Kte
Mummy to Chloe & Sophie
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Chloe's estimated due date was 24th October so she arrived one week late.
Before Chloe was born we had planned to go to the Birthing Centre at Calderdale Royal Hospital but due to OH's Dad having being rushed into A&E with an abdominal aortic aneurysm a week before her due date we ended up going to the Delivery Suite at Bradford Royal Infirmary. It just seemed to make more sense as his Dad was then admitted to ICU then HDU and then finally a vascular ward. We stayed at OH's parent’s house to keep his Mum company and also because it was such a trek to get the hospital everyday from where we normally live, not to mention petrol, parking prices and mainly the fact that my poor OH would have been run off his feet!! It was good in a way, which may sound weird, as the hospital I delivered in was the same hospital that OH and I were born in all those years ago!
Tuesday 27th October 2009 ~ The contractions start
My contractions started on Tuesday 27th October at about 11.30pm, they were only about 20 mins apart but I found it really difficult to sleep, I ended up stood up for most of the night. I told my OH that they had started but we didn't tell anyone else, even his Mum who we were staying with at the time, we didn't even tell his Dad in hospital and I kept up with the visits, trying to hide the contractions!! He would have obviously suspected what was happening if I didn't turn up. Plus we didn't want to cause a fuss when they were only 20 mins apart as since I was overdue people were already harassing me asking if LO had come yet!
Wednesday 28th October 2009
The next morning I had a show, I had never been so happy so seen a big blob of green / snotty / slimy flemmy stuff! I knew that things could still take a while but I was due a sweep that day. I called my Midwife and asked her what I should do, she said since the contractions had started naturally then they couldn't do a sweep anyway. It was just now a case of waiting for my contractions to get closer together, every 2-3 mins apart that lasted about 1 minute each.
The contractions were all over the place for this day though, they went from around 15 mins, to 10, to 5 then back up again but not lasting more than a minute, some did then others didn't. It was pretty frustrating that they were all over the place and I was worried that we had got over excited. We still kept up the hospital visits, they helped keep me active and I didn't like to be away from OH too much during this time. I yet again had another uncomfortable night stood up, I was worrying how on earth I would get through labour when it came due to been so physically tired, two nights and no sleep was a bit much!
Thursday 29th October 2009
My contractions were still all over the place. To keep track of them I had been using the Contraction Master on my OH's IPhone, it was so easy to keep track of what was going on but it meant I stole his phone for a few days as it was the internet version not the application and if you logged off it re-set the whole thing, which I did by mistake a few times! We told OH's mum as we knew that soon things would be happening and it was a bit unfair to just drop it on her, especially since she kept on asking me if I had any pains and we just kept saying 'no', we could hardly just run out the door at the last minute saying 'well actually . . !' I was always a little worried how OH's mum would react but actually being with her, at her house, she was really supportive, she couldn't do enough but yet kept her space too. We still did the hospital visits to OH's dad, he kept on telling me he is sick of seeing me (in a good way, lol) so he never suspected, I had to keep gripping the hospital chair so hard to hide the contractions! good job it was a padded chair!
My contractions still weren't lasting that long but they were about 5 mins or so apart by late morning but by early evening they then went back from 15, to 10 to 5 again although I wasn’t so disheartened this day as I knew that something must be happening due to the fact that I was still loosing some of my plug. OH rang both hospital's to see what they would suggest, neither thought my contractions were far enough apart and told me to stay at home and only to come in if I was in too much pain. I had at this point become very very fed up at this stage, I was so uncomfy all the time and in quite a bit of pain but not enough to warrant going in. The hospitals said I could take some painkillers, Calderdale said to take paracetamol but BRI said I could take co-codamol. It was the first I had heard of this but I took some anyway in the end as paracetamol did absolutely nothing. The co-codamol worked a treat as I actually managed to lie down and get some sleep!!
