My first one was born at 8pm and my husband and the child fell asleep soon. I was full of hormones and couldn't sleep, was looking the whole night at this precious child and was full of wonder about this little person. She was real and breathing and I couldn't believe she came from me. It was the most frightening and happy night of my life- if that makes any sense.

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April Stephens

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I can relate to this. Those quiet times in the middle of the night are so special. Congratulations.

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I work seasonally and managed to get through a hellish summer and finish work at 7 months pregnant, tired and ready to rest up and enjoy the well earned last weeks of pregnancy. After two days my nesting Instinct went crazy and I convinced my husband we needed to white wash the walls. We set up the ladder and dip the brush in the paint when I felt my first contraction.
I knew about Braxton hicks and tried to convince myself it was normal, but I started getting period pains shortly after and just couldn’t shake the feeling something wasn’t right. 1 hour drive to local hospital,and I have a contraction whilst gynecolorist is firing up the machine. She goes full red alert and puts me on a drip to stop contractions. Informs me that with these drugs they’ll likely have to induce me when I get to full term. She also notices that I have way too much amniotic fluid and suspects something is wrong with the baby. A quick ultrasound confirms that the baby has a block or a malformation of the intestines that will need surgery once she’s born so it’s really important she’ll be at a healthy birth weight and that I get to full term. They keep me on the drip for 2 days and on the final morning, waiting for my husband to come and pick me up I start getting really panicked. I find a quiet corridor away from the general hubbub of the maternity ward. I suddenly feel damp and warm on my upper thighs. I had no impulse to relieve myself so I’m super confused and embarrassed. So I change into clean leggings and go back out to walk up and down the corridor and wait for hubby. I get a contraction after several steps and get this sinking feeling. Firstly that I know the drugs haven’t worked and the baby is coming and she’s too small to be operated on, then also the feeling of being cheated out of my last few weeks of relax and mental preparation. I wasn’t checks for amniotic fluid leakage but it’s negative. eventually I’m called to doctors office to be discharged. I tell her my worries and she agrees to check once more for ambiotic discharge. As I’m getting up on the gurney the sack breaks and doctor gets soaked. I kind of giggled and asked “now what?” She doesn’t look impressed and states that the baby has to be born… duh. She abruptly leaves the room and I tearfully call my husband to let him know. He’s still at work and promises to get some baby stuff together and come up (which we haven’t even prepared yet, as were only just into the 7th month). I leave him to it and trust he’ll find something suitable and hopefully remember some pjs for me.
Doc comes back with really intimidating surgeon who I barely understand (I live in Italy and whilst have a good grasp of the language, a lot of technical language goes over my head). I ask some questions and I’m met with eye rolling and sarcasm. A nurse later breaks it down for me that he’s to operate on my baby, and will he lurking in the wings waiting for the birth. Great. Anxiety peaks and I start crying.
Husband turns up after an hour and a half and I’m ready to bolt for the door. I plead with him to take us home, something that I had to come to terms with wasn’t going to happen now.
From this point they couldn’t offer me any medication as it could interfere with my baby and she needed to be operated on immediately after birth, so that lovely concoction that they gave me to block contractions meant that it took another two days of contractions and no sleep and no pain meds before she’s finally born. I briefly see her bundled up and then she’s whisked away to operating room. Husband and I both collapse from exhaustion and they have to cattle prod us awake to sign consent forms for the baby’s operation: in the end they cut away 20cm of dead intestine. She spent a month in the NICU and is now a bright and beautiful 5yr old. She has a neat little rainbow scar over her belly button.
I did get bad post partum depression, also because my mum had a stroke a few days after my daughters birth, but good now.

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Crouching hippo hidden panda

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Crouching hippo hidden panda (Submission author)

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I just want to add that the trying to leave part was this really strong urge, it instinct that I felt to run away from the artificial environment of the hospital. I really wanted to go outside to the soft grassy field near the building and lay in the sunshine. Couldn’t shake the feeling the entire time in the hospital and it made me super depressed to have to stay in there

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My experience with my first child was pretty normal, I think. I went through 18 hours of labor, yelled like a fool because of the pain, but had no special problems or procedures.

