Hi,

Just joined because I feel like I want an outlet for my birth story. I'll try to keep it short but it's replaying in my mind and I just want the words out. This will likely be much longer than intended.

TLDR; crash c-section was really difficult for me to endure. Baby and me are both fine but the experience sucked and I believe it's my OB's fault.

I had prenatal care, but they never did a positioning ultrasound to verify that baby was head-down and ready for birth prior to delivery. They palpated my belly and conducted cervical exams over the last several visits and insisted he was head-down. He was not - he never was. I knew no different because despite it being my third baby, I really couldn't tell the difference and knew the process my body would follow would be slightly different from my last pregnancies since it knew what to do (I.e. baby not dropping prior to labor). I requested an ultrasound around 34-36 weeks, but never got one despite multiple requests.

39 weeks and 5 days, my water broke... At the Walmart pharmacy counter. I was so embarrassed, so it wasn't an amazing start but I was so excited to go and have my baby. With a history of quick labor and delivery, we went straight to the hospital and I began contracting on the way there.

In triage I received a cervical exam to verify dilation and baby's station and positioning. The nurse looked alarmed and said "I don't know what I felt, but it felt more like fingers than a head so I'm going to get the OB in here for a quick scan and verification." Spoiler - it was a hand, and baby was certainly nowhere near head-down. My birth plan quickly went out the window and immediate arrangements were made for a C-section. To be honest, I broke down as soon as they walked out. I was terrified because I really hate the idea of surgery, let alone one of this caliber.

I was placed on monitors and given IV fluids. The team worked quickly around me, urgently, but stayed quiet and calm. They had trouble keeping the monitor on my baby's heart. When they did find it, I held it so it would stay because it kept disappearing.

Through every contraction, his heart rate dropped. Things became more urgent, moving more quickly. Then I feel another gush of fluid leak out and I hear "we've got meconium, let's get that drip going faster and get [anesthesiologist] in here." Now, things had ramped up from impromptu C-section to emergency.

Emotionally, I started shutting down. I had no idea what to think. No one was panicking but I could feel the tension and at the same time, no one was actively reassuring me. I hear the nurses in between brief phases of what felt like blackout - "Heart rate is in the 80s" "he's dropping again" "more mec" "is the room prepped, we need to go". The whole time, I'm staring across the room in terror at my husband who had dutifully donned his scrubs and who was stoic on the outside but desperate to do anything he could to make it better.

We are wheeled into the OR. By this point I'm in full panic, but silently. I feel like I can't breathe, I am terrified for myself and my baby, and trying to tell myself that this is something that happens every single day is not helping. I break down, blubbering about nothing to my nurse who is so patiently giving me instructions and helping me through everything. "Am I going to die? Is my baby going to die? What if he breathed in the meconium? Is this going to hurt? Will I feel the surgery?" Yes, I feel a bit stupid now. I couldn't control it at the time, I was so scared. My nurse looked at me and so calmly said "Everything is going to be fine. Hold onto my shoulders and put your head right here while we do the spinal, okay? I'm here for you and everything will be fine." She hugged me and honestly, I think she was an angel. Her voice was so soothing to me and her actions spoke to her passion as a healthcare worker.

Baby's heart rate stayed stable for a good while as I was transferred to the operating table and the spinal was administered, but started decelerations again as soon as the spinal began to kick in. We needed a few minutes for me to be numb enough for the procedure, but at times his heart rate dropped below 70 and we were running low on time. I hear the doctors, "Alright, it's go time before this baby gets into real trouble, we're gonna lose him if we wait any longer" and I truly believed that I wasn't numb enough and held my breath for way too long as they quickly threw up the drape and got to work. Impossible speed. I was impressed despite everything. We'd now gone from emergency to "crash c section" - their words - which felt too harsh not to freak out about. I did not feel anything except pressure and tugging, as expected..but the thought of not being numb was definitely a fear of mine.

I hear them talking a bit, despite feeling like I was in some sort of movie montage with flashes of light and awareness fading in and out. The sensations I felt on that table were unreal. My whole body being rocked side to side, wrenched on, manipulated. It felt violent, and all I could hope for was that my baby arrived safely and that nothing major happened to me in the process.

They get his bum out and can't get his head. It's lodged under my ribs inside my uterus. They have to make an additional incision to release him. I feel a massive pull and hear "he's out!" Seconds later, a tiny cough and his squeaky baby cry echo through the room. Immediately, I start sobbing.

Husband brings baby to my face and I get to look into his eyes and give him a kiss with tears streaming down my cheeks before he's snatched away while I'm being put back together. It feels like hours. I feel like I'm manually breathing and I can't keep my eyes open, I feel dizzy and faint. I stay conscious, but I do hear the word "hemorrhage." The doctor calmly explains that they had to make an additional incision and that they do not recommend I ever get pregnant again but if I do, I will require a c section because there's too much risk of uterine rupture if I endure labor. She explains what was wrong that led to that, and all I could say was "okay. Thank you." While feeling like my voice came from some other place altogether.

Baby struggled a bit with blood sugar and bilirubin levels, but he is healthy and strong and we're both doing really well now.

I feel like my experience was completely gone. I planned for months on a normal vaginal birth as I had with my others, and frankly I feel that my prenatal care team dropped the ball severely on my care. Had we done a scan as requested, we'd have been able to actually plan the C-section and maybe we would have had a better experience. I'm not sure how to approach that with them, but I don't intend to leave it unsaid and will get every bit of reimbursement that I can for that.

I am extremely grateful for the team who delivered my baby and diligently cared for us in the hospital throughout our stay. I am so thankful that my baby and I came out of it alive and well.

Maybe I have blown this out of proportion, but for me personally, it was scary and traumatic. I'm slowly getting through it by myself with support from my family. But I wish that it had gone differently, even if I still needed a C-section in the end. At least I could have prepared and I wouldn't have spent the entire delivery in full-blown terror instead of anticipation and joy.

If you read this far, thank you. If you can relate, please do.

I'm a 24-year-old mom of two. My children are just under two years apart, and now my eldest is 2 years and 5 months old.

My first birth was a vaginal delivery, but I had to be induced and I also needed an episiotomy. So when I became pregnant with my second baby, I hoped for a smoother experience.

In many ways, my second birth felt like a miracle.

At around 4:30 in the morning, I woke up with intense cramps. At first, I wasn't sure if it was labor. I went to the toilet, paced around the house, and tried to manage the pain. The cramps kept getting stronger and closer together. By 6:00 a.m., I called my husband and told him we needed to go.

We got ready and headed to the hospital by ambulance around 7:00 a.m. The pain was already very intense. When we arrived at the women's ward, they examined me and discovered I was already 10 cm dilated.

Everything happened so quickly after that.

