sweetthang24
Mum to 1 of each :)
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This is the story of my attempted and failed home water birth.
So, my little man decided he couldnt wait and decided to make an early appearance. Im going to make this as detailed as possible as id like it for my records as well.
Archie
7lb 2oz
24th December
10.26am
On Sun 23rd my friend dropped around a new length of hose he had and we went out at 4pm to collect my birthing pool. At 6.30pm I was sat down eating tea with my OH and DD and like a lot of people this time of year had a cold, cough and general ickyness. So wed finished eating and I coughed quite hard and I felt a pop sensation and a release of fluid ( I thought I had wet myself
) I stood up in shock and then felt a rush of liquid run down my legs. I shouted to my OH that I thought my waters had broken and quickly made my way to the bath as I was still pouring with liquid. I took my trousers and underwear off and then noticed a big blob of white goo in my underwear, this was my plug. My OH and I were just looking at each other and laughing and trying to remember who I had to call. I phoned my 2nd midwife as my main midwife was on a day off. She told me that she would have to ring the hospital for some advice as I was 36+6 so technically premature. She phoned back 15 mins later and said that they asked me to go in to be checked. We agreed to meet her up there and hung up.
It was at this point that we thought we should pack my hospital bag!
We phoned my sister to come over as my OH cant drive and set off. DD was now in bed and so we left her with my OHs 15 yr old daughter. We got to hosp at 7.30pm and met our mw. She took us round to a private room and hooked me up to the monitor. She did all her obs; urine, BP, temp etc which were all fine and babys HR was steady. At this point I was beginning to feel some crampy pains; they were irregular but registering on the monitor. My mw did a speculum exam to check my waters had def gone; she confirmed they had. I was still really keen at this point to go home and see if I could get things moving so my mw went to find a sympathetic doc who would agree to let me go home she did well. The doc signed me off and we left. My mw went home and told me to call her when I was having 2 contractions in 10 mins and they were strong. If by 6.30pm the following night I wasnt in labour they were going to induce me.
We got home and decided to blow up the birthing pool and get things ready still having pains at this point but still irregular. I got on my ball and started bouncing but after 25 mins id not felt anything so decided to get up and remain active. I did the dishes, took the dog for a walk and put my Christmas gammon on to cook. It was 11.30 then and I decided to go upstairs and have a nap just in case things kicked off later. I got into bed and starting thinking of ways to get labour going I know, nipple tweaking!!! Lol so I gave one a squeeze and within 1 min I had a stronger than it had been contraction, and they kept coming every 5 7 mins for about an hour. I stayed in bed as long as I could but the need to pee took over and I went downstairs. As soon as I got up they were coming around 3 mins apart and I was shaking and cold and having to really breathe through the pain. My OH called our mw again who said she was on her way over and should I need to push call an ambulance. I took some paracetamol and then sat down on my ball to bounce a bit. The contractions were now coming every 2 mins consistently and lasting around 1 min, it was looking really positive. My mw arrived just after 1am and asked to do an internal exam so she could see how I was progressing I was 4cms yay! She did a little stretching whilst she was down there as well and said she thinks he might be back to back with me. She said I could get in the birth pool if I wanted as I was at the right stage. So I got in the pool (can I just say at this point if you are short youll need some help getting in lol I thought I was flexible still but needed help) getting into the pool was heavenly, the warm water felt amazing. I stayed in the pool for about 4 hours in total and topped up with hot water when it cooled. Mw did all her obs and baby was really happy with his HR sitting consistently around 140bpm. I noticed that at around 4.30am my contractions were starting to space out and werent as intense as they had been. So she got me to get out and move around. At 5.45am she asked to examine me again as they had slowed down to 1 every 10 mins I was still at 4cms - *sob*. She then told me that as I wasnt progressing we would need to transfer into hosp to be put on syntocin (?) drip. I was disappointed but knew that this might have been an option.
Ambulance arrived at 6.30 and off we went. Got settled in the room and doc arrived to assess me. She examined me and concurred that he was back to back and that it prob wouldnt take much of the drip to get me going again. Drip was inserted at 7.30am (ouchie) and I stayed standing. By 8am I needed to lie down as my back was on fire and I was getting wobbly on my legs. Contractions started to get more intense and were becoming really painful. The pain spread like fire along the underside of my bump and then up my back. I needed some pain relief and asked for G&A. Its good stuff, after my first puff the room got hazy and I recall my OH laughing at me I must have looked really high lol. After this it starts to get blurry, I can remember hearing people talk but they sounded like they were in the next room. I was in a lot of pain then and every contraction had my toes curling and gripping the sheets for dear life. At 9.30am there was a shift change and my main mw took over. The contractions were really excruciating now and I was at the point of asking for an epidural (which I most def did not want but I felt I needed it) I told my OH I was really in pain and he got my mw who said I could have some diamorphine and she would go sign some out for me. At this point I remember at the end of every contraction my stomach would go really hard and then release (I now realise my body was subconsciously pushing with my DD I could feel pressure when I was ready to push but because all I was feeling was pain it didnt register) mw came back in and said she wanted to examine me before administering the drug. She lowered the bed and got me in position to examine me and she said oh ok we wont be needing this as I can see the top of your babys head. She told me to push on my next contraction; 16 mins later he was out. The feeling of his head right before it came out was incredible, you just feel so full and cant comprehend how you can stretch that much. He was placed on my chest and cried straight away.