My only problem was with the hospital nurses. They had two sets of nurses, one for the mothers and one for the babies and the nurses never consulted each other.

Apparently, my daugher had awakened one night and the nurses gave her sugar water to put her back to sleep. I was breastfeeding and I guess it never occurred to them to bring her to me.

So when she was brought to me for her regular feeding, that is, the one more convenient for the nurses' schedules, she was asleep. The nurse who brought her would wiggle her to wake her up, joggling her brains something awful. But even when my daughter was half awake she wasn't hungry because of the sugar water.

The head of the nurses for the mothers told me that since I couldn't breast feed, she would give me formula instructions.

I didn't say anything. Once I got her home, I fed her when she woke up and we very quickly got into our own schedule. Everything was fine.

That was when I learned that being an expert doesn't mean you know everything and that ignoring what's in front of your face makes you almost worthless in your job.

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Rose Romano

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AliJanx

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Sometimes, the RNs don't wake you up because they know it's your last chance for a full night's sleep for several years.

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Horrible birth experience.

My anesthesiologist hit a nerve when giving me an epidural and then had the audacity to tell me to sit still. He was the one who made my body react. Then the anesthesiologist didn't reduce the drip as I approached 10 centimeters therefore I couldn't feel the contractions or if I was pushing. This resulted in the doctor having to using a vacuum to assist in delivery. The suction misshaped a portion of baby's head which later resulted in a calcium deposit. It had completely disappeared by his teen years and his head is nicely shaped.

Once the doctor clamped the umbilical cord he cut it between me and the first clamp instead of between the two clamps. There was blood everywhere. Finally, the doctor left a sponge inside of me which was removed a few days later after I noticed an awful smell. My baby was his second delivery. Needless to say a different doctor delivered my 2nd and 3rd babies.

My 1st born vomited every time he ate. Not spit-up but full on projectile vomiting. Under pediatrician supervision baby was moved from Enfamil to Soy milk. When that didn't work baby was moved to Nutramigen which also didn't help. Baby's diet was supplemented with Pedialyte so he would at least stay hydrated. No further diet changes were recommended by the pediatrician.

After two to three months of this I took to the internet to research why my baby vomited every time he ate and what I could do to help him. Eventually I discovered that some babies cannot process the fats in formula and that there is a formula for just this condition. It is called Pregestimil and is made by Enfamil. The catch is that it cost $25 for a 1 pound can of powder and was only available OTC through a pharmacist. It was also hard to find.

After many phone calls I finally found a pharmacist that could special order it. So I requested 1 can. After 24 hours on Pregestimil I had a brand new baby. No more vomiting. I can't tell you how relieved I was. For the next two years I ordered this formula by the case. No I did not bottle feed him for two years. There's 14 months between 1st and 2nd born who also had feeding problems.

Why didn't the pediatriciantell me about this formula? His reasoning was the high price tag. Come on! Any good parent would and should do everything in their power to ensure their children are healthy. I was enraged.

Now for all of you formula haters out there. Not everyone is able to breast feed for a multitude of reasons. I am one such person.

On top of all that was going on in the beginning with feeding he developed a high fever that was noted at his two week checkup. No I didn't notice because he was hot feeling from the day I took him home. The pediatrician gave him baby Tylenol and sent me home with instructions to return in two hours. I did and the fever had not gone down so we were sent directly to the hospital where a bed in the pediatric ward was waiting for him. He spent 18 days in the hospital because he had kidney reflux, Vesicoureteral (ves-ih-koe-yoo-REE-tur-ul) reflux. A condition that causes the bladder to empty back into the kidneys. Sometimes the entire contents of the bladder. Other times just a portion.

He was put on a wide spectrum of antibiotics in the beginning. However, they could not begin them until he had an IV inserted. Because of his young age a nurse from a hospital three hours away drove in just to insert it in his head. Yes I said is head. That happens to be the easiest vein to get for babies.

Today he is a healthy 23 year old.

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The Mom

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Patsy

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When my brother was 4 months old, he was in hospital for 10 days with a virus that affected his heart, but they had to put the cannula in his head as well. Now, almost 21 years later, he still has a little patch of hair that doesn't grow properly because of it.