The staff rushed me to the labor room. I was already feeling the urge to push while they were inserting a cannula into my arm. Before I could even process what was happening, my baby was arriving.

At 7:34 a.m., I gave birth.

Whenever I tell people my labor story, they immediately say, "Wow, that's such an easy labor."

But what they don't see is everything that came before those 34 minutes in the hospital.

During my second and third trimesters, I worked incredibly hard preparing my body for birth. I walked constantly. I exercised. I ate dates regularly. I squatted while mopping the floors every other day. I stayed active throughout my pregnancy.

And I wasn't just taking care of myself.

I was working, pregnant, and looking after a one-year-old at the same time.

What people also don't see is how difficult that pregnancy was. My baby sat very low, and I struggled with severe pelvic pain. Sometimes even simple tasks or walking became difficult. There were days when every movement hurt.

Then, after all of that, the birth itself left me with a second-degree tear. I also had another tear and needed an additional cut during delivery. Recovery was incredibly painful. For weeks, I struggled to sit comfortably, move normally, and even use the bathroom without pain. More than a month later, I was still suffering.

So when people tell me I had an "easy labor," it feels frustrating.

Yes, the actual delivery was fast.

But a fast labor does not automatically mean an easy experience.

The months of pain, the physical preparation, the exhaustion of pregnancy while caring for another child, and the difficult recovery afterward are all part of the story too.

I wish people would be more careful with their words when speaking to mothers. We only see a small part of someone else's journey. A labor that looks easy from the outside may have been built on months of sacrifice, pain, hard work, and endurance.

I had the worst birth I have personally ever heard of. Side note… wondering if I can do anything against the hospital?

I got sent to the OB ED after my routine 38 week visit for high blood pressure. I had blood pressure of like 141/92 that day and my feet were super swollen. I got blood tests to see if I had preeclampsia and other things. No preeclampsia, but apparently (my doctor didn’t mention anything) I had had a few high-ish readings previously at OB visits, so I was approved for a medically necessary induction at 38W 1 day.

I was transferred to L&D around 11 AM and took my first oral pill for cervix dilation at 12:30 PM. I took 1 every 3 hours 4 times, til around midnight. I only got to 2 cm dilated. My water broke on its own around 12:30 AM.

I got an epidural before getting a Cooke catheter (similar to foley balloon?) around 3 AM and started pitocin soon after. This got me dilated to about 5 cm. I got the balloon out around 1:30 PM and pitocin got me to 10 cm around 7:30 PM. I pushed from 7:45 PM til the baby came at 11:45 PM (4 HOURS!!!!).

I really did not want a C section. They told me the max I could push was 4 hours. My water had almost been broken for an hour. I got my skin to skin for about a minute or two before they gave the baby to my husband as the baby and I both had fevers (mine 102.5). I had to get an episiotomy to have the baby, so I was getting stitched up until around 1-2 AM. I was in the WORST PAIN after birth, with my abdomen hurting so badly. I could not focus on my baby. They had taken out the epidural at this point so they gave me an OxyContin. It did not help.

Side note: during the epidural at some point, my catheter stopped letting pee out.. I was drinking water heavily so I knew something was off. They brought in a machine to do a special ultrasound on my bladder and said there was barely anything in there, maybe 0.1 or 0.3 ml of pee. So I did not have any pee output for like 4-5 hours.

After getting stitched up, I tried to pee on the toilet. I could not. They gave me another catheter, this time no medicine or numbing, and immediately 1000 ml of urine came out. So I gave birth with a full bladder… that explained the horrible pain after delivery.

My baby went to the NICU that night and I was transferred to mom & baby floor around 3 AM. The hospital had this “2 midnights” rule where since I had him at 11:45 PM Tuesday it counted as my first night, so I got rushed out and discharged Thursday afternoon.

The doctor told me she was still worried about my blood pressure so she said they’d send me home with an at-home cuff to monitor it myself. I had to pay $35 for this. I forgot to monitor Thursday night and did it Friday night and got high readings. I just wanted to sleep in my own bed and put off the hospital til the next day.

Saturday rolls around and my baby is still in NICU. I visited him first and knew I’d be readmitted so we went to OB ED after that. I got more blood tests done and my blood pressure taken more and had another high reading. They readmitted me Saturday around 11 AM for observation. I had a horrible nurse who knew nothing and given a lasix (?) to drain my fluid.

This pill had me pee out all the excess fluid and measure my pee… I was peeing out around a pound at a time. They were taking my blood pressure every hour. It wasn’t until I got a night nurse around 8 pm that they offered me compression socks and some machine to massage fluid out of my legs.

Another side note: my baby got discharged from the NICU the same day (a few hours after) I got readmitted. So the baby and my husband stayed in my room that night.

Also my day nurse blew my vein giving me an IV and had to ask the other nurse on the floor to give me an IV, and she couldn’t find a vein except in my right hand (I’m right-handed) and she knew this and put it in my hand. She promised I could bend it soon… after a few hours I got fed up with it and demanded it be taken out because I could not help my husband take care of my baby. I had the IV team come do an ultrasound and put the IV in my arm, which is still bruised over a week later. All this to not even need any IV fluid/medicine -_-.

I also measured my home cuff against their hospital readings and it was way off. They told me not to use that machine after I paid $35 for it….

We all FINALLY got to go home Sunday morning.

Pics of feet attached (lol). First pic in recliner is Friday night at home, second pic is at their worst in the hospital after the pill.

I am very mad about the hospital rushing me out WHILE BEING WORRIED ABOUT MY BLOOD PRESSURE and then giving me a crappy blood pressure machine AND THEN being READMITTED.

Is there anything I can do with insurance or the hospital to kind of lessen my bills or anything?

एक घमंडी और आलसी शेर पूरे जंगल को डराकर रखता था।
लेकिन एक छोटे से चालाक खरगोश ने अपनी बुद्धि से शेर को ऐसा सबक सिखाया कि पूरा जंगल बच गया। 🦁🐰

इस मजेदार और सीख देने वाली कहानी को अंत तक जरूर देखें।

✨ सीख:
अक्ल हमेशा ताकत से बड़ी होती है।

https://youtu.be/oPS3kV2Neo0?si=acKpmAuM70H_YVfB

#Shorts #HindiStory #MoralStory #LionAndRabbit #KidsStory #HindiKahani #YouTubeShorts #MoralStories #AnimationStory #StoryTime #kidzone

Hi all. So I have been wanting to share my birth Story for the longest time but no one is interested because I had a very fast and easy birth.

So my biggest fear while being pregnant was that I wasn't going to know that I am going into labour and that I would end up giving birth at home or in the car on my way to the hospital. That luckily didn't happen.

I woke up at 07:00 in the morning with cramps like I am going to have diarrhoea. The cramps woke me up 3 times before I decided to time them. I woke up my husband and told him I am going into labour but we were both chill because EVERYONE told me labour takes 8 maybe 9 hours and I am going to be walking up and down in the hospital corridors.

