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Finally getting round to writing my birth story, now Callum is just over a week old.
Sorry if this is a bit long, but i wanted to get it all down.
The hospital had given me the due date of the 23rd dec but i had been charting and my dates gave me edd of 28th. I had always had a feeling he would arrive on my due date and i was right.
Everyone had been joking that i would be sitting down to Christmas dinner and my waters would go. Well we made it through Christmas dinner but not Sunday.
I carried mine and my grans diner through to the dining room and as i put them on the table, pop. They didnt go in one massive rush though they gradually went all over the night. It was such a weird feeling and i ended up wearing one of my grans incontinence pads.
So i finished my Sunday dinner and rang the hospital who said to come in to get it confirmed.
Got to the hospital and was waiting around for ages, they finally did a speculum exam and confirmed that my waters had gone but i wasnt dilated any, and cervix was long. And i was having some tightening on the ctg but they werent painful or regular.
I had mentioned that i had actually felt rather damp all that day so they decided to take it that my waters had gone from 7.30 sun morning when i had gone to the loo and thought id peed my self a little on the way. So i had to go back for 7.30 in the morning to be induced if nothing happened.
Got home and contractions started at midnight, about every 15 mins, so i put the tens on and tried to get some sleep, couldnt really sleep though so spent the night timing them and they got down to every 10 mins and then by 6am down to every 5 mins.
I rang the hospital at 7 like agreed and they said to come in for 7.30 as planned.
Got to the hospital and they had no midwife for me so had to wait for one to come in from home to do and extra shift.
She arrived around 9am and put me on the ctg monitor. At 10 am it was decided to check how things were progressing and depending on that they would either insert a gel to get things dilating or start on a hormone drip, at this point my contractions were 3-6 mins but varying in intensity.
I still had only the tens on at this point.
The internal was so painful that she had to give me gas and air. My cervix was really far back so she brought it forward a bit and i was 2 cm dilated, so it was decided that it would be best to just start on the hormone drip and get things speeded up.
Was moved to the delivery room and started on the drip at 11 am, because of the induction i was on continuous monitoring all the way through and bed bound.
The midwife was fab and brought mum, my sister and i tea and toast and we started watching ice age 2 to keep us occupied. The contractions immediately kicked up a gear with the drip and started coming every 3 mins but were much more intense.
By 12pm the tens alone just wasnt cutting it so i started on the gas and air as well and i gradually turned up the tens.
But by 1.30 the tens was starting to be really uncomfortable in between contractions so i took it off and asked for an epidural. Id always planned on having one so thought lets get it in and i can get rid of the gas and air as it was making my voice sound really funny.
The anaesthetist came and i wanted to go to the loo before hand. The mw took me off the monitor and i thought id make a dash to the loo between contractions cos there was no gas and air in the loo. But i forgot he drip; thankfully my mum and sis were on the ball and stopped me before i pulled it out. I dont know how many times as i nurse i ve said to patients, dont forget your drip stand, cant believe i nearly did.
The drip stand was stuck and another contraction came and god that one hurt stood up.
So at 2pm the anaesthetist did the epidural which was nothing, i barely felt it go in. I joked with the anaesthetist about whether it was going to work or not cos as a nurse i find they either work or they dont, he said he had a good feeling it would work really well...he was wrong!
While it did ease the contractions, i still needed the gas and air to get through each one.
After the epidural LOs hr dropped a bit from 140 to 110 so they were a bit concerned, so they decided to put a clip on his head so they could monitor him better as they were having problems getting the trace to pick up that accurate.
As she did the clip she found that i still had some membranes in the way so she broke them and was shocked to find i was all ready 9cm dilated.
