oboeverity
Mummy to Ted and Willem
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Here's my birth story! Edward Alexander Lyall Quarmby was born in the early hours of Saturday 29th June, 2010.
Well, having been a fed up bunny for weeks, I wasn't sorry to have Ted arrive four days early! I'd had a gut feeling that we wouldn't last 'til tomorrow (EDD 29th June), and as all my other gut feelings about this pregnancy were right, I was getting a bit tired of the 'oh no, first babies are always late' discussions. I felt huge, and was hot. I never really enjoyed pregnancy as much as I thought I might, and I feel a bit guilty about that; I hope that's just baby blues talking, because I'm so glad Ted's here!
Last Friday, after no sleep whatsoever (nothing new there, with the warm weather, and my RLS) I developed a banging headache, quite early on. I spent some time in the nursery, putting together the play gym and dusting; I think deep down, my mummy sense knew what was happening. At 10am I went to bed (Richard had gone to work), and last looked at the clock at 10.25 am. I was supposed to be meeting Richard in town at two (he only teaches till lunchtime on Friday) but woke and and felt so rough that I asked him to come home and pick me up.
Richard was home by ten to two, and seeing how poorly I looked, he suggested we stay home. I was feeling crampy, and although I had been for a few days, again, there was something not quite the same, and I wanted to walk them through, and see if we could turn them into something else! We had a list of final nesting bits to get, so we went to a local restaurant for lunch. While there, I popped to the loo, to find the first hints of a show, and by the time we got to Matalan to get some final sleep suits, the pains were coming very twenty minutes. We made it to Wilkinson's, by which time I was a very grumpy bunny!
Back at home, we rang Calderdale (Halifax) triage, where they told us it sounded like labour, but to wait 'til the pains were 3- 5 minutes apart. By six pm, they were, so I showered, we had something to eat, and by 7, we were at the hospital. The pains were increasing in intensity, and I was hanging off the handle by the passenger side door!
We went to triage, gave a urine sample, and had my BP tested. An internal exam showed that I was 2 cm dilated, so the midwife performed a sweep to get things moving. It was fairly instant, and she told us that baby Q would definitely arrive that night! We were sent off for a walk, and were told to return when the pains became too much. The triage ward was shutting down because of maintenance work at the hospital, but the staff were great at putting us at ease, taking my hospital bag from me to take to the labor ward.
We attracted lots of looks as we walked the hospital grounds, with me stopping every two minutes! Eventually, enough was enough, and we went back to the labour ward to be met by midwife, Rosie, who was very matter of fact, and really lovely. She wasn't greatly impressed to hear I hadn't been to antenatal classes, but explained that we were going to breathe through the pains together, and 'blow them away'. She showed me to a bed, where my bag was waiting, and performed another exam... still only 2 cm! Rosie gave me two choices- pethadine or a warm bath. I chose the pain relief, but she had other ideas, and we were taken to the bathroom, where I spent the next two hours breathing through the contractions, and with Richard, talking about the baby, and generally being daft! By the time Rosie came to check again, the pains were so bad that I couldn't cope. She told me to get out of the bath, and while drying off, I was sick... that wasn't the worst as the retching was so bad that I lost control of my bladder too. I was mortified, and kept apologizing, but the midwives were fantastic, and brushed it all off!
I was taken in a wheelchair to the delivery suite, where I met Emma. It was about ten to ten by now, and I couldn't sit or lie down. After another exam, and still being 2cm (!) I was told that I was fighting the contractions, and that I needed to relax. The gas and air appeared, and I did my best. By 11 (I think... I need to check with Richard!) was given some pethadine. I was beside myself with pain, and between contractions, spent a lot of time in a drug induced stupor!
I seem to remember looking at the clock at around quarter to midnight, and my body had decided the time to push had arrived; I had never felt anything like it before, and the midwife asked me not to, in case I pushed baby Q back the way he had come... on closer inspection, I had dilated all the way from 2cm to fully in the last half hour; my waters finally broke, and we were ready to go! It took me a while to get the hang of effective pushing, but in the end, only five minutes to get baby Ted our entirely! I can honestly say it was a sensation unlike any I have ever felt. I was convinced that the pethadine wasn't working, and when the midwife and Richard told me they could see Ted's head, I told them not to lie to me, convinced they were saying it just to make me feel better!
Anyway... by 12.29 we had a baby son. He was put onto my chest, and in the photos, I look so spaced out that they could have given me a puppy and I'd've believed it was my baby! Richard cut the cord. No stitches or tears, but a very sore undercarriage!