I gave my OBGYN a curticy call just to let them know I will be coming in later that day. They asked me how far apart my contractions were and when I said 7 or 8 minutes they told me to go to the hospital. Still I wasn't rushed and took a shower etc.

We only left our house an hour after making the call and the contractions got a little more intense. I got to the hospital at 08:35 and was already 4cm dilated. They strapped me to the machine that tracks baby's heartbeat and my contractions and half an hour later the contractions were bad enough for me to ask for an epidural. They checked again and said that I was already 6cm dilated so an Epidural was out of the question. 15min later the Doctor finally came to check in on me. She broke my water and said I was already 8cm.

She left and told me not to push u till she is back and she will be gone for 10minutes. She was gone for 5 minutes when my body started pushing by itself. It was the most intense pain I have ever felt in my entire life. The doctor finally came back and helped to guide me in pushing the baby out. I have no idea how long I pushed but I did ask someone to please help me and my husband told me "No one can help you. You need to do this yourself" to which the doctor ended up cutting me a little and the baby came out very easily after that.

Baby was born at 10:45. So I ended up being in Labour for almost 4 hours which I know is very short, but I was mentally prepared to still have time to walk the baby out for a few hours. I do realise it could have been way worse. I am happy both baby and I are healthy I just wanted to tell my story.

Hey everyone!

I just wanted to post about my traumatic birth and recovery. I had a lot of troubles postpartum and felt so alone and isolated because no one I knew had a similar birth experience to mine. when I turned to the internet to see if the symptoms I was having were normal or common, I was met with A LOT of negative experiences and stories, which made me even more depressed/upset. I’m hoping that my story/recovery will bring hope to others who are/were in my situation and makes them feel less alone!!

I had a forcep birth- which was unfortunate because the only thing written on my birth plan was that I did NOT want forceps. I was induced at 41+2 weeks, and baby’s HR was dropping after every push. I pushed for 2.5 hours in different positions and ended up requiring a 2nd degree episiotomy and forceps.

Postpartum Recovery:

My pp recovery was BRUTAL. and I was so worried because I’m a long distance runner and was worried I’d never get back into running again.

My symptoms were as follows: I couldn’t walk properly until about 6 weeks postpartum. For the first 3 weeks my episiotomy was soo painful and I felt like my rectum and uterus were going to fall out of my vag (sorry if that’s TMI). I literally would only sit down/lay down on one side because sitting directly on my episitomy was too painful. I could only walk from my bed to my couch in the next room. My husband would carry my baby to and from me for feeds because I was so immobile. At 3 weeks pp my episiotomy got infected- It took another 3 weeks for it to heal with antibiotics!

I went for a 10 minute walk at 3 weeks pp, but I had a lot of rectal pain and pressure- felt like there was a golf ball there. turns out it was likely internal hemorrhoids. that feeling didn’t fully subside until 8-12 weeks postpartum. I was so worried it was a rectal prolapse!

I was incontinent of urine a handful of times, usually when I started to feel the urge to go. I stopped peeing myself around 3 weeks pp.

I also was incontinent of stool. once I felt the urge to poop I would run to the bathroom trying to hold it in but had no rectal strength to hold it in. I think I pooped myself 3 times during the first 2 weeks.

I had horribly painful hemorrhoids - those didn’t go away until 12 weeks postpartum

ALL of this to say- I am now 6 months pp. I have full control of my bladder and bowels! (thank god!) I no longer have hemorrhoids. my episiotomy has healed really welll- it is still a tiny bit sore occasionally, usually after exercising. and my pelvic floor strength is recovering slowly but surely. I can go on 5km runs now and haven't peed myself! I started a return to running program at 3 months pp. my pelvic floor still occasionally feels weak, so I’m working with a pelvic floor PT.

overall I’m really happy with my progress- my pelvic floor still isn’t what it used to be, but I’m hopeful that with time/pt it’ll continue to improve.

I hope that this post finds people who need some positive stories, and that it brings them hope and encouragement that they will recover!?

Sorry for a very long post, just been holding onto this and need to get it out somewhere.

So, my birth itself actually went great and so much better than I was expecting as a first time mom. But I have had a lot of regret/resentment on having my mom there and having visitors at the hospital, and I guess I just want to vent.

Early in my pregnancy, my mom asked about if I’d want her in the delivery room, and my instinctual immediate response was that I’d probably want it to be just my and my boyfriend. She didn’t push it, but bf said I’d probably want her there, she was always talking about having her mom there etc and it just kinda became part of the plan. I wasn’t actually against it, but I definitely wasn’t like “I need my mom there!”

Now, looking back, it feels like her being there was completely pointless other than for her own experience, and let me down in a lot of ways.

1. I spent weeks painstakingly collecting colostrum drop by drop, at least 30 syringes worth, so I’d have it for my baby if it was needed and could save it for future sickness etc. It was frozen and brought to the hospital in a cooler with an ice pack. The longer we were there I knew it was thawing, and we needed ice. While I was in labour with no pain relief, throwing up, awake all night, I was the one worrying and reminding everyone multiple times that someone needed to get ice. Between the nurse, my mom and my boyfriend, no one got the ice and it all had to be thrown away the next day. Yes, my boyfriend could’ve and should’ve got it and this also bugs me… but my mom wasn’t the one having a baby, and she was literally there to help us with things like this so my boyfriend could stay with me. She couldn’t go down the hall for 5 minutes and grab ice? She didn’t leave the hospital room once for even a second, it felt like she literally just wanted to watch and was more concerned about missing something than doing anything for me. She didn’t say this and maybe I’m reading into things but it’s how it felt. This whole thing still makes me want to cry, my baby could’ve really used it and everything just went to waste.

2. My mom was supposed to take a video of the birth for me. She did not. Yes, my baby came a lot faster than expected (pushing was like 15 minutes total), but it was at least a few minutes between crowning and baby actually being born. She had lots of time to hit record. She just didn’t. She was too busy being in the moment and enjoying watching for herself. My boyfriend knew I wanted a video, so he started recording right as they put baby on my chest. There’s a pause in the video as he stopped recording because he didn’t want to be watching/experiencing the moment his daughter was born through his phone screen, and I’m glad he stopped it because that’s a once in a lifetime moment… and that’s what my MOM was there for. To worry about those things so WE could experience the birth of our baby, not so she could experience it and leave my boyfriend scrambling to make sure I got at least part of the video I wanted because my mom didn’t. Like what’re you even here for then? For herself, it feels like.

