Unusual births

[LLMom]

So the thread on sizes of babies got me thinking.  Who has had an unusual birth?  Twins naturally, breech naturally, delivered without a doctor or midwife whether on purpose or not?  Others?

 

I have had one child frank breech in the hospital.  It was supposed to be a home birth, but I transferred.  Was expecting a C-section because they told me that is all they do.  She showed them otherwise.  :laugh:  It was one of my easiest births. 

 

Anyone else care to share?

[Onceuponatime]

Does an emergency c-section count? My last baby never dropped and he was transverse most of the time but would flip around if I pushed him. I went into labor but the baby was not engaged, and the cord slipped into the birth canal. He went transverse again as I was rushed to the operating room and they had to T cut my uterus to get him out. It turned out that my uterus had developed a muscular ridge that kept the baby from dropping.

 

I had natural births with all my other children and had been expecting to do the same with him. I'm so grateful to be living in a time when this kind of problem doesn't kill people, because I most certainly would have died being unable to birth him.

[Carrie12345]

My craziest delivery wasn't all that unusual, but it was outside of *my* norm.

I insisted on an induction at 42 weeks even though my mws kept trying to change my mind.  Labor was going nowhere, so I sent dh home to walk the dogs.  Of course that sent my labor racing, lol.

Ds's heart rate went bananas when I was around 7-8cm, so my mw ordered a c-section. Then she looked at me and told me to get him out NOW. So I did! And then dh walked in while she was, um, repairing the damage.

Ds had a 2x nuchal cord and true knot. I have amazing pelvic strength. ;)

[Heidi]

I had my last baby at home w/o a midwife on purpose. It was beautiful!!!! All my other babies had hospital births, one w/o pain medication and the rest induced w/ an epidural.

 

I wasn't planning on having a home birth, but at last moment, as in a few hours before I went into labor, I changed my mind. Ran to walmart to get a few supplies and set up my room for a delivery.

 

I had uneasy feelings about going to the hospital bc of a recent incident with my OB. And in Alabama midwifery is still illegal.

 

My kids were asleep when labor hit. My husband was with me applying back pressure to relieve the pain. He caught the baby when he came out and clamped the cord. It was just so... Beautiful. Especially compared to all the hospital births I'd had. No bright lights, no one telling me when to push and when not to push, no IV, no heart monitor, no cutting the cord right away, no shots or ointment in the eyes for baby, no having to labor or deliver in bed, no nurses waking me up to check on us, no staying in a hospital room for 48 hours, eating whatever and whenever I wanted, no fighting for a delivery my way. It was wonderful.

[gardenmom5]

my sil had her nesting urge - so started running all her errands.  then she got home, called her two friends who were going to watch her kids (days before cell phones and call waiting) and both lines were busy.  they were talking to each other making plans on what they would do when sil had her baby.

 

the only other people home were a pair of sister missionaries - one of whom said "this is an emergency, we can take you to the hospital" (missionaries aren't allowed to drive other people).  sil was sitting on the toilet and just told her to catch the baby.  (and boy did those missionaries have stories!)

her next door neighbor was a volunteer fireman and got to her house about the same time as sil's  dh.

 

her dil did the same thing.  delivered her fourth on the toilet at home - except her dh was there as it was 3am. apparently she had barely realized she was even in labor so had little warning.

[Maplecat]

I've had a larger range of birth experiences than most women. One of my sons was born in a tub at home. The other was induced in a hospital. On the other end of the spectrum, I passed out at 27 weeks pregnant with my first daughter and woke up hours later after having a classical incision under general anesthesia. Neither my husband or I were there at her birth. My youngest was a planned section.

[ChristusG]

My first child wanted out so badly she tore my cervix on the way out. The blood wouldn't stop....it was very scary to see doctors and nurses come rushing in. At my check up weeks later I mentioned that my cervix had torn during delivery. The nurse said. "Oh, you mean your v*gina?" I'm like no, my actual cervix. She said that was unusual.

[ssavings]

Middlest DD was born in the hallways on the way to my hospital room. o.O

[Freckles]

11lbs 10 oz vaginal birth with shoulder dystocia. Scary!