I was given the injection to speed up delivery of the placenta. I was still in a lot of pain and still having contraction type pains. I tried to open my eyes to look at him but every wave was so painful I couldnt. It got to the point where I need the G&A again and my mw told me my placenta was still up high and wasnt releasing. My stomach was sooo sore and she kept pressing and massaging my stomach. I was chugging on the G&A constantly I was in so much pain. After 30 mins she said that if it didnt release when the doc came that they would have to take me down to theatre and surgically remove it. I really didnt want this as my biggest fear was having surgery and plus they would have needed to keep me in overnight and it was Xmas day the next day. The doc finally arrived after 45 mins trying to deliver the placenta. He said he would give it a try and if not we would go down to theatre. I was high as a kite at this point and could barely hear anyone talk. I did however feel 3 + people pressing on my belly and the doc pulling on the cord. I remember screaming into the mouth piece because I was in so much pain I thought I was going to pass out and then I heard PUSH and felt the placenta slide out. All this time I still had Archie on my chest and I kept thinking Im either going to drop him or squeeze him to death. The relief was instant and eventually I came down from my high sobbing at the horrendous experience I had just gone through. This was probably the most painful bit of the whole delivery.
So nearly an hour after delivery I finally managed to look at my little man he is a spitting image of Amy when she was born.
1st stage duration: 8hrs 10 mins
2nd stage duration: 16 mins
3rd stage duration: 49 mins
This is soooo long sorry. Well done if you made it this far. We now have a little girl and a little boy and I think we are done. Im disappointed I didnt get my water birth but my hormones werent playing and I did what was best for both of us. My time labouring at home in the pool and with the midwife was wonderfully relaxed and I would highly recommend it.
We came home at 1.30pm the same day and are successfully breastfeeding (although nights are hard) he lost 10oz and is a bit jaundiced but has since put on 2oz so Im happy.
Introducing Archie Brennand
So, my little man decided he couldnt wait and decided to make an early appearance. Im going to make this as detailed as possible as id like it for my records as well.
Archie
7lb 2oz
24th December
10.26am
On Sun 23rd my friend dropped around a new length of hose he had and we went out at 4pm to collect my birthing pool. At 6.30pm I was sat down eating tea with my OH and DD and like a lot of people this time of year had a cold, cough and general ickyness. So wed finished eating and I coughed quite hard and I felt a pop sensation and a release of fluid ( I thought I had wet myself
) I stood up in shock and then felt a rush of liquid run down my legs. I shouted to my OH that I thought my waters had broken and quickly made my way to the bath as I was still pouring with liquid. I took my trousers and underwear off and then noticed a big blob of white goo in my underwear, this was my plug. My OH and I were just looking at each other and laughing and trying to remember who I had to call. I phoned my 2nd midwife as my main midwife was on a day off. She told me that she would have to ring the hospital for some advice as I was 36+6 so technically premature. She phoned back 15 mins later and said that they asked me to go in to be checked. We agreed to meet her up there and hung up. It was at this point that we thought we should pack my hospital bag!
We phoned my sister to come over as my OH cant drive and set off. DD was now in bed and so we left her with my OHs 15 yr old daughter. We got to hosp at 7.30pm and met our mw. She took us round to a private room and hooked me up to the monitor. She did all her obs; urine, BP, temp etc which were all fine and babys HR was steady. At this point I was beginning to feel some crampy pains; they were irregular but registering on the monitor. My mw did a speculum exam to check my waters had def gone; she confirmed they had. I was still really keen at this point to go home and see if I could get things moving so my mw went to find a sympathetic doc who would agree to let me go home she did well. The doc signed me off and we left. My mw went home and told me to call her when I was having 2 contractions in 10 mins and they were strong. If by 6.30pm the following night I wasnt in labour they were going to induce me.