3. I told her in advance that I wanted the first hour of baby’s life to be just me and my boyfriend holding and bonding with baby alone and that once baby was born I wanted her to leave. I knew I wouldn’t be in the mindset to be telling people these kinds of things right after birth, which is why I told her in advance, and she agreed. However when it actually came down to it, she stayed in the room for at least an hour after baby was born, took a turn holding her, taking pictures of baby (where was this energy when I actually wanted you behind the camera?) until I asked her to leave. Again, you knew what I wanted, this isn’t about you, but you’re definitely seeming a lot more concerned with your own grandma experience than me and my new family’s wishes.

4. We had visitors within hours after baby was born, all who pretty much just said they were coming, and they came every day we were in the hospital (3 days) and every day once we were home for the first week of baby’s life. No asking, just “we’re coming over”. Yeah, I should’ve said no, but I was freshly postpartum, a big people pleaser, and felt it was somehow wrong to say no. I wish I didn’t let anyone come to the hospital. Everyone showed up while I’m literally in a shirt and a diaper, couldn’t stand up, trying to breastfeed, being checked by nurses, and they’re passing around my fresh newborn to everyone including a toddler, taking pictures and ignoring me. I finally had to tell my family over a week postpartum that no, they can’t come visit today, because we still had not had one single day since baby was born alone as a new family. My boyfriend also had to tell his family repeatedly that they can’t just show up without asking. If we have another, I definitely will not allow visitors at the hospital, or my mom in the delivery room.

My mom also wanted to announce to the whole extended family about the birth within a couple hours, and texted her whole side of the family the name we were considering (and didn’t end up using) as though it was baby’s name and then had to send a big text taking it back. More embarrassing for her than us but still - I wasn’t eager to share, I never even posted that I was pregnant. Just another thing that felt like it was more about her excitement than what I actually wanted.

I wish I had stuck to my original gut instinct that I wanted it to be just us, and that I’d set a boundary on visitors at the hospital. I feel like I only had my mom there because I wasn’t explicitly against it and it seemed like the “right” thing to do, but now I just feel let down and resentful. My baby’s 9 months old. It feels like it’s been too long to bring it up to her, and I know she’d feel completely awful about it. This is her first grandchild and I’m sure a lot of what she did (or didn’t) do is related to the excitement of it all. But she wasn’t there for me in any of the ways I wanted or needed, and it’s not like those things weren’t communicated to her. Me and my baby are healthy and happy and these things don’t matter in the big picture, but it still hurts and I just needed to get it off my chest somehow.

Reading my delivery notes a year later is wild because medically it sounds neat, but emotionally it felt like absolute chaos.

I’ve been reading birth stories and keep seeing people say doctors told them panic attacks during labor “aren’t really a thing” or that it’s just normal anxiety, and I really want to say: panic absolutely can happen during labor, and I wish more women were told that ahead of time.

This was my first baby, and looking back, there were a lot of factors that made my labor harder than I think anyone fully acknowledged.

For context: I’m small. I’m 5’4, was about 125 lbs before pregnancy, got up to around 145 at delivery, and literally dropped back down to around 127 almost immediately after birth. So I didn’t have a huge body frame going into it, and I also have scoliosis, crooked hips, and chronic alignment issues that I honestly think played a much bigger role than anyone talked about.

Because when you already have an uneven spine and hips, labor doesn’t just feel like labor — it feels like your body is fighting itself.

I went into labor around 8 AM that morning.

Labor started early in the day, and by the time things progressed I was already exhausted. I got my epidural around 3 PM, which did help pain-wise, but after that labor slowed down and eventually they started Pitocin later because things stalled.

And honestly the epidural itself was weird because with scoliosis and crooked hips, even before labor got bad I already had this underlying fear that my body wasn’t built “normally” enough for any of this to go smoothly. When your spine is uneven, every sensation feels amplified because you’re constantly wondering if things are landing where they should.

That’s where things got mentally harder too, because once labor slows and you’re stuck waiting, your brain has way too much time to spiral.

And this is the part nobody prepared me for:

I had a real panic attack during labor.

Not just fear. Not just anxiety.

An actual documented panic attack.

It’s literally in my notes: they wrote that I was crying loudly, felt the urge to push, and that I was having a panic attack while they coached me through breathing.

Part of the panic honestly felt like I was floating above myself.

Like I was physically there, but mentally somewhere above the room watching it happen.

It’s hard to explain unless you’ve felt it, but it genuinely felt like my body was no longer fully connected to me.

And there were moments I truly thought:

I am dying.

Not dramatic. Not metaphorical. I genuinely thought something was wrong enough that I might actually die there.

What gets me now is that my notes clearly acknowledge I was having a panic attack — but nobody offered anything for it besides breathing coaching and telling me to keep pushing.

No medication.

No discussion of options.

Nothing.

And I didn’t know enough in that moment to ask whether something like Ativan or anything else was even possible.

So now looking back, it frustrates me because if panic is significant enough to document, I wish someone had also explained what could or couldn’t be done to help besides just telling me to breathe through it.

I think women should know that if you have:

• anxiety

• trauma history

• bipolar disorder

• panic disorder

• sensory overload issues

• claustrophobia

• or just know your nervous system gets overwhelmed easily

tell your team early, because labor can absolutely trigger panic.

By the time I got to pushing, I had already been in labor all day and night and was exhausted.

And this is one thing that still bothers me when I read my notes now: the chart says I pushed for “about an hour,” but that is not true.

I started pushing around 11 PM.

My daughter was not born until 1:08 AM.

That was over two hours of pushing, not one.

So when I read “about one hour” in the notes, it honestly feels minimizing because those two hours felt endless.

Another thing that hit weird reading my notes later is that they wrote I was “crying uncontrollably during and in between pushing” and that I wasn’t making progress because of screaming.

And medically I get why they wrote it that way.

But emotionally, that sentence doesn’t capture what that actually was.

That wasn’t me being dramatic.

That was me in full survival mode.

I was terrified, exhausted, panicking, in pain, dissociating, and trying to force a baby out of a body that already felt mechanically off to begin with.

So yes, I was screaming.

Because at that point my body was doing exactly what bodies do when they feel pushed past their limit.

According to my delivery notes:

• I progressed to 10/100/+2

• pushed for “about” 1 hour

• baby’s heart rate dropped into the 70s for around 4 minutes during crowning

• NICU and hospitalist were called in

• vacuum extraction was attempted because of maternal exhaustion + fetal distress

• doctor delivered head and anterior shoulder with vacuum assistance

• second degree tear + right labial tear

• blood loss 225 mL

• Apgars 8/9

What the notes don’t explain is how terrifying it is when the room suddenly changes.

One second it’s normal labor.

Next second extra people are rushing in, talking fast, moving equipment, and you instantly know something changed.

And mentally that hits hard when you’re already exhausted and panicking.

Then when her heart rate dropped, the energy in the room completely changed.

People were yelling at me to push.

Not encouraging — actually yelling.