[elegantlion]

ds was born 3 weeks early via full anesthesia c-section as I was having problems. Took them almost 3 days to figure out scar tissue from a previous surgery  was creating the early labor pains. I went into the hospital Friday night, he was born Monday afternoon. I don't remember most of the weekend. He left the hospital before I did. I love morphine. Notice I have *1* child. The doctor's suggestion and I agreed. 

[PeterPan]

11lbs 10 oz vaginal birth with shoulder dystocia. Scary!

Yup, 11lb 1 oz. at home.  He's pretty much his own birth control.

[Tammi K]

I had number 2 in a Toyota. That was pretty unusual for us!

[Hypatia.]

#4 was born with less than 30 minutes from first contraction to baby.  DH was upstairs in the kitchen heating more water for the birth tub (which had luckily been prefilled) and making coffee, I yelled "baby!" and he ran down the half-flight of stairs into the family room right as DS2 went flying out.  My usual labors are 2 hours so we weren't expecting a long one but a bit longer than that! 

[Donna]

My middle ds was my strangest labor. I walked around 4cm dilated for a week and when I went for my appointment at 37 weeks, the doctor told me to go to the hospital the next night and he would induce me. (I had been having preterm labor since 30 weeks.) The next day I waited around until everyone got off work so my parents could watch my oldest and then dh took me to the hospital. The nurse questioned the doctor for wanting to induce me early but when he checked I was 7cm and 90% effaced but still not in pain though I knew my stomach was getting tight by then. He told the nurse I would have had the baby on the floor if I hadn't come in. I had ds 2 hours later and was only in pain the last hour....pain that made up for the what I didn't have prior.

 

My friend had to stop at another hospital on the way to her planned hospital to have her ds. Her husband was parking the car and missed the birth...it was that quick.

[MinivanMom]

One of my boys was born "in the caul" - with his amniotic sac fully intact. That was a homebirth and once he was delivered the midwife had to cut his amniotic sac open so that he could take his first breath.

[macmacmoo]

Eldest son was completely textbook born on his due date even.

 

Second son was stillborn at 38 weeks He had passed away in womb due to 8x nuchal cord. I didn't realize I was laboring all day long. Called L&D but they said not to come in because contractions were so irregular. Finally went in because the pressure was so bad. Within ten minutes of arriving, I had pushed him out, but at some point they pointed out he had no heart beat.

 

Third son was induced at 38 weeks to give me peace of mind. He was head down when they started induction. But when i was about 7cm and the midwife was going o break my water she notice the babies head wasn't where it was suppose to be. He had managed to flip around during labor. They used the logic that since he flipped during labor they could flip him back. Still got prep for a c-section just in case though. They were able to flip him, broke my water to hold him in place, and I had to sit in an upright position the rest of labor for fear he'd do something silly.

[Plink]

Minivan Mom beat me to it - My water never broke with my son. We could see his hair floating after he was out. At the last minute it broke on its own. So cool. All the nurses came in to peek.

[PeachyDoodle]

I had preterm labor starting at 28 weeks with both and was more than halfway dilated both times before the real event. With ds, I was at 6cm at my 36-week check-up. I lived 45 minutes from the hospital where my doctor had admitting privileges and was terrified that I was going to have him in the car. My OB attempted an amniocentesis that morning but wasn't able to get a pocket of fluid big enough and was afraid of hitting the baby. (I wouldn't wish that experience on my worst enemy.) He couldn't run the requisite lung maturity tests, and although he called in every favor he had, the hospital refused to admit me for induction. He sent me home on strict bed rest, with orders to proceed to the nearest emergency room (NOT the women's hospital) if my water broke.

 

By some miracle, ds stayed put for another week, and when I went in for my next check-up, bags packed per doc's orders, he more or less lied and told the hospital he was sending over a patient in labor. Which was true enough, I suppose, given how far I was dilated. When the L&D nurse hooked me up to the monitor, she was like, "You're not contracting very much to be do far along." I said, "Oh? Hm, I don't know..."