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PCW10101

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At 6 weeks I was 'failing to thrive', I had some sort of hernia & couldn't/didn't swallow properly. Mum was told to give me a spoonful of Brandy & Sugar at each feed, which I survived on for another 6 weeks. Lived - Yay! And now I hate the smell/taste of Brandy - Christmas is HELL! LOL

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Huddo's sister

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I hate the term 'failure to thrive'. It is such a brush off, when it means they just haven't worked the problem out yet. There was a history of this in my family and we suspect that it was probably cystic fibrosis. My great uncle unfortunately died because 'failure to thrive'. I know not as much was known about that type of thing back then, but it severely messed up my great grandmother's life. My grandfather was born a couple of years later and he said he wished he had known his mother before his brother died, as everyone said she was a very different person. She basically became a shell of herself, which would have been really hard when she had eight other children to bring up.

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Robin Roper

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I have a friend's who's child could only process Pregestimil. Her son is 32 now and it only came in premixed cans - no powder. It was super expensive.

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leonardoA24

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wow, i am glad everything was ok even after the left a sponge inside of you, me and my wife had some experiences with our daughter being lactose and soy intolerant and now everything is ok but nothing nearly like what you had to go though.

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Huddo's sister

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A foster sister of my best friend was throwing up every time she had formula. Thankfully they realized she was gluten intolerant and changed the formula.

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Father here. Wife in hospital for inducement and I was told it would not happen until morning so was sent home. Got a call from a nurse at 0700 who said 'get in here now!' and hung up. Rushed in to find wife sitting in bed reading. Nothing happed until mid day.
Was in the waiting room while things were being prepped in the delivery room. Three of us expectant fathers. One guy was his third child and us two first timers. We were trying to talk the other fist timer into going in for the birth. We hear the elevator doors open followed by a tremendous ruckus going down the hallway as a guerny is heard being rushed down the hall. Ad a guy runs into the room. There was a supply of the protective gowns, booties etc and he was frabtically trying to get into them. A nurse yelled down the hall for him to hurry up. Almost like a cartoon, hopping from one foot to the other, trying to find the sleeves etc. "Hurry up! ....Hurry up!....Never mind, it's a girl".
We had a boy. And, it is true - women giving birth would make a sailor blush.

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Chich

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Chich (Submission author)

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Sorry for the typos, didn't have my glasses on, and it seems you cannot edit.

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this was 42 yrs ago. i had been told that i couldn't get pregnant and, due to my weird anatomy, if i was to get pregnant i wouldn't carry to term. had the miscarriages to support this fact. at the time, i was working as a roofer, a very untraditional role for a woman. i had noticed a little weight gain but nothing else.

i went in for my annual pap and my doctor casually asked if i still lived in that one room cottage. told him yes; he said to make plans to move...because i was not only pregnant but from his exam and other things, figured i was about six months. and, my reaction was two-fold: first - wtf?! second - well, how long til i miscarry. doc said all looked well but to take it easy. yeah...right. i kind of didn't believe him because i had no real symptoms i had had from previous pregnancies.

fast forward three months and i distinctly remember standing in the elevator going up to maternity and having a shocking realization: when i walk out i am going to be a mother! all the time leading up to that moment i truly did not believe i was pregnant or that something negative would happen. i really didn't show until my 8 month and after that i blew up. so, i wasn't in denial per se....i think i didn't want to get my hopes up.

i ended up having a c section by a doctor i didn't meet until he put his hand up my wazoo to confirm the issue. that alone was unnerving because i think you build up a relationship with your o.b. and it was kind of feeling like being abandoned when, at the last moment, he told me that he didn't do c-sections.

when i woke up i was handed this 10lb 8oz 24 inch long bundle and saw my son. i was amazed. stunned. and, scared that i was now responsible for this little life.

looking back, i think all the things that happened that led me to that moment of becoming a mother actually made me more determined to make all the right decisions which, of course, is such a folly because there is no blue print or manual for this. it was a ride.

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leonardoA24

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good to hear that everything went ok :) - big baby!

