Things that happened to us

When I was coming up to my due date I was always curious about how I would know when I went into labour, so I thought maybe we could make a short list for people to consult, feel free to add questions etc as I know each experience is different.

How close to Due date was your baby? the next morning
Did you have a Show? No
How long before Pregnancy was your show? N/A
Any other indications of labour? Slight sickness for couple of weeks leading up but that was all.
When did your waters break? About 3 hours before my contractions started
How did they break? Naturally and with a big gush, they continued to 'gush' throughout labour - must have had a lot of water!
How far apart were your contractions at the start? 14 Minutes
How quickly did they progress? quickly, within 3 hours they were 2 minutes apart.
How far apart where they when you went into hospital? (Or when you called the midwife if you had a home birth) 2 minutes and when I got there I was 6 cm
What pain relief techniques did you use at home? TENS Machine and tried to breath through it
How effective were they? Both very effective
What pain relief did you have in hospital? Gas and Air
How effective was it? Very effective, except I had to use it continuously to feel the full effects, if I stopped it took half the next contraction before it would work again so was useless. They took it off me when time to push though as I wasn't pushing properly.
How long was your labour once in hospital? 4 hours
Did you have skin to skin? yes
Would you have this again? yes
Did you breast feed? yes
How helpful were the staff throughout and after labour? During labour my midwife was a bit rubbish, I thought she was a student as she didn't speak to me until I was pushing! The Auxilery (Sp) Nurse was amazing, really got me through (As well as OH) Afterwards they were nice and helpful with the breastfeeding etc, but I had to keep asking for them, also I didn't get fed, when they brought me food it wasn't what I asked for and I didn't like what it was. one of the women helping me breastfeed in the night smelt of cigerettes!
Did you stay in hospital? yes
Would you do this again? No, I would rather go home and settle into our new family life.

How close to Due date was your baby? 4 weeks early!
How long before Pregnancy was your show? I didnt have one.
Any other indications of labour? Nothing other than backache
When did your waters break? I had mine broken for me, with a long needle. They did it whilst I was contractiong so I didnt feel a thing.
How did they break? There was a slight gush and it felt horribly warm!!
How far apart were your contractions at the start? I was contracting every 3-4 mins on and off. I thought they were braxton hicks!
How quickly did they progress? I didnt progress well. Id been contracting on and off for 3 weeks at the time of going into hospital!
How far apart where they when you went into hospital? (Or when you called the midwife if you had a home birth) every 3-4 mins. I only went in cos I was getting bad backache and expected to go straight home!
What pain relief techniques did you use at home? Nothing. The pain was bad but Iv suffered from backache for years so it was easy to ignore at times.
How effective were they? n/a
What pain relief did you have in hospital? Gas and Air. I was given pethadine but too late. It didnt kick in til after Id had Tobey
How effective was it? Rubbish!! All it did was make me giggle. I could still feel everything!
How long was your labour once in hospital? Once it was establised (was told I could continue for the next 4-6 weeks) 1hr 17mins
Did you have skin to skin? yes and I was so pleased as we hadnt discussed it.
Would you have this again? absolutely
Did you breast feed? I tried but at birth Tobey was grunting and had breathing problems due to the pethadine
How helpful were the staff throughout and after labour? During labour I wanted to hurt my midwife. I had what they call an active birth where the MW stands there and screams at you!! She kept telling me I wasnt pushing!! If my mum hadnt have been there Id have been a wreck. When Tobey was in SCBU there was a lovely nurse looking after him. She talked to me not at me, which was refreshing. I owe a lot to her.
Did you stay in hospital? yes for 6 days.
Would you do this again? I didnt have the choice. Tobey was in SCBU and I was trying to breastfeed. I had some muscular trauma from pushing (see I WAS PUSHING!) and was on strong painkillers. There was no way Id leave my baby in hospital and go home.

Just wanted to say this is a fab thread, I hope some of hte others add to it. Itt's reassuring to see how different they are, so you know whats 'normal', and great for us first time neurotics!

mad267 wrote:Just wanted to say this is a fab thread, I hope some of hte others add to it. Itt's reassuring to see how different they are, so you know whats 'normal', and great for us first time neurotics!

I'm really pleased, I read something similar when I was due so thought it might be a good one! Hope you get something from it!!

Can some of you add about placenta-whether you had the injection to expell it, and also about giving baby vitaminK, whether you had the injection or liquid?
Thanks again x

I let the cord pulse for two minutes and then had the injection, I don't remember about vit K, I know he had it, but I don't remember how.... how bad is that?

My placenta was delivered straight after I had Tobey - no inection.
He had the vit k injection no problems x

When using the gas and air if you breathe it in too quickly you may feel a little dizzy. When i was first getting to grips with it i had a really bad contraction supped on the gas and air like it was going out of fashion went really dizzy and almost fell off the birthing ball. The next few I eased off it a bit and learnt how to use it. Long deep breaths in and out with the gas and air work, as I panicked and kept breathing in and out quickly.

