bumbleberry
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Sorry this is long, I got carried away lol 
I had planned that my ideal birthing experience would have involved being mobile and using the birthing pool. I had found water extremely comforting throughout the pregnancy and when I was at aquanatal. However… since little one was very comfy inside, my hopes to have this kind of birth were diminishing! I was booked for an induction when I was 12 days overdue. I still hoped she would decide to come naturally before then but no she was a stubborn little bugger lol.
Sunday 24th Oct arrived. I rang the hospital to see what time I needed to get there, they advised about 1.30pm. I was feeling very nervous at this point and couldn’t settle, even though we were excited to meet our little one. Once we arrived at the hospital, we were taken to the induction room straight away, I was checked over and they inserted the gel pessary. I had not dilated nor my cervix changed since my sweep the previous Tuesday. I was then monitored every half hour. I was due to get another gel about 6pm however the labour ward was extremely busy so I think I was put on the back burner. Someone came along about 8pm and said that they wouldn’t be giving me another gel today and that I could go along to the antenatal ward for the night and they would start things again the next day. We agreed though this did mean OH had to go home for the evening. By the time I was moved onto the antenatal ward it was about 11.30pm and I was starting to get tired. I had slight pains at this stage but nothing else.
About 2.30pm the pains started to get stronger and I thought that my waters had broken so I asked for some paracetamol. (I later learnt this was not my water but most of my plug). Anyway by the morning the pains started to subside and were not regular in the slightest! I was told again the labour ward was very busy and would be told when I could go along. Eventually at about half 4 I could go along to the delivery room.
They checked my cervix again and found I had dilated to 2cms so I didn’t need another gel pessary but they would break my waters instead as they were still intact. This felt very weird and there’s so much water. I was then told that they would need to put me on the drip, this was where I felt very disappointed as I knew that was I was on this I couldn't be mobile and I certainly couldn't have my water birth. I also was aware that labour would be more painful being induced this way so I knew I would have to consider other pain relief methods. But I was told that because I was now 13 days overdue it was important that things were moving along at a quicker pace… It took them three painful attempts to get the drip in. I still have the marks from them now!
Once the drip was in I knew it was working as I had a painful contraction almost immediately. They became very regular from then onwards. At this point I just asked for some paracetamol and codeine to help with the pain. After about half an hour I asked to try the gas and air as they were getting quite painful then. This stuff was great though I found it did mess with my head a little. I kinda lost track of time after this too. I do recall getting very uncomfortable on the bed and wanted to move so I could stand up. The midwife agreed I could but could only stand at the side of the bed since I was hooked up to the drip and various monitors. This helped immediately with the back pain and made the contractions more bearable. Once in this position it wasn't long until I started to feel like I needed to push. The midwife checked me and advised that I needed to wait a bit and to try and breathe through the contractions. I did this for a while until I really felt like I needed to push and couldn’t help but do what my body was telling me to do.
They decided to put a clip onto baby’s head so they could monitor her more closely. After some time (again no idea how long) the midwife advised me to get onto the bed as they needed to check me. It was very painful getting onto the bed due to the continuous back pain. Once there they decided that since the baby’s heart rate was increasing they called for the consultant to come in. I didn’t like her at once, she came in, checked a few things and said in a very loud voice that ‘I needed to get this baby out and it must be now since she was very concerned about baby’s heart rate etc etc!!’ well this only resulted in me panicking!
I remember looking at the midwife who realised I was now panicking and she was great and basically told the Dr off and explained calmly that they had already explained to me what I needed to do and that she wasn’t helping matters. They then put my legs in the stirrups and explained I really needed to push now and they also took the gas and air off me now as I needed to concentrate. I do remember this stage quite clearly (as I had no pain relief at this point!!) and I don’t think I have ever had to use that kind of strength before in my life!! Finally after so many pushes Jasmine Emily arrived at 10.39pm on Mon 25th Oct, she was gorgeous, I cant explain how I felt at this point but I was so happy I started crying.
They had to take Jasmine away to be checked and because she was having a difficult time breathing they called in the special care nurse immediately and after what seemed like such a long time they explained that she was breathing ok but was grunting and that they would be monitoring her for a little while. So it was about an hour or so before either of us could hold her, I requested my OH hold her for a while first because I had a slight haemorrhage and they couldn’t work out where I was bleeding from. Eventually I got to hold my little baby and it was magical
So although I didn’t get my ideal birth experience, I am very pleased with how things turned out (despite the consultant!!) my active labour lasted only about 5 ½ hours and I managed with only some paracetamol and codeine at the beginning, then gas and air, then nothing at the end despite being induced. I will always remember my midwives too as I thought they were absolutely fantastic.