LO hr settled at around 116 and they decided it was just the epidural that had caused it. Around 3.30 the mw suggested moving on to my left side to see if LO hr would pick up, he didnt like that and dropped to 67 so we tried the right and it came up to 80 so ended up on my back again and it came back up to 110. At this point the contractions suddenly felt like they were continuous and had shifted round to my hips as well and i felt like i was going to explode. My mum called the mw back in and she said she thought the epidural was wearing off she also checked me and found i was fully dilated. So we decided to have a top up of the epidural and wait and hour. Think this was mainly to help them as it was shift change.
Around 5pm the new midwife came in and saw the hr was still around 110 and said time to push.
So i started to push, i didnt have any sensation that i needed to push though. After a few pushes she decided to get the stirrups out to help and she was really shouting at me to push then all of a sudden another midwife and dr came rushing in and i hadnt realised that he had dropped his hr again and they were concerned.
The dr had a look while i pushed and then said that baby wasnt gonna come out in the room and i needed to go to theatre.
Well i really didnt want a section as being able to drive after was a big thing to me so i could get around so i thought sod that im gonna get this baby out now.
So with the next contraction gave an almighty push and the dr and mw got all excited that he had come down a bit and that they could get him out with forceps so i said go for it.
So the next thing the forceps were in and i was pushing like no bodies business.
My poor mum and sister were a bit traumatised as they could see it all and the dr really struggled to get him out, she managed to get his head out and said awe he is blinking at her, another big push and thankfully at 17.41 callum was delivered on to my chest and he cried almost straight away.
At 1 min his apgar was 9 and at 10 mins it was 10. Turns out his cord was wrapped around his chest and arm.
They whipped him off after a min and the paediatrician gave him the once over and gave him the all clear.
They then brought him back for some skin to skin while the dr spent ages stitching me back up. At least the epidural worked well enough for this.
The mw then took him off to weight him and give him the vit k, and he weighed in at 7lb 4oz.
All through the last part of the birth i had had horrible heartburn, but the midwife hadnt been able to get me anything for it as she was concerned with his low hr, as soon as they took him away i started feeling sick and ended up throwing up and needing anti sickness meds as i couldnt stop. My mum and sis had to take callum cos i just couldnt stop being sick.
I finally stopped throwing up and the mw said she would come back to help with breast feeding, but she was gone so long (shift change over again) that we decided to try yourself.
Mum helped latch him on and he had a good feed but i totally zonked and mum had to support him so i didnt drop him.
The midwife finally came back in and said they would help clean me up so the health care came in and helped wash me and was about to get me in the wheel chair when i felt sick and dizzy. I told her i needed to lay back down and she was more concerned with putting a sheet on, so i ended up throwing up again and collapsing back on the bed.
Once id stopped throwing up the midwife offered us some tea and toast which was heaven. Then they took us to the wd.
Mum and my sis had to leave straight away as it was now 10pm so we settled into the wd.
Id been told i had to pass urine by 11 because of the epidural so by 10 30 i thought id have a go and then get my head down. So i called for the nurse to walk me to the toilet as instructed for the first walk post epi and got to the toilet and then started to feel really dizzy, i buzzed for the mw who came straight away and fetched a wheelchair and helped me to stand. Next thing i know im on the floor with them calling my name. I was so embarrassed.Turns out id lost a fair bit of blood during the delivery and was also dehydrated cos i hadnt had any fluids in all day so passed out. They had cut my leg on the wheelchair as i passed out too and that stung like hell.
They checked my blood level the next day and it was 8.5 so im now on iron and its only this last day or so that i ve felt a bit stronger.
We came home (well my mum and dads) on wed aft and sun i started feeling a different kind of pain from the episiotomy. I braved a look and the stitches have broken down so im now on antibiotics and more pain killers.
Im still waiting for the midwife to come check us over, the snow has stopped them today, but callum is doing fab.
Im doing a mixture of breast feeding and expressed bottle feeding which seems to be working really well, and he is gradually settling more on a night.
He did get some jaundice but that is now clearing and is almost all gone.
Im totally in love with my little boy.
Well if you made it through to the end i think you deserve a medal, but you ll have to settle for a pics.
