You are a WARRIOR woman!!! Thank you for sharing your stories!!!

Thanks for sharing, Gayna. I always find birth stories fascinating. I had the best pregnancies and really sketchy deliveries, but I have two beautiful, grown up children (35 and 31) and my first grandchild on the way! It's so wonderful when we get to have someone new to love.

Oh I had super fast deliveries also and couldn’t breast feed either ! I’m so glad you told your stories! The pressure for moms to breast feed is so hard for women who find they cannot.

Thanks for sharing Gayna. The pain of childbirth goes quickly but the memory stays with us forever. 2 totally different births for me, 2 totally different children and now 2 totally different adults. But their traits from birth remain. The first quiet, calm, rarely cried and had to be woken up to feed. The second came out screaming, never stopped, permanently latched on and rarely slept. Had he been first there never would have been a second.

I had 3 children, born between 1976 and 1982, all different but all bottle-fed. My late m-I-L was a district sister midwife and pushed breast feeding so much it put me right off. Nothing I did was ever right in her eyes anyway, lol. All 3 are healthy-ish adults now with children of their own. I have a grandchild due at beginning of next year, probably the last, and a great grandson due in July this year. Current totals are 6 natural grandchildren and 4 step-grandchildren.

Thanks Gayna. I, oddly, love birth stories. I especially loved hearing in your voice the love for each of your boys as you told their story.

Needed this today as 34yo son Stomped on my heart. I had stitch around cervix at 12 weeks so he didn't become 4th miscarriage and stayed home on bedrest til 32 wks when home monitoring showed lots of contractions needing IV magnesium. He was born 44wls 1day by CS. 4#12,had ventilator briefly and 5wks NICU.had terrible sick and just smiled when put to breast, clearly wanted feeding tube for life. Pumping was obnoxious,had to go back to work when he was 10wks. At 18 Months told me 'milk cup' then clarified 'cow milk. So glad had tubes tied when he was 5 minutes old. He is Asperger's.

Hi Gayna. Loved hearing your birth stories. ‘Mooing like a cow’ brought back memories of me. You know it’s getting close. My husband and sister joke that I had a Scientology birth as I was silent till the mooing at the end 😆 🐄

🤗❤🥰 love & Hugs Suze xxx

Thank you for sharing your birthing stories Gayna. As you say, you have three lovely sons so it was all worth it in the end. 😊

Thanks for sharing your birth stories 😊 I was lucky and had two fast easy births and luckily no problems breast feeding. Feel for anyone struggling with that when you're already exhausted and vulnerable ❤️ I do the same with cream mixing it with water to use up leftovers. Works perfect! 😊

Regarding slugs in the garden. My grandparents placed shallow tins buried slightly in the soil then filled slightly with cheap beer. The slugs were attracted to the sugars, and scent couldn’t make their way out and were fed to the chickens. I’ve had great success also. Just need to empty and refresh after a rain.

My mum kept telling the nurses she was having me but they said no, it’s your first, it will take a while, so I was nearly born in the bath! Luckily a more experienced nurse noticed and whipped mum out of the bath as I came out with a rush. I think I have been in a rush ever since 😂

Thanks for sharing Gayna :)

Such a lovey memory, you do have three gorgeous boys and you are a supper mum, I was induced with my first daughter and my second came quite quickly that was back in 1980 and 1982 xx

Thank you for sharing your stories! I have two different birth stories with my kids and they are now a happy healthy 18 yr old and 16 yr old. About the help after birth: we had a maternity nurse for a couple of hours a day the first week home. That was great as my husband also had just a couple of days off.

Your garden is beautiful, I know gardens are so labour intensive, but yours is a tribute to all your hard work.

Lovely to hear your birthing stories Gayna, I too had 3 different births and now have 3 happy young men with great life of there own so I to am blessed. ❤

That was so interesting to hear your stories! I remember going in much to early with my first baby and she seemed to take forever to arrive! With the second I was determined not to go in until much later and subsequently I only just made it to the maternity wing! I had no gas or air or anything! What was nice in the “old” days, we had a statutory 10 days in hospital where we had classes every day for bathing baby and general care. Also lots more help and advice with breast feeding and bottle alternatives and you came home feeling much more able to cope! Love WW xx

Thank you gayna for sharing I did have to laugh when you said you was mooing like a cow 😂I’ve had 5 babies 1 girl 4 boys and my first I couldn’t get on with breastfeeding and the midwife never gave me any help , my second I tried to breastfeed but every time I was feeding him I would get contractions that was so painful, my 3rd I started to feed him but he was so hungry he had to go on formula , my 4th I managed to breastfeed feed him for 7-8 months and my 5th I actually managed to breastfeed him for 14 months. My longest labour was baby number 4 4hr 40 min and my quickest was my last baby at 27 mins x

I only have one child but I had to be induced at 41.5 weeks because he was happy to stay where he was. Took over 30 hours with contractions coming every 45 seconds and lasting over a minute and was still only dilated about 3-4 cm. Got the epidural and it’s a good thing because his head was squeezing his umbilical cord against my pelvis and causing his heart rate to drop so I needed an emergency c-section. Breastfeeding sucked too and I had to supplement or else he would have starved. I couldn’t believe how much it hurt. Formula is a godsend even though I know some of the companies aren’t exactly amazing.

