Jchihuahua
Mummy to 3
- Joined
- Aug 13, 2009
- Messages
- 8,187
- Reaction score
- 0
In 2009 I was diagnosed with obstetric cholestasis while I was pregnant with Daisy and had to be induced at 38 weeks. It was a terribly traumatic experience from start to finish. My body wasn't ready to give birth and it took 4 days on the ante natal ward and numerous uncomfortable attempts at inducing me with the pessary and gel before they could even attempt to break my waters, followed by 17 hours of very painful active labour where everything went wrong. The hormone drip caused awfully strong and painful contractions and I was strapped to moniotrs the entire time and couldn't move from my bed. Daisy was in distress and we were on the verge of an emergency c-section all the time. She was finally born by forceps delivery with the cord tightly around her neck and not breathing. Her little face was all battered and bruised from the forceps. I couldn't feel when to push due to my epidural being topped up too late and ended up with lots and lots of internal and external stitches. Everything turned out fine in the end but it was a very traumatic experience.
When I feel pregnant with Tommy I was monitored all the way through in case the OC returned and there was never any sign that it was coming back. Tommy was breech however from 27 weeks until 37 weeks and the midwife was convinced he wouldn't turn as he had been in the same position for so long and seemed quite comfy. I was mentally prepared for a caesarean although I was disappointed as I really hoped for a natural birth after my experience with Daisy's birth. Tommy was still breech at my mw appointment on the Tuesday but when I had a scan on the Friday, at 37 weeks, we were amazed to discover he'd turned over! My hopes of a natural birth were back on!
At 39 weeks I got a phone call to tell me the news I'd been dreading - my OC had returned and I'd need to be induced. I got the phone call on the Wednesday and they wanted to induce me on the Friday. I was really upset about this and anxious about the induction, imaging the same awful scenario from last time.
I was admitted onto the ante-natal ward at 8:30am on Friday morning and prepared myself to be there for days and days like last time. The midwife did all my obs and then did an internal to put in the propess pessary. I was amazed when she said 'Oh...you're 3 cm dilated already! We don't need to put this in. You can have your waters broken on delivery suite.' I couldn't believe it! I was amazed!!The only problem was the delivery suite was super busy and short staffed so I had to wait 24 hours for a bed to become available. I had a day and night on the ante-natal ward being monitored until on Saturday 3rd December at 11am a bed became available on the delivery suite. I was so excited!
I had a really nice midwife who was pregnant herself and was able to break my waters straight awy. With Daisy I was in labour for so long that I had loads of different midwives but this time I had the same lady all the way through this time which made all the difference. She gave me a sweep and as I was already contracting said she'd give me 2 hours to get my contractions going more strongly and if they weren't she start the hormone drip. Hubby and I went for lunch in Costa and had a walk around the hospital and then I had a little nap before the MW strapped me to the monitors again. I wasn't contracting any more strongly so she connected up the hormone drip. I'd been dreading this as with Daisy my contractions were so strong and intense as I had to have a really high dosage and I couldn't move from my bed. This time as I was already contracting I didn't have to have a high dosage and it was so much better. I still couldn't move from my bed but it was much more bearable.
The contractions got going quickly and were pretty painful but I had gas and air for about 3 hours until I decided to have a low dosage of diamorphine for the pain. This worked well as it took the edge off the contractions but I could still feel everything and it made me feel much more relaxed between contractions. With Daisy the diamorphine made her distressed as I had a high dosage but this time it was fine and I'm glad I had it. With Daisy I had an epidural but was determined not to have one this time and I didn't need one at all.
About 6 hours after my waters were broken I suddenly felt like I needed a poo so said to the midwife 'Would you mind disconnecting me from the monitor as I'm desperate for a poo'. She just looked at me and said 'I think that might mean you're ready to push'. I said 'No, I'm not, I just need to go for a poo please.' She told me to hang on a minute and disappeared from the room and came back in with loads of stuff ready to deliver the baby! I was still sure that I wasn't ready but she assured me that the pressure I was feeling was actually baby ready to be born! With Daisy I couldn't feel anything becauseof the epidural so being able to feel everything was amazing! With Daisy I had 6 people around my bed and my legs in stirrups. This time there was just me, hubby and the MW and it was so relaxed!
The pushing was uncomfortable as I didn't like the sensation of feeling that pressure in my bum but I used the contractions to help me push and it really didn't take long, probably about 40 minutes of pushing all in all. I was pretty noisy at this point for the first time in the labour and I kept saying that I couldn't get him out but with lots of encouragement from hubby and the mw I kept going and before I knew it I'd pushed his head out, then his shoulders and then he just slid out! The 'ring of fire' was nowhere near as bad as I expected. He came out crying and healthy, not blue and limp with the cord around his neck which is what happened to Daisy and it felt amazing. Daisy was whisked away from me immediately to get her breathing but Tommy was placed on my chest and we had skin to skin for ages and a good breastfeed. The placenta came out easily and the mw said I had a second degree tear but it was neat and would heal on its own so it was up to me if I wanted stitches or not. I said no as I had loads last time and they hurt so much when they were healing. I havent even felt where the cut is this time and it doesn't hurt at all. Tommy was born at 6:11pm and weighted 7lb11.