Friday 30th October 2009 ~ Actual Labour
I woke up on Friday morning and on my trip to the loo I noticed that it looked like I had wet myself, however it was clear and didn't smell. I can only presume this was my waters leaking (I never noticed them go but I did end up in a birthing pool at one point and they could have fully gone in there). I went through several pairs of knickers that morning and so there was no way I was leaving the house that day to go and do the usual hospital visit! It was pretty obvious to OH's dad what was happening then and he was so excited. OH and his mum still did the usual visits whilst I tired manage my contractions. I decided to have a bounce on my ball but OMG it hurt so badly so I was stuck yet again having to stand up when each contraction came, slightly leant over the side of the couch, rocking my hips from side to side to help ease the pain.
OH and his mum came back from visiting his dad and by this time my contractions were most certainly lasting more than a minute and had got to about 3 mins apart. When OH came back I was so relived, I was getting so worried that I was at home alone and that my contractions were now so close together. I hadn't taken any more co-codamol this day as I was worried that if I did if would affect any pain treatment I could receive at the hospital. OH's mum made us a meal, I was a bit stressed and confused as I felt that as soon as OH came back we should be getting to the hospital but at the same time his mum didn't want me to go without having something to eat so I had enough energy, it was a bit bizzar to be honest, the moment I had been waiting for and I was sat eating chicken and mushroom pie and mash! Although I have to add I only managed a bit of mash, OH could see I wasn't doing very well and then called the hospital to see if we could go in for assessment.
We arrived at the assessment section of BRI maternity ward at 6.03pm and after an examination we were told at 6.10pm that I was 6cm dilated and we could go to the delivery suite, we then got to set off to the delivery suite at 6.15pm. During the assessment I had to laugh and she started to tell me to relax but all I could do was laugh because when she checked me a little foot started poking out the side of my bump!
We were taken into a delivery room and the first midwife we saw called Clare had to fill out our paperwork again since it was all different to those held at Calderdale. I also had to have some more bloods taken so that BRI had it on their own records. Once in the room I got to start on gas and air, it was a bit funny to get used to at first but after a few contractions it was my new friend, I was quite thankful it didn't make me feel sick or give me any weird side effects.
We were told on a quick tour of the BRI delivery suite the week before that the birthing pool is usually free and if we wanted we could have a water birth, we checked with Clare to see if it was free which it was (yey!) and so decided to go for it, this meant OH has to run back to the car to get my swimming top as it was a last minute plan. We weren't with Clare for long as her shift was about to end and we were allocated to Angela who is a Senior Midwife and Gail who is a student Midwife. The midwives were both quite excited to do a water birth as they don't often get the chance, for some reason it isn't used much there!?!
Once the pool was full and at the right temperature we were led into the pool room, it had such lovely ambient lighting and they put on a CD which was some random instumental classical music, things like flight of the bumblebee!! OH got a cup of coffee and I was given a cup if tea although I never had chance to drink it! I got changed and climbed into the pool, making sure that OH and the gas and air was not far away, OH had some serious hand squeezes throughout the night! I felt so relaxed in that room in the beginning, apart from when OH changed the CD and Elton John came on, I don't know why but songs with lyrics just drove me mad and I just shouted at him to turn it off! Back on came the random instrumental classical music! Every 15 minutes they took observations for my heartbeat / pulse, temperature and also LO's heartbeat via a sonic aid.
The midwives were impressed with how well I was doing on gas and air (even though I did drop the gas and air mouthpiece in the water sometimes and it was no fun trying to take it with a mouth full of water and having to spit the water back out!) and they didn't think it would be too long before LO was born, it was predicted that she would arrive at around 10.30 / 11.00pm. I did have a weird moment in the pool, I was on the gas and air and it felt like I was in some 70's psychedelic movie or something! I could hear what was going on but it was all distorted and kind of echoed plus everything look a bit wibbily, kind of like a wavy TV effect when they do a split screen shot. At the same time I felt really really relaxed, my body was on autopilot and I had an overwhelming urge to push, all this came on so suddenly I didn't have time to notify a midwife, I came around hearing my OH speaking to Gail saying something like 'I think it's coming'. Unfortunately the push wasn't the last one, if only that had been the case! Looking back now it’s easy to spot what happened but I had a 'fun' ordeal for the rest of the labour. At the time Angela and Gail seemed to think that the next one would be it as I was already fully dilated.
