# Tabitha Kathleen *22nd June 2008* Story at last!



## sonny

Hello all and thankyou for all your kind messages and support. I feel i can now write my birth story after such an emotional and tricky time over the last few weeks so here goes and sorry if i babble......

I went in to get induced on saturday 21st and once hooked up to the monitor the midwife said i was having some natural contractions so didnt want to use the gel to start me off as that could make it more painful so left me until 3pm and the natural ones wore off so then did the gel to get me going. Within 10 mins started getting mild contractions and within half an hour my hind waters were leaking. I wasn't really having a hard time with the contractions and just had some paracetamol to take the edge off,but they just felt like period pains. I got my mum over from the mainland to watch the birth with Andy(bf).
Anyway at about 10pm they came to check me and then said i was 6cm! i was shocked and chuffed as i thought i was handling it really well! Then the midwife came back with a surgeon and 2 other midwives with a mobile scan machine and said they just wanted to check the baby......thats when we saw the head and they told me the shocker......."Oooh its breech!" WTF!! Since week 30 my midwife has been saying head down! I had a feeling it would come to this all throughout my pregnancy so i was came and didnt have a choice really.
I asked if i could push but they said it will be a huge baby so its too risky.
So off i went to theatre for an emergency c-section. The surgeon and anaesthetist etc were brilliant with me but throughout the section i was shaking and felt out of my body in a way,i hated the feeling of my legs and the numbness as i was still aware of heavy sensations etc. On a lighter note The worst bit was my hands were at my sides and i felt all the fluid go over my arm! Bleaugh!

Tabitha Kathleen was born at 00.02 am on sunday 22nd June 2008 weighing a whopping 10lbs 3ozs and was 23 inches long.
I cant describe the feeling of seeing her for the first time or watching Andy hold her. I got to hold her when i was in the recovery as my arms were too shaky to trust myself before then.
My mum and Andy went home and i was transferred to my room on the ward. I had some help through the night as i couldnt move still and i had the air tightener things on my legs. We had a go at breastfeeding and she tried really hard but she had trouble getting hold of my boob as my nipples were quite small. That is when i midwife took her away from me and gave her a bottle without my permission! then proceeded to sit in my room with her cradling her and cooing at her and doing her nappies etc.....i couldnt move and i felt pushed out from my own baby. The next minute i know this midwife takes my baby out of the room again and comes back saying she will need to be taken to special care as she is going purply colour and they said her boold sugar levels had gone through the floor.This was at about 10am so had limited time with her. They got an incubator and whisked her off to NICU and i sobbed all day not knowing what was happening. at about 4pm someone from NICU came up and said her blood sugar levels were very low,she was fitting and was having trouble controlling her body temp.an Mri scan also showed a highlighted patch on her brain which could mean she was starved of oxygen at some point. I was eventually helped to go see her at about 6pm and sobbed all the time there as i felt so helpless and she looked awful hooked up to all the monitors and wires coming out of her bellybutton,nose,both arms and feet and patches all over her chest.
It was such a shock i dont think ill ever get over seeing her like that.

The first few days in NICU she was fitting at night and they put her on finabarbitone(spelling?) while they tried to stabilise her. her sugar levels were hightened then she was weaned over a week to normal levels and weaned off the fit drug and fluids.
After 5 days we got to hold her although she was still wired up and that is when they allowed me to try to breastfeed again which she did. Prior to this i was expressing in my room but could only get out 20mls every 3 hours no matter what machines we tried. The midwife staff didnt really help with that and i had to ask all the time for things like the initially asking how to express and also had to ask for my drugs ALL the time because they kept forgetting!
Anyway Tabitha was breastfeeding whenever i went down to see her but required "top ups" from bottles too as my supply was low and we were worried about her sugar levels crashing again even now at home she has breast(half hour)and top ups(up to 4 ozs) every 3-4 hours as i we didnt get the start we needed to exclusively breastfeed.
She started to improve daily and was allowed back up to maternity the week later on the monday and we finally left on the weds. She also has a flappy valve thing in her throat/tubes so she is on constant anti sickness medication 3 times a day until she grows out of it (donperidone and ranitidine) and also has infacol before every feed as she tends to keep the wind down like colic.

To top everything off throughout my pregnancy they kept detecting +1 sugars but never sent me for tests even though clearly in my notes it said i had a type 1 diabetic brother so with careful monitoring all this could have been avoided or induced earlier etc so they are having a full investigation and disciplining my midwife which i go back to get the outcome of in 6 weeks time.

Anyway we are back home now and she is gorgeous and progressing well and is very alert and responds well to her surroundings. We just have to wait for the 2nd MRI scan results now and she will continue to have appointments with NICU.
Sorry for babbling,there was a lot to tell.

I also feel very cheated out of the experience i wanted and was getting very emotional over that when i think of what she has been through when it all could have been so easily avoided and better planned. They have assured me any future pregnancies will be consultant led and not midwife led to avoid this happening again.

Anyway here are some pics of my gorgeous Tabitha.....i still call her ricey though (nicknamed ricegrain throughout pregnancy)
 



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## armychicmkm

Congrats Sonny! Beautiful pics.


