baby1wanted
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Apologies in advance, this is a long story! Just for background I had been deemed high risk due to some health issues and so the midwifery led unit wasn't an option for me. But I was still very keen on having as natural a birth as possible.
On Monday 10th of February I was 41 weeks and fed up. Went to the midwives to have my third sweep, cervix was continuing to efface well and I remained 1 cm dilated. My first two sweeps had resulted in contractions on and off for the rest of the day, but this third one there was nothing. I had also had nearly a week of episodes of false labour, some up to 12 hours at a time. I went to bed Monday night convinced that I would be heading to the hospital on Thursday for my induction.
I woke up about midnight on Monday night/Tuesday morning to a wave of pain in my back lasting about 30 seconds. 10 past midnight the same thing happened, then 20 past, then half past. By 2 AM I was up and bouncing on my ball, timing contractions. Despite the episodes of false labour I had a feeling this was it. By 3 AM contractions were coming steadily every five minutes. They remained waves of pain in my back and continued in my back throughout the whole labour, only spreading to the bottom half of my tummy at their very peak. I rang delivery suite just to check I was okay to stay at home as the contractions were five minutes apart but I didn't think they were unbearable and knew I had some time to go. At 4 AM I woke up DH to tell him we were go and that he wouldn't be going to work that day. Ran myself a bath and had a bit of a rest as able between the contractions. The ball was a godsend, as was the TV!
We spent the morning pottering about the house and watching TV. The contractions continued to be five minutes apart but they weren't getting any more painful and I was happy to stay at home. By lunchtime I was a little bit restless and wanted to get out of the house. So DH took me for lunch at a restaurant, our last meal before little one arrived. I did get a few odd looks from the other diners during contractions! Then we popped to Tesco to pick up a few bits and bobs. By this point the contractions were between 2 1/2 and three minutes apart and getting stronger. So I thought we should probably go to the hospital to get checked out. However by the time I got to the hospital the contractions had spread out again and were a little bit irregular. On examination I was 23 cm dilated and everyone was happy for me to go home and continue.
Spent the evening bouncing on my ball watching Netflix with DH. By this point I was getting a little bit worried I was aware that I could probably do with trying to get some sleep ready for active labour. But by this point the contractions were really quite painful and coming every four minutes. Decided to have a bath to see if that would slow them down a little so that I could try and nod off in between contractions. But the minute I got into the bath they ramped up coming every two minutes fairly steadily and definitely more painful. The hospital had given me some Co-Codamol so I decided to try a couple of those, give them half an hour to see if they worked, and if not we would head back to the hospital. 20 minutes into that half-hour and the contractions were still coming thick and fast. I thought to myself I'll have one more contraction and if it's still that bad we'll go in. The next contraction my waters broke all over the bed! It was midnight Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, exactly 24 hours since I had had my first contraction.
Got to the hospital within about half an hour, leaking water with every contraction. The contractions continued to come every couple of minutes and they were painful but they were manageable with breathing techniques. I didn't feel any need for any more pain relief at this point. The midwife felt that I was probably still quite early and I think she thought that she would be sending us home to carry on a bit longer. She did the speculum and it turned out that it was my hind waters that had gone. The front sac was still intact. Then she did a VE, and we were all surprised to find out that I was 7 cm dilated! She also checked baby's position at my request - as I was only having back pain I was worried that he was back-to-back but he was actually lying to the left and she was confident that he would turn the right way as he came down. At this point I got into the pool for a bit and by about 3 AM I started on the gas and air - wonderful stuff! Then at some point I realised that I was starting to push a little bit at the end of each contraction so I got out of the pool to be examined again. I was now 9 cm, and within a few more contractions was fully dilated and ready to push. It was 4 AM.