Saturday 31st October 2009 ~ Chloe was born!!
After that though I just went back to normal contractions with no urges to push. I was left in the pool to continue and was monitored. At about 12.30 ish my contractions went and so Angela wanted me to get out of the pool, as soon as I stood up to do this they came back and the urge to push soon came along again too. She had me in all sorts of positions to see if it would make a difference. At once point I had to hold onto to two had rails, haunch on my legs and bounce up and down until my contractions came. This did nothing, so then she got me to stand out the pool, grab hold of what looked like a pole dancing pole, lean back and bend down a little whilst trying to push. Nothing I did seemed to have any effect, I felt like I was getting nowhere with each push. Everyone was shouting 'good good' and telling me that was it and 'do a really big hard long push next time' but it just didn't work.
One part of pushing I didn't get was that I was told to put my chin on my chest, take a deep breath and push down like I was going to have a poo. I was told I wasn't allowed to make a noise but all I could hear (the music had stopped long ago) was other women screaming their heads off ~ it felt unfair, I kept on being told off for making noises, I was trying not to but it's not exactly easy!
Things just were not progressing, I was becoming dehydrated even though I had drank so much water and they were concerned with my contractions again so at aprox 2.30 I was told to leave the pool. OH had been itching for a smoke so I sent him outside, I was still trying to push at this point and was sure LO would turn up at this point but luckily for OH it didn't happen that way. Whilst he went out Angela and Gail told me to sit on a beanbag and they got my to pull up my legs, holding onto my thighs and then attempt a few more pushes. I have no idea where Angela stuck her hand (it was somewhere I let NO ONE go if you get my drift) but all I can say is it hurt so badly, it made the pushing and contractions feel so much more worse, I was not impressed.
After a few more attempts to push like this they decided that the bean bag still didn't work so I was taken to a delivery room. It was really hard to walk to the room and all was thinking what happens if LO is born in the corridor and where has OH got to?!? Thankfully it wasn't long before he returned but I think he came back when I was sent to go to the toilet, I plodded into the bathroom and had a few more contractions sat of the loo, I could only hope that LO didn't come then! I was very tired at this point and a bit fed up, I hurt sat down, laid down and struggled walking about. I really didn't want to get up on the bed as I knew that I would be in for some serious pain, I was frustrated as with each push nothing and they just didn't believe I was trying. I noticed on my walk back to the bed there was blood on the floor, OH told me later it was everywhere and they had to quickly clean it up when I was in the loo. I climbed back on the bed at which point they inserted a cannular to give me glucose and another substance to speed up the contractions. Also because I hadn't managed to go for a wee Angela gave me a catheter (apparently I pee'd for Britain according to OH ~ well I had been given loads to drink in the pool to keep me hydrated!). LO also had a clip put in to monitor her as the ones on my tummy weren't clearly picking up the information the midwife’s needed. At this point I just reached for the gas and air as I figured that this is it and a world of even more pain was heading my way . . . the next thing I remember was seeing Gail on my left side and OH on my right side and I was shivering a bit.
Not long after a surgeon came in, he examined me and said basically we had two choices; 1) I could continue to push for a further 30 minutes or 2) we could go into theatre and try an assisted delivery, failing that an emergency c-section. I couldn't see what a further 30 mins of pushing would achieve, so I opted to go into theatre. I had some contractions in between things being discussed and signing forms so Angela was trying hard, getting me haunched up again and asking me to push, I tried but nothing happened and as soon as the urges to push came they just went again, it was just pain.
During the time I don't remember (OH says its like the film 'First 50 Dates' trying to fill me in on everything!) apparently at one point Angela went for her lunch, this was just after the catheter and cannular were put in and another senior midwife came to check in on what was happening. He also said she was the scrubbed Midwife in the theatre but I don't remember her! A doctor also came in to examine me and see what was happening and then after this was the Surgeon who I do remember. Another thing he told me was that after they put in the cannula I had done some more pushing and a couple of times when I was pushing I had done it with so much pressure that I was giving the machine an overload!
