Sun_Flower
Mum to 2 Beautiful Girls
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OK this is going to be long. Like, REALLY long. I don't expect anyone to really read it, I just wanted to write it down so I have it recorded somewhere. If you do get through it, you deserve a medal!
My original due date was the 18th of November 2011, but that day came and went without anything happening at all. Up to that point I'd had no Braxton Hicks, no plug loss, no signs of labour whatsoever. My midwife attempted a sweep when I was 41 weeks but my cervix was posterior, high and closed so nothing could be done and I was booked to be induced on the 2nd of December. I was quite upset about the possibility of being induced as I had planned on a water birth in the midwife led unit and didn't want to labour in a bed hooked up to drips etc.
Fast forward to the 30th of November, and I started to lose some plug throughout the day - some mucousy, some tinged with red. By that point I was convinced that nothing was going to happen and I was resigned to being induced, so I went to the cinema with my sister and put it out of my mind. Came home and baby was REALLY active, wriggling around lots and making me feel quite sore so I took myself off to bed at 10pm. Slept on and off, generally feeling sore and realising that the pains
were becoming more regular and feeling more how I'd imagine contractions to be. Woke OH up at 12 and mentioned that I thought I might be having contractions, so he timed them but they weren't very regular - ranging from every 4 - 9 minutes. Kept going to the toilet as the contractions were making me feel like I needed to poop.
Rang L+D at about 2am and the midwife said that it sounded like I was in early labour, and suggested taking some paracetamol and having a bath. Did both of those things but the bath seemed to make things stronger, as within minutes of getting in I had quite a few contractions in quick succession. Got out of the bath and managed to get some sleep until 5am - the pains were just getting to the point where they were making it impossible for me to sleep, when I felt something go 'pop' and realised my waters had broken. Managed to run to the toilet without making a mess everywhere, and was pleased to see that the waters were clear (I was worried that with her being so late there'd be meconium) - rang L+D again to let them know and they said to come in when I thought I was ready, and they confirmed that I would still be able to deliver in the pool which I was SO happy about. Called my mum as she was coming to the hospital with me, and we ended up arriving just after 7am. Went to the delivery suite first for obs and a VE, which found I was already 4cm dilated, which was brilliant as I was convinced I'd be one of those people who dilated really slowly, especially seeing as the contractions weren't that unbearable at that point. Once they admitted me, I waddled down to the birthing unit and was shown to the pool room. Had a little bit of a walk round to keep mobile, sat on the loo for a while because it really eased the pressure I was feeling, and eventually got into the pool at around 9am. Although the contractions weren't awful, it was SUCH a relief to get in to the warm water. I just spent my time floating around, getting through contractions on my own. The midwife said I could have gas and air whenever I wanted, but the contractions were making me feel sick and I was worried the gas and air would make me worse. Eventually I thought I'd try it, and used it from then on. I can't say it took the pain away, but I think the action of breathing through the contraction using G+A was enough to distract me from most of the pain. I have no idea what OH and my mum were doing through most of the labour - I was just concentrating on myself and spent most of the time with my eyes closed, getting through the contractions.
I don't really know times from this point on, but at one point I started getting contractions where my body was making me push involuntarily. Up until that point I hadn't made a sound during the whole labour except for talking, but the urge to push made me grunt a bit. The midwife told me to try and breathe through the urge and not push, as she thought that as I didn't seem to be in much pain and wasn't crying out or anything that there was no way I was ready to push. She told me to keep going and then we'd get out and she'd give me a VE to see how dilated I was. At that point I half laughed/ cried and said 'I bet I'm only about 6cm after all this time' (and the miwife told me later that when I said that, she actually thought I might be right as I'd been SO quiet). I never ended up getting out of the tub though, because the involuntary pushing continued with each contraction - it was that part that hurt the most because I was trying to STOP myself pushing as I thought it wasn't time yet. After a little while the midwife examined me in the water as the pushing urges wouldn't stop, and she then looked at me incredulously and said 'well, there's no cervix left, you're at 10cm and I can feel the head. So if you want to push, you push and we'll get this baby out'. I ignored the gas and air then and just concentrated on pushing when I had contractions - it really didn't hurt as much at that point because I knew that the pushing urge was right, so I just went with it. I was SO tired and asked her whether it was nearly over, and she said that pushing could take up to an hour - I was fine with that though because an hour was a lot better than an indefinite period of time! Didn't take that long though, as within ten minutes, baby's head was coming out. Delivering the head was made a bit more difficult by the fact that the baby had her hand up by her face, so I had her head AND hand coming out at the same time. I managed to deliver the head and her hand, but then she started trying to move her head and wriggle her fingers and that REALLY hurt, and that was the one time I really cried out in the entire labour (my mum and OH said that the noise scared them because I'd been so quiet and then suddenly was crying out in pain, lol!) but a couple more pushes and the baby came out, with everyone suddenly saying 'WOAH, she's MASSIVE!!' and OH and my mum crying their eyes out. I think I was just too shell-shocked, I just got the baby in my arms and cuddled her.