Well, having been a fed up bunny for weeks, I wasn't sorry to have Ted arrive four days early! I'd had a gut feeling that we wouldn't last 'til tomorrow (EDD 29th June), and as all my other gut feelings about this pregnancy were right, I was getting a bit tired of the 'oh no, first babies are always late' discussions. I felt huge, and was hot. I never really enjoyed pregnancy as much as I thought I might, and I feel a bit guilty about that; I hope that's just baby blues talking, because I'm so glad Ted's here!
Last Friday, after no sleep whatsoever (nothing new there, with the warm weather, and my RLS) I developed a banging headache, quite early on. I spent some time in the nursery, putting together the play gym and dusting; I think deep down, my mummy sense knew what was happening. At 10am I went to bed (Richard had gone to work), and last looked at the clock at 10.25 am. I was supposed to be meeting Richard in town at two (he only teaches till lunchtime on Friday) but woke and and felt so rough that I asked him to come home and pick me up.
Richard was home by ten to two, and seeing how poorly I looked, he suggested we stay home. I was feeling crampy, and although I had been for a few days, again, there was something not quite the same, and I wanted to walk them through, and see if we could turn them into something else! We had a list of final nesting bits to get, so we went to a local restaurant for lunch. While there, I popped to the loo, to find the first hints of a show, and by the time we got to Matalan to get some final sleep suits, the pains were coming very twenty minutes. We made it to Wilkinson's, by which time I was a very grumpy bunny!
Back at home, we rang Calderdale (Halifax) triage, where they told us it sounded like labour, but to wait 'til the pains were 3- 5 minutes apart. By six pm, they were, so I showered, we had something to eat, and by 7, we were at the hospital. The pains were increasing in intensity, and I was hanging off the handle by the passenger side door!
We went to triage, gave a urine sample, and had my BP tested. An internal exam showed that I was 2 cm dilated, so the midwife performed a sweep to get things moving. It was fairly instant, and she told us that baby Q would definitely arrive that night! We were sent off for a walk, and were told to return when the pains became too much. The triage ward was shutting down because of maintenance work at the hospital, but the staff were great at putting us at ease, taking my hospital bag from me to take to the labor ward.
We attracted lots of looks as we walked the hospital grounds, with me stopping every two minutes! Eventually, enough was enough, and we went back to the labour ward to be met by midwife, Rosie, who was very matter of fact, and really lovely. She wasn't greatly impressed to hear I hadn't been to antenatal classes, but explained that we were going to breathe through the pains together, and 'blow them away'. She showed me to a bed, where my bag was waiting, and performed another exam... still only 2 cm! Rosie gave me two choices- pethadine or a warm bath. I chose the pain relief, but she had other ideas, and we were taken to the bathroom, where I spent the next two hours breathing through the contractions, and with Richard, talking about the baby, and generally being daft! By the time Rosie came to check again, the pains were so bad that I couldn't cope. She told me to get out of the bath, and while drying off, I was sick... that wasn't the worst as the retching was so bad that I lost control of my bladder too. I was mortified, and kept apologizing, but the midwives were fantastic, and brushed it all off!
I was taken in a wheelchair to the delivery suite, where I met Emma. It was about ten to ten by now, and I couldn't sit or lie down. After another exam, and still being 2cm (!) I was told that I was fighting the contractions, and that I needed to relax. The gas and air appeared, and I did my best. By 11 (I think... I need to check with Richard!) was given some pethadine. I was beside myself with pain, and between contractions, spent a lot of time in a drug induced stupor!
I seem to remember looking at the clock at around quarter to midnight, and my body had decided the time to push had arrived; I had never felt anything like it before, and the midwife asked me not to, in case I pushed baby Q back the way he had come... on closer inspection, I had dilated all the way from 2cm to fully in the last half hour; my waters finally broke, and we were ready to go! It took me a while to get the hang of effective pushing, but in the end, only five minutes to get baby Ted our entirely! I can honestly say it was a sensation unlike any I have ever felt. I was convinced that the pethadine wasn't working, and when the midwife and Richard told me they could see Ted's head, I told them not to lie to me, convinced they were saying it just to make me feel better!
Anyway... by 12.29 we had a baby son. He was put onto my chest, and in the photos, I look so spaced out that they could have given me a puppy and I'd've believed it was my baby! Richard cut the cord. No stitches or tears, but a very sore undercarriage!
i hope he brings you lots of love and laughter xxx
xx
x