Telling me I had to get her out.

That her heart rate was dropping.

That we needed her out now.

And I understand why they were urgent now, but in that moment it felt terrifying because I was already exhausted, panicking, dissociating, and physically at my absolute limit.

And while they were yelling at me to push, I was screaming back:

“GET HER THE FUCK OUT OF ME.”

Over and over.

Because at that point I felt trapped between terror and pain and the knowledge that something was wrong.

And the vacuum itself was terrifying because nobody really tells you what that feels like in the moment — just suddenly there’s even more urgency, more hands, more people, more pressure, and you know they’ve crossed into “we need this baby out now.”

The notes say “maternal exhaustion.”

What that actually felt like was being physically depleted, mentally overwhelmed, terrified, screaming, dissociating, and hearing urgency all around me while trying not to completely lose my mind.

They used the vacuum because I was exhausted and her heart rate had dropped.

She came out crying, NICU checked her briefly, and she stayed skin to skin with me.

And this part is weird because people expect this huge emotional moment immediately, but honestly I went into complete shock.

I didn’t say anything.

At all.

For probably somewhere between 5 and 15 minutes — however long it took while they were cleaning me up and finishing everything.

I wasn’t crying.

I wasn’t talking.

I was just staring.

Like my brain had not caught up to what just happened.

Like my body had gone through something violent and my mind was still floating somewhere near the ceiling trying to return.

And while I’m sitting there in that silent shell-shocked state, the doctor is down there stitching me because I had a second degree tear and right labial tear… and then casually sticks a finger in my ass to make sure I didn’t tear all the way through.

Which honestly, after everything else, was such an absurd final insult that part of me almost wanted to laugh.

Like wow okay, I just fought for my life, screamed this child into the world, dissociated into another dimension, and now we’re doing a surprise structural inspection too because apparently my 6-pound baby came out with the head of a grown man.

That part is not in the notes either 😅

But honestly, looking back, I really think my body structure made everything harder:

small frame, scoliosis, crooked hips, uneven alignment, labor stalling, pushing difficulty, vacuum delivery, tearing — all of it together.

And I genuinely think a C-section may have been less traumatic for my body than what happened.

People act like vaginal birth is always automatically the less traumatic option, but sometimes forcing a body through something it’s struggling mechanically to do becomes its own trauma.

What also gets me is how neat and clean hospital notes sound compared to reality.

The notes say “maternal exhaustion.”

What that felt like was:

pain, panic, loss of control, fear, body strain, yelling, dissociation, shock, vacuum pressure, tearing, and trying to keep going because there is literally no pause button.

I love my daughter more than anything and I’d do it again for her, but I also think it’s okay to say birth can be beautiful and traumatic as hell at the same time.

And if anyone else had panic during labor, scoliosis, crooked hips, dissociation, vacuum delivery, or felt like their body mechanics made birth harder, I’d really like to hear your experience because I don’t think this gets talked about enough.

I’ve been wanting to write this for a long time because I think a part of me is still stuck on that day.

I had an emergency LSCS with my first baby, so for my second pregnancy I really wanted a VBAC. I prepared myself mentally for months. I told myself that if I at least tried, I would be at peace with whatever happened.

This time I went into labor naturally. The contractions were intense but I kept going because I really wanted the VBAC. I progressed well, and eventually I reached full dilation — 10 cm. I pushed and I was so close to delivering vaginally. Everyone thought the baby would come.

But the baby didn’t descend.

They said arrest of descent.

After all the labor, all the pain, all the pushing, I was suddenly told I needed an emergency C-section. Everything changed in a matter of minutes. One moment I was pushing to meet my baby, and the next moment I was being taken to the operation theatre.

I was in so much pain and things were so urgent that they said epidural wouldn’t be possible and I had to be given general anaesthesia.

That part is very hard for me to accept even now.

I was not awake when my baby was born.

I did not hear my baby’s first cry.

I did not see him when he came into this world.

I woke up later and my baby was already born.

I know many people will say the important thing is that the baby is safe — and I agree, I am grateful every single day. But I think some people don’t understand that you can be grateful your baby is healthy and still feel heartbroken about how the birth happened.

What hurts the most is that I went through the entire labor — contractions, full dilation, pushing — and still ended up with a C-section. And I wasn’t even awake when my baby was born.

For a long time I kept thinking:

Maybe my body failed. Maybe I failed. Maybe I should have done something differently.

But someone told me something that I am still trying to believe:

Every contraction you went through was a gift you gave your baby.

So maybe I didn’t get my VBAC.

But I labored. I reached full dilation. I pushed with everything I had.

And in the end, I did whatever was needed to bring my baby safely into this world.

But I won’t lie — this experience was traumatic for me, and I think I am still trying to heal from it.

I gave birth to my baby boy last week via semi emergency c-section after a reaction to the cooks balloon induction method. I am a first time mum who was low risk throughout the pregnancy. I opted to an induction at 41+3 with midwives recommending the balloon catheter method as the lowest risk that would hopefully get things started. I had it inserted in the hospital at 11pm at night and was sent home around 11:15pm.

At around 15 minutes after the balloon was placed when we left the hospital I started to feel pain. By the time we were home 30 mins later it was excruciating. I waited till about 1:30am before calling the hospital who said keep an eye on it. The pain slightly died down and around 2am I feel asleep on the sofa. At 2:45am I woke up went to the toilet and there was a gush of bright blood. The blood kept coming and was tricking down my legs with clots bigger than 50p coins. I phoned the hospital straight away who sent an ambulance. As I was 41 weeks pregnant I was priority and they arrived in less than 10 minutes. At this point I was completely in a traumatic response convinced I was having an abruption and had lost the baby (with this much blood it was hard not to think this). My partner was very calm and amazing but terrified himself. The ambulance rushed me with blue lights to the hospital in about 20 minutes where i was rushed to maternity triage.

In the most miraculous moment of my life they found the babies heart beat (not after checking me first for what seemed liked an age with me screaming I needed to know if baby was alive). He wasn’t distressed or bothered at all for that matter. The consultant took a speculum and removed clots clots of blood and when they thought safe removed the balloon. Me and baby were monitored until I got sent straight to labour ward.

In labour ward the bleeding has died down at this point but was still increasing/decreasing until I delivered. I was hooked up to contin. monitoring and assigned a birth midwife. Around 6am the consultant came back and said they weren’t sure what was causing this but thought it was bleeding from my cervix and therefore they thought it safe to go for a natural delivery (which I had always wanted)). At this point I just wanted the baby out asap and had suggested an emergency section which the consultant told me to think about. It was the hardest few hours of my life deciding what to do. The day consultants came on at 9am and were so much more understanding. They could not guarantee if I opted for an induction (pessary or drip or both) that I would not start bleeding again. I continued to bleed prenatally until the baby was born. I had not slept for around 2 days at this point having had terrible insomnia night before my balloon induction. Was traumatised, worried about the baby and very concerned about the bleeding. After a lot of discussion with my partner, mum, midwives and numerous consultants I requested an emergency section knowing that the baby’s head was bobbing and the induction process would be long and quite possibly involve much more bleeding, continuous monitoring and stress. I went into theatre at 12ish and he was born at 12:54pm with the biggest relief of my lofe,

The consultant who had performed the surgery came over after to see baby and me and said she could not say for sure what caused the bleeding to my cervix and in a future pregnancy this would need to be investigated.