 

Then the midwife came and broke my water, and an hour later the L&D nurse still hadn't materialized. I told dh he'd better locate her on the double or be prepared to catch. She was visibly peeved when she came in and said, "Honey, this usually takes awhile." As if I hadn't done it before. :cursing: But when she checked me, she didn't waste any time paging the OB. He literally walked in the door three minutes later, sat down, and out popped ds.

[dbmamaz]

My three were all so different!

 

1: induced at a small hospital and took 24 hours

 

2: home birth, took over 2 full days

 

3: fast!  I didnt think it was really labor until i felt the urge to push.  I was trying not to push the whole way there in the car, baby born less than 10 minutes after we arrived at the hospital.  As I was being wheeled through the lobby, I guess I was loud, and a little boy yelled "That lady is having a baby RIGHT NOW!"  But the nurses said "Climb up on the table" and turned away. I was baffled - i'm also only 5'2 - but somehow i managed to get up there - and on my knees!  Oh - and the ob-gyn broke the bag just before she told me to push, it was still in tact.  I was begging her to break it, though

[daffodil]

My second was born in the hospital bath tub. Not super unusual, but we hadn't planned a water birth.

[Dory]

My oldest ds turned frank breach at 27 weeks and then a footling breach at 32 weeks and they booked me in for a c-section.

 

My dd showed up at 35 weeks and I bled and left pieces of the placenta all the way to the hospital. Placental abruption, vacuum extraction with an episiotomy. I didn't see her for 4 hours after they whisked her away. She was unresponsive and a rather scary color of blue. She was also supposed to be a boy according to the ultrasounds so that was a bit of a shocker. I gave birth to her in the exact same delivery room that I was born in. Kinda scary that it hadn't been renovated in that long.

 

My youngest ds was 3 weeks overdue when they finally induced me. He was a lovely normal delivery.

 

[Jean in Newcastle]

1st child - labor 3 days with back labor.  Pitocin made one long contraction that would not end.  Nurses were yelling "turn it off!  turn it off!"  Was vomiting last 14 hours of labor to the point of throwing up my own stomach lining (tmi, sorry).  The worst part after his birth was being able to eat without pain again.  Both my labor nurses and my very experienced doctor came in to tell me that they were scared during this birth.  (There had been an earthquake and maternity and the operating rooms were all full.)

 

2nd child - labored to 8 cm, labor stopped as soon as I got to the hospital.  Refused pitocin and walked for miles in the halls.  Actual transition was quick and I pushed for about 5 min. before dd came out.  This was a problem because the cord was wrapped around her neck and everyone was yelling at me not to push.  I actually heard the nurse go to the intercom and called the doctor to come in "stat".  He came in, grabbed scissors and cut the cord all in one swift motion.  Dd came out a bit dusky and was rushed off but soon was back in my arms.  

[Elfknitter.#]

2nd birth, first at home. MW thought she had more time but nope.

[Rjmakmom]

Does an emergency c-section count? My last baby never dropped and he was transverse most of the time but would flip around if I pushed him. I went into labor but the baby was not engaged, and the cord slipped into the birth canal. He went transverse again as I was rushed to the operating room and they had to T cut my uterus to get him out. It turned out that my uterus had developed a muscular ridge that kept the baby from dropping.

 

I had natural births with all my other children and had been expecting to do the same with him. I'm so grateful to be living in a time when this kind of problem doesn't kill people, because I most certainly would have died being unable to birth him.

 

 

Oh my gosh!! This is exactly what happened to me with my 5th! Except she started head down, moved to transverse and by the time I got to the ER was completely breech. The doctors had a heck of a time pulling her out. 

[Excelsior! Academy]

11lbs 10 oz vaginal birth with shoulder dystocia. Scary!

 

Um, nothing can top that!

 

 

My most unusual birth was a 6lb 2oz baby girl born after one hour of labor and no epidural. She arrived before the doctor made it in the room. I had a 3rd degree tear.  The recovery from that was almost as painful as the birth.  Seems pretty mundane compared to some of your stories.