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i cried.
overwhelmed with joy.

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april jenkins

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ADHORTATOR

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So did we

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My first ‘newborn’ was adopted in Mexico. There instead of families going to visit in the new mother’s rooms, all the families sit in a waiting room with a viewing opening. A nurse brings each newborn out for the families to see. Everyone gets to see everyone else’s baby. You cannot imagine all the oohs and ahs! I swear I had the mist beautiful newborn of the day! She had a lot red hair and green eyes!!!! That was my miracle baby!

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Mistletoe

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leonardoA24

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Good for you for adopting and giving a new life a better life :)

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Something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. Went into early labour on a Thursday, was finally given a drip to help me along on Sunday night, went into emergency C-section on Monday morning, found out that apparently I'm a bleeder (at least when it comes to my womb) and was in the hospital for 4 days. My son started having seizures 2 days later and I spent my healing time in a Children's hospital worried sick about what was causing his condition (extreme hypocalcemia and hypomagnesemia, which is strange as when one is low the other is usually high). HE is 14 and doing pretty well now.

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Terilee Bruyere

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Terilee Bruyere (Submission author)

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There should be an edit button. Didn't mean to yell 'he' at everyone's eyeballs.

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Being, ahem, a geriatric pregnancy, I was monitored every other day the last weeks of my ivf baby. I did not want to let her go, so on the eve of my 42nd week I was induced.... 3 days later and a lot of stuff in-between she was forcibly removed through an artificial opening, which was then summarily closed.
I was high, tired, hilariously loopy. When my husband says to me, "which breast gives the strawberry milk and which one gives the chocolate?" I asked the lactation coach🤦‍♀️🤣

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Susanna Kapoor

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manon M

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😂😂

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Had my first contraction at breakfast at Mc Donald's. All my partner could say was ".... But, but... Not now, we're still eating!"
It did take all day, slowly building up. We went to hospital late in the evening. The bubble popped at 2am in the morning, midwife started preparing everything because she thought it would go quick from then on. It didn't. 12 hours later the baby was stuck, I was running a fever, vomiting, baby's oxygen levels dropping with every contraction... They finally let me have a c section, showed me the little bundle and carried her off while I was laying on the table, getting stitched back together and crying from stress and exhaustion. A nurse comes in and tells me that there were complications, baby had stopped breathing, and only AFTER all the blood drained from my face she said that she's recovered and is fine.
Also, they took her away from me at night with the reasoning that I needed to sleep to recover. I heard my baby cry and I was crying myself, so not a lot of sleep for anyone. They didn't even bring her in when I begged them to wake me up so I could breastfeed her.

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GoodWolf

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Huddo's sister

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That's horrible, why should they get to decide whether you can feed or not?

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Mine wasn't too bad but I did tear quite a bit to the point of almost needing a blood transfusion. A few difficulties: my husband was only able to take a week off of work so after that I was on my own. My son never latched but I pumped and bottle-fed. It worked out because my husband could do the midnight feedings. One great thing was that my son started sleeping through the night at 3 months which freaked us out...the first few nights when he didn't wake up we thought "Is he ok?!? Should we check on him?!?" He's now almost 12 years old and a great kid! :)

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Krissy Bulan

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Epidural shifted. Felt all the scraping and every stitch of the emergency Caesar.

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Alice Teasdale

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leonardoA24

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yikes, not good. They had to try to put the catheter on my wife's wrist at least 4 times because the nurse couldn't get the veins, it was intense and after the whole ordeal her wrist were all black and purple.

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Terrifying. I had no idea what to do with this little person. I usually babysat kids that were walking and talking. Now I had a new family member that was completely dependent on me and I was sure I would screw it up. Now, 30 years later, it was hair pulling and heart wrenching...but he turned out to be a good person that is kind to the people around him and very caring to those in need. I couldn't ask for more.

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Carol Emory

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leonardoA24

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best thing you can ever see happening, for your kids to turn into good, caring persons.