That's when things started to go a little bit wrong - the midwife was trying to get me to deliver the placenta, when she noticed that I was bleeding more than I should have been. I was then hoisted out of the tub by the midwife and my OH, all the while holding the baby. I walked across the room to the low bed and sat down (OH and my mum were getting freaked out by this point as there was a LOT of blood - I had absolutely no idea) to try and deliver the placenta. I was still bleeding and nothing was happening, so they clamped the cord and cut it, and handed baby off to OH. I delivered the placenta, but the midwife pressed down on my stomach to see if my uterus was contracted, and more blood started coming out. The next thing I knew the midwife had hit a button on the wall and the room was filled with people. I had an injection in one leg to try and contract my uterus, as they said due to her being a big baby it wasn't contracting fast enough and the placenta site was bleeding more than it should have done. The injection didn't work, and the midwife was examining me to see if I'd torn (OW, that hurt more than the actual labour) to explain away more of the blood. Turns out I had torn, but the blood was a combination of the two problems. Had to have an injection in the OTHER leg, and the midwife said it might make me feel a bit sick - within seconds of having the injection I started feeling really light headed, and it was at that point, with the room full of people rushing around, I looked at OH and my baby and really thought I was going to die. I remember thinking 'brilliant, after all this waiting, I'm not going to go home'. My mum had left the room at that point, as she was really upset seeing me covered in blood. After a few minutes I started feeling a bit better and I was transferred to a bed and moved to the main hospital delivery unit, had a canula inserted and was given fluids and a drip containing something to make my uterus contract back down (I think it might have been a concentrated dose of syntocinon?). I had barely even held the baby at this point, I had to rely on OH and mum and the midwife telling me what she was like.
After a while the bleeding calmed down and I was examined again, and it was found I had a possible 3rd/ 4th degree tear, and would need to have a full spinal and go down to theatre to be repaired. In between all this happening they FINALLY weighed the baby, and we all guessed how much she'd weigh - I said about 9lb, OH said 9 and a half, mum said similar - none of us were prepared when the midwife said '10lb 7oz' !!! For some reason I found this hilarious, as I'd managed to push out a 10lb 7oz baby using no pain relief, but ended up needing a drip AND a full spinal in the end anyway!
After the procedure I was taken to recovery and then to the ward, where I FINALLY got to spend some time cuddling my beautiful baby girl. She had a very puffy face from the delivery, but was still gorgeous to me. OH and Mum had to leave as it wasn't visiting hours, and I spent the night and all next day in hospital before being discharged and going home.
Overall, it was a really positive labour and birth, it was just afterwards that things got a bit intense. It doesn't matter though, I'm just so happy to have my beautiful little girl with me
Here are some pictures of my little girl, Eden Rebecca
My original due date was the 18th of November 2011, but that day came and went without anything happening at all. Up to that point I'd had no Braxton Hicks, no plug loss, no signs of labour whatsoever. My midwife attempted a sweep when I was 41 weeks but my cervix was posterior, high and closed so nothing could be done and I was booked to be induced on the 2nd of December. I was quite upset about the possibility of being induced as I had planned on a water birth in the midwife led unit and didn't want to labour in a bed hooked up to drips etc.
Fast forward to the 30th of November, and I started to lose some plug throughout the day - some mucousy, some tinged with red. By that point I was convinced that nothing was going to happen and I was resigned to being induced, so I went to the cinema with my sister and put it out of my mind. Came home and baby was REALLY active, wriggling around lots and making me feel quite sore so I took myself off to bed at 10pm. Slept on and off, generally feeling sore and realising that the pains
were becoming more regular and feeling more how I'd imagine contractions to be. Woke OH up at 12 and mentioned that I thought I might be having contractions, so he timed them but they weren't very regular - ranging from every 4 - 9 minutes. Kept going to the toilet as the contractions were making me feel like I needed to poop.
Rang L+D at about 2am and the midwife said that it sounded like I was in early labour, and suggested taking some paracetamol and having a bath. Did both of those things but the bath seemed to make things stronger, as within minutes of getting in I had quite a few contractions in quick succession. Got out of the bath and managed to get some sleep until 5am - the pains were just getting to the point where they were making it impossible for me to sleep, when I felt something go 'pop' and realised my waters had broken. Managed to run to the toilet without making a mess everywhere, and was pleased to see that the waters were clear (I was worried that with her being so late there'd be meconium) - rang L+D again to let them know and they said to come in when I thought I was ready, and they confirmed that I would still be able to deliver in the pool which I was SO happy about. Called my mum as she was coming to the hospital with me, and we ended up arriving just after 7am. Went to the delivery suite first for obs and a VE, which found I was already 4cm dilated, which was brilliant as I was convinced I'd be one of those people who dilated really slowly, especially seeing as the contractions weren't that unbearable at that point. Once they admitted me, I waddled down to the birthing unit and was shown to the pool room. Had a little bit of a walk round to keep mobile, sat on the loo for a while because it really eased the pressure I was feeling, and eventually got into the pool at around 9am. Although the contractions weren't awful, it was SUCH a relief to get in to the warm water. I just spent my time floating around, getting through contractions on my own. The midwife said I could have gas and air whenever I wanted, but the contractions were making me feel sick and I was worried the gas and air would make me worse. Eventually I thought I'd try it, and used it from then on. I can't say it took the pain away, but I think the action of breathing through the contraction using G+A was enough to distract me from most of the pain. I have no idea what OH and my mum were doing through most of the labour - I was just concentrating on myself and spent most of the time with my eyes closed, getting through the contractions.