We got home and decided to blow up the birthing pool and get things ready still having pains at this point but still irregular. I got on my ball and started bouncing but after 25 mins id not felt anything so decided to get up and remain active. I did the dishes, took the dog for a walk and put my Christmas gammon on to cook. It was 11.30 then and I decided to go upstairs and have a nap just in case things kicked off later. I got into bed and starting thinking of ways to get labour going I know, nipple tweaking!!! Lol
so I gave one a squeeze and within 1 min I had a stronger than it had been contraction, and they kept coming every 5 7 mins for about an hour. I stayed in bed as long as I could but the need to pee took over and I went downstairs. As soon as I got up they were coming around 3 mins apart and I was shaking and cold and having to really breathe through the pain. My OH called our mw again who said she was on her way over and should I need to push call an ambulance. I took some paracetamol and then sat down on my ball to bounce a bit. The contractions were now coming every 2 mins consistently and lasting around 1 min, it was looking really positive. My mw arrived just after 1am and asked to do an internal exam so she could see how I was progressing I was 4cms yay! She did a little stretching whilst she was down there as well and said she thinks he might be back to back with me. She said I could get in the birth pool if I wanted as I was at the right stage. So I got in the pool (can I just say at this point if you are short youll need some help getting in lol I thought I was flexible still but needed help) getting into the pool was heavenly, the warm water felt amazing. I stayed in the pool for about 4 hours in total and topped up with hot water when it cooled. Mw did all her obs and baby was really happy with his HR sitting consistently around 140bpm. I noticed that at around 4.30am my contractions were starting to space out and werent as intense as they had been. So she got me to get out and move around. At 5.45am she asked to examine me again as they had slowed down to 1 every 10 mins I was still at 4cms - *sob*. She then told me that as I wasnt progressing we would need to transfer into hosp to be put on syntocin (?) drip. I was disappointed but knew that this might have been an option. Ambulance arrived at 6.30 and off we went. Got settled in the room and doc arrived to assess me. She examined me and concurred that he was back to back and that it prob wouldnt take much of the drip to get me going again. Drip was inserted at 7.30am (ouchie) and I stayed standing. By 8am I needed to lie down as my back was on fire and I was getting wobbly on my legs. Contractions started to get more intense and were becoming really painful. The pain spread like fire along the underside of my bump and then up my back. I needed some pain relief and asked for G&A. Its good stuff, after my first puff the room got hazy and I recall my OH laughing at me I must have looked really high lol. After this it starts to get blurry, I can remember hearing people talk but they sounded like they were in the next room. I was in a lot of pain then and every contraction had my toes curling and gripping the sheets for dear life. At 9.30am there was a shift change and my main mw took over. The contractions were really excruciating now and I was at the point of asking for an epidural (which I most def did not want but I felt I needed it) I told my OH I was really in pain and he got my mw who said I could have some diamorphine and she would go sign some out for me. At this point I remember at the end of every contraction my stomach would go really hard and then release (I now realise my body was subconsciously pushing with my DD I could feel pressure when I was ready to push but because all I was feeling was pain it didnt register) mw came back in and said she wanted to examine me before administering the drug. She lowered the bed and got me in position to examine me and she said oh ok we wont be needing this as I can see the top of your babys head. She told me to push on my next contraction; 16 mins later he was out. The feeling of his head right before it came out was incredible, you just feel so full and cant comprehend how you can stretch that much. He was placed on my chest and cried straight away.
I was given the injection to speed up delivery of the placenta. I was still in a lot of pain and still having contraction type pains. I tried to open my eyes to look at him but every wave was so painful I couldnt. It got to the point where I need the G&A again and my mw told me my placenta was still up high and wasnt releasing. My stomach was sooo sore and she kept pressing and massaging my stomach. I was chugging on the G&A constantly I was in so much pain. After 30 mins she said that if it didnt release when the doc came that they would have to take me down to theatre and surgically remove it. I really didnt want this as my biggest fear was having surgery and plus they would have needed to keep me in overnight and it was Xmas day the next day. The doc finally arrived after 45 mins trying to deliver the placenta. He said he would give it a try and if not we would go down to theatre. I was high as a kite at this point and could barely hear anyone talk. I did however feel 3 + people pressing on my belly and the doc pulling on the cord. I remember screaming into the mouth piece because I was in so much pain I thought I was going to pass out and then I heard PUSH and felt the placenta slide out. All this time I still had Archie on my chest and I kept thinking Im either going to drop him or squeeze him to death. The relief was instant and eventually I came down from my high sobbing at the horrendous experience I had just gone through. This was probably the most painful bit of the whole delivery.
So nearly an hour after delivery I finally managed to look at my little man he is a spitting image of Amy when she was born.
1st stage duration: 8hrs 10 mins
2nd stage duration: 16 mins
3rd stage duration: 49 mins
This is soooo long sorry. Well done if you made it this far. We now have a little girl and a little boy and I think we are done. Im disappointed I didnt get my water birth but my hormones werent playing and I did what was best for both of us. My time labouring at home in the pool and with the midwife was wonderfully relaxed and I would highly recommend it.
We came home at 1.30pm the same day and are successfully breastfeeding (although nights are hard) he lost 10oz and is a bit jaundiced but has since put on 2oz so Im happy.
Introducing Archie Brennand
congratulations x x