From the surgeon speaking to me and getting me to theatre it felt like just a few minutes. I had to go through some paperwork and sign a disclaimer form but I soon felt that I was on my way. Apparently OH had been sent to get scrubbed up at 4.55am but I didn't actually arrive in theatre until 5.40am. On the way to the theatre when I did get an urge to push I tried, I so just wanted LO to just pop out. I was a bit scared with no pain relief but I knew that soon I wouldn't feel the pain any more. It was pretty scary, when OH had been taken to get ready for theatre he was told that he could loose one if not both of us. I remember clearly being wheeled down to theatre on the bed, it was only a short journey but down the corridor on his way to meet me was OH. I was so relieved to see him, I just wanted and needed him there, he looked so stunning in the blue scrubs he had been put in and I just felt so much more love for him then, I knew I could cope with him by my side.
I was given a spinal block and not before long I couldn't feel my bottom half, I had ice rubbed over me in various places to check where I could and couldn't feel. I was so against having a needle in my spine originally but when the time came I just didn't care and I didn't even feel a thing. I was told that I would need to be cut too which I was fine with so after Chloe was born and the placenta had been removed I had some dissolvable stitches and they also stuck a suppository up me to help with pain relief once the spinal wore off.
It was such a weird sensation when I was lying down in the theatre. If I looked up there was the bright theatre lights, to my left was Gail and to my right was OH. Behind me was the anaesthetist (and apparently 2 theatre nurses) who kept on talking to me. I held onto OH's hand. I obviously couldn't feel anything down below and neither could I feel my contractions anymore. It was like a warm, numb pins and needle feeling but it was very faint. Angela was monitoring me and was telling me when my contractions were happening. I was told that at the next set of contractions I would need to push, I had no idea if I was doing it right, I could feel anything, I just had to imagine I was doing it and apparently I was! I never saw the forceps, they did a good job of hiding all the equipment from me, I was strapped in but a green sheet / screen hid everything from view. OH saw it and it freaked him out a bit, after a few instructed pushes OH was asked if he would like to see the head, he did attempt to but there was too much blood and he decided to stop looking! Not long after I was told to push then to not push, I am not sure the reason why but it must be to do with the assisted delivery.
At 6.10am Chloe was born!!
I saw her being lifted up and the scrubbed up midwife said 'it's a girl'. We didn't know what sex our baby was through out the pregnancy but then Angela said 'I'll just go weigh him', OH was confused, she then said not to worry she always calls newborns a 'he' and confirmed we did in fact have a little girl! They took Chloe over to the re-sus table and a few moments later she was crying. I looked at OH and he had such a look of joy on his face he also had a bit of a cry. I never did cry but I wish I had of done, I just think with everything that had gone on I was not with it at all. I was so excited, amazed and overwhelmed. They wrapped up Chloe in her green hospital blanket and she was given to OH. I just remember lying there staring at her, she looked so beautiful and just like her dad; she did have a bit of a bent nose, a bruised eye and a few forcep marks (they soon went). Chloe was just staring around the theatre and at her new daddy and mummy, she was no longer crying. OH mentioned that we had been there for about 12 hours and that was such a shock to me (I hadn't realised at this point I had lost a whole part of the labour). The placenta was then removed which took about 20mins and I was then tidied up. OH was sent to get changed and I was moved onto a new bed ready to go to recovery, just before they wheeled me down there I was handed my new daughter and we finally arrived in recovery at 7.00am. Angela did apologise to my OH about how long everything had been, they thought that I was being 'lazy' for want of a better word, it wasn't until actually in theatre that they saw how stuck Chloe was and they knew instantly that there was no way I would have been able to deliver her normally.
After one 'fun' night on the maternity ward in the hospital and a whirlwind of family visits we were discharged at lunch time and could go home as a new family
Before Chloe was born we had planned to go to the Birthing Centre at Calderdale Royal Hospital but due to OH's Dad having being rushed into A&E with an abdominal aortic aneurysm a week before her due date we ended up going to the Delivery Suite at Bradford Royal Infirmary. It just seemed to make more sense as his Dad was then admitted to ICU then HDU and then finally a vascular ward. We stayed at OH's parent’s house to keep his Mum company and also because it was such a trek to get the hospital everyday from where we normally live, not to mention petrol, parking prices and mainly the fact that my poor OH would have been run off his feet!! It was good in a way, which may sound weird, as the hospital I delivered in was the same hospital that OH and I were born in all those years ago!