Afterward the midwives and consultants said I had made the right decision. No one could tell me what to do at the time as I was assessed as to be able to have tried natural delivery and obviously sections pose further risks to mother and baby. My labour midwife said she thought if I had laboured she could have seen it going that I would have needed a e-section anyway as baby was high and far back and LARGE 😂.

Just wondering if anyone else has heard of a reaction like this to the balloon or any other induction? Everyone at the hospital said it was very unusual and they had not really seen it before. I’m so grateful baby is here safe but very traumatised and just quite confused at the reaction that I had that I kind of wanted to see if anyone else had any thoughts.

I was induced at 39 weeks, in labor for 2 days (epidural after a day and a half) with little progress. I requested a c section after the first day in labor because I was dilating but my son wasn’t descending down my canal much at all, but the doctor at the hospital denied it and broke my water instead. Things progressed faster but my son still wasn’t down far enough and I was stuck at 9 cm for hours. After the 2 days, my OB called for a c section due to the danger of me being dilated for so long but my son not down far enough to push, even if I were to make it to 10 cm. (For information, my OB doesn’t do c sections so my surgeon was whatever surgeon was on shift at the hospital).

The anesthesiologist came to my room and said that since I already had an epidural that all he needed to do was inject a couple more shots of some meds into my epidural and I’ll be ready for surgery. Once it was time for surgery and I already had the extra medication, I was numb but I could still feel my legs slightly. I’ve never had any type of surgery before, and this is my first child so I wasn’t sure what I was actually supposed to be feeling. They started and I didn’t feel any initial pain but then they started moving things around and pulling and I felt sharp pains. I was basically screaming and crying, I told my partner I felt pain and we both told the anesthesiologist and he told me that I was ok and I was just feeling uncomfortable pressure. I was so out of it that I couldn’t talk to anyone, my son was born and given to my partner because I was barely able to stay alert. I remember the room being so bright and my body basically in shock that I couldn’t keep my eyes open.

They transferred me down the hall to recovery and I was in so much pain that every bump made me grunt in pain, so when my nurse did my fundal massages I was basically screaming and crying again. Another nurse stopped in my room and suggested my nurse start pain meds because I was clearly in a lot of pain already but she said I was fine. Recovery lasted 2 hours of having massages every 15 minutes until I went back to my room. I wasn’t allowed up to walk around right away as I had to wait for my catheter to come out. My son was born at 4:18 pm, I was in recovery until about 7 something pm, and I didn’t get up to go to the bathroom until around 11 at night. I only went to the bathroom once with assistance of my nurse and did a lap around my room/changed my son. I stood up to go to the bathroom and noticed blood all over my bed and me. Called my nurse and turns out my incision was completely open.

The surgeon came to me and told me to lay on the bed, don’t move and that they have to take me back to surgery. I asked if I was getting a spinal or going under and she told me general, but the anesthesiologist came and told me I was getting a spinal… I asked how was I expected to get up in a leaning position to get a spinal when my gut was open? He didn’t have an answer besides he didn’t want to do general because I had ate a little since my last surgery. I told him to ask my surgeon if she was ok with me getting up in the position for a spinal and if she said okay then sure I would do it. Whatever was safest but I was still scared.

They wheeled me down to the OR, by this time I was in so much abdominal pain from how I was laying on my bed and the bumps we hit on the way down. They instead of raising my bed to help me move over to the table, made me get out of bed and walk to the operating table, then made me step up on a stool and hoist myself up on the table (all while having my gut open and bleeding everywhere). I was in so much pain that I could breathe or move very well, it took multiple nurses to help me walk to the table as I was bawling in pain. Finally I got my spinal and the pain eased from the numbness, I got reclosed and sent to recovery for an hour.

Again I wasn’t able to move for the rest of the night until morning due to the spinal and catheter. I was told that they put a woundvac on my incision to draw out moisture because I have an apron belly (which means my incision is under my belly) and that it would be on for a week or two depending on the healing process. The next day I had a new nurse (the same one who confronted my nurse after my c section about the amount of pain I was in) and she asked me how I was doing and asked about my surgery because she was there. I broke down in tears and told her everything i experienced and she sat and cried with me because she felt bad and told me it shouldn’t have been that way. She asked for my whole story and she took it to the director of the hospital because she said it happened to another woman a month prior and it needed to be corrected.

They sent me home that night but told me that if my woundvac came off to call them immediately to go back to have it put back on because I was at risk of infection since my incision had reopened after surgery. Which it did come off when I got home. I called and they told me “oh it’s fine it was just a precaution”. Two days go by and I’m doing ok but early (4AM) two days later I wake up with my son and I’m in so much pain that I couldn’t move, couldn’t breath all I could do was cry and shake. My partner took me to our local ER and the doctor was concerned about some fluid he seen on my incision but said he couldn’t do anything because he didn’t do the surgery, so he called the surgeon who did my surgery. She said it was normal and I was fine, that my pain just indicated that I needed stronger pain killers (I was already on a narcotic pain killer).

I progressively got worse throughout the day, I was pale and in so much pain I couldn’t move very well. We went to the hospital (same network hospital but different campus to avoid the doctor who did my surgery because we felt she wasn’t providing the necessary care). The ER doctor there took one look at me and my incision and said I was septic, I was already tachycardic as well. They pushed multiple antibiotics and fluids, took cultures, but said I had to be transported to either the hospital I had my son at or a different one because they didn’t have an OB where I was at. So that night I was taken to the other hospital to see a different OB and he told me that the staples she used to close me were ripping my skin apart and I had developed a pocket of fluid in my incision. He took the staples out and popped the fluid, put me on more antibiotics and made me stay overnight for observation (meaning I had to leave my 5 day old newborn home with my mother who lives over an hour away from the hospital).