Another couple:
How different was it from how you thought it would be?
How was your other half-were they beter or worse than you thought?
Cheers xx

I thought I was going to need more pain relief and that I was going to handle the pain really badly, but I didn't, I actually coped a lot better than I thought and managed with just gas and air. I think it's good to be prepared and realistic, it does hurt, but it is managable.

MY OH was fantastic, he really kept me going, but I knew he was going to be good, when you're having constant contractions you don't wanna be asking for things, you want someone who is gonna know what you want... quite unrealistic I know, but you can give him info before hand to help him. Like for example the gas and air makes you really thirsty, so he can offer you lots of water. make sure he knows how to re-tie your hair in case it falls out as it gets hot (Although it was august for me...)

I'm august too, all these hints and tips are great, thanks xxx

I had a c-section as Naj was breech so never made it to labour. As a birth partner Dave was great. Naj had the vitamin K injection which was given to him in the recovery room. I remember that as I was waiting for him to cry when he had the jab but the cry never came, he just screwed his face up then latched on as soon as he was placed on me.

eviejones wrote:I had a c-section as Naj was breech so never made it to labour. As a birth partner Dave was great. Naj had the vitamin K injection which was given to him in the recovery room. I remember that as I was waiting for him to cry when he had the jab but the cry never came, he just screwed his face up then latched on as soon as he was placed on me.

Did you have problems with your milk if you didn't go into labour?
I've been told I've got a low laying placenta, whihc hopefully will shift, but if it doesn't I'll have to have a planned section, and I'm worried about milk let down.
Cheers

mad267 wrote:

eviejones wrote:I had a c-section as Naj was breech so never made it to labour. As a birth partner Dave was great. Naj had the vitamin K injection which was given to him in the recovery room. I remember that as I was waiting for him to cry when he had the jab but the cry never came, he just screwed his face up then latched on as soon as he was placed on me.

Did you have problems with your milk if you didn't go into labour?
I've been told I've got a low laying placenta, whihc hopefully will shift, but if it doesn't I'll have to have a planned section, and I'm worried about milk let down.
Cheers

No,no problems with milk. Naj actually latched on and started feeding in the recovery room much to the suprise of the midwives and myself as I had been thinking that I might need help to position him and the midwives thought I might be a bit weak to feed. The only thing was, for the first few weeks I felt like he was stuck there as he fed pretty much all the time, not that I minded as I loved the closeness but it was awkward when we wanted to go out. Hope the low lying placenta shifts but if you do have a c-section don't worry, it won't affect your milk!

How close to Due date was your baby? 8 days late when he arrived
How long before Pregnancy was your show? I had bits for about 2 weeks
Any other indications of labour? I was induced but had been in and out with contractions for 2 weeks
When did your waters break? I had mine broken for the start of induction.
How did they break? With a trickle and they trickled for hours afterwards
How far apart were your contractions at the start? I had to get syntocin (sp) drip as my contractions wouldn't pick up they came and went
How quickly did they progress? After drip they got strong and came every 4mins to start
How far apart where they when you went into hospital? (Or when you called the midwife if you had a home birth) N/A
What pain relief techniques did you use at home? I had a tens machine after my contractions started at T-5 which I used whenever they came back on
How effective were they? I found it a relief but I had a back to back baby
What pain relief did you have in hospital? Tens and morphine
How effective was it? Tens was good to start but my pains got sorer quicker because of the drip so I had morphine which just takes the edge off, now wish I hadn't as it made me sick
How long was your labour once in hospital? After my contractions established it was approx 3hs was 6hrs from breaking my waters
Did you have skin to skin? yes I was naked on the bed with Lachlan on my chest
Would you have this again? definitely
Did you breast feed? I did, he took straight to it and the MW was very impressed
How helpful were the staff throughout and after labour? The MW I hadd was wonderful she was a lovely woman and she chattered away to us and even fed Sean, after he was born though she had to go deliver another and we were neglected :(
Did you stay in hospital? Nope was home before he was 8hours old lol.
Would you do this again? Not having anymore lol I wouldn't have done if my local mat u was still open but I was 45miles away and it was too far for kids and Sean to trail daily

I had the injection for the placenta as I always had and Lachlan had the jab for vit K with no problems, i had wanted the cord left to pulsate but he wassn't breathing so they cut it and then he came fine after that.

Thanks again ladies xxx

This is a really interesting thread - not something that you really hear information about.
Thanks
x

Totally agree...this is all the stuff that people don't tell you and that's what makes it interesting. I'm a bit nervous about the whole labour thing, not scared as such just a bit wary as I never made it that far with Naj and the consultant has been going on about possible rupture of the scar which I don't really want to think about. In another way though I am quite excited about it and just want the next 3 weeks to whizz by so I can meet our little man!