Things then got a little bit more difficult. My contractions spread out and went quite irregular and they felt completely different. I can't really describe them but I struggled to figure out when and how to push. They took the gas and air away to see if that helped and I spent about 45 minutes pushing in different positions on all fours, on my side, on my back. But nothing was really working and my pushing was quite ineffective. After about an hour of pushing the midwife suggested that we try a birthing stool. Would recommend this to anyone who is struggling during the pushing phase. The position itself was wonderful, I sat on the stool with DH behind me with his legs and arms wrapped around me holding my hands, it made me feel so secure to have him so close to me. And he said it made him feel a complete part of the birth, he still has bruises on his legs from where I dug my elbows in for each push!! Suddenly my pushes were more effective and 17 minutes later at 5:17 AM 12/2/14 our little boy came into the world and was put straight on my chest. Unfortunately just as the cord was being cut I felt huge gush down below. DH says that instantly the floor was filled with blood covering the midwife. My little man was taken away and given to DH whilst I was lifted onto the bed having lost about a litre of blood. The team were fantastic, my placenta was out within three minutes, a drip was put up to make my womb contract, and everything was under control within 10 minutes. Still a bit woozy from the bleed and on oxygen my little man was given back to me for some skin to skin. He was perfect. The slow pushing phase did have some benefits, I had no tears, just a graze on one of my labia. Our little man weighed in at 8 lbs 2 oz and had Apgars of 9 and 9 at 1 and 5 minutes.
We stayed one night in hospital to allow me to recover from the PPH and to get breastfeeding established. Can't believe my little man will be a week-old tomorrow, it's gone so fast. I can honestly say that I enjoyed labour, and will look back on it with fond memories. Yes it was hard work and pushing in particular was difficult but it was such a special experience and I don't think DH and I have ever felt closer. My only regret was missing out on the initial skin to skin contact. But that DH got those first few minutes with his little son was magical, he is completely besotted. Now we are three
https://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/hmn81/4adf8f4d1880edf1b51fd2bb05fb3ce8_zpsfeda6622.jpg
https://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/hmn81/635e4e3e198075111755ceefbbb8b828_zps9c139ba0.jpg
https://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/hmn81/100c06eaaad08682e7855410327447cf_zps95e85d17.jpg
On Monday 10th of February I was 41 weeks and fed up. Went to the midwives to have my third sweep, cervix was continuing to efface well and I remained 1 cm dilated. My first two sweeps had resulted in contractions on and off for the rest of the day, but this third one there was nothing. I had also had nearly a week of episodes of false labour, some up to 12 hours at a time. I went to bed Monday night convinced that I would be heading to the hospital on Thursday for my induction.
I woke up about midnight on Monday night/Tuesday morning to a wave of pain in my back lasting about 30 seconds. 10 past midnight the same thing happened, then 20 past, then half past. By 2 AM I was up and bouncing on my ball, timing contractions. Despite the episodes of false labour I had a feeling this was it. By 3 AM contractions were coming steadily every five minutes. They remained waves of pain in my back and continued in my back throughout the whole labour, only spreading to the bottom half of my tummy at their very peak. I rang delivery suite just to check I was okay to stay at home as the contractions were five minutes apart but I didn't think they were unbearable and knew I had some time to go. At 4 AM I woke up DH to tell him we were go and that he wouldn't be going to work that day. Ran myself a bath and had a bit of a rest as able between the contractions. The ball was a godsend, as was the TV!
We spent the morning pottering about the house and watching TV. The contractions continued to be five minutes apart but they weren't getting any more painful and I was happy to stay at home. By lunchtime I was a little bit restless and wanted to get out of the house. So DH took me for lunch at a restaurant, our last meal before little one arrived. I did get a few odd looks from the other diners during contractions! Then we popped to Tesco to pick up a few bits and bobs. By this point the contractions were between 2 1/2 and three minutes apart and getting stronger. So I thought we should probably go to the hospital to get checked out. However by the time I got to the hospital the contractions had spread out again and were a little bit irregular. On examination I was 23 cm dilated and everyone was happy for me to go home and continue.