Tuesday 27th October 2009 ~ The contractions start
My contractions started on Tuesday 27th October at about 11.30pm, they were only about 20 mins apart but I found it really difficult to sleep, I ended up stood up for most of the night. I told my OH that they had started but we didn't tell anyone else, even his Mum who we were staying with at the time, we didn't even tell his Dad in hospital and I kept up with the visits, trying to hide the contractions!! He would have obviously suspected what was happening if I didn't turn up. Plus we didn't want to cause a fuss when they were only 20 mins apart as since I was overdue people were already harassing me asking if LO had come yet!
Wednesday 28th October 2009
The next morning I had a show, I had never been so happy so seen a big blob of green / snotty / slimy flemmy stuff! I knew that things could still take a while but I was due a sweep that day. I called my Midwife and asked her what I should do, she said since the contractions had started naturally then they couldn't do a sweep anyway. It was just now a case of waiting for my contractions to get closer together, every 2-3 mins apart that lasted about 1 minute each.
The contractions were all over the place for this day though, they went from around 15 mins, to 10, to 5 then back up again but not lasting more than a minute, some did then others didn't. It was pretty frustrating that they were all over the place and I was worried that we had got over excited. We still kept up the hospital visits, they helped keep me active and I didn't like to be away from OH too much during this time. I yet again had another uncomfortable night stood up, I was worrying how on earth I would get through labour when it came due to been so physically tired, two nights and no sleep was a bit much!
Thursday 29th October 2009
My contractions were still all over the place. To keep track of them I had been using the Contraction Master on my OH's IPhone, it was so easy to keep track of what was going on but it meant I stole his phone for a few days as it was the internet version not the application and if you logged off it re-set the whole thing, which I did by mistake a few times! We told OH's mum as we knew that soon things would be happening and it was a bit unfair to just drop it on her, especially since she kept on asking me if I had any pains and we just kept saying 'no', we could hardly just run out the door at the last minute saying 'well actually . . !' I was always a little worried how OH's mum would react but actually being with her, at her house, she was really supportive, she couldn't do enough but yet kept her space too. We still did the hospital visits to OH's dad, he kept on telling me he is sick of seeing me (in a good way, lol) so he never suspected, I had to keep gripping the hospital chair so hard to hide the contractions! good job it was a padded chair!
My contractions still weren't lasting that long but they were about 5 mins or so apart by late morning but by early evening they then went back from 15, to 10 to 5 again although I wasn’t so disheartened this day as I knew that something must be happening due to the fact that I was still loosing some of my plug. OH rang both hospital's to see what they would suggest, neither thought my contractions were far enough apart and told me to stay at home and only to come in if I was in too much pain. I had at this point become very very fed up at this stage, I was so uncomfy all the time and in quite a bit of pain but not enough to warrant going in. The hospitals said I could take some painkillers, Calderdale said to take paracetamol but BRI said I could take co-codamol. It was the first I had heard of this but I took some anyway in the end as paracetamol did absolutely nothing. The co-codamol worked a treat as I actually managed to lie down and get some sleep!!
Friday 30th October 2009 ~ Actual Labour
I woke up on Friday morning and on my trip to the loo I noticed that it looked like I had wet myself, however it was clear and didn't smell. I can only presume this was my waters leaking (I never noticed them go but I did end up in a birthing pool at one point and they could have fully gone in there). I went through several pairs of knickers that morning and so there was no way I was leaving the house that day to go and do the usual hospital visit! It was pretty obvious to OH's dad what was happening then and he was so excited. OH and his mum still did the usual visits whilst I tired manage my contractions. I decided to have a bounce on my ball but OMG it hurt so badly so I was stuck yet again having to stand up when each contraction came, slightly leant over the side of the couch, rocking my hips from side to side to help ease the pain.