Sorry if this is a bit long, but i wanted to get it all down.
The hospital had given me the due date of the 23rd dec but i had been charting and my dates gave me edd of 28th. I had always had a feeling he would arrive on my due date and i was right.
Everyone had been joking that i would be sitting down to Christmas dinner and my waters would go. Well we made it through Christmas dinner but not Sunday.
I carried mine and my grans diner through to the dining room and as i put them on the table, pop. They didnt go in one massive rush though they gradually went all over the night. It was such a weird feeling and i ended up wearing one of my grans incontinence pads.
So i finished my Sunday dinner and rang the hospital who said to come in to get it confirmed.
Got to the hospital and was waiting around for ages, they finally did a speculum exam and confirmed that my waters had gone but i wasnt dilated any, and cervix was long. And i was having some tightening on the ctg but they werent painful or regular.
I had mentioned that i had actually felt rather damp all that day so they decided to take it that my waters had gone from 7.30 sun morning when i had gone to the loo and thought id peed my self a little on the way. So i had to go back for 7.30 in the morning to be induced if nothing happened.
Got home and contractions started at midnight, about every 15 mins, so i put the tens on and tried to get some sleep, couldnt really sleep though so spent the night timing them and they got down to every 10 mins and then by 6am down to every 5 mins.
I rang the hospital at 7 like agreed and they said to come in for 7.30 as planned.
Got to the hospital and they had no midwife for me so had to wait for one to come in from home to do and extra shift.
She arrived around 9am and put me on the ctg monitor. At 10 am it was decided to check how things were progressing and depending on that they would either insert a gel to get things dilating or start on a hormone drip, at this point my contractions were 3-6 mins but varying in intensity.
I still had only the tens on at this point.
The internal was so painful that she had to give me gas and air. My cervix was really far back so she brought it forward a bit and i was 2 cm dilated, so it was decided that it would be best to just start on the hormone drip and get things speeded up.
Was moved to the delivery room and started on the drip at 11 am, because of the induction i was on continuous monitoring all the way through and bed bound.
The midwife was fab and brought mum, my sister and i tea and toast and we started watching ice age 2 to keep us occupied. The contractions immediately kicked up a gear with the drip and started coming every 3 mins but were much more intense.
By 12pm the tens alone just wasnt cutting it so i started on the gas and air as well and i gradually turned up the tens.
But by 1.30 the tens was starting to be really uncomfortable in between contractions so i took it off and asked for an epidural. Id always planned on having one so thought lets get it in and i can get rid of the gas and air as it was making my voice sound really funny.
The anaesthetist came and i wanted to go to the loo before hand. The mw took me off the monitor and i thought id make a dash to the loo between contractions cos there was no gas and air in the loo. But i forgot he drip; thankfully my mum and sis were on the ball and stopped me before i pulled it out. I dont know how many times as i nurse i ve said to patients, dont forget your drip stand, cant believe i nearly did.
The drip stand was stuck and another contraction came and god that one hurt stood up.
So at 2pm the anaesthetist did the epidural which was nothing, i barely felt it go in. I joked with the anaesthetist about whether it was going to work or not cos as a nurse i find they either work or they dont, he said he had a good feeling it would work really well...he was wrong!
While it did ease the contractions, i still needed the gas and air to get through each one.
After the epidural LOs hr dropped a bit from 140 to 110 so they were a bit concerned, so they decided to put a clip on his head so they could monitor him better as they were having problems getting the trace to pick up that accurate.
As she did the clip she found that i still had some membranes in the way so she broke them and was shocked to find i was all ready 9cm dilated.
LO hr settled at around 116 and they decided it was just the epidural that had caused it. Around 3.30 the mw suggested moving on to my left side to see if LO hr would pick up, he didnt like that and dropped to 67 so we tried the right and it came up to 80 so ended up on my back again and it came back up to 110. At this point the contractions suddenly felt like they were continuous and had shifted round to my hips as well and i felt like i was going to explode. My mum called the mw back in and she said she thought the epidural was wearing off she also checked me and found i was fully dilated. So we decided to have a top up of the epidural and wait and hour. Think this was mainly to help them as it was shift change.