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My pregnancy was the result of rape (no one knew except my parents) and I suffered from hyperemesis gravidarum my entire pregnancy and I was 17 so I was feeling pretty rough.
My mom was overjoyed to have another grand baby and I was…numb. I was numb through my entire pregnancy even though I had a tonne of support from friends, family, church…
When he was born I didn’t feel like I was allowed to celebrate him. Like I was just supposed to be there and everyone else was supposed to love on him. I felt like I was just the birthing vessel and that’s it. When I brought him home I was so overwhelmed and people were constantly telling me what to do, how to do it…I had many break downs before I went back to finish my senior year of high school.
I love my son so much though. He’s my first born baby and so incredibly smart and amazing. We grew up together and even when we go long periods without talking, we’re still super close.

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Daisychain

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GoodWolf

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I am sorry you had tu suffer through this. I wish I could give you a hug! I am happy, though, that you and your son are close ♥ I wish you two all the best!

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First of all, English is not my native language so sorry for any miatskes.
I was very young when I got pregnant, 22. I live in a country where we have universal healthcare but it's not very good. I was petite so pushing a baby out was super hard. To make matters worse, I wasn't getting dialation so they gave me some oxitocin.All the time the midwives would make comments about my breasts or my socks which was not comforting.I was stressed out, I was in labour for several hours, with several midwives and two doctors on board. The finnaly decided to cut me and I finally managed to push out my son. He was exhausted, they gave him 6 Apbgar points and he was immediately transported to the neonatology ward. Afterwards, I've been told he might not survive the night. He survived, but the doctors told me he had several brain injuries and a broken occiput (the part of scull at the back of the head). They told me he might be handicapped. He spent his fist month on neonatology. Ever since then it's been doctor's appointments, test and so on. My kid is soon turning 12, he was diagnosed with Aspergers and I'm still traumatised. I no longer want to have any more children because of this.

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Aga Ch

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Rens

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What a terrible experience you had to go through, I'm so sorry x I had a pretty uneventful pregnancy but during the birth, I nearly bled out and died. There were many things done wrong but I was unaware of them until much later. I never had any more children, though I did miscarry 6 years later. My daughter is an amazing young woman, she has Asperger's too, as do I (diagnosed at 40, I'm now 49). I wish you and your kid all the best for the future, may life be easier than how it began x all the best

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Me and my wife had a few rough times when my daughter was born and even though we wouldn't change it for anything, having a newborn comes with a set of challenges, lots of my friends are having their first born, I wanted to hear some of your 1st year experiences.

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leonardoA24

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Interesting to say the least.
I was on bed rest for 6 weeks then went into labor when I was at 31 weeks, pain started at midnight, husband took me to the hospital at 2am, they tried to stop the labor, but the baby was having none of that so I had an emergency C-section at 7am, since he was still feet down. Baby spent 6 weeks in NICU, could have been longer but since they knew baby was coming early I got steroid shots to help with brain and lung development.
And now I'm the proud mom of an amazing 7 year-old.

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LAS

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Dad here. Was 7 weeks before due date and late on a Friday evening. She started bleeding. Rushed her to the hospital. Doctor did not think baby was coming yet but wife was in severe pain so nurse convinced him to get an ultrasound. In the ultrasound room as doctor was leaning over to examine her, her water broke. Fluid sprayed clear across the room. Doctor jumped back two steps in surprise. They rushed her to delivery. By the time they go there the feet were coming out. He was breech. They had a hard time getting his head out managed after a lot of pushing and pulling. He spent 7 weeks in the children's hospital. He had a brain bleed which could have been serious but they caught it in time and he had a shunt put in when he was 3 weeks old. Today he is in his 30s and perfectly normal.

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Dl B

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I always thought to expect the unexpected as everyone tells you their experiences and they are all different. I went in for an induction and 2 days later I was in so much pain from the contractions (only 1cm!) that I was told to take a shower to relax. That turned in to me feeling sick and faint (nothing new). The heart rate monitoring also suggested something wasn’t right too and I pushed to have a second opinion - I’m glad I did. After being sick I had the surgeons rush me in for a caesarean. Turns out he had the cord wrapped around his neck and he was stressed. He came out blue and limp. He was perfectly fine once he was checked over and I was told I did the right thing by asking for a second opinion. Trust your instincts is all I will say! It’s actually made me want an elected caesarean if I had another. Not every experience turns out that scary as you think.

