sparklyjubbly
<3 Mum of two boys <3
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Sullivan Ray Whitney came into the world at 13:54pm on 27th October, weighing 6lbs 14oz. Here is our birth story.
Due to gestational diabetes i was booked in for induction at the princess royal university hospital at 8am on Tuesday 25th October. We headed to hospital where i was given a bed on the induction ward (with three other induction ladies) and told to wait to be booked in and have the first set of get inserted to start the induction process. Hours went by and after finally being booked in and monitored on the ctg, they informed us they were extremely busy at labour and delivery and so couldn't start the process as if i went into labour there would be nowhere for me to go. Obviously we were feeling let down and dissapointed, my hubby had to leave at 9pm and I cried, feeling lonely.
Around 11:30pm that night, the midwife and doctor came in doing their rounds and told me matter of fact they were going to insert the gel asap to get me 'on the list' and not to worry as it wouldn't start anthing off straight away. I believed them and they inserted the gel after an internal. I was only 1cm dilated and the gel was difficult to place behind my cervix. I won't lie, it hurt and i hated i was on my own in the middle of the night on a general ward. Little more than an hour passed and i began to get violent and fast contractions every 1-2 mins. This went on for over 4 hours with no pain relief or partner to support me. They stopped suddenly and the midwife examined me again to find i hadn't dilated at all. It was a hyper-reaction by my womb to the gel. All that agony alone for nothing! I grabbed some sleep and hoped there'd be a bed to induce me properly the next day.
My partner came in at 9am wednesday 26th with my mum (both my birthing partners) to find my contractions had started again, painful and fast like last time. There were still no beds in labour and delivery so i had to stay on the ward only this time i was given gas and air. We all thought i was going to have the baby there and then with no delivery team or other relief options, as the contractions were 1-2 mins apart for almost 7 hours. After another internal we found i'd only gotten to 3cms and still not very favourable! My body hated the gel and was putting me through agony in a false labour that could only be stopped by having my waters broken... but they couldn't break my waters without a safe delivery area - so i had to just ride it out! Again they stopped by themselves, my partner went home when visiting hours finished and i was left crying AGAIN on my own!
I woke up Thursday 27th at about 6am to the noise of Emma, my bed neighbour being taken down to labour and delivery. I was so excited for her! I then realised the girl opposite me had gone from her bed too. Anna, the night midwife told me they had started clearing out labour and delivery and the two girls plus another 2 had already gone down as they had been in for a day longer then me. Of course this was great for them and i was so happy for them but at the same time the realisation that 4 girls had gone down and only 9 beds were ever available at one point, that today wouldn't be my day either. As i was getting up to get my water, another midwife came in and suggested i have a quick shower before they take me down to labour and delivery - i couldn't believe it, i was going down finally!
After a quick and panicked call to my husband and my mum, i had a lovely shower and packed my bags to be moved to my delivery room.
I arrived at 9am to room 3 of delivery suite and met by Rosie and Dee, my midwife team. My husband arrived a few minutes after and they went through what they were planning to do. I had an internal and was deemed fit to have my waters broken right away. This was again quite uncomfortable as Rosie had her full hand up in my cervix and then had to insert a hook like thing to pop my waters. I heard no noise, just a warm gushing feeling which continued on and off after contractions for about an hour. Sometimes little bits would trickle out, other times it would be a constant flow for a minute or so! I couldn't believe how much there was in there! My mum arrived around 9:30am and we went for a little walk to see if we could bring on the contractions more than 10mins apart. Within 40 mins of being active my contractions moved from 10 mins - 7 mins - 3 mins and by the time i got back to our room and mum had got back from having a quick cigarette and coffee, they were coming every 1-2 minutes!
I was in agony at this point and headed for the gas and air strongly. I really wanted an epidural this time round as my first birth was very quick and uncontrolled. I wanted to be able to relax and enjoy the experience rather than having another traumatic birth and began to ask and then very quickly scream for an epidural! I realise now i was in transition with no going back, but the midwives played along with me and went to see if the anethetist was available any time soon, knowing really i wouldn't have time. Each contraction was more and more painful, it was then we realised i was in back to back labour, notorious for being more painful and explained why they were having difficulty finding sully's heartbeat strong enough. He had to have a monitor attached to his head so they could check he wasn't getting too distressed with each contraction.
