This isn’t my story, but something like this happened with my first birth. I had *just* been checked and was 7 cm. It wasn’t long after that I had to push. My OB insisted on going to the neighboring room to deliver their baby and insisted I wasn’t ready. He left. My mom wanted to scold him bit was afraid she’d get kicked out of my room. I was too afraid to push without someone there to catch my baby so I did my best to fight the contractions. By the time he felt I was complete I was exhausted. What could have taken just a few pushes turned into 45 minutes of telling me I wasn’t pushing hard enough, push 3X during each contraction, get mad at that baby, etc. The positive is that it taught me to advocate for myself much more.

ROFL! 6cm seems to be my ‘magic number’. If they check me and I’m at 6cm… nobody better leave the room cause baby will be here *soon*.

I can understand the nurse being surprised. Those who go that quick aren’t exactly the norm. But since it is here I’m guessing she was more than just surprised… perhaps annoyed, bothered to be asked to do her job… ignoring the fact that this *could* even be a problem if she is feeling the urge and is not actually ready (couldn’t it?… I don’t know, I don’t have any training)?

Anything like *that* would bother me too… but my nurses *always* seemed quite shocked at how quick things go and it doesn’t bother me a bit that they are.

During my last birth my OB checked me when I announced after only half an hour of “active” labor that I felt the urge to push. She said I was a good 8-9 and that I should try to wait to push. Immediately afterwards I felt my daughter’s head coming through and she was born within seconds of being told we weren’t quite ready.

Afterwards, my OB said she was glad to be reminded that babies don’t know they’re supposed to wait till ten.

With my second labor I went from being 6 cm to holding my son in less than half an hour. Some women just progress quickly once they hit a certain point. It happens.

ha! a nurse said something similar to my MIL when she had #6. Nurse came back in and saw a baby on the bed.

I too had a similar experience, and it’s on here about 2 years back, LOL

My 2nd baby, a VBAC, JUST had an epidural put in, and everyone . . . LEFT, but one nurse who was busy with all the paperwork. Laying there, even numb I could feel my baby descending down the birth canal. I whispered it to my husband “I think the baby is sliding out. The baby is coming.”

So we tried to get the nurse’s attention and I said “Um I think you should probably check me.”
Without looking up she said, “I will when I am done with these papers.”

I started to panic and told DH to prepare to catch if he needed to. About a minute later she came over and peeked under the sheet and then went into panic mode, as she could see my baby’s head! LOL People rushed in and 3 pushes later she was born.

She didn’t think I was far enough along because they had JUST checked me and didn’t think I knew what I was talking about, feeling my baby descend into the birth canal. Ppttthhh. I mean what do I know?! It’s only my body after all!

I went in at 6cm & 80% for an AROM. My L&D was LESS than a couple hours for my FIRST vaginal delivery.

Even after that birth though, I have never L&D’d longer than 3 hours. 45mins is my shortest L&D. But I also birth at home now.

I had the same comment with my second. I was checked in triage and they told me I was only 5 cm so they walked me to my room and I went in to the bathroom beacuse I had this urge to push and they told me I probably just had to go to the bathroom, sure enough i sat down and my water broke and babies head was right there.

This is why my dad missed my birth. My mom went to the hospital at about 3AM, after waiting for my dad to come off a 24-hour watch. After being checked and told she was 5 cm, they told my dad to go home and get some rest, she’d be there a while and they’d call when I was ready to be born. He went home and went to sleep; an hour later half the nursing staff was calling, trying to wake him up to let him know my mom was 10 cm and couldn’t wait. I was born at 4:10AM after one push, my poor dad didn’t wake up till 7AM And I’m STILL impatient!

I am so glad this wasn’t my nurse. She came in and checked me (didn’t do a VE, just checked on my contractions etc.) and thought I was not yet in transition by how I was handling it. She left, almost at once I was pushy and my water broke. My husband buzzed and called her frantically back in and she was there just about instantly.