OH and his mum came back from visiting his dad and by this time my contractions were most certainly lasting more than a minute and had got to about 3 mins apart. When OH came back I was so relived, I was getting so worried that I was at home alone and that my contractions were now so close together. I hadn't taken any more co-codamol this day as I was worried that if I did if would affect any pain treatment I could receive at the hospital. OH's mum made us a meal, I was a bit stressed and confused as I felt that as soon as OH came back we should be getting to the hospital but at the same time his mum didn't want me to go without having something to eat so I had enough energy, it was a bit bizzar to be honest, the moment I had been waiting for and I was sat eating chicken and mushroom pie and mash! Although I have to add I only managed a bit of mash, OH could see I wasn't doing very well and then called the hospital to see if we could go in for assessment.
We arrived at the assessment section of BRI maternity ward at 6.03pm and after an examination we were told at 6.10pm that I was 6cm dilated and we could go to the delivery suite, we then got to set off to the delivery suite at 6.15pm. During the assessment I had to laugh and she started to tell me to relax but all I could do was laugh because when she checked me a little foot started poking out the side of my bump!
We were taken into a delivery room and the first midwife we saw called Clare had to fill out our paperwork again since it was all different to those held at Calderdale. I also had to have some more bloods taken so that BRI had it on their own records. Once in the room I got to start on gas and air, it was a bit funny to get used to at first but after a few contractions it was my new friend, I was quite thankful it didn't make me feel sick or give me any weird side effects.
We were told on a quick tour of the BRI delivery suite the week before that the birthing pool is usually free and if we wanted we could have a water birth, we checked with Clare to see if it was free which it was (yey!) and so decided to go for it, this meant OH has to run back to the car to get my swimming top as it was a last minute plan. We weren't with Clare for long as her shift was about to end and we were allocated to Angela who is a Senior Midwife and Gail who is a student Midwife. The midwives were both quite excited to do a water birth as they don't often get the chance, for some reason it isn't used much there!?!
Once the pool was full and at the right temperature we were led into the pool room, it had such lovely ambient lighting and they put on a CD which was some random instumental classical music, things like flight of the bumblebee!! OH got a cup of coffee and I was given a cup if tea although I never had chance to drink it! I got changed and climbed into the pool, making sure that OH and the gas and air was not far away, OH had some serious hand squeezes throughout the night! I felt so relaxed in that room in the beginning, apart from when OH changed the CD and Elton John came on, I don't know why but songs with lyrics just drove me mad and I just shouted at him to turn it off! Back on came the random instrumental classical music! Every 15 minutes they took observations for my heartbeat / pulse, temperature and also LO's heartbeat via a sonic aid.
The midwives were impressed with how well I was doing on gas and air (even though I did drop the gas and air mouthpiece in the water sometimes and it was no fun trying to take it with a mouth full of water and having to spit the water back out!) and they didn't think it would be too long before LO was born, it was predicted that she would arrive at around 10.30 / 11.00pm. I did have a weird moment in the pool, I was on the gas and air and it felt like I was in some 70's psychedelic movie or something! I could hear what was going on but it was all distorted and kind of echoed plus everything look a bit wibbily, kind of like a wavy TV effect when they do a split screen shot. At the same time I felt really really relaxed, my body was on autopilot and I had an overwhelming urge to push, all this came on so suddenly I didn't have time to notify a midwife, I came around hearing my OH speaking to Gail saying something like 'I think it's coming'. Unfortunately the push wasn't the last one, if only that had been the case! Looking back now it’s easy to spot what happened but I had a 'fun' ordeal for the rest of the labour. At the time Angela and Gail seemed to think that the next one would be it as I was already fully dilated.
Saturday 31st October 2009 ~ Chloe was born!!
After that though I just went back to normal contractions with no urges to push. I was left in the pool to continue and was monitored. At about 12.30 ish my contractions went and so Angela wanted me to get out of the pool, as soon as I stood up to do this they came back and the urge to push soon came along again too. She had me in all sorts of positions to see if it would make a difference. At once point I had to hold onto to two had rails, haunch on my legs and bounce up and down until my contractions came. This did nothing, so then she got me to stand out the pool, grab hold of what looked like a pole dancing pole, lean back and bend down a little whilst trying to push. Nothing I did seemed to have any effect, I felt like I was getting nowhere with each push. Everyone was shouting 'good good' and telling me that was it and 'do a really big hard long push next time' but it just didn't work.
