heartbeat that was fine,the said they would get a doctor to come and chech me out,about 4ish the doctor finaly came,she asked me all about what was going on and she felt my belly and said it feels like hes on his way,so then she did an internal,she said are you in any pain i said no iam fine,she said your 3-4cm dialated,i said so my baby is coming she said yes,so i phoned my oh and told him he better pack up work and get my hospital bag,the doctor said that were my lo bum was thats were the waters had broke,so she left me there and kept coming to check on me,a few hours later they took me to the labour ward and kept checking on me,the doctor came in and said if your waters havent broke by 8:30pm were gonna brake them for you,so nothing happened so at 8:30 they came in and broke my waters and boy the contractions started thick and fast! i asked for the daddy of all drugs but they said there is a que for it and i dont think your gonna last that long,(if you lasted this long well done ive nearly finished ) so 4 1/2 hours later april 12 2007 at 1:01am my gorgeous little boy popped in to the world!
and now iam pregnant again and iam hoping it all goes like that again

sarah
xx

After reading all your lovely stories I decided to find my birth story on here and it really did make me smile and I had such lovley replies it made me miss all my bump buddies.........

Heres my story 5 days after I gave birth to Mason James.....

Well after 13 days over cooking Mason decided to make a drastic appearance!!!

I woke up in the morning with a stomach ache (it felt like I had the runs) but decided to ignore it and have a cuppa. When I got up to go to the loo I had a gush of liquid and it just didn't stop!! I had black bottoms on so couldn't see the colour until I got on the loo. My waters were a green brown colour so I knew something wasn't right. I phoned delivery suite and they told me to come straight in as they were sure baby had pood in me. My delivery suite was over an hour drive away and needed to get stepson sorted etc so we went to local birth centre which was 10 mins away. Was put on monitor and baby seemed fine which was a huge relief. At this point my contractions were all over the place and not too painful so was sent off to delivery suite. At this point girls I can honestly say it really hadn't sunk in I was actually in labour!!! When we got to hospital my contractions were more regular but still bearable. Baby was still fine so they left me for 2 hours to see how I progressed on my own. Well 2 hours later I wasn't even 1cm dilated!!! My waters had broken at 915am and it was now 4pm and nothing!!! I was then taken to my own room and was put on the drip to speed things up. The drip was started at 6pm. The contractions were still bearable but I could tell they were a lot stronger. By 8pm I asked for 2 paracetomol as the contracts were getting worse. I hadn't been examined so thought I was being a wimp as thought I was only 1-2cm dilated. Midwife then examined me and I was 7cm dilated!!! She asked me if I wanted any pain relief as she said it wasn't fair on me to be doing it all on 2 paracetomol and I was like "Oh am I allowed...yes please!!!" I had an epidural but I knew I needed to push while she was putting it in but didn't say a word. My epidural was put in at 945, followed by my waters breaking for a third time and 6 pushes later Mason was out by 1015. He was the first and only baby born on 12th June all the others waited til Friday the 13th!!!

I can honestly say the whole way through my labour I kept thinking this is gonna get worse, this is gonna be bad and it really wasn't!!! I'm not saying I would want to do it everyday but I found the whole experience compelling. I had 3rd degree tear and lost over litre of blood so was in hospital for 3 days but was that out of it I don't really remember being there!!!

To all of you that are still waiting to have your babies I wish you a smooth hassle free labour and you get to meet your little ones soon.

To all of you that have been through labour I hope it was as good as mine!!

Katie and Mason.x x x

I had gestational diabetes controlled on insulin so I was booked in for an induction at 39 weeks. I arrived at hospital 4.30pm on 20th december, no one was expecting me, so I was sent home again until 9.30pm. Returned to hospital at 9.30pm, examined by mw and put on monitor, just about to have the first pessarie when doctor came along and stopped it. Said it was not safe as they did not have enough staff.

Was not happy!! Refused to leave hospital without my baby so stayed over night. Hubby went home at 11pm then I was on my own in a 4 bed bay, not a mw seen for hours.

at 1am was still wide awake and suddenly got really bad period like cramp, happened again 10 mins later, so I got out my mobile phone and got the stop watch running. Cramps were 9 mins apart, but quite bearable. By 4am was sure they were contractions as were 4 mins apart and very strong and each one made me desperate to pee (like I had a UTI), still had not seen a mw at all so pressed my call button. Was greeted very frostily and told that they only wanted to know when 3 mins apart.

At 6am 3mins apart and very strong, I was not coping well by this stage as was tired, in pain, lonely and scared, so called mw again and asked to phone my husband. She examined me but only 2 cm dilated so sent off to have a bath.

Husband helped to put on tens macine which gave me something to focus on, but was still in a lot of pain, so midwife gave me some paracetamol - as if that was going to help!

At 11am I was taken to the labour ward to have my waters broken, which contained meconium, so I had to be monitored with a foetal scalp monitor, which meant I had to stay on bed. At same time was attached to insulin drips. Examined again but was only 3cm.

I was also told at this point I was no longer able to eat or drink anything.

Had gas and air which was lovely, felt very drunk. Between this and my tens machine I was nicely occupied for each contraction. Because I was being monitored we could see when each contraction was coming, so my husband would watch the screen and tell me when to start puffing on the gas and air before the full contraction hit.

The foetal scalp monitor kept detaching, so they had to keep putting it back, which was extremely painful. They decided that the tens machine was interfering with the monitor so I had to take it off.

By 5pm I had been contracting very strongly, so when the midwife examined me she was shocked to find I was still only 4cm dilated. She suggested an epidural and a syntocinon drip, I tried to put it off by having some meptid, but by 6.30pm I had an epidural in place. It was amazing relief to finally be able to rest a little bit.

The syntocinon was turned up full and the contractions were getting stronger, but I was still not dilating any more.

Some time around midnight the doctor came in and told me that the baby was in distress and they needed to get on with a c-section asap. I was whisked into theatre within 10 mins.

It was so strange to be aware of them routing around in my tummy but not really feeling it. It made me feel very sick and my whole body was shaking uncontrolably!

My husband was with me the whole time and finally at 00:55 on saturday 22nd December my beautiful baby boy was born.