I had planned that my ideal birthing experience would have involved being mobile and using the birthing pool. I had found water extremely comforting throughout the pregnancy and when I was at aquanatal. However… since little one was very comfy inside, my hopes to have this kind of birth were diminishing! I was booked for an induction when I was 12 days overdue. I still hoped she would decide to come naturally before then but no she was a stubborn little bugger lol.
Sunday 24th Oct arrived. I rang the hospital to see what time I needed to get there, they advised about 1.30pm. I was feeling very nervous at this point and couldn’t settle, even though we were excited to meet our little one. Once we arrived at the hospital, we were taken to the induction room straight away, I was checked over and they inserted the gel pessary. I had not dilated nor my cervix changed since my sweep the previous Tuesday. I was then monitored every half hour. I was due to get another gel about 6pm however the labour ward was extremely busy so I think I was put on the back burner. Someone came along about 8pm and said that they wouldn’t be giving me another gel today and that I could go along to the antenatal ward for the night and they would start things again the next day. We agreed though this did mean OH had to go home for the evening. By the time I was moved onto the antenatal ward it was about 11.30pm and I was starting to get tired. I had slight pains at this stage but nothing else.
About 2.30pm the pains started to get stronger and I thought that my waters had broken so I asked for some paracetamol. (I later learnt this was not my water but most of my plug). Anyway by the morning the pains started to subside and were not regular in the slightest! I was told again the labour ward was very busy and would be told when I could go along. Eventually at about half 4 I could go along to the delivery room.
They checked my cervix again and found I had dilated to 2cms so I didn’t need another gel pessary but they would break my waters instead as they were still intact. This felt very weird and there’s so much water. I was then told that they would need to put me on the drip, this was where I felt very disappointed as I knew that was I was on this I couldn't be mobile and I certainly couldn't have my water birth. I also was aware that labour would be more painful being induced this way so I knew I would have to consider other pain relief methods. But I was told that because I was now 13 days overdue it was important that things were moving along at a quicker pace… It took them three painful attempts to get the drip in. I still have the marks from them now!
Once the drip was in I knew it was working as I had a painful contraction almost immediately. They became very regular from then onwards. At this point I just asked for some paracetamol and codeine to help with the pain. After about half an hour I asked to try the gas and air as they were getting quite painful then. This stuff was great though I found it did mess with my head a little. I kinda lost track of time after this too. I do recall getting very uncomfortable on the bed and wanted to move so I could stand up. The midwife agreed I could but could only stand at the side of the bed since I was hooked up to the drip and various monitors. This helped immediately with the back pain and made the contractions more bearable. Once in this position it wasn't long until I started to feel like I needed to push. The midwife checked me and advised that I needed to wait a bit and to try and breathe through the contractions. I did this for a while until I really felt like I needed to push and couldn’t help but do what my body was telling me to do.
They decided to put a clip onto baby’s head so they could monitor her more closely. After some time (again no idea how long) the midwife advised me to get onto the bed as they needed to check me. It was very painful getting onto the bed due to the continuous back pain. Once there they decided that since the baby’s heart rate was increasing they called for the consultant to come in. I didn’t like her at once, she came in, checked a few things and said in a very loud voice that ‘I needed to get this baby out and it must be now since she was very concerned about baby’s heart rate etc etc!!’ well this only resulted in me panicking!
I remember looking at the midwife who realised I was now panicking and she was great and basically told the Dr off and explained calmly that they had already explained to me what I needed to do and that she wasn’t helping matters. They then put my legs in the stirrups and explained I really needed to push now and they also took the gas and air off me now as I needed to concentrate. I do remember this stage quite clearly (as I had no pain relief at this point!!) and I don’t think I have ever had to use that kind of strength before in my life!! Finally after so many pushes Jasmine Emily arrived at 10.39pm on Mon 25th Oct, she was gorgeous, I cant explain how I felt at this point but I was so happy I started crying.
They had to take Jasmine away to be checked and because she was having a difficult time breathing they called in the special care nurse immediately and after what seemed like such a long time they explained that she was breathing ok but was grunting and that they would be monitoring her for a little while. So it was about an hour or so before either of us could hold her, I requested my OH hold her for a while first because I had a slight haemorrhage and they couldn’t work out where I was bleeding from. Eventually I got to hold my little baby and it was magical
So although I didn’t get my ideal birth experience, I am very pleased with how things turned out (despite the consultant!!) my active labour lasted only about 5 ½ hours and I managed with only some paracetamol and codeine at the beginning, then gas and air, then nothing at the end despite being induced. I will always remember my midwives too as I thought they were absolutely fantastic.