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Rachel

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I found the whole experience embarrassing and violating of my personal space and privacy. From nurses walking in on me in the washroom that was in a large, shared room. To being berated for breathing and screaming in agony. I'll spare everyone the gory details, and, quite frankly, I've related my birthing story so many times and I don't want to relive it in my head anymore and I would like to salvage my dignity.

I had PPD, undiagnosed and ignored by everyone. I was a young mom, still living with my mom who had such little patience for night time wakings, and demanding I should follow what she learned from Dr. Spock books I wondered how she ever managed to take care of me. After what she revealed she did with me (leave me in my crib to cry, believing you can spoil a baby by picking them up whenever they cry) makes so much sense why we have such a disconnect and coldness towards each other.

It was a shock to me how much distrust I had to follow my instincts, and how much attention was veered away from me. Everything is private for the rest of the family. As a nursing mom, I was shut away in another room for a good half of family gatherings.

No one wanted to visit for long. Even though I was already an introvert with little friends at school who never hung out with me after school, being at home with a baby all day was painfully lonely.

I had imagined taking care of a baby would have been going on nice walks while singing lullabies and nursery rhymes. Rocking her in a bassinet. Basically, be like how it was in Lady and The Tramp when Jim dear and Darling had their baby. I thought people would at least oogle and smile at me and my daughter.

Instead I, and other parents with babies, got shouted and threatened by bus drivers, almost had my baby kidnapped by an impatient cab driver, and an old man yelling at me asking why my baby girl was "dressed like a boy" because she was wearing a black, white and red Minnie Mouse dress, and not pastels.

Because I was trying to finish school, I would try to do my schoolwork at home. I thought it would be easy-peasy to work on assignments while nursing. It wasn't easy at all. Not only was I still recovering, feeling weak and sore, I was the most tired and exhausted I had ever felt in my life, and under tremendous stress.

I did love reading time (yes, I read her books since she came home as it was suggested by early childhood educators), and I loved holding her, and dressing her up.

I wasn't a single mom but I didn't live with the dad until the next year. He rarely stayed the night to help out and his religious parents discouraged it. So, I was basically like a single mom. Come to think of it, we have a baby video and not one segment has her dad in it. Sad.

There's some things I miss of having a baby but not enough to want another one.

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MyOpinionHasBeenServed

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Me and my husband is having trouble when our son and daughter and son was born,we were glad we faced a few challenges but completed, we did not give up!!

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Random_player

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leonardoA24

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Glad to hear you guys got over the challenges and are doing ok :)

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Since I had from my very first period had really bad cramps and had had 2 miscarriages which was like labor, I believed I knew what to expect. Nope, I got back labor - it felt like a truck was sitting on my hips, lower back and upper thighs. Also, the labor pains were constant - no resting in between, because there was no in between. I was hooked up to a monitor that that ink line never dipped.

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Robin Roper

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Feeling love for the first time. Real love.

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Final score:

3points

Robert Henning

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20 hrs of contractions with 8 hrs of pitocin to get the labour going. We lost the baby's heartbeat 2 times. Emergency c-section.
The baby was healthy. I only got to hold her for 30 sec before I started bleeding heavily, I almost died that day.
I haven't slept in two days, had mayor abdominal surgery after wich they had to jump on my belly to get all the blood out. I barely could walk by myself to the bathtroom and I was stigmatized by nurses because could not sit up to breastfeed.
Everything post-operation left so much trauma that it took me almost 6 months to connect with my newborn baby.
Thank universe I had a great husband by my side to help during everything.

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Final score:

3points

Momma Panda

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I broke my fibula in 2 at 38 weeks and had to be induced so I could have her before having surgery to fix my leg. Caring for a newborn while healing from a broken leg was super tough! I needed a lot of help. Only parts of my house could fit a wheelchair which I needed to use to carry her in my laundry while moving around. I had to use crutches everywhere else and someone else would need to carry my daughter. Add the sleep deprivation and extra doctor appointments for me on top of hers and I was beyond exhausted. My husband struggled too as the caregiver for me while also helping with the baby. Now I’m on my second baby. She’s 3 months and has a good aversion due to reflux so she barely eats. She needs most of her food through a nasal feeding tube. Her feedings are twice as long and must happen every 3 hours including at night. It’s working now and she finally growing normally so it could be worse.

