Birth….?!!!
Show your support
i had my first baby on 29th august 2021. I was exactly 40 weeks (due date baby!!). I like to say I helped that happen, two days before he was due I bounced on my pregnancy ball eating doritos with extra hot salsa, did this the night before too, i then went to bed at 12:20am on my due date after bouncing, and then at 12:40am i woke up randomly and the bed was soaked, woke my partner up who checked and said my waters had broken! (he couldve let me have more than 20 mins sleep before his arrival tho smh!!). we then called the birth centre, who said we could come in so they could assess but contractions had not started yet. two minutes after we spoke to birth centre, my contractions started and came on super strong and so quickly. we got to birth centre, i was in a lot of pain from contractions, they checked my dilation and said i wasn’t even 1cm dilated! they said we could go home or stay in, i said stay in bcos we travelled half an hour. anyway, i laid on a bed and the contractions were
getting worse and worse, i said to my partner i felt sick, he grabbed a sick bucket (those cardboard ones) and i projectile vomited and it bounced in the bowl and straight back out all over my face/hair 🤣 i then proceeded to have a go at my partner for getting a tiny bucket even tho that was the only thing there lol! eventually they told me the pool was ready for me as i kept begging for a bath bcos they originally said i couldn’t get in the water yet, but then they allowed me to and then i was in the pool just chilling it helped ease contraction pains, then i started getting out the pool saying i needed a poo, but really it was the baby coming so i hopped back in the pool, and then my body did allll the work! my midwife didn’t tell me to push and even if she did, i don’t think i could stop, it was completely involuntary like my body knew what it was doing! baby then made his entrance at 8:48am, taking 8 hours and 8 minutes from waters breaking to his arrival 💙
@Natasha Honestly i think that’s the best way! The more you panic yourself and worry..the worse it’ll be! But can never help a little nerve haha, thankyou so much!!
that’s my birth story. i’d definitely take some paracetamol or something for contractions, i wish i did they hurt more than i thought they would. that’s the whole reason i threw up was due to the pain (but i do have a lower tolerance). if you’ve been considering, i’d 100% recommend a water birth, as that is a natural pain relief. i was obvs in a lot of pain etc with throwing up etc, but my first contraction in the water i barely felt it! they did get increasingly worse, but were a lot better than out of the water and it was the midwife who said water acts as a natural pain relief! xx
@Sinead That sounds so chaotic haha! but at least bouncing on the ball and the doritos with the salsa helped! 😂 Might have to give that one a go!
Stay as active as you can, use the exercise ball and peanut ball, hand expressing during labour can quicken things, stay hydrated, have people who support you and you’re most comfortable with as your support team. Don’t be afraid to speak up/advocate for yourself. Breathe through contractions like your breathing in the gas/air tubes, if you don’t understand something ask and lastly during labour knowing that all the things i went through the last nine months (including L&D) was not for nothing and that id finally get to meet my children was actually a kind of bittersweet moment. Realising I wouldn’t be feeling them inside me anymore but I’d be holding them in my arms. When you hit the stage of “I can’t do this anymore” know that you can and will, and that your baby is about to enter this world!
My biggest thing is don't expect everything to go to plan, but sometimes that's not a bad thing. The hospital I was due to give birth at was full but actually the one I went to was absolutely brilliant and I'd opt for there next time, even though it's a little further out. Triage will be able to help and advise when things start. Contractions or waters breaking doesn't necessarily mean go in. I had about 4 contractions between 6 and 10pm (I assumed were Braxton Hicks), then at 11pm was straight in to 1min long and 3min apart and there was no sleeping through these. After an hour of the regularly timed contractions I called triage, they said the hospital was full but it was my first and waters hadn't gone yet so try to rest, have a warm bath and call back if waters go. On the flip side, I have friends who've had a slow water breaking for up to 24hr before contractions and having to go in too. My partner started running a warm bath, and as I sat up to go to it my waters went, or I peed myself but it was...
clear with a pink tinge which is amniotic fluid. Called triage and I'm not sure they were keen on my going just yet but said as both waters and regular contractions then make my way in. It was 1am and I got to hospital at 2am, but because I didn't know where I was going I didn't get to the maternity unit until half past (went to a&e as I figured there'd be someone there who could point me in the right direction and they had me go through the whole a&e intake triage 🤦🏼♀️) Once there they confirmed waters had broken. They gave me the option of going home or staying, but said the chances are I'd have to come back before the other hospital could take me anyway and as its a trek it may be better to just stay....
Baby wasn't born until nearly half 3pm so a full 16½hrs after regular contractions and 14½ after waters breaking. But there was no way in hell I could've gone to sleep and headed to the hospital in the morning, at least in hospital I knew we were being monitored and I was offered pain relief too. At 7am when they did a doppler check baby's HR dropped (bounced back up before she'd pulled the doppler away) so we had to go to the main ward from MLU to be hooked up to a machine to monitor. I think the stress of it all pushed me over the edge though and my body started physically pushing with contractions even though I was only 4cm so I opted for an epidural which meant I couldn't go back to the mlu 😔...
You will get to a point where you say 'I can't do this' and I really freaked out every time a midwife said 'are you ready, you're gonna be a mama' haha. That's the point you've just got to get it done. We didn't find out gender so it was that little extra to get me through, I would be meeting my baby, and finding out if we have a son or a daughter. My friend was told by her midwife that when labour starts, bake a cake. Making and baking a cake is about the time you need to wait before going in, and then you've got baby's birthday cake when you get back from hospital. Sorry for the essay 😂
@Ellie don’t get me wrong I was still nervous, but also excited! Remember as well that you are not on your own, there are so many people to help and you body knows what it’s doing, just go with the flow and listen to your body. The midwives are so calming as well, they spoke me through everything! Also use the pain relief they offer! I refused to sit down once my contractions started, apparently the gravity really helped and she out 50 minutes after active labour started! I was 4cm at 6pm and she was here by 10 to 7😂 but good luck, you’ll absolutely smash it and it’ll be the best day of your life and as soon as you see that little face you’ll forget how painful it was!😂x
@Carys No need to apologise! I love reading all these! Fill me with such comfort haha 😂 and that is a really good way of going about it by your friend’s midwife! And my hospital is about 15/20 minutes from me which isn’t tooo bad!
With my first it all went so much quicker than I expected. My contractions started at night and I was so proud of myself for breathing through them at home, staying calm etc. went into hospital and was disappointed to find out I was only 4cm dilated, so assumed I had ages still to go. Freaked out at one point that I couldn’t cope, but turned out that I’d progressed really quickly and my baby was born 4 hours after arriving at hospital. I almost gave birth in a hospital bathroom because I hadn’t been admitted to labour ward yet, and I just thought I needed to do a poo 😂
@Kdec22 Oh my goodness 😂 i’m glad it went well!! and i’m glad you at least made it to the hospital let alone a hospital bathroom to give birth!!
to connect with women at a similar stage in life.
Trusted by 5M+ women
to connect with women at a similar stage in life.
Trusted by 5M+ women
Have a look at the positive birth company and the naked doula on instagram. Try to only seek out positive stories right before you go through it, it’ll put you in a better mindset. Just keep reminding yourself that this is what you body was made to do. Trust it xx
@Gaby I’ll take a look, thankyou!
Breathing techniques and squeezing a comb through contractions helped me. Also gas and air.... which is amazing
The way I got through it was just thinking, that after all of this you’ll finally get to meet your baby, this is the last little bit before you see their face and see the tiny little person who’s been inside of you all this time! It made my experience so much better!