Lilahbear
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My birth story - Eva Anne born 2 January 2013, weighing 8lb 8oz.
Eva's due date was the 6 January and I was convinced that she would be late so I was a bit surprised when I went into labour on the 2nd. I had no indication at all that things were about to kick off. At 2am on the 2nd I woke up and felt a small gush down below. I went to the bathroom and noticed that my panty liner was soaked through with pink liquid. I decided to put on a larger pad and went back to bed. 5 mins later that was soaked through too, so I woke DH and I phoned the hospital. At that point there was no pain at all. We got a taxi to triage (DH had been suffering from insomnia and had taken a sleeping pill that night as I had assured him I was not going into labour that night, doh) and had a lovely taxi driver who told me all about the births of his children.
Once in triage they made me lie down on my side for half an hour as there wasn't enough liquid on my pad for them to examine and they said that they would then come back and examine me to see if they could see my waters. When they came back and I was getting into position for the examination more of my waters came out so they didn't need to do the examination. I was beginning to cramp a bit so they told me to go home and phone back when I was getting regular contractions. If this didn't happen within the next 24 hours they had booked me in for an induction. DH went in search of a cash machine to get more money for a taxi and in the meantime (about 10 minutes) my pains got worse and by the time he was back I couldn't stand up straight when I was having a pain. The staff called the birthing centre and ten minutes later someone came and got me. I have to say the birthing centre which is new and based at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh was lovely. The rooms were large with a sofa bed, a large birthing pool, a birthing couch and a regular hospital bed tucked away in the corner. They had dimmed lighting, music available (I had the radio on) and aromatherapy. A lovely atmosphere to give birth in.
I spent the first part of my labour in the pool which was lovely. The water really helped with the pain, but I kept getting quite hot which made me quite sick. After a bit I got out and they gave me some anti-sickness meds which helped with that. After that I relied mainly on paracetamol and codeine and my tens machine. They kept offering me morphine which I refused and I tried gas and air, but didn't like it at all. The midwife also gave me a long aromatherapy back massage which was lovely! My contractions were bearable, however every second one included a strong desire to push which I had to try and breath through. Those were the worst and sometimes I just couldn't help but push. I was 4cm dilated at 6.30 am, 8cm at 10.30am and fully dilated by 2.30pm. They made me move about for half an hour to get the baby to move lower and then I was allowed to push. This made the pushing contractions so much more bearable as I was able to do something with the feeling which I had been trying to supress. However, after an hour and a half, the baby was still not coming and they were getting concerned. Another midwife came in and they tried some new positions to try and help things along, but nothing was working and my contractions were slowing down and becoming quite spaced out. At this point they called a doctor from the hospital to come and examine me. They discovered that the baby was turned in the wrong direction and that they would have to use forceps to try and turn her. An anesthetist also came to see me and they told me they would do a spinal injection to perform the procedure.
I was then taken upstairs to the theatre, but ended up having to wait for a while as the doctor and anesthetist I had seen had been called into an emergency C section where the baby was in distress. They had called the consultant anesthetist in from home and he was on his way. I got really scared at that point as it wasn't how I had seen things happening and I was really scared of the spinal. They also kept mentioning 're-suss' who were waiting outside the theatre and that made me cry. The spinal actually wasn't too bad at all and I was very glad I had it. The doctor first tried to turn the baby using her hands, but that didn't work so forceps it was. I think they thought I would have to have a C-section in the end and the doctor was very surprised that my pushing was actually working. I have to say it was a very weird experience pushing without feeling, but I did it. About three or four pushes in the baby arrived squalling her lungs out! She was briefly placed on my chest and then whisked away. DH ran after her and saw that all they did was give her a rub down to clean her up. She was a big baby at 8lb 8oz and the doctor commented that was a big baby for someone my size and that she had got a bit stuck. DH brought Eva back in and I got to see her while I was stitched up and while they delivered my placenta which they had to do by hand as the cord snapped. We then went to recovery where DH phoned our parents and they took various measurement from Eva and gave her the Vitamin K injection.
I was kept in hospital for two days and I have to say they were wonderful. The midwifes were great answering questions and giving us advice and one night even offered to take Eva for a couple of hours so I could get some sleep.
We are home now and it has been both wonderful and absolutely terrifying! I had a lot of complicated stitching done which is very painful and I have to say that I have been finding breast feeding quite stressful and sore, but I just have to look at that little girl and it is all totally worth it! I love her so much!
