March Mamas 2012 Baby Group (Closed Group)
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lauraclili
Astrid's Mummy
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Hooray! I've found the new thread and it's awesome.
Loo, I love her name and she is truly gorgeous!
I'm just about to start writing my birth story but I was in labour for 5 days so it's going to take me a while. I promise I'll spoiler it so you don't have to read it if you don't want to.
Just a quick question for anyone who had this time or previously, a c-section. I have the most excruciating shoulder pain which i know is normal referred pain after stomach surgery. I've been having peppermint oil capsules and peppermint tea to try and help but I keep getting spasms in my shoulder which is radiating down my arm and across my neck and chest. Nothing I try makes a difference and it's more painful than anything I felt in labour. Totally serious! Any idea what I can do to try and relieve it?! I'm begging!
Loo, I love her name and she is truly gorgeous!
I'm just about to start writing my birth story but I was in labour for 5 days so it's going to take me a while. I promise I'll spoiler it so you don't have to read it if you don't want to.
Just a quick question for anyone who had this time or previously, a c-section. I have the most excruciating shoulder pain which i know is normal referred pain after stomach surgery. I've been having peppermint oil capsules and peppermint tea to try and help but I keep getting spasms in my shoulder which is radiating down my arm and across my neck and chest. Nothing I try makes a difference and it's more painful than anything I felt in labour. Totally serious! Any idea what I can do to try and relieve it?! I'm begging!
mitchnorm
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Woooop for new thread
Trying to get Mia to sleep so goibg to post my birth story tomorrow
Yeah for the name loo love it....and loved my epidural with the drip
Night laddies...first night homes going to.be a challenge
Trying to get Mia to sleep so goibg to post my birth story tomorrow
Yeah for the name loo love it....and loved my epidural with the drip
Night laddies...first night homes going to.be a challenge
lauraclili
Astrid's Mummy
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This is my birth story. It took 5 days and nothing went the way I had hoped so you are welcome to avoid reading it if you don't want to know.
x
x
My birth Story:
My waters spontaneously ruptured at 5pm on Wednesday, whilst I was lying in bed waiting for DH to get home from work. Luckily, I'd literally just changed the bed and put a plastic sheet on to it catch anything during the labour. There wasn't a hugh amount of water and it was totally clear so I kind of wondered if this was it or if I'd just peed myself a little!
Anyway, I put on a normal pad which was soaked within 2 minutes and then moved onto a mat pad. Much more successful. I phoned the labour and delivery ward who told me to come and get checked to make sure it really was my waters. I phoned Neil who came home quick sharpish and we went in both feeling really excited although as I said to my MW I was going to feel a right numpty if it wasn't my waters.
Spent an hour on the monitor and pad was checked. MW was totally convinced that it was my waters and the toco monitor showed that I was having some mild and minor contractions but not in any real pattern. We were sent home to try and make contractions start and was advised to bounce on my ball, keep my legs open as much as possible and be as active as possible.
I phoned my mum to let her know what was happening and she decided to drive up that night. She arrived at about midnight and we all went to bed feeling really excited that this must mean something was about to happen.
I slept really well that night (oh dear!) so no contractions then. Had breakfast and Mum and I decided to go for a long walk. I had a couple of reasonable contractions during the walk but again they didn't turn into anything exciting. We prepped the house for the planned home birth still expecting that that was what was going to happen. Beds remade, kitchen cleaned, bathrooms cleaned etc. However, still nothing.
Went into hospital again to be checked out. Baby was still happy. I was still losing loads of water. Sent home again to carry on bouncing and try and make the baby be born but was told that I would need to be in the hospital for 9am to be induced if contractions didn't start during the night.
I tried so hard to make contractions start and they got to the point that they were about 6 minutes apart but not particularly strong. This went on for a couple of hours and then tapered off and disappeared during the night. At 10pm I started crying realising that things weren't going to go the way I had hoped. I told my husband that I felt like I'd failed our baby because something had happened that had stopped my body from responding in the way that it should do. I was really scared by the idea of being induced having heard any number of horror stories about synto inductions but we decided to take each step at a time. I knew the hospital had made a note of the fact that we'd wanted a home birth and they decided to let me have some time in the Midwife led Unit when I arrived instead of going straight to the labour ward. I was so hopeful.
After a lot of waiting around I was examined and found to be posterior and unfavourable. I was given the pessary and contractions started within about 30 minutes. Everything was going well until I had a big gush of waters which moved the pessary. A new one was put in and contractions continued. Unfortunately the same thing happened about 6 hours later. The MWs were hopeful that the pessary had been enough to kick-start