One part of pushing I didn't get was that I was told to put my chin on my chest, take a deep breath and push down like I was going to have a poo. I was told I wasn't allowed to make a noise but all I could hear (the music had stopped long ago) was other women screaming their heads off ~ it felt unfair, I kept on being told off for making noises, I was trying not to but it's not exactly easy!
Things just were not progressing, I was becoming dehydrated even though I had drank so much water and they were concerned with my contractions again so at aprox 2.30 I was told to leave the pool. OH had been itching for a smoke so I sent him outside, I was still trying to push at this point and was sure LO would turn up at this point but luckily for OH it didn't happen that way. Whilst he went out Angela and Gail told me to sit on a beanbag and they got my to pull up my legs, holding onto my thighs and then attempt a few more pushes. I have no idea where Angela stuck her hand (it was somewhere I let NO ONE go if you get my drift) but all I can say is it hurt so badly, it made the pushing and contractions feel so much more worse, I was not impressed.
After a few more attempts to push like this they decided that the bean bag still didn't work so I was taken to a delivery room. It was really hard to walk to the room and all was thinking what happens if LO is born in the corridor and where has OH got to?!? Thankfully it wasn't long before he returned but I think he came back when I was sent to go to the toilet, I plodded into the bathroom and had a few more contractions sat of the loo, I could only hope that LO didn't come then! I was very tired at this point and a bit fed up, I hurt sat down, laid down and struggled walking about. I really didn't want to get up on the bed as I knew that I would be in for some serious pain, I was frustrated as with each push nothing and they just didn't believe I was trying. I noticed on my walk back to the bed there was blood on the floor, OH told me later it was everywhere and they had to quickly clean it up when I was in the loo. I climbed back on the bed at which point they inserted a cannular to give me glucose and another substance to speed up the contractions. Also because I hadn't managed to go for a wee Angela gave me a catheter (apparently I pee'd for Britain according to OH ~ well I had been given loads to drink in the pool to keep me hydrated!). LO also had a clip put in to monitor her as the ones on my tummy weren't clearly picking up the information the midwife’s needed. At this point I just reached for the gas and air as I figured that this is it and a world of even more pain was heading my way . . . the next thing I remember was seeing Gail on my left side and OH on my right side and I was shivering a bit.
Not long after a surgeon came in, he examined me and said basically we had two choices; 1) I could continue to push for a further 30 minutes or 2) we could go into theatre and try an assisted delivery, failing that an emergency c-section. I couldn't see what a further 30 mins of pushing would achieve, so I opted to go into theatre. I had some contractions in between things being discussed and signing forms so Angela was trying hard, getting me haunched up again and asking me to push, I tried but nothing happened and as soon as the urges to push came they just went again, it was just pain.
During the time I don't remember (OH says its like the film 'First 50 Dates' trying to fill me in on everything!) apparently at one point Angela went for her lunch, this was just after the catheter and cannular were put in and another senior midwife came to check in on what was happening. He also said she was the scrubbed Midwife in the theatre but I don't remember her! A doctor also came in to examine me and see what was happening and then after this was the Surgeon who I do remember. Another thing he told me was that after they put in the cannula I had done some more pushing and a couple of times when I was pushing I had done it with so much pressure that I was giving the machine an overload!
From the surgeon speaking to me and getting me to theatre it felt like just a few minutes. I had to go through some paperwork and sign a disclaimer form but I soon felt that I was on my way. Apparently OH had been sent to get scrubbed up at 4.55am but I didn't actually arrive in theatre until 5.40am. On the way to the theatre when I did get an urge to push I tried, I so just wanted LO to just pop out. I was a bit scared with no pain relief but I knew that soon I wouldn't feel the pain any more. It was pretty scary, when OH had been taken to get ready for theatre he was told that he could loose one if not both of us. I remember clearly being wheeled down to theatre on the bed, it was only a short journey but down the corridor on his way to meet me was OH. I was so relieved to see him, I just wanted and needed him there, he looked so stunning in the blue scrubs he had been put in and I just felt so much more love for him then, I knew I could cope with him by my side.