Eva's due date was the 6 January and I was convinced that she would be late so I was a bit surprised when I went into labour on the 2nd. I had no indication at all that things were about to kick off. At 2am on the 2nd I woke up and felt a small gush down below. I went to the bathroom and noticed that my panty liner was soaked through with pink liquid. I decided to put on a larger pad and went back to bed. 5 mins later that was soaked through too, so I woke DH and I phoned the hospital. At that point there was no pain at all. We got a taxi to triage (DH had been suffering from insomnia and had taken a sleeping pill that night as I had assured him I was not going into labour that night, doh) and had a lovely taxi driver who told me all about the births of his children.
Once in triage they made me lie down on my side for half an hour as there wasn't enough liquid on my pad for them to examine and they said that they would then come back and examine me to see if they could see my waters. When they came back and I was getting into position for the examination more of my waters came out so they didn't need to do the examination. I was beginning to cramp a bit so they told me to go home and phone back when I was getting regular contractions. If this didn't happen within the next 24 hours they had booked me in for an induction. DH went in search of a cash machine to get more money for a taxi and in the meantime (about 10 minutes) my pains got worse and by the time he was back I couldn't stand up straight when I was having a pain. The staff called the birthing centre and ten minutes later someone came and got me. I have to say the birthing centre which is new and based at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh was lovely. The rooms were large with a sofa bed, a large birthing pool, a birthing couch and a regular hospital bed tucked away in the corner. They had dimmed lighting, music available (I had the radio on) and aromatherapy. A lovely atmosphere to give birth in.I spent the first part of my labour in the pool which was lovely. The water really helped with the pain, but I kept getting quite hot which made me quite sick. After a bit I got out and they gave me some anti-sickness meds which helped with that. After that I relied mainly on paracetamol and codeine and my tens machine. They kept offering me morphine which I refused and I tried gas and air, but didn't like it at all. The midwife also gave me a long aromatherapy back massage which was lovely! My contractions were bearable, however every second one included a strong desire to push which I had to try and breath through. Those were the worst and sometimes I just couldn't help but push. I was 4cm dilated at 6.30 am, 8cm at 10.30am and fully dilated by 2.30pm. They made me move about for half an hour to get the baby to move lower and then I was allowed to push. This made the pushing contractions so much more bearable as I was able to do something with the feeling which I had been trying to supress. However, after an hour and a half, the baby was still not coming and they were getting concerned. Another midwife came in and they tried some new positions to try and help things along, but nothing was working and my contractions were slowing down and becoming quite spaced out. At this point they called a doctor from the hospital to come and examine me. They discovered that the baby was turned in the wrong direction and that they would have to use forceps to try and turn her. An anesthetist also came to see me and they told me they would do a spinal injection to perform the procedure.
I was then taken upstairs to the theatre, but ended up having to wait for a while as the doctor and anesthetist I had seen had been called into an emergency C section where the baby was in distress. They had called the consultant anesthetist in from home and he was on his way. I got really scared at that point as it wasn't how I had seen things happening and I was really scared of the spinal. They also kept mentioning 're-suss' who were waiting outside the theatre and that made me cry. The spinal actually wasn't too bad at all and I was very glad I had it. The doctor first tried to turn the baby using her hands, but that didn't work so forceps it was. I think they thought I would have to have a C-section in the end and the doctor was very surprised that my pushing was actually working. I have to say it was a very weird experience pushing without feeling, but I did it. About three or four pushes in the baby arrived squalling her lungs out! She was briefly placed on my chest and then whisked away. DH ran after her and saw that all they did was give her a rub down to clean her up. She was a big baby at 8lb 8oz and the doctor commented that was a big baby for someone my size and that she had got a bit stuck. DH brought Eva back in and I got to see her while I was stitched up and while they delivered my placenta which they had to do by hand as the cord snapped. We then went to recovery where DH phoned our parents and they took various measurement from Eva and gave her the Vitamin K injection.
I was kept in hospital for two days and I have to say they were wonderful. The midwifes were great answering questions and giving us advice and one night even offered to take Eva for a couple of hours so I could get some sleep.
We are home now and it has been both wonderful and absolutely terrifying! I had a lot of complicated stitching done which is very painful and I have to say that I have been finding breast feeding quite stressful and sore, but I just have to look at that little girl and it is all totally worth it! I love her so much!
Eva is just adorable! Hang in there with the breast feeding, I found it very stressful at first too, but it has definitely gotten easier xx
Right now from my belly button to the tops of my legs is all pretty sore. If I weren't pregnant, I would be gobbling down pain meds for period cramps. 