 

[Tranquility7]

I can't remember the whole story, but I have a friend who went into labor quickly - I think it was during a bad snowstorm maybe??  Anyway, her DAD and BROTHER delivered her baby on her kitchen floor.  Can you imagine how mortifying that would be?  Seriously, her dad and brother?!  :blushing: :blushing: :blushing:

[Gentlemommy]

My midwife didn't make my last home birth. My fault, I didn't realize I was so far along, and she was born really fast dh handled it beautifully, kept his wits about him, o the phone with the midwife (who was speeding to our house lol). He suctioned her and we just waited for mw to get there. She got there about five minutes later. ;) It was an amazing experience.

[Tmhearn]

My second was born in the hospital bath tub. Not super unusual, but we hadn't planned a water birth.

I live in the same bubble that you do. A waterbirth is nothing unusual in my circle either. But, the reality is that it's like 1% of births in America. So, yes, it really is unusual. :-)

[craftyerin]

vaginal twin birth, with baby B breech!

[milovany]

Babies 2-7 were planned unattended home births (the first had been an emergency c-section in a Bolivian clinica). After babies 1 & 2, I've had fast births -- with my third, baby was out 59 minutes from the time I thought to myself (after getting up 2-3 times to urinate in the middle of the night), "It feels funny when I pee. I wonder if I'm in labor?"  The others after her have been in the range of 1-1/2 hours to 3 hours.  Birth is hard, but I can handle it for 2-3 hours!  I don't know if my faith in that type of process and outcome is the same as it used to be, though. I'm 47 now and if I got pregnant again (not looking likely), I'm not sure where I'd give birth, but it was certainly a fun ride while it lasted. 

[MistyMountain]

I had an unplanned home birth. My labor with my youngest still had contractions spaced 5-7 minutes apart for a while but they were getting painful when I called my friend. During the phone call they got closer together. My mom was suppose to be there when we went to the hospital but this was a week early and my mom wasn't due in until later that day. My friend was going to act as my doula at the hospital but she had to stay with my older two since my mom wasn't there yet. After I called my friend to come I called the hospital and told them we would be coming soon. It was taking my friend a while to get there and in the mean time the contractions were getting bad and then started spacing out again. She finally arrived a while later. She lived very close but she got a flat tire on the way over and had to walk. Right after my friend got there I had a crazy painful contraction and had to use the bathroom. I was really scared because it was so painful I didn't know how I could make it through a car ride to the hospital. When I got to the bathroom I realized that I didn't have to go to the bathroom it was the baby coming! My husband called 911 and as he did my friend caught my surprise girl as I was standing up in the bathroom. She wants to be a doula so it was exciting to her to get to catch her. She was born with her hand by her head. The ambulance guys arrived shortly after and it was funny. They just stayed back and waited for the placenta to deliver then cut the cord really really long. Their labor kit was dusty. We went to the hospital and left 8 hours later and it would have been sooner if my pediatrician wasn't out on his yearly hunting trip.

[Mandylubug]

I was induced with my first. I must state I was unsure how far along I was, no clue when I got pregnant. So I had two ultrasounds to estimate gestation. I ended up have pre-eclampsia but they decided I was far enough to induce. Long story short, I wasnt as far a long as expected, neonatal dr had a fit I was induced without baby being given steroids for his lungs. Estimated actual age after he was born was 34 weeks.

 

2nd birth was right at one year later, at 38weeks and a caul birth. 3 pushes was all it took.

 

My twins birth itself was a normal csection. The day leading up to it was horrible. I had went in for a normal check. They checked my iron, freaked at it's levels and then did more blood work to make sure numbers were accurate. I was told my iron was dangerously low, if I gave birth I could bleed to death yada yada. They scared me. Then checked my blood pressure and decided it was dangerously high and sent me for immediate csection. I was so scared I was going to bleed to death. They did have transfusions ready and by my head during the procedure. It all ended well.