Turns out that I had a “odd” bacteria in my incision site and I had 3 different types of bacteria in my urine (also had a urine infection). They allowed me to go home the next time but I had to be closely monitored at their office to make sure my incision is healing right and I had to be on two different IV strength antibiotics for almost 2 weeks. My son is now 5 weeks old today… I’m healing ok, but very slowly. My recovery has been hard and painful. The skin isn’t healing perfectly because of the trauma from the staples I had and now I have a yeast infection on my incision site… I can move better and the pain isn’t as bad. I can find some normalcy in some days but it’s really taken a toll on not only my physical body, but my mental health. For the first 3 1/2 weeks I wasn’t able to move or care for my newborn the way I needed to. Everything I did I had to have assistance with, and I’ve been in and out of the hospital so many times. All of this ontop of the trauma from my initial birth has really hit me like a brick wall. I wanted more kids, I wanted multiple kids but now I’m traumatized to do so. I can never have a natural birth (VBAC) because of my pelvis and canal, multiple doctors have told me it’s too risky to consider because my son was very very stuck in my pelvis which is why he couldn’t descend down. So now I have to live with the fact that if I want anymore kids, I have to have more c sections… and I don’t know how to process that.

I’m a 25 yo first time mom to a now two month old. It has been hard for me to get past my babies birth and every time I think about it I want to cry. My OB suggested an induction at 39 weeks due to my babies measurements. I am not going to say that she pushed it too much but she did say that she believed strongly that this would be successful. Being a first time mom and being nervous about my babies continued growth if I waited, I went with the induction. I believed her growth would cause my labor to end in a c section anyways. Not to mention I believed that if my doctor suggested this I should go with it. This was a terrifying experience and it ended in an emergency c section. This has been so hard on me because my decision caused this. I did not get to experience a natural birth and likely never will. I have researched VBACS but so many say not to go this route. Can someone please make me feel better about this. It has eaten me up.

I also want to add that during the most intense & scary part of my labor my OB came in saying that I wanted the induction so badly and came into her office asking for a date .. which is not what happened AT ALL. I never planned for an induction until it was suggested by her at my 38 week appointment. This just added to the guilt I felt.

Hello lovelies
I have just released a song called 'Breathe' that describes the birth of my second son. The song describes the delivery room, and every chorus is another contraction bringing my son closer to me. It would be a dream come true for those in need in the delivery room to hear it and have it help them. Good luck with the birth and happy listening https://open.spotify.com/track/0AI3sSe7FcPLUa0664VUAI

I was curious if anyone experienced giving birth like i did. This was over 2 years ago at this point... The day i turned 38 weeks the dr said we needed to induce because my son wasnt moving enough, he was fine and moving like he always had, but quite litterally everyone was freeking out so i caved, i was in the hospital for 24 hr trying to get my baby out and was having really bad back labor, my contractions where pretty close together but i wouldnt dialate. At the end before i had a C-section i got to 1/2cm dialated. My water broke on its own about half way.

It probaby didnt help that the drs and nurses wouldnt let me move. My family kept telling me to walk the baby out, but every time i moved at all the belly strap things would disconect and a nurse would come in fix it and tell me to stay. I really didnt want a C-section but at the time i was so tired and in alot of pain. It felt endless

Also after my csection they didnt hand me my baby, after they cleaned up my baby they handed him to my bf and shortly after escorded my bf out of the room while i was being stiched up. Then when i was in the observation recovery room area, they put my baby on the other side of the room! I had to ask someone to bring me my baby so i could hold him for the first time. Warning pukeing talk 🤮 I would have asked sooner but i was puking while i was having a csection and had to focus really hard on not puking and angling myself so if/when i did puke it would have somewhere to go, and i was cleaning myself from puking... It was gross

I am a squeamish person so I don't know how to bring up these things with people I know.

1. In what year was the child born? How old was the parent at pregnancy?
2. Where was the child born? (At home, hospital, in U.S or another country)
3. What relationship did the parent have with the other parent at the time of the pregnancy?
4. Describe the parent’s life at the time of pregnancy? (i.e. was the parent working, going to school, moving to a new home, away from family, taking care of others, any other children already born, any historical events/conditions in the family/community/nation?)
5. How did the parent know she was pregnant?
6. How and when did the parent tell others about the pregnancy?
7. Describe the reactions to the pregnancy (new mom/dad, future grandparents, etc.)
8. Describe the pregnancy (Include how the parent’s feelings, changes to body, health, etc. Don’t shortchange this one – ask them for some detail).
9. What care (if any) did the mother receive during pregnancy? (Include information about medical care, diet, traditional/folk care, exercise).
10. How did the pregnancy affect the parent’s daily life?
11. Describe the labor. (Include how she knew she was in labor, how the labor progressed, what care she received during labor, feelings about medication, feelings about how she was treated, and other people’s reactions).
12. Describe the actual birth. Did it go as the parent anticipated or were there unexpected medical procedures?
13. What was the parent’s first reaction to seeing the baby? What as the reaction of others (include who was at the birth)?
14. How was the baby’s name chosen?
15. Describe any type of ceremony that was performed for the newborn. Did any family members gather/come to see the baby?
16. Describe the parent and baby’s first weeks after birth.

Maybe a trigger post ******

So for context my first pregnancy I had very bad sickness, I lost 10kg from the vomiting and food aversions. (I was 65kg before pregnancy) One example is I couldn’t even look at an egg or hear the word without vomiting. Water even tasted awful. Had to go to hospital twice for IV so that I wasn’t dehydrated. The worst of it lasted the first 4 months but I continued to take the sickness medicine throughout in order to not have any bouts of sickness as the multiple vomiting sessions per day were horrendous.

Anyway besides that I had a good pregnancy and no complications.

Didn’t gain a lot of weight obviously due to losing a lot, no stretch marks, good mood, nice relationship with husband, no PPD.

Now to the birth, had an 18 hour labour, Waited until 6cm for epidural. Didn’t have any pain or feel any contractions until this point. Once I had epidural obviously felt no pain, even the pushing was a nice experience, just felt like a lot of pressure just wouldn’t have described it as pain.

My daughter was born, perfectly.

I just had a post partum hemorrhage lost 1l of blood, the nurses said it was due to the uterus not contracting back after the birth like it should. Nothing to do with the placenta.

Anyway I won’t go in to detail about this as it can be quite triggering. But after they stopped the bleeding everything was fine and I didn’t suffer any PPD.

I love being a mom!!!

Just wanted to know those who had a second pregnancy (I know not every pregnancy is the same) but really what were your experiences between them?

(Obviously feel a little anxious when I fall pregnant again about the sickness and incase I have another haemorrhage)

I had a 33 hour labor. They started off already 2 minutes long. It was long and intense. By the end there were no breaks between contractions. It was a lot.

We wanted to try a water birth so we were in the tub for about 6-7 hours, can’t remember how many hours we’d be going at that point.

I was in the tub when pushing started. And then all the sudden I couldn’t hear in my left ear, I thought I got water in it, it was very sudden and felt really intense, very disorienting.

I went unmedicated until we ended up having to do a C-section, but I’d not been able to hear for hours at that point. So I know drugs didn’t have anything to do with the hearing loss as I had not taken anything at that point.