Around 5pm the new midwife came in and saw the hr was still around 110 and said time to push.
So i started to push, i didnt have any sensation that i needed to push though. After a few pushes she decided to get the stirrups out to help and she was really shouting at me to push then all of a sudden another midwife and dr came rushing in and i hadnt realised that he had dropped his hr again and they were concerned.
The dr had a look while i pushed and then said that baby wasnt gonna come out in the room and i needed to go to theatre.
Well i really didnt want a section as being able to drive after was a big thing to me so i could get around so i thought sod that im gonna get this baby out now.
So with the next contraction gave an almighty push and the dr and mw got all excited that he had come down a bit and that they could get him out with forceps so i said go for it.
So the next thing the forceps were in and i was pushing like no bodies business.
My poor mum and sister were a bit traumatised as they could see it all and the dr really struggled to get him out, she managed to get his head out and said awe he is blinking at her, another big push and thankfully at 17.41 callum was delivered on to my chest and he cried almost straight away.
At 1 min his apgar was 9 and at 10 mins it was 10. Turns out his cord was wrapped around his chest and arm.
They whipped him off after a min and the paediatrician gave him the once over and gave him the all clear.
They then brought him back for some skin to skin while the dr spent ages stitching me back up. At least the epidural worked well enough for this.
The mw then took him off to weight him and give him the vit k, and he weighed in at 7lb 4oz.
All through the last part of the birth i had had horrible heartburn, but the midwife hadnt been able to get me anything for it as she was concerned with his low hr, as soon as they took him away i started feeling sick and ended up throwing up and needing anti sickness meds as i couldnt stop. My mum and sis had to take callum cos i just couldnt stop being sick.
I finally stopped throwing up and the mw said she would come back to help with breast feeding, but she was gone so long (shift change over again) that we decided to try yourself.
Mum helped latch him on and he had a good feed but i totally zonked and mum had to support him so i didnt drop him.
The midwife finally came back in and said they would help clean me up so the health care came in and helped wash me and was about to get me in the wheel chair when i felt sick and dizzy. I told her i needed to lay back down and she was more concerned with putting a sheet on, so i ended up throwing up again and collapsing back on the bed.
Once id stopped throwing up the midwife offered us some tea and toast which was heaven. Then they took us to the wd.
Mum and my sis had to leave straight away as it was now 10pm so we settled into the wd.
Id been told i had to pass urine by 11 because of the epidural so by 10 30 i thought id have a go and then get my head down. So i called for the nurse to walk me to the toilet as instructed for the first walk post epi and got to the toilet and then started to feel really dizzy, i buzzed for the mw who came straight away and fetched a wheelchair and helped me to stand. Next thing i know im on the floor with them calling my name. I was so embarrassed.
Turns out id lost a fair bit of blood during the delivery and was also dehydrated cos i hadnt had any fluids in all day so passed out. They had cut my leg on the wheelchair as i passed out too and that stung like hell.They checked my blood level the next day and it was 8.5 so im now on iron and its only this last day or so that i ve felt a bit stronger.
We came home (well my mum and dads) on wed aft and sun i started feeling a different kind of pain from the episiotomy. I braved a look and the stitches have broken down so im now on antibiotics and more pain killers.
Im still waiting for the midwife to come check us over, the snow has stopped them today, but callum is doing fab.
Im doing a mixture of breast feeding and expressed bottle feeding which seems to be working really well, and he is gradually settling more on a night.
He did get some jaundice but that is now clearing and is almost all gone.
Im totally in love with my little boy.
Well if you made it through to the end i think you deserve a medal, but you ll have to settle for a pics.
hope the iron tablets sort it out quickly and you're back to your normal self soon.
know have said it but congrats 