[swellmomma]

My first 3 weren't smooth sailing but not all that unusual.  1st was a prem C-section because he was breech when my water broek early.  2nd was a vacuum extraction VBAC, 3rd was an induction at 36 weeks 1 week after my water broke.  My 4th however decided to be the drama queen.  Water broke and 2 days later labor finally started, only it was back labor so when I went into the hospital for my scheduled nonstress test and told them I was in labor they said I was mistaken because the monitor wasn't registering contractions and sent me home.  That was at noon.  I called my dad and asked him to pick me up from the hospital, that they were wrong and I was in labor.  He picked me up and took me to my folks place and I called my Ob and told her I was in labor but the hospital sent me home.  She told me to come into the hospital she has privledges at (because baby was a prem I had to deliver at a hospital with a NICU that my ob cold not work out of).  I got to the hospital and OB met me there, monitor still not registering but when she checked me I was 5.5 cm.  She called for an ambulance transfer to come get me and take me back to the NICU hospital that sent me home.  By now it was about 2:15pm.  Ambulance shows up, they check me again, still 5.5 cm.  Get me on stretcher, through the hospital and into the ambulance.  They send a nurse along with me and the EMTs.  Just as we are pulling out of the hospital I demand to sit up fully straddling the stretcher due to the intense back pain (I never want to go through back labor again). We made it through the city(small city, takes maybe 10 minutes to get from one end to the other) and I knew I was at 10cm. I tried to not push even when my body wanted me to and just held her in and screamed with each contraction.  We made it out of the small city, and into the big one about 3/4 of the way to the nicu hospital when I said I couldn't hold her in any longer I have to push.  They helped me lean back and I was already crowning.  They pulled the ambulance over to the side of the road and in a couple pushes she was out.  Born at 3:18pm.  I cut her cord myself.  Nurse then asks if I am okay having her open 1 side of my gown to tuck baby inside for warmth, I looked at her like she had 3 eyes and said "I just flashed half the city, who cares if they see a boob now".  They finished getting me to nicu hospital, delivery of the placenta was complicated and they had to give me pitocin, morphine and then lay on my stomach to get it out and stop the hemorraging.  But in the end it was fine, they bent over backwards to make up for sending me home.  If I had not called my ob I would have delivered on my folks livingroom floor, and could have had serious hemorraging before help arrived.  I have to say delivering in an ambulance on the side of the road counts as unusual :P

[LLMom]

What amazing stories! Thanks for sharing.

[LMD]

mine have all been so different! my special thing is I've never needed stitches.

 

#1- waited 30hrs after waters breaking before induction (scolded by midwife for that!)

#2- retained placenta & emergency trip to theatre to remove it. Due to placenta/cord issues that had been missed at scan. He was also born with his arms crossed over his chest.

#3- fast. Very nearly side of the road. Biggest bubs.

#4- born sunny side up in the bath tub. Posterior labour is the worst!

[Sisyphus]

I had a surprise frank breech, but it sucked, lol. He was head down two weeks before, and a verified (I know the exact day I got pregnant) 2 weeks overdue. The nurse was shocked when I got to 10 and she put her hand up and felt a butt, she actually blamed ME! Like, how didn't I know? Duh, first time mom, I swear I never felt him move that much out of the ordinary, but somehow a post dates baby flipped completely around.

 

They brought in a midwife to deliver, because I was adamant about no section, and I didn't need one, his heart rate was perfect. The midwife was the only one with experience with breech vaginal delivery! Unfortunately his head got stuck and my pelvis was broken, but hey- no section. Kind of a waterfall of bad outcomes, but no ones fault, it happens! I had a room full of doctors, nurses and residents when I delivered, none of whom had seen a breech vaginal delivery.

[FO4UR]

#1 - Terrible, horrible OB/GYN...ugh...it was a long, painful recovery.

 

#2 - Perfect birth.

 

#3 - Almost had him in a truck. I was 10cm when I got to the hospital, and they had to call in the on-call OB to catch him.  After all that excitement, his was the easiest recovery.

 

#4 - Eclampsia!  Abrupted placenta!  Prolapsed cord!  0 apgar!  30 second emergency c/s!  3 blood transfusions!  3 days on cooling protocol!  11 days in the NICU!  

[Paige]

I was told I was the only unmedicated vaginal twin delivery that anyone in the hospital I delivered at could remember. I really didn't expect that I was asking for that much out of the ordinary, but apparently I was messing up everyone's day. I was preterm and had to take a life flight from our local hospital to one a couple of hours away. I guess the life flight ride was unusual too. It was the only time I've been in a helicopter and I couldn't even sit up!