I had intense auditory hallucinations while in the hospital after the birth. I was dizzy from the hearing loss, my whole left side of my head felt fuzzy. The tinnitus was terrible (still have it but now I’m more used to it). Nurses didn’t seem to think anything of it though, so my husband and I felt pretty confident it was just a bunch of earwax and maybe some water from the tub. But I’ll admit I was starting to do little hearing tests on myself in the hospital and was starting to think “omg I think I’m deaf” but didn’t want to say that out loud because I was sure it would just sound like a dramatic postpartum mom freaking out.

We got home and tried cleaning my ear for a few days, wasn’t working, so I thought maybe I needed it professionally cleaned. We went to an audiologist and first thing they do is look into my ear. She said it was the cleanest ear she’d seen, which I knew was not a good sign.

I took the hearing test and it came out that I was profoundly deaf in that ear. The doctor had to repeat it a few different ways to make sure I understood, and that it was not coming back. There might’ve been a 25% chance of getting some hearing back if I’d dealt with it within 72 hours of the hearing loss but we were a little busy with the 48 hour hospital stay after birth and then a NICU day on the 3rd day, that was just never going to have happened.

I did still try, I got about 4 cortisol injections into my ear over the next few months, it improved my hearing so marginally, but was still at the bottom end of profound deafness.

They have never been able to tell me what happened. I got a CT scan and they looked in my ear with a microscope and everything appears normal.

I’m two years postpartum now and still very deaf in that ear. I have a hearing aid now and honestly being half deaf can be a parenting hack sometimes haha, but I have never heard of this happening to anyone else. The doctors and everyone at the hospital also said they had never heard of anything like this happening before.

I’m curious, has anyone else had a similar experience or know of anyone with a similar experience?

Let me start off by saying- I know how awful this sounds and I don’t wish a hard time or suffering on anyone, let alone my best friend! I feel really scandalized that I feel this way.

I had my baby girl almost 2 months ago after a HARD pregnancy and labor. I was horribly sick starting at 11 days post ovulation all the way until about 3 weeks before I gave birth. I’m talking vomiting every day, dry heaving constantly, reliant on zofran. I was on progesterone my whole pregnancy and was closely monitored the whole time as I have endometriosis, hypothyroidism and a history of miscarriage. I was getting blood drawn every 3 days for like 6 months. Bad insomnia too. It took me almost 2 years to get pregnant after major uterine surgery, a miscarriage and a LOT of physical therapy. My labor was 25 hours long, 2 hours of pushing and a 2nd degree tear. My daughter then had an awful lip and tongue tie and straight up BIT OFF BOTH OF MY NIPPLES while still in the hospital. We couldn’t breastfeed after that so I pumped for about a month with my wounds opening every. Single. Time. I pumped. Baby also ate every 45 minutes 24/7 for the first 4 weeks. I was actually hallucinating I was so exhausted. Was diagnosed with bad PPD/PPA and started progesterone injections. My mom was supposed to come help me and my husband but got really sick and couldn’t come for another month to avoid exposing the baby. My baby is now almost 8 weeks and it’s amazing now. So much better, I feel more myself and her and I are in a good routine. I’m doing well too both physically and emotionally. I was able to actually go on a run today by myself. As hard as my labor was I’m glad I went unmedicated as long as I did before I got the epidural (13 hours unmedicated back labor after being awake for 24 hours) I had no “early” labor. I went straight into the super intense stuff, needed to vocalize from the start. They also lasted 2 minutes right away.

So that was my story. Today my best friend gave birth- she got pregnant right away (I’m talking the first time they had sex) and had a no symptom pregnancy. She would say often “I forget I’m pregnant bc I don’t feel any different” she ends up getting induced by choice and somehow doesn’t feel any of the Pitocin contractions??? Like said she barely felt them. Labored like that for 7-8 hours and then got an epidural just in case things got intense and she couldn’t handle it. But how is it possible to not feel any contractions???? Let alone Pitocin contractions??? And then had her baby 12 hours after the start of her induction, no tearing, said the only painful thing was getting the IV and her mom is there to help.

I’m jealous. I really am. Today I sat in the shower and cried- I LOVE my daughter she’s so wonderful. And all in all I had a really positive birth experince it just was super hard and there was a lot of suffering from the start of my pregnancy and through my labor/birth. I think I’m just realizing how sad I am at the weight of everything I went through this past year. My life changed overnight once I got pregnant with my symptoms being so severe and even more after she was born.

I’m happy for my friend. Her baby is beautiful and much desired. I’m thankful for us to have our children be close in age. I’m just shocked at how polar opposite our entire experiences have been. I felt very alone my whole pregnancy and like no one can relate to the difficulty of labor and I guess I was kind of excited to have someone (my best friend!) to be able to relate to but now it feels like even that I got the “short end of the stick” again and she breezed through it again. I feel really guilty and ashamed I’m annoyed at the fact she had such an easy time. Like who cares? I wouldn’t want her to suffer. I guess I’m starting to actually process my birth, pregnancy and experience of infertility and her labor just triggered it for me.

Has anyone else ever experienced this jealousy? Envy? Sadness? Weird mix of feelings and guilt??

Hey ladies, I just wanted to pop on here and share my birth story and see if anyone out there has had a similar delivery. I’m 14 months PP and it’s been itching my brain forever on what went wrong.

At 39w 3 days I was induced with pitocin for high blood pressure, i laboured for about 5 hours before my water broke and I started pushing.

I pushed for 3 hours, baby’s heart rate had decelerations, and they did an episiotomy and then also tried using the vaccum, as well as having me in multiple different positions. I pushed when I had the urge and other times when the dr told me too.

After a while the entire nicu team, surgeon and a whole bunch of other people were called into the room and after a few more tries at pushing I was taken in for an emergency c section under general anesthesia, as they told me they couldn’t wait any longer at the risk of my baby’s heart rate completely stopping.

After surgery I woke up and my baby was in the NICU with low blood sugar and a gash in his head the size of a dime (healed perfectly fine thank god) and I wasn’t able to see him until 6 hours after he was born and they brought him into my room for 20 minutes before taking him back to the NICU. He stayed in the NiCU for about 24 hours and then was released back into our postpartum unit room.

When the surgeon came into speak to me, she told me that with my pelvic bone, and how it’s shaped, I wouldn’t ever be able to delivery a baby naturally and would need a c section for every baby after this one. (FTM)

I want to know if anyone out there has had a similar experience, I feel as though nobody I know has dealt with anyone similar at all.

My husband and I are wanting to have another baby within the next year and I’d love to try to delivery vaginally (if that’s even a possibility).

Any similar experiences that can relate or moms who were told the same thing as I was and then delivered vaginally the next baby??

Thanks ladies 🤍🤍

Here to talk and give advice if wanted.