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## Always&amp;4ever

Congratulations, shes beautiful


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## xarlenex

Congrats! And Sorry to hear you and little one had such a hard start, glad all is well now though :hugs: xx


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## Nikkinoonoo

She's adorable :) Congratulations xXx


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## Ema

Sorry you didnt have the best time....:hug:

But congrats she is adorable, you must be so proud XXXX


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## welshcakes79

she is gooorgeous sonny, congrats, sorry to hear about your birth experience sounds like youve been through a lot :hugs:.. fab pics XXX


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## lynz

aww bless ya hun what a rough time you have all had. She is gorgeous xx


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## doctordeesmrs

Congrats she is gorgeous


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## bluebell

Shame you didn't get the birth experience you wanted...but Tabitha is gorgeous - Congratulations!! :happydance:

xx


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## cheeky_carrie

congratulations, sorry to hear you had a rough time

shes adorable xx


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## Margerle

Well done mama!

:hug:


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## stefb

shes beautiful congratulations :hug:


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## Beltane

She is gorgeous! Congrats!


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## B4byAnge1

Congratulations! She is so cute! Sorry to hear you both had such a rough time though. :hug:


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## polo_princess

congratulations!!


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## elles28

Congrats your baby girl is adorable :cloud9:

Sorry to hear you both had such a bad start :hugs:


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## ~KACI~

Congratulations! Sorry you didn't get the delievery you wanted but she's gorgeous-well worth it x


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## xXDonnaXx

Sorry to hear that hun.
She's beautiful. x


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## orange-sox

Sorry to hear you didn't get the birth experience you wanted honey :hugs:

Glad to hear that Ricey is on the mend, she is absolutely gorgeous! 

(Anti-epileptic drup Tabitha was given is phenobartitone (epiphen) btw hun - just in case you wanted to know)


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## Vickie

Congratulations! She's beautiful :D


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## taperjeangirl

She is gorgeous, congratulations! xxx


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## Mrs L

what a beauty!!! sorry to read your story but at least now you can make the most of being at home xx congrats


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## emma_27

Congratulations shes lovely sorry to hear you had a tough start though


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## Samantha675

Congrats on the birth of your daughter.

I am so sorry about your birth experience. I know how hard it is to end up having the birth you didn't want.


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## vicky

congratulations hun, she is beautiful, sorry u had a horrible experensie


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## ColtonsMom

congratulations! she is beautiful!


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## charveyron

Congrats shes gorgeous :pink:


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## Blob

Congratulations she is beautiful :)


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## maybebaby

Congrats!! She is gorgeous!! :hugs:


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## embojet

Sorry to hear what you had to go through, but she is absolutely beautiful x


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## clairebear

sorry u had to go through what u did hun.

congrats tabitha is beautiful welldone sonny. xxxx


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## Emmea12uk

congratulations! I am so pleased you are home now. I was so worried about you and Tabs whilst I was in hospial. I totally sympathise with what you have been through and you did amazingly well.

She is absolutely georgous and perfect. Good luck with your MRI.


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## smartie

congratulations!


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## babe2ooo

aww congrats, what a story


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## CK Too

Thats one hell of a journey you´ve been on, but the end result more than makes up for it I´m sure. She´s beautiful. Congrats x


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## Deise

Sonny, she's beautiful!!!


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## mBLACK

Congratulations on having your little princess!:D


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## cuddles314

Congratulations!!!! And welcome to gorgeous Tabitha!
xx


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## x-amy-x

she is gorgeous hun, sorry you had such a hard time

xxx


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## Carlyanne15

So cute, congrats to you both on your arrival of your baby Girl xxx


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## xXhayleyXx

She is gorgeous!!!!!!!!! Congratulations hunny xx


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## HAYS

congrats hun,she is stunning, sorry you had a rough time
xxx


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## supernurse

Congratulations to you hun, she is absolutely beautiful. Sorry you had a tough time, but she looks like she's doing great. xx


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## carries

Sorry to hear you didnt get the birth you wanted...that is shocking! Congrats on your beautiful baby girl :)


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## Sarah88

Gorgeous baby darl! I'm really sorry that you had such a bad birthing experience. xoxo


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## wilbrabeany

Ahhh she is gorgeous and looks a very happy baby despite what shes been through already!! Congrats you!xxx


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## ~ Vicky ~

I'm so sorry things didn't go as planned, but look at the result - she's absolutely gorgeous, congratulations! :hugs:


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## Frankie

she is beautiful well done mummy x


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## gde78

Congratulations! She's gorgeous!


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## AppleBlossom

sorry to hear you had a rough time. it was worth it though I'm sure, she's gorgeous x


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## Iwantone!!!

congrates xx


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## bigbelly2

babe shes beautiful sorry to hear about your bad time, i can empathise re the nicu its v v scary isn it and you feel so helpless!!

one quick thing, i was EXACTLY the same re my expressing i only got 20 mls too..they told me to use donperidome (i notice your wee one is having too) to increase my milk production..try it perhaps?

h x


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## Jem

Huge congrats, I know what it's like to have an undiagnosed breech! Bless you hope you're all ok xxx


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## sonny

bigbelly2 said:


> babe shes beautiful sorry to hear about your bad time, i can empathise re the nicu its v v scary isn it and you feel so helpless!!
> 
> one quick thing, i was EXACTLY the same re my expressing i only got 20 mls too..they told me to use donperidome (i notice your wee one is having too) to increase my milk production..try it perhaps?
> 
> h x

Wow seriously,they never told me anything helpful like that! lol
would you know how much etc? xxxx


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