I was 7cms dilated by this point when mum realised the monitor attached to sully's head was starting to move out of me, quite quickly. I remember thinking in my head, knowing, that he was coming. I started to grunt with each contraction rather than being in agony - realising i wasn't far away from full on pushing. It was then we all realised in the room that Sully was going to make a very quick appearence. I was still begging for an epidural out of fright more than anything so they gave me a shot of Pethadine to try and help with the pain. It takes 15 minutes to work so unfortunately i never felt the benefit of it as within 4 or so minutes and 4 controlled pushes, Sully's head was appearing!
I felt the ring of fire sensation as his head was crowning. Mum and Ray were watching as his head was gently turned and guided out by Dee - at this point all pain had gone for me, it was almost a relief having him gently manouvered out and i just breathed through the whole thing. One small push later and his body came out. He had the cord wrapped round his neck twice in a crossover pattern more than likely due to turning to back to back, then turning at crowning but they cut it off safely. His vitals were a little down but he soon picked up after a rub down. I had two second degree tears and two grazes 3 out of 4 required stitches, i had a drip to bring out the placenta as it stuck for longer than 45 mins - unfortunately my veins don't hold cannulas very well so i ended up with 4 attempts as my veins kept collapsing. I also had a catheter to drain my wee just the once straight after labour, to ease the internal pressures i'd gone through with the back to back.
Recovery wise, it's been 5 days today. My stitches feel tight but aren't painful. The first wee stang like a b**ch but it gets better if you drink looooaaaads of water. Bleeding has been heavy and clotty but it's slowly starting to settle. My main recovery issues have been massive bruising in my hand and arm veins due to the failed cannulas and not being able to pass a bowel movement for 7 days. This has now eased though and again was mainly due to the pressure and internal bruising of a quick and forced back to back labour. It was a lengthy, painful and emotional experience but i would do it all over again for our little man. He is perfect and we are all so in love!
Due to gestational diabetes i was booked in for induction at the princess royal university hospital at 8am on Tuesday 25th October. We headed to hospital where i was given a bed on the induction ward (with three other induction ladies) and told to wait to be booked in and have the first set of get inserted to start the induction process. Hours went by and after finally being booked in and monitored on the ctg, they informed us they were extremely busy at labour and delivery and so couldn't start the process as if i went into labour there would be nowhere for me to go. Obviously we were feeling let down and dissapointed, my hubby had to leave at 9pm and I cried, feeling lonely.
Around 11:30pm that night, the midwife and doctor came in doing their rounds and told me matter of fact they were going to insert the gel asap to get me 'on the list' and not to worry as it wouldn't start anthing off straight away. I believed them and they inserted the gel after an internal. I was only 1cm dilated and the gel was difficult to place behind my cervix. I won't lie, it hurt and i hated i was on my own in the middle of the night on a general ward. Little more than an hour passed and i began to get violent and fast contractions every 1-2 mins. This went on for over 4 hours with no pain relief or partner to support me. They stopped suddenly and the midwife examined me again to find i hadn't dilated at all. It was a hyper-reaction by my womb to the gel. All that agony alone for nothing! I grabbed some sleep and hoped there'd be a bed to induce me properly the next day.
My partner came in at 9am wednesday 26th with my mum (both my birthing partners) to find my contractions had started again, painful and fast like last time. There were still no beds in labour and delivery so i had to stay on the ward only this time i was given gas and air. We all thought i was going to have the baby there and then with no delivery team or other relief options, as the contractions were 1-2 mins apart for almost 7 hours. After another internal we found i'd only gotten to 3cms and still not very favourable! My body hated the gel and was putting me through agony in a false labour that could only be stopped by having my waters broken... but they couldn't break my waters without a safe delivery area - so i had to just ride it out! Again they stopped by themselves, my partner went home when visiting hours finished and i was left crying AGAIN on my own!