I was given a spinal block and not before long I couldn't feel my bottom half, I had ice rubbed over me in various places to check where I could and couldn't feel. I was so against having a needle in my spine originally but when the time came I just didn't care and I didn't even feel a thing. I was told that I would need to be cut too which I was fine with so after Chloe was born and the placenta had been removed I had some dissolvable stitches and they also stuck a suppository up me to help with pain relief once the spinal wore off.
It was such a weird sensation when I was lying down in the theatre. If I looked up there was the bright theatre lights, to my left was Gail and to my right was OH. Behind me was the anaesthetist (and apparently 2 theatre nurses) who kept on talking to me. I held onto OH's hand. I obviously couldn't feel anything down below and neither could I feel my contractions anymore. It was like a warm, numb pins and needle feeling but it was very faint. Angela was monitoring me and was telling me when my contractions were happening. I was told that at the next set of contractions I would need to push, I had no idea if I was doing it right, I could feel anything, I just had to imagine I was doing it and apparently I was! I never saw the forceps, they did a good job of hiding all the equipment from me, I was strapped in but a green sheet / screen hid everything from view. OH saw it and it freaked him out a bit, after a few instructed pushes OH was asked if he would like to see the head, he did attempt to but there was too much blood and he decided to stop looking! Not long after I was told to push then to not push, I am not sure the reason why but it must be to do with the assisted delivery.
At 6.10am Chloe was born!!
I saw her being lifted up and the scrubbed up midwife said 'it's a girl'. We didn't know what sex our baby was through out the pregnancy but then Angela said 'I'll just go weigh him', OH was confused, she then said not to worry she always calls newborns a 'he' and confirmed we did in fact have a little girl! They took Chloe over to the re-sus table and a few moments later she was crying. I looked at OH and he had such a look of joy on his face he also had a bit of a cry. I never did cry but I wish I had of done, I just think with everything that had gone on I was not with it at all. I was so excited, amazed and overwhelmed. They wrapped up Chloe in her green hospital blanket and she was given to OH. I just remember lying there staring at her, she looked so beautiful and just like her dad; she did have a bit of a bent nose, a bruised eye and a few forcep marks (they soon went). Chloe was just staring around the theatre and at her new daddy and mummy, she was no longer crying. OH mentioned that we had been there for about 12 hours and that was such a shock to me (I hadn't realised at this point I had lost a whole part of the labour). The placenta was then removed which took about 20mins and I was then tidied up. OH was sent to get changed and I was moved onto a new bed ready to go to recovery, just before they wheeled me down there I was handed my new daughter and we finally arrived in recovery at 7.00am. Angela did apologise to my OH about how long everything had been, they thought that I was being 'lazy' for want of a better word, it wasn't until actually in theatre that they saw how stuck Chloe was and they knew instantly that there was no way I would have been able to deliver her normally.
After one 'fun' night on the maternity ward in the hospital and a whirlwind of family visits we were discharged at lunch time and could go home as a new family
https://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g110/Kitty_fantastic_o/Chloe%20Louise/IMG_0077.jpg https://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g110/Kitty_fantastic_o/Chloe%20Louise/IMG_0084.jpg https://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g110/Kitty_fantastic_o/Chloe%20Louise/IMG_0093-1.jpg https://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g110/Kitty_fantastic_o/Chloe%20Louise/IMG_0098.jpg https://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g110/Kitty_fantastic_o/Chloe%20Louise/100_2061.jpg https://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g110/Kitty_fantastic_o/Chloe%20Louise/100_2073.jpg https://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g110/Kitty_fantastic_o/Chloe%20Louise/100_2077.jpg
Chloe at 1 week old with me
https://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g110/Kitty_fantastic_o/Chloe%20Louise/100_2114.jpg
Chloe at 1 week old with me
https://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g110/Kitty_fantastic_o/Chloe%20Louise/100_2114.jpg
you & your oh must be so proud!