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Final score:

3points

Bethany Lakey

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I felt lost, afraid, clueless, depressed and exhausted, like I was in waaaaaay over my head. It was a rough few months.

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Final score:

2points

Not today satan

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1976. Doctor induced me unnecessarily because he was going out of town. Natural childbirth. Had bad tear. Got no instructions how to care for it, got sick. Had postpartum depression. Nurse just threw a box of Kleenex at me with no explanation or empathy. MIL came to help, pretty much ignored me. Breasts got horribly engorged and sore. Did have 2 more natural childbirths, totally different experiences. Worth it all for 3 great kids.

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Final score:

2points

Andra Barnette

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I'm not a parent I'm a kid

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Final score:

2points

Violet Gorlitz

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You don't necessarily feel an instant rush of joy and love. You don't HAVE to feel an instant rush of joy and love. there can be so much going on during the birth, especially if you end up needing a highly medicalised birthing experience, you can just feel numb and exhausted. And that's fine too. You can feel joyful, you can feel overwhelmed, you can feel shocked, you can feel all of these things in rotation or all together at the same time. All feelings are fine.

My daughter was taken away to the NICU fairly soon after a surprise cesarean, so I wasn't ready to feel anything. I actually hung up all her little baby clothes around my hospital bed to remind me it wasn't a weird dream I had that there was a baby. The first few days were very functional, I did all the things I needed to do, but we didn't have the closeness because she was in her little bubble in the incubator and I was expressing milk for tube feeds. The ward thought that the NICU how to giving me the new parent induction thing about where they kept everything and the NICU thought the ward had done it, so I had no idea what to do. The were weeks and weeks of just taking her back to hospital for tests, it wasn't until all of that cleared up and we started to plan proper family outings that I gradually began to feel a real connection with this gorgeous little thing. Don't hate on yourself if the birth doesn't look like a movie. A total stranger just fell into your life, probably in an unfamiliar environment - it can take time.

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Final score:

1point

Reviewer01

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My first pregnancy/birth were so text book it was almost ridiculous. At 41 weeks my water broke, contractions started about an hour later. I was at my mom's house, my husband didn't want to leave me alone so dropped me off before he left for his swing shift at work. I called him when I had the first contraction - he broke land speed records driving to my mom's house - usually took 1.5 hours but he arrived in just under an hour. I was doing great but both my mom and husband were a wreck. My mom finally grabbed her purse and said go get in the car, I swear you turned green with that contraction, you are going to the hospital. We arrived and I was checked into a lovely birthing suite around 22:00. After a total 10 hours of labor I was dilated to 10 and pushed for less than 15 mins. We welcomed a beautiful baby boy at 3:40. He didn't have the usual pointed head or blue color, he really was beautiful. After all of the congratulations my husband went home to sleep. I was wide awake and spent the time adoring my new bundle of joy. Friends and family started arriving in the morning to visit. Me, being a huge Seahawks fan was not going to miss the game at 13:00 that day, it was a Sunday. The Seahawks played the Minnestoa Vikings so my son and I enjoyed our first Hawks game before he was even 12 hours old. It was a great game which Seahawks won 28-17. He is now 34 years old - not sure where the time went! I had 3 more sons after this experience, none of those pregnancies/births went as smoothly. My last baby was 8 weeks premature, that was an experience!

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Final score:

1point

Valerie Allen

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Not me but a friend was taken by surprise when her contractions started in the middle of the night. She rang for an ambulance but was told there could be a wait. She couldn't wait so her husband called for a taxi so he could sit in the back with her. The taxi driver had the radio on playing the "Oldies" with my friend in increasing pain and what song came on the radio at that point? "Whose Sorry Now" by Connie Francis. Everybody just burst out laughing. They had a little girl and no, they didn't call her Connie or Frances.

