[Gaby&Emmy'sMama]

I know you can't really PLAN your childs birth, but when you gave birth to your child/ren, were their births what you expected/hoped for?

[Admin-Rachel]

my first two we're very much what I expected. They were exactly how everyone gave birth back in 88 and 91. Medicated, monitored and separated form baby.

The last two didn't go exactly as planned, but much much better.

[shen7]

Mine was not as good as my highest hopes and dreams of a 100% all natural birth (under a mango tree with a japanese flute serenade), but better than my low realistic expectations. I was not in a NCB friendly place (Mississippi). So all told, having a vaginal delivery of an extremely healthy baby and fully breastfeeding successfully afterwards, was fantastic, and I felt that every decision made along the way was the best thing to do under the circumstances, so I have no regrets. But I am happy to be in Hippieville California again I think I have about 100x better chance of a NCB if I have a baby here.

[*~~Shannon~~*]

Not.at.all.

With both boys, I went in hoping to go natural, but not ruling out an epi. Liam was an induction, epi and a c-section. Emerson was a VBAC attempt, epi and an emergency c-section.

[lrowe70]

Goodness no, it went soooo far outside of plan that I'm 100% terrified to even consider having another.

We'd planned a home waterbirth, but I ended up being induced with Pre-E at 37 weeks. 30 hours start to finish, 5 hours of pushing, he was yanked out with forceps. He's 8 months old and I still hurt "down there".

[acupofjoe]

none of my births went as planned...dd #1 i was induced for 36 hours and ended in a csection. DS was going to be a vbac but he was breech so csection it was..after an hour and half and three people trying to get the spinal in and not working i had to be knocked out. last baby the spinal worked on half of my body so i felt them cutting me, rushed hubby out of the room and was knocked out..woke up to being told my baby was born not breathing so i then passed out thinking they meant she was dead. after i woke up again i did not get to see her for over 24 hours because she was in the nicu for 3 days. the last one was very traumatizing to me and we will not be having anymore because it seems each birth got worse and worse.

[Irish_Wristwatch]

The first time no, the only thing that went the way i planned was that he was born vaginally.

The second time was much closer to what i had planned, but I planned a home water birth, and he was not born in the water

[ashj_1218]

Liam was just how I wanted it...even though I had no idea what to expect. He was natural, hospital, with a midwife. It was a great birth.

Kieran was not *just* like I wanted. I wanted another all natural. But ended up with pitocin and some Nubian to help me loosen up during those horrible contractions. Pitocin is the devil. Lol. But it was not terribly far off of what I had expected. The situation was just different.

[greenchild]

Sort of. Kaiden was supposed to be a planned c-section at 36 weeks (due to previous uterine rupture), but the placenta was HUGE and next to the cervix. Bad heavy bleeding brought on preterm labor and he was born via emergency c-section at 33w3d. 6 weeks in the NICU.

[AnotherOnTheWay]

NO but that doesn't mean it was a horrible experience. DD was born at 36 weeks via emergency c-section. My water broke and i quickly dialated to 7 cm and stayed there. Pitocin caused issues with DD heart rate so that was out of the question. After staying at 7 cm for hours and hours I agreed to a c-section. Would I change my answer if I could go back, probably but she was born healthy and nursed great and my recovery was fantastic.

My DS was a planned c-section (suppose to be at 39 weeks) but came at 36 week with natural labor and emergency (only cause it wasn't planned for that day) c-section. He was rushed to the NICU because of his heart defects which we knew about. Recovery was rough but that was because I was up and around too much

So while both weren't my ideal birthing situations, both my kids were brought into this world the safest way we could and both are doing pretty darn well.

[katylady]

I didn't know what to expect but 12 hours from water breaking to birth wasn't bad. I did not like the pitocin and at one point dd heart rate dropped but she came out perfect.

[alwayssmile]

Not at all. I'm still upset at the limits the doctor and hospital placed on me. I feel like I didn't have a chance to have a vaginal birth there. I wanted a natural drug free birth. I'm currently researching like crazy and planning a VBAC. Thankfully I'm in a different state with much more friendly hospital and providers here!

[somo_chickenlady]

Ehhhhh...I didn't really have a plan, but if I ever give birth again I will DEFINITELY want things done differently. I was drugged up the wazoo, so much so that I could barely push, and when I was pushing they had me hold it so long that I would start to pass out and see stars every time, but I was so drugged up I couldn't tell them that. I thought I did, but DH said I didn't say anything. They would say ...8...9...10...10...10...10...10...10...10... Next time NO COUNTING. I will push until I want to stop. DS was separated from me a ton while we were in the hospital, even though I didn't want him to be (they forced the issue) and next time NO WAY.

[Erin.minus.thyroid]

my first birth was traumatic. We had so many complications but in the end we were lucky to have a healthy baby. I had planned a natural birth and it did not go that way at all. I ended up with an induction because of pre-eclampsia which caused lots of complications. I had an epidural (which i did not want but they insisted I needed) and it worked for about 4hrs out of my 32hr labor. It ended with a vacuum extraction because he was posterior. He ended up having to be hospitalized from complications of his birth for about 5 days after we were sent home. It was not a great way to start motherhood.

With my second I was THRILLED with my birth. I again was planning a natural birth but i was terrified that I would end up with pre-eclampsia again and have a similar birth as with my son. I ended up on bed rest for a few weeks before my daughter's birth to keep the pre-e away and it worked. I went into labor on my own and had my natural water birth. It was still very painful and about 13hrs of active labor but it was nothing compared to my first birth. My baby did so much better after the birth as well.

[alicenwonderland]

Not so much.. i was trying for an NCB. I ended up laboring 30 hours and pushing fo 3. Teddy was posterior and it was just pure torture the whole time. After all that he still wouldn't descend and i ended up drugged up for a large episiotomy and vacuum delivery. It took 6 months to heal.

[~~Que~~]

My first birth experience was not what I would want now, but it was perfect for who I was then. It was very straight forward, I had no expectations, and had a very easy birth (with a few unnecessary interventions, but wasn't too bad because my birth was so easy)

The second was pretty straight forward too. I had a bad epidural, was on strict bedrest because of pre-e. The only expectations I had were that I was hoping it would go as smoothly as the last time, but it didn't. This experience taught me a lot, and although it was difficult, I'm grateful for the woman it made me.

My third birth was amazing and empowering. It was better than I'd hoped.

[TripleAmommy]

My first was not too bad, but not exactly how I had planned it to be. Ended up going for an induction at 9 days overdue. It worked out okay as he came out fine in about 6 hours from the start of piticon. I wanted to do it without pain meds but they forced some nubain on me.
With DS2 I expected another induction and we did so at 8 days overdue. I was able to give birth to him without any pain meds. It was also pretty quick - about 6 hours.