I had 5 babies between 1992 and 2002 . I was a young mum at 21 .My 1st was 9lbs ,2nd 10lbs 2 ,3rd 8lbs ( 6 weeks early) 4th 10lbs 2 ,5th 8lbs 8 ( 6 weeks early) my 2 early ones spent 2 weeks in special baby care and I had so much milk ( I was getting 6-7 oz of each boob) my milk was used to feed the other very premature babies in the unit . I have 3 boys and 2 girls. X

Loved this Gayna. Just loved you sharing your birth stories with us. Thank you. X

Really enjoyed that…. Thank you for sharing. 😊

I had my daughter at 36 wks, twelve years ago. She was 4lb14. It was a traumatic birth & we had to stay in hospital for a week. During that time I had lots of 1 on 1 help with breastfeeding & had it cracked by the time we went home. I had so much milk it used to shoot across the room & I’d be soaked every time I fed her. My best friend is a community nursery nurse & tells the story of my milk to new mums 😂

I too had 3 births and isn't it wonderful how they all grow up completely different with their own wee personalities. Loved hearing your birth and breastfeeding stories. x

Hi Gana. You are my girl crush.😍😍You are sensitive, down to earth, lovely, descent human being. And I do hate wasting food, too😙

No birth stories, but since the bunnies or birds may be at your strawberries, put human hair (from family haircuts) around the plants. Beer in a saucer works for the slugs/snails. Wishing you happy gardening! 😊

Hi Gayna, my contractions stopped as soon as I got to the hospital also. They gave me something to stimulate them and she was born a couple hours later. But I remember my doctor was mad at me for the delay saying she had to send some of patients away because of me and that I wasn't delivering fast enough, sheesh! Loved the owl story 🤣

Thank you for sharing 💛💛💛

Gosh I love her little head!!!!! xxxxxxx

🎉🎉great story's of ur birthday,,you are a storyteller,,,,😮 ELAINE 🏠💗🧦

Three very different births here. First one was so early and second one soon after was so large, that everyone thought they were twins! I was pants at breastfeeding but wasn't going to feel bad about it, and the midwives and health visitors were so lovely. Formula worked a treat and now have three 6ft healthy lads. It's funny how there are so many different ways to get to that end goal! x

Gayna, I love birth stories…..I’m glad your births were pretty easy & sorry your breastfeeding didn’t follow suit. I had 2 children; one in 1980 & one 18 months after. My husband and I got married 10 days after my 18th bday and have been married 44 years. I was a very young mother and there was no google to help me understand what was normal and what wasn’t. I had my daughter in 4 hours and fell asleep during labor. I didn’t breastfeed her because I really didn’t know anyone who had done that and being a teenager, I just was winging everything! She ended up projectile vomiting every type of formula and had trouble gaining weight until she started cow’s milk. Therefore when I had my son, I decided to try breastfeeding. His birth was very long in comparison to my daughter’s ….18 hours of painful labor. He didn’t have a soft spot because his skull was already fused (sagital syntosis, and had surgery at 4 weeks old to open it up so the brain could continue to grow….he is absolutely fine). Had there been Ultra sounds done routinely back then, they would have spotted that and done a c-section, but we made it through the delivery anyway so I’m glad they didn’t. I loved having natural births so I could eat a huge meal right after! I nursed him and didn’t even know there was a possibility that things could go wrong and lucky for me, everything went easy peasy and I loved nursing until he got teeth at 7 months old and started chewing me to pieces……I gave up at that time because of the pain so if I had had an experience like yours I’d have given up immediately! ❤

I just had the one birth which was fairly traumatic and resulted in a C section so my milk never came and she was on formula from about day 3. As she weighed 9lb 14 oz it was probably a good thing because she was permanently hungry! (Still is to be honest lol ) xxx

Glad I’m not the only one who has messages conversations after you’ve been with someone for a meet up 😂Hope your vacuum arrives! I have a Eufy (named Oover) which we just leave in part of the house which saves me a bit. It can go around other parts too but I have to remember to move it up steps. Nice to hear your stories too. What we go through eh?! 🙄😄

Re cream - add butter to milk and it becomes cream 🙂

Hi Gayna, what is with the name of Ted, mine also came out running hand hasn't stopped. I've had five births and they are truly different as they are, and I love them to bits.

What did Bill and his friend go to see?