 

I had suspected I was in labor all weekend but when I went to my OB appt that morning and had the nonstress test, they said I was fine. One of my twins' waters broke that night. I called a neighbor to stay with my son because DH was out of town for a business trip. I thought that most likely I'd peed myself or something but just went to be safe. I didn't take anything with me except my ID and keys and drove myself to the hospital. I walked into the ER and told them I thought maybe my water had broken and I wanted to be checked. They were skeptical, but took me to L&D in a wheelchair because that was the rules. As soon as I got up from the wheelchair I had a huge gush of water and it was obvious. I called DH and told him to hurry home. My OB happened to already be there and he was very apologetic and disappointed. He said the pediatricians would not allow him to deliver me there and I'd have to go somewhere else because since my water had broken, I could not go home until the babies were born. In the confusion, I forgot to call DH right away and couldn't call during the life flight. I called him from the new hospital which happened to be in the same town as his business trip but he was already halfway home! He had to turn around. He also arranged for someone else to stay with DS.

 

My twins were both head down so I refused a c-section and I also refused an epidural. My old doctor had promised that I wouldn't need one and I was more scared of the epidural than I was of the doctors. I think we ended up with 30 people in the delivery room with all the doctors, nurses, interns for me and each baby. I had a really weird moment when I delivered Baby A and they handed her to me right away before Baby B had been delivered. I was trying to see my new baby and all the doctors were still yelling at me to push and I had developed the shakes. I wanted someone to take her for me but they were oblivious. I thought it was sort of unmotherly to ask them to please take my newborn away as I really didn't feel like holding her just yet, but I finally got a nurse's attention and she took her. It felt like forever but it was probably just a couple minutes. They were only 10min apart. I was super concerned also because she was premature! I was thinking, "Shouldn't you all be helping her breathe or something??" I couldn't believe the NICU team didn't take her right away. They took Baby B right away and I didn't see her until she was already hooked up to the machines. The one they gave to me actually ended up being the most critical one and I have always wondered if she developed CP because they didn't get her oxygen quickly enough.

[cjzimmer1]

My first two were c-sections (the second was a failed vbac), with number 3 I really wanted to try for a vbac again.  in triage they checked me and I was a 6.  they took me to my room.  I felt I couldn't cope with the pain anymore and decided to get an epidural. Nurse told me to go to the bathroom while she went and got my check in paperwork  Baby was born in the bathroom before the nurse returned.  I went from 6 to fully delivered in under 30 minutes.  Apparently I was quite the talk at the nursing station since they considered me to be like a first time mom since I hadn't delivered vaginally before and no one expected things to go that fast.  The resident apologized multiple times that DD was born in the bathroom but it wasn't like it was the residents fault she was in such a hurry to arrive.

 

Other unusual things would simply be that I've had 4 completely unmedicated births after having 2 c-sections.  Some of the doctors haven't been too thrilled with vbacs so I've been blessed to be able to deliver them all that way.

 

Also with my last baby, apparently he had 2 sacs around him.  One broke but the other was fully intact when I went into labor.  I hadn't heard of that before but they said it happens sometimes.

[blondeviolin]

One of my friends attended a birth as a doula where things turned sour really fast and they took mom for a section before they could give her proper anesthesia. Doula and Dad were not allowed in, but they said you could hear the screams through the halls. :(

[Sara in AZ]

My midwife didn't make my last home birth. My fault, I didn't realize I was so far along, and she was born really fast dh handled it beautifully, kept his wits about him, o the phone with the midwife (who was speeding to our house lol). He suctioned her and we just waited for mw to get there. She got there about five minutes later. ;) It was an amazing experience.

This happened to us, too, at our last birth. (First home birth). DH was really stressing out, but I thought it was fantastic. I loved the feeling of doing it all on my own. Well, not completely all. The midwife's assistant actually showed up just after the baby's head was out, so she unwrapped the cord from her neck and delivered the body. Midwife showed up after we were all cleaned up and cozily nursing in bed.

 

Two of mine were early inductions due to cholestasis of pregnancy. My son was delivered at 36 weeks, and we were all concerned about issues from being early, lung development, etc. He turned out to be 8 lb. 2 oz, fine but for some jaundice. We weren't expecting that. He's still a pretty strapping boy!