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Final score:

1point

IlovemydogShilo

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Being, ahem, a geriatric pregnancy, I was monitored every other day the last weeks of my ivf baby. I did not want to let her go, so on the eve of my 42nd week I was induced.... 3 days later and a lot of stuff in-between she was forcibly removed through an artificial opening, which was then summarily closed.
I was high, tired, hilariously loopy. When my husband says to me, "which breast gives the strawberry milk and which one gives the chocolate?" I asked the lactation coach🤦‍♀️🤣

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Final score:

0points

Susanna Kapoor

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Being, ahem, a geriatric pregnancy, I was monitored every other day the last weeks of my ivf baby. I did not want to let her go, so on the eve of my 42nd week I was induced.... 3 days later and a lot of stuff in-between she was forcibly removed through an artificial opening, which was then summarily closed.
I was high, tired, hilariously loopy. When my husband says to me, "which breast gives the strawberry milk and which one gives the chocolate?" I asked the lactation coach🤦‍♀️🤣

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Final score:

0points

Susanna Kapoor

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Okay look here i'm a small average 9 year old and lots more people on here are kids so basically, I CAN'T HAVE KIDS!

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Final score:

0points

Lucas Skrobot

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I woke up at 4am having contractions lasting 90sec and 90 sec apart. We didn't have a home phone (1981) so bundled into car and husband drove to nearest public phone booth to ring hospital to say we were on our way. They told him we to stay home as they didn't have a bed in the delivery suite!! He replied we were coming anyway! When we got there I had to wait on a chair till there was a bed available. They did however take really good care of me/us. 4 hours after 1st contraction our baby girl arrived. They had found me a room well before this. When I got down to my room I was exhausted from the labour and the drugs for pain so I went to sleep leaving Hubby with nothing to do but go to work!!

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Final score:

0points

Maree Rolley

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It was traumatic and wonderfull at the same time. When I found out that I was pregnant I just came out of an abusive relationship. I knew I was going to do it alone but I never doubted about having my son. I loved him from the moment I knew he was there. The pregnancy was the most beautiful time of my life. I felt great (minus the normal pregnacy complications like pissing your pants when sneezing and stuff), but I was so afraid to lose my son. I had lost everything in my life and I knew I couldn't live trough it if I lost my child. So the moment came I got in labor. I was happy I went trough the pregnancy and I tought yes!! we are going to do this, boy was I wrong. The labor was painfull, scaring and traumatic. After almost 24 hours of labor and going trough it until the end, I needed an emerency c-section. My son wasn't doing well and he had to get out. You don't have time to realize whats happining and it is really scaring. I was also exhausted. My son sufferd from lack of oxygen and they had to take him away. I didn't know what was happening or how my son was doing. At one time I knew they had pulled him out and I was waiting to hear him or that they would hand him to me. but that didn't happen. My mom was asked to come with them and came back crying with picuters of my son getting oxygen and just laying there like a puppet. I tought he was dead. That' how I first saw my son. I remember keep losing my consciousness, asking for my son and I couldn't quit shaking. I tought my worst fear was coming true. I tought I lost him. After a few hours I finally met him for the first time. He was already cleaned, wires everywhere and he was getting oxygen and morfine to keep him sleeping. After 3 days I could hold him for the first time. The first period was hectic. You switch from being happy that you have a son and getting congrulations from other people, to having heal yourself, trying to coop with it all, being there for your son, leaving it in the hands of the nurses (which is very hard), not knowing what will happen and being scared for his life. I tried to get my milk production starting. I tought that's the least I could do for him right know. The baby IC is also a very sad place. Al those babys who are fighting fot their lifes and their parents who are just as scared as you. The nurses there are real heros. When he finally came home it was also pretty scary. I didn't get any maternity care because my son had been in the hospital the whole maternity period. So I was on my own and to do things I should be doing 1,5 week after a c-section. But I loved this period. We mostly spend it on the couch together just trying to work on our bonding. I loved breastfeeding. It was our time. He is now a very healty five year old and I think al of this made our bond unbreakable. It is hard sometimes because I do it alone and he has adhd (maybe from his birth we don't know and don't care) but I love him so much.

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Final score:

0points

Gabrielle Daylano

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