She wanted to do a VE then and I consented but wasn’t sure I could get in position for it – she looked nervous then, I think she realized that I was actually pushing based on that – and asked to just take a quick look. She saw a head, and called for more nurses and a doctor ASAP. (And didn’t tell me not to push, bless her, though she said if I could take it easy for one or two it would be helpful. She said it very calmly, though, then dashed to the door and called instructions to a coworker and dashed back. LOL.)

Lol this one could have been mine too. At least my nurse didn’t fight me. I went from a 5.5cm to baby in about 20 minutes. I had an epi that didn’t take and I was soo frustrated because I KNEW he was on his way out and the nurses didn’t seem to believe me until i told my mom to get me someone to check NOW. Sure enough I was ready to go. Fortunately I only had to wait a couple minutes for the dr. otherwise I was about 2 minutes from telling my hubby to get ready to catch. I am planning a home birth next time around.

It seems we’re all not alone in this! With my first, the OB checked me and I was at a 6 so she left to do her rounds. Minutes later I had the strong urge to push and there was no holding back. My OB got there JUST in time and the nurses were frantically trying to assist. With my second the nurse had the gall to tell me that I couldn’t be in transition yet because I “wasn’t screaming”. Really!?

Yeah when my sister was in labor with her second baby, after 24 hours of intense contractions they did a VE and found her to be 3 cm dilated. They promptly gave her some pethidine and told her to relax and have a sleep as she was absolutely buggered. Within 15 mins of the VE the baby was out and on her tummy! Not even enough time for the pethidine to reach her bubby. Was beautiful.

“But, but, but, the textbook says she can’t do that!” As I commented on an earlier post, this is classic . . . but it shouldn’t be.

This could have been me too! Baby 2, 36 weeks 5 days, in labor and had AROM and pit to help things out. Worst nurse ever! Kept telling me that I shouldn’t have been in the hospital because it was to early and the baby won’t be coming anytime soon. She checked me at 10, at shift change. I was at 6. My doctor decided that he was going to get dinner because he had the time. I got up to use the bathroom, and told my husband that I thought I needed to have bm. He told the (new) nurse, who told me to get back in bed. it was the long 10 feet I ever walked in my life! As I was walking I told the nurse I wanted drugs. She yelled out the door that I wanted an epi. I got back in bed.
From there all broke lose. By some chance, another nurse came in to talk to my nurse about training or something. To which my nurse to her that she needed to get my page my doctor. She was checking me at that point, and said “for get her doctor, get the on call doctor. Nevermind, we just need people in here now! Sweety, don’t push. Don’t push.” Between pushes they put in my IV. I think I pushed 3 or 4 times and she was born.

This isn’t mine, but it could have been all 3 of my births–3 to pushing in 45 minutes, 3 to pushing in 40 minutes, and “Your contractions aren’t strong enough, we’re increasing the Pit” to birth in under 5 minutes. (That last one has been submitted and hopefully will be featured in the next month or two. It is by far my favorite birth.)

Because no woman in the history of the human race ever went from a 6 to a 10 in a matter of minutes.

*eye roll*

Could have been me, too. You would think with all these stories, it has to be more common than these nurses and docs admit, but they still can’t seem to wrap their brains around birth not following the textbook.
I was checked and found to be 4 cm, they were pouring the pit in, I was in a lot of pain, and consented to an epidural, since no one was offering any other type of support. (My first, nightmare birth, now I birth at home.)
15 minutes later, my mother, who was with me, heard my breathing change, and told them I needed to push. They didn’t want to check me, but she insisted (for which I’m eternally grateful since it was totally out of character for her), and I was ‘a smidge before ten’, and the whole room freaked out. Very gratifying, scaring them all like that.

This could have been mine with my 3rd. The nurse checked me at 6:15 and I was 7cm, 70% effaced and he was at a -2 station.

About 5 minutes later I needed to push and she told me, “I just checked you a few minutes ago”. I said, “I need to push NOW”. She very unhappily said she’d check me again, pulled the sheet back, saw his head and promptly proceeded to freak straight on out. Screaming not to push, etc.

That check was at 6:15, and I held him at 6:36.

I had my last one at home. Very long labor until my water broke. She was born 12 minutes later. Our bodies know.

They don’t read the textbooks, and obviously don’t need to.