[3_monkeys_mom]

My midwife didn't make my last home birth. My fault, I didn't realize I was so far along, and she was born really fast dh handled it beautifully, kept his wits about him, o the phone with the midwife (who was speeding to our house lol). He suctioned her and we just waited for mw to get there. She got there about five minutes later. ;) It was an amazing experience.

 

This was exactly our experience as well with our last home birth (baby is now 10 months). She was born in less than an hour from the time of the first contraction to delivering her (6 hours before delivering the baby I was driving my oldest one to her swim class with no sign of labor). The midwife lived about 30 minutes from our house. When I realized I was in labor, we called the midwife. However, my labor progressed really fast and 15 minutes after we called the midwife I was starting to have the urge to push. My husband delivered the baby in the water (I was in the bathtub) while the midwife was giving us instructions over the phone. We then all waited in the bathtub and kept the baby warm with towels and blankets until the midwife arrived (about 10 minutes after the baby was born). 

 

My oldest one helped cut the baby's cord while DH almost passed out in the bathtub from the intense emotions (he kept his wits during the delivery though). 

[Joker]

I don't think I had any really unusual births.

 

Oldest was pretty normal until actual delivery. Then, I had a really bad tear that still bothers me a bit today. She tore through muscle and it doesn't seem to have ever regained normalcy.

 

Youngest was strange because the entire thing was only 90 minutes. I was cooking dinner, felt a contraction, and then my water broke. The hospital brushed me off at first because they said they had other women in more obvious pain. When I finally threw such a fit that someone examined me, my room was full of people. Youngest flew on out but my placenta was a different story and they put me under for a few minutes to remedy that (after my idiot doctor attempted to pull it out - that was probably the most pain I've ever felt).

[nd293]

I think my c-section was pretty unusual... I had complete placenta previa, and started bleeding heavily at 9:30pm one night. We lived in a country with no ambulance service. We put dd (then 6) in the front seat of the car and me lying in the back with my feet up and drove to the hospital. Just that day I'd been told I would definitely need a c-section, and should find my own blood donors. So there I was, lying in the back seat, phoning around for potential donors (turns out you only needed your own donors for scheduled surgery and I got 'free' blood as it was an emergency). That evening the national football (soccer) team had just won the semi- finals of a regional match at a home game. Their fans (ie every male in the country) were a little excited, and had taken to the streets - dh was reporting armed soldiers on street corners, called out to maintain order. There was no OB at the private hospital, and it took her over an hour to get there, thanks to the football fans celebrating on the roads (literally).

 

There were plenty of other 'interesting' or funny (in retrospect) moments, but that's the short version! They couldn't put me under general anaesthetic as I'd just eaten, so I was awake through the whole drama. My memories are clouded in a feeling of euphoria - I guess that was the adrenalin? I don't remember being scared, and afterwards I had no real desire to hold my son - I felt intensely connected to him, and had no problem at all bonding with him, but only touched him for the first time after about 12 hours when the paediatrician insisted they move my bed next to his. Definitely the strangest experience of my life!

[HS Mom in NC]

My second child was a homebirth transfer to a hospital for a c-section because the placenta was tearing off (something we had anticipated might happen.)  On the way there my left fallopian tube spontaneously ruptured. I have never heard of anyone else this has ever happened to and neither had the midwife or doctors on staff.  The placenta completely detached and came all the way out out before she did.  She was born perfectly healthy.

[Bonnie in VA]

My second child was born in the front passenger seat of a Mazda! 

[PrincessMommy]

I also had one born in the caul... or actually just her head.  The midwife pulled away the sac before the rest of her was born.  But, my birthing assistance says that when dd's head rotated up she stared straight up at her and just looked her in the eyes.  She said it was pretty awesome. 

[Halftime Hope]

Several others have listed their stories which were almost identical to mine, but it's fun to write them out. 