The mw was finishing her shift so she brought me tea and toast (which I didn't get last time!) and gave me a big hug. She was lovely. I had a shower and got dressed and hubby had some cuddles with Tommy. The new midwife came on duty and said she was able to do the paediatric checks on Tommy and as long as they were all fine, and both me and him had a wee and I had my rhesus negative injection we could go straight home! I was amazed and didn't expect that at all! Tommy passed all his checks, she was happy with his feeding and we were discharged and were back at home in our own beds by 1am!
It was an asolutely amazing birth and so different from my last experience! It has made me want to do it all over again!!
When I feel pregnant with Tommy I was monitored all the way through in case the OC returned and there was never any sign that it was coming back. Tommy was breech however from 27 weeks until 37 weeks and the midwife was convinced he wouldn't turn as he had been in the same position for so long and seemed quite comfy. I was mentally prepared for a caesarean although I was disappointed as I really hoped for a natural birth after my experience with Daisy's birth. Tommy was still breech at my mw appointment on the Tuesday but when I had a scan on the Friday, at 37 weeks, we were amazed to discover he'd turned over! My hopes of a natural birth were back on!
At 39 weeks I got a phone call to tell me the news I'd been dreading - my OC had returned and I'd need to be induced. I got the phone call on the Wednesday and they wanted to induce me on the Friday. I was really upset about this and anxious about the induction, imaging the same awful scenario from last time.
I was admitted onto the ante-natal ward at 8:30am on Friday morning and prepared myself to be there for days and days like last time. The midwife did all my obs and then did an internal to put in the propess pessary. I was amazed when she said 'Oh...you're 3 cm dilated already! We don't need to put this in. You can have your waters broken on delivery suite.' I couldn't believe it! I was amazed!!The only problem was the delivery suite was super busy and short staffed so I had to wait 24 hours for a bed to become available. I had a day and night on the ante-natal ward being monitored until on Saturday 3rd December at 11am a bed became available on the delivery suite. I was so excited!
I had a really nice midwife who was pregnant herself and was able to break my waters straight awy. With Daisy I was in labour for so long that I had loads of different midwives but this time I had the same lady all the way through this time which made all the difference. She gave me a sweep and as I was already contracting said she'd give me 2 hours to get my contractions going more strongly and if they weren't she start the hormone drip. Hubby and I went for lunch in Costa and had a walk around the hospital and then I had a little nap before the MW strapped me to the monitors again. I wasn't contracting any more strongly so she connected up the hormone drip. I'd been dreading this as with Daisy my contractions were so strong and intense as I had to have a really high dosage and I couldn't move from my bed. This time as I was already contracting I didn't have to have a high dosage and it was so much better. I still couldn't move from my bed but it was much more bearable.
The contractions got going quickly and were pretty painful but I had gas and air for about 3 hours until I decided to have a low dosage of diamorphine for the pain. This worked well as it took the edge off the contractions but I could still feel everything and it made me feel much more relaxed between contractions. With Daisy the diamorphine made her distressed as I had a high dosage but this time it was fine and I'm glad I had it. With Daisy I had an epidural but was determined not to have one this time and I didn't need one at all.
About 6 hours after my waters were broken I suddenly felt like I needed a poo so said to the midwife 'Would you mind disconnecting me from the monitor as I'm desperate for a poo'. She just looked at me and said 'I think that might mean you're ready to push'. I said 'No, I'm not, I just need to go for a poo please.' She told me to hang on a minute and disappeared from the room and came back in with loads of stuff ready to deliver the baby! I was still sure that I wasn't ready but she assured me that the pressure I was feeling was actually baby ready to be born! With Daisy I couldn't feel anything becauseof the epidural so being able to feel everything was amazing! With Daisy I had 6 people around my bed and my legs in stirrups. This time there was just me, hubby and the MW and it was so relaxed!
The pushing was uncomfortable as I didn't like the sensation of feeling that pressure in my bum but I used the contractions to help me push and it really didn't take long, probably about 40 minutes of pushing all in all. I was pretty noisy at this point for the first time in the labour and I kept saying that I couldn't get him out but with lots of encouragement from hubby and the mw I kept going and before I knew it I'd pushed his head out, then his shoulders and then he just slid out! The 'ring of fire' was nowhere near as bad as I expected. He came out crying and healthy, not blue and limp with the cord around his neck which is what happened to Daisy and it felt amazing. Daisy was whisked away from me immediately to get her breathing but Tommy was placed on my chest and we had skin to skin for ages and a good breastfeed. The placenta came out easily and the mw said I had a second degree tear but it was neat and would heal on its own so it was up to me if I wanted stitches or not. I said no as I had loads last time and they hurt so much when they were healing. I havent even felt where the cut is this time and it doesn't hurt at all. Tommy was born at 6:11pm and weighted 7lb11.
The mw was finishing her shift so she brought me tea and toast (which I didn't get last time!) and gave me a big hug. She was lovely. I had a shower and got dressed and hubby had some cuddles with Tommy. The new midwife came on duty and said she was able to do the paediatric checks on Tommy and as long as they were all fine, and both me and him had a wee and I had my rhesus negative injection we could go straight home! I was amazed and didn't expect that at all! Tommy passed all his checks, she was happy with his feeding and we were discharged and were back at home in our own beds by 1am!
It was an asolutely amazing birth and so different from my last experience! It has made me want to do it all over again!!
Thanks for sharing your birth story.
That's amazing they let you go home so quickly! We have to stay at least one night after the birth... so I'm kinda jealous. 
x