I woke up Thursday 27th at about 6am to the noise of Emma, my bed neighbour being taken down to labour and delivery. I was so excited for her! I then realised the girl opposite me had gone from her bed too. Anna, the night midwife told me they had started clearing out labour and delivery and the two girls plus another 2 had already gone down as they had been in for a day longer then me. Of course this was great for them and i was so happy for them but at the same time the realisation that 4 girls had gone down and only 9 beds were ever available at one point, that today wouldn't be my day either. As i was getting up to get my water, another midwife came in and suggested i have a quick shower before they take me down to labour and delivery - i couldn't believe it, i was going down finally!
After a quick and panicked call to my husband and my mum, i had a lovely shower and packed my bags to be moved to my delivery room.
I arrived at 9am to room 3 of delivery suite and met by Rosie and Dee, my midwife team. My husband arrived a few minutes after and they went through what they were planning to do. I had an internal and was deemed fit to have my waters broken right away. This was again quite uncomfortable as Rosie had her full hand up in my cervix and then had to insert a hook like thing to pop my waters. I heard no noise, just a warm gushing feeling which continued on and off after contractions for about an hour. Sometimes little bits would trickle out, other times it would be a constant flow for a minute or so! I couldn't believe how much there was in there! My mum arrived around 9:30am and we went for a little walk to see if we could bring on the contractions more than 10mins apart. Within 40 mins of being active my contractions moved from 10 mins - 7 mins - 3 mins and by the time i got back to our room and mum had got back from having a quick cigarette and coffee, they were coming every 1-2 minutes!
I was in agony at this point and headed for the gas and air strongly. I really wanted an epidural this time round as my first birth was very quick and uncontrolled. I wanted to be able to relax and enjoy the experience rather than having another traumatic birth and began to ask and then very quickly scream for an epidural! I realise now i was in transition with no going back, but the midwives played along with me and went to see if the anethetist was available any time soon, knowing really i wouldn't have time. Each contraction was more and more painful, it was then we realised i was in back to back labour, notorious for being more painful and explained why they were having difficulty finding sully's heartbeat strong enough. He had to have a monitor attached to his head so they could check he wasn't getting too distressed with each contraction.
I was 7cms dilated by this point when mum realised the monitor attached to sully's head was starting to move out of me, quite quickly. I remember thinking in my head, knowing, that he was coming. I started to grunt with each contraction rather than being in agony - realising i wasn't far away from full on pushing. It was then we all realised in the room that Sully was going to make a very quick appearence. I was still begging for an epidural out of fright more than anything so they gave me a shot of Pethadine to try and help with the pain. It takes 15 minutes to work so unfortunately i never felt the benefit of it as within 4 or so minutes and 4 controlled pushes, Sully's head was appearing!
I felt the ring of fire sensation as his head was crowning. Mum and Ray were watching as his head was gently turned and guided out by Dee - at this point all pain had gone for me, it was almost a relief having him gently manouvered out and i just breathed through the whole thing. One small push later and his body came out. He had the cord wrapped round his neck twice in a crossover pattern more than likely due to turning to back to back, then turning at crowning but they cut it off safely. His vitals were a little down but he soon picked up after a rub down. I had two second degree tears and two grazes 3 out of 4 required stitches, i had a drip to bring out the placenta as it stuck for longer than 45 mins - unfortunately my veins don't hold cannulas very well so i ended up with 4 attempts as my veins kept collapsing. I also had a catheter to drain my wee just the once straight after labour, to ease the internal pressures i'd gone through with the back to back.
Recovery wise, it's been 5 days today. My stitches feel tight but aren't painful. The first wee stang like a b**ch but it gets better if you drink looooaaaads of water. Bleeding has been heavy and clotty but it's slowly starting to settle. My main recovery issues have been massive bruising in my hand and arm veins due to the failed cannulas and not being able to pass a bowel movement for 7 days. This has now eased though and again was mainly due to the pressure and internal bruising of a quick and forced back to back labour. It was a lengthy, painful and emotional experience but i would do it all over again for our little man. He is perfect and we are all so in love!
Thanks hun! xox