Spent the evening bouncing on my ball watching Netflix with DH. By this point I was getting a little bit worried I was aware that I could probably do with trying to get some sleep ready for active labour. But by this point the contractions were really quite painful and coming every four minutes. Decided to have a bath to see if that would slow them down a little so that I could try and nod off in between contractions. But the minute I got into the bath they ramped up coming every two minutes fairly steadily and definitely more painful. The hospital had given me some Co-Codamol so I decided to try a couple of those, give them half an hour to see if they worked, and if not we would head back to the hospital. 20 minutes into that half-hour and the contractions were still coming thick and fast. I thought to myself I'll have one more contraction and if it's still that bad we'll go in. The next contraction my waters broke all over the bed! It was midnight Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, exactly 24 hours since I had had my first contraction.
Got to the hospital within about half an hour, leaking water with every contraction. The contractions continued to come every couple of minutes and they were painful but they were manageable with breathing techniques. I didn't feel any need for any more pain relief at this point. The midwife felt that I was probably still quite early and I think she thought that she would be sending us home to carry on a bit longer. She did the speculum and it turned out that it was my hind waters that had gone. The front sac was still intact. Then she did a VE, and we were all surprised to find out that I was 7 cm dilated! She also checked baby's position at my request - as I was only having back pain I was worried that he was back-to-back but he was actually lying to the left and she was confident that he would turn the right way as he came down. At this point I got into the pool for a bit and by about 3 AM I started on the gas and air - wonderful stuff! Then at some point I realised that I was starting to push a little bit at the end of each contraction so I got out of the pool to be examined again. I was now 9 cm, and within a few more contractions was fully dilated and ready to push. It was 4 AM.
Things then got a little bit more difficult. My contractions spread out and went quite irregular and they felt completely different. I can't really describe them but I struggled to figure out when and how to push. They took the gas and air away to see if that helped and I spent about 45 minutes pushing in different positions on all fours, on my side, on my back. But nothing was really working and my pushing was quite ineffective. After about an hour of pushing the midwife suggested that we try a birthing stool. Would recommend this to anyone who is struggling during the pushing phase. The position itself was wonderful, I sat on the stool with DH behind me with his legs and arms wrapped around me holding my hands, it made me feel so secure to have him so close to me. And he said it made him feel a complete part of the birth, he still has bruises on his legs from where I dug my elbows in for each push!! Suddenly my pushes were more effective and 17 minutes later at 5:17 AM 12/2/14 our little boy came into the world and was put straight on my chest. Unfortunately just as the cord was being cut I felt huge gush down below. DH says that instantly the floor was filled with blood covering the midwife. My little man was taken away and given to DH whilst I was lifted onto the bed having lost about a litre of blood. The team were fantastic, my placenta was out within three minutes, a drip was put up to make my womb contract, and everything was under control within 10 minutes. Still a bit woozy from the bleed and on oxygen my little man was given back to me for some skin to skin. He was perfect. The slow pushing phase did have some benefits, I had no tears, just a graze on one of my labia. Our little man weighed in at 8 lbs 2 oz and had Apgars of 9 and 9 at 1 and 5 minutes.
We stayed one night in hospital to allow me to recover from the PPH and to get breastfeeding established. Can't believe my little man will be a week-old tomorrow, it's gone so fast. I can honestly say that I enjoyed labour, and will look back on it with fond memories. Yes it was hard work and pushing in particular was difficult but it was such a special experience and I don't think DH and I have ever felt closer. My only regret was missing out on the initial skin to skin contact. But that DH got those first few minutes with his little son was magical, he is completely besotted. Now we are three
https://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/hmn81/4adf8f4d1880edf1b51fd2bb05fb3ce8_zpsfeda6622.jpg
https://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/hmn81/635e4e3e198075111755ceefbbb8b828_zps9c139ba0.jpg
https://i1293.photobucket.com/albums/b585/hmn81/100c06eaaad08682e7855410327447cf_zps95e85d17.jpg
