Forum The birth

Birth questionnaire

7 replies

JaneDoeGuest ·
I'm due in a few weeks and I'm super nervous.
That's why I've made a little questionnaire with things that are on my mind, to get a feel for how things went for others...
Thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to answer the questions
1. How long did your labor last?
2. Time between arriving at the hospital and giving birth?
3. Water broke/contractions? How did you cope with that?
4. How did you give birth? (Underwater, at home, in a hospital bed, epidural yes/no?)
5. On a scale of 1-10, how much pain did you have? Was it really as unbearable as many say?
6. C-section or natural birth?
7. If C-section, how was the baby positioned?
8. Episiotomy or not?
9. If episiotomy, how much pain was there the day after? And how long was the recovery?
10. How many weeks past the due date did the birth happen? (Or was it exactly on time? )
11. Maybe a very weird question, but how was it with 'bowel movements' during labor? I've heard all sorts of horror stories about that...
12. Tears or not?
13. Anything else you want to share about your birth

I've probably forgotten 10 questions in the rush, but this is what spontaneously came to mind.

Replies

  1. Jolien92 #2

    Here I gave birth at 39+4.
    At night I lost a thick mucus plug while peeing. In the morning at 7 o'clock I had some contractions. They didn't go away after a warm shower. When I started timing them, they were every 5 minutes. Called the midwife at 8 o'clock. At 9 o'clock I was 3 to 4 cm dilated. My baby had engaged quite low, so I had no idea when my waters broke. I had back labor and spent a lot of time under the shower at home. Then I felt pressure going down. At 1 o'clock I was 9 cm dilated. Then it became difficult and very painful. When I was allowed to push, I felt relieved! And the pain was almost gone, compared to before, hihi.
    Born at 14:20. I had some tears. Quite a bad tear. Stitching is sensitive. And pooping is normal when pushing.
    Everything is fine at home. It was 1000% easier than I expected.

  2. MamaN #3

    Hi JaneDoe,

    1. All in all, about from 11:00 PM to 4:00 PM the next day.
    2. I don't understand this question.
    3. It started as mild menstrual cramps that gradually became a bit more intense.
    4. After 2 hours of pushing, a C-section was performed; I didn't receive any other pain relief for this.
    5. It's intense but manageable since our bodies are made for it; every contraction brings you one step closer to your baby!
    6. C-section
    7. My baby ended up being a stargazer.
    8. N/A
    9. N/A
    10. +13 days
    11. No experience with it
    12. Yes, on my belly
    13. It happens as it happens and everything takes care of itself; you have to let go because your body is made to handle this, so you can do it!

  3. Anonymous Guest #4

    So, I've now given birth to my second baby after having the first via C-section. Here's the experience as promised:

    1. It started at 5 AM the next morning after I was stripped. At 7:30 PM I was allowed to push, and at 7:44 PM she was born.
    2. I still don't quite get the question.
    3. I was stripped the day before, and at 6:30 AM my waters were broken at the hospital.
    4. I wanted to give birth without pain relief and on a birthing stool. In the end, I did ask for an epidural and gave birth on my back. It wasn't too bad afterwards; I was mainly just glad to have the pain relief.
    5. The reason I asked for the epidural was that I was exhausted and didn't want to torture myself with the pain any longer. I couldn't relax. The pain was a 9 at that point, then dropped to a 5. It went back up to a 9 right before pushing, and then immediately went to 0 once she was out.
    6. Of course.
    7. The baby was a star-gazer, hence my pain.
    8. A small tear. It's not painful.
    9. I did have a few stitches. No issues.
    10. 3 days overdue.
    11. No issues.
    12. Almost no stretch marks.
    13. So happy to have experienced a normal birth this time. The moment she came out felt like a relief, and the pain disappeared instantly.

  4. Glennvk #5

    I think she meant walking in question 2 :-)

  5. Kimri #6

    Saying "buying a baby" in Belgium means giving birth. I think she's asking how much time there is between arriving at the hospital and the birth.

  6. Gast Guest #7

    1. About 3 hours
    2. 30 min
    3. Water broke during pushing, checked by the midwife
    4. In the hospital, on my back & without pain relief
    5. Up to contractions 5-6, birth (pushing) itself 9, but that hardly took 10 minutes
    6. Natural birth
    7. N/A
    8. No cutting or tearing
    9. N/A
    10. 37+2
    11. No clue, everything is under pressure of course...
    12. No stretch marks
    13. The pain fades quickly and it's more than worth it!

  7. anoniem22 #8

    1. From the first dilation contractions to birth: 28 hours.
    2. 15:30 and born at 02:25, 11 hours.
    3. Waters broke during a dilation contraction, didn't notice anything at all, but we found out later that it scratched the baby's head. This wound got a bit infected in the first week
    4. Hospital with epidural.
    5. Without epidural, literally a 10. Only had back labor, couldn't cope with it at all or breathe through it, completely shattered... With epidural, an 8...
    6. Natural birth.
    7. N/A
    8. Torn, 5 stitches, had quite a lot of trouble with them the following days...
    9. Still recovering, gave birth only a week and a half ago.
    10. Born at 37.1 weeks.
    11. I didn't poop, but got a catheter inserted. The next day I had trouble urinating.
    12. Yes, lots of stretch marks, belly completely wrecked.

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