I don't really know times from this point on, but at one point I started getting contractions where my body was making me push involuntarily. Up until that point I hadn't made a sound during the whole labour except for talking, but the urge to push made me grunt a bit. The midwife told me to try and breathe through the urge and not push, as she thought that as I didn't seem to be in much pain and wasn't crying out or anything that there was no way I was ready to push. She told me to keep going and then we'd get out and she'd give me a VE to see how dilated I was. At that point I half laughed/ cried and said 'I bet I'm only about 6cm after all this time' (and the miwife told me later that when I said that, she actually thought I might be right as I'd been SO quiet). I never ended up getting out of the tub though, because the involuntary pushing continued with each contraction - it was that part that hurt the most because I was trying to STOP myself pushing as I thought it wasn't time yet. After a little while the midwife examined me in the water as the pushing urges wouldn't stop, and she then looked at me incredulously and said 'well, there's no cervix left, you're at 10cm and I can feel the head. So if you want to push, you push and we'll get this baby out'. I ignored the gas and air then and just concentrated on pushing when I had contractions - it really didn't hurt as much at that point because I knew that the pushing urge was right, so I just went with it. I was SO tired and asked her whether it was nearly over, and she said that pushing could take up to an hour - I was fine with that though because an hour was a lot better than an indefinite period of time! Didn't take that long though, as within ten minutes, baby's head was coming out. Delivering the head was made a bit more difficult by the fact that the baby had her hand up by her face, so I had her head AND hand coming out at the same time. I managed to deliver the head and her hand, but then she started trying to move her head and wriggle her fingers and that REALLY hurt, and that was the one time I really cried out in the entire labour (my mum and OH said that the noise scared them because I'd been so quiet and then suddenly was crying out in pain, lol!) but a couple more pushes and the baby came out, with everyone suddenly saying 'WOAH, she's MASSIVE!!' and OH and my mum crying their eyes out. I think I was just too shell-shocked, I just got the baby in my arms and cuddled her.
That's when things started to go a little bit wrong - the midwife was trying to get me to deliver the placenta, when she noticed that I was bleeding more than I should have been. I was then hoisted out of the tub by the midwife and my OH, all the while holding the baby. I walked across the room to the low bed and sat down (OH and my mum were getting freaked out by this point as there was a LOT of blood - I had absolutely no idea) to try and deliver the placenta. I was still bleeding and nothing was happening, so they clamped the cord and cut it, and handed baby off to OH. I delivered the placenta, but the midwife pressed down on my stomach to see if my uterus was contracted, and more blood started coming out. The next thing I knew the midwife had hit a button on the wall and the room was filled with people. I had an injection in one leg to try and contract my uterus, as they said due to her being a big baby it wasn't contracting fast enough and the placenta site was bleeding more than it should have done. The injection didn't work, and the midwife was examining me to see if I'd torn (OW, that hurt more than the actual labour) to explain away more of the blood. Turns out I had torn, but the blood was a combination of the two problems. Had to have an injection in the OTHER leg, and the midwife said it might make me feel a bit sick - within seconds of having the injection I started feeling really light headed, and it was at that point, with the room full of people rushing around, I looked at OH and my baby and really thought I was going to die. I remember thinking 'brilliant, after all this waiting, I'm not going to go home'. My mum had left the room at that point, as she was really upset seeing me covered in blood. After a few minutes I started feeling a bit better and I was transferred to a bed and moved to the main hospital delivery unit, had a canula inserted and was given fluids and a drip containing something to make my uterus contract back down (I think it might have been a concentrated dose of syntocinon?). I had barely even held the baby at this point, I had to rely on OH and mum and the midwife telling me what she was like.
After a while the bleeding calmed down and I was examined again, and it was found I had a possible 3rd/ 4th degree tear, and would need to have a full spinal and go down to theatre to be repaired. In between all this happening they FINALLY weighed the baby, and we all guessed how much she'd weigh - I said about 9lb, OH said 9 and a half, mum said similar - none of us were prepared when the midwife said '10lb 7oz' !!! For some reason I found this hilarious, as I'd managed to push out a 10lb 7oz baby using no pain relief, but ended up needing a drip AND a full spinal in the end anyway!
After the procedure I was taken to recovery and then to the ward, where I FINALLY got to spend some time cuddling my beautiful baby girl. She had a very puffy face from the delivery, but was still gorgeous to me. OH and Mum had to leave as it wasn't visiting hours, and I spent the night and all next day in hospital before being discharged and going home.
Overall, it was a really positive labour and birth, it was just afterwards that things got a bit intense. It doesn't matter though, I'm just so happy to have my beautiful little girl with me
Here are some pictures of my little girl, Eden Rebecca
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