 

Kiddo was 3 weeks late (we knew the exact date) but the placenta had checked out fine and functional with an U/S, so we carried on.  That Saturday, I was determined he would quit messing around, and we'd get this over with, so I walked for several hours while dh and the kids hung out at the playground. Every time I'd quit walking, the sporadic contractions induced by the walking would stop.  I finally took some castor oil mid-afternoon, and then around 9:30 pm my water broke.  I called the midwife who only lived 25 minutes away, and she threw her gear into the car and came.  In the meantime, I was walking around gathering things, getting ready for "labor to start", and dh went to put the bright-eyed little girl to bed downstairs. 

 

My friend came over to watch the "sleeping" kids, and I called dh upstairs, telling him I had to get on the bed.  I was resisting the urge to push, but baby wasn't listening and I delivered the head.  On the next push, it was apparent a shoulder was stuck, and dh told me in the most serious voice I've ever heard that I couldn't push any more, and he did something he remembered being told in our childbirth classes 6 years earlier and got that shoulder unstuck.  Baby came fully out on the next push, and dh and my friend got him suctioned, and up on my chest.  He was pretty blue but pinked up very nicely.  About three minutes later, the midwife arrived and was just sick that she had had missed the birth, and that the little bugger had put us through that long wait and then decided to pull a supersonic arrival stunt like that!  Truly, we were all thankful for God's protection and for dh's good memory and cool head.  For several days, only half joking, dh called the baby "Weldon"  (well done), until I finally settled on his real name. 

 

Bright-eyed girl (almost three) had sneaked into the bedroom and watched most of the birth (not that it mattered, we just didn't notice her there until he was being weighed) and would not go to sleep until she had held the baby, a sizeable 9 lb 10 oz guy who was wonderfully squeezable.

 

 

[littlebug42]

I had to be induced at 38 weeks with Boo-Boo because I was so low on amniotic fluid.  Did the overnight cervix ripening thing, OB came in AM to break my water, and then got epidural at 9:30 AM.  I was then at 4 CM.  Pitocin going.  At 10 AM, I started feeling major pressure.  RN came in to check me and said, "This isn't your first baby is it?" and then hit button to tell those at station to get OB back NOW.  He made it back to hospital at 10:30 and while he was changing clothes, Boo-Boo was crowning.  He barely made it in the room in time to catch her.  Funny thing was, I never pushed a single time.  She just shot out like a bullet.  Very minimal tearing.  However, after the epidural wore off, the pain was the most intense I have ever felt.  My milk came in that night in the hospital and while she was nursing, I would cry. I let them take her back to the nursery at night so I could take pain meds and rest.  Brutal stuff.  

[LostSurprise]

#1~I went in to see my OB at my 9 month appointment. She did her first internal exam. She came up and said, "you're over 7 cm dilated and completely effaced. Are you having a contraction right now?" I told her no. "Are you sure? Can you feel that??"

 

So I guess I was having contractions you can't feel??

She had the nurse call the hospital next door and arrange a room for us. She asked me if I thought I could walk that far! When I left every single nurse in the practice was in the hallway to stare at me and one of the women who was newly pregnant said, "that's how we tall girls do it...birth without contractions."

 

We sat around the hospital for 30 minutes or so and when I was 8cm dilated they broke my water. I went straight into transition. Hyperventilated. Broke tons of capillaries in my face and chest. And had a baby an hour and 20m later. 

 

#2~Was pretty normal other than them giving me more pitocin than one of the nurses had ever seen and my husband saying "It doesn't hurt that much" when I ripped. Really?? Good thing I was busy at the time. Born in under an hour. 

 

#3~My last 2 were early. This child was persistent posterior. I was in labor the entire last month. He was kind of stuck, I think. I sat through most of LotR: The Two Towers with contractions 10-2min apart. Totally freaked out the woman next to me. Eventually I went in a week or two late and they had to manually push his head out of my pelvis to break my water. They nicked him with the knitting needle-like thing...he was that embedded in my pelvis. Horrendous back labor. He never did flip around and stayed posterior the whole time. The OB manually flipped him before he crowned. Born in @ an hour. Needed oxygen but otherwise fine.

 

#4~Pretty normal. I had a 10 minute contraction and was complete. The nurse ran to the phone, accidentally pulled it off the wall, yelled down the hall to call the OB and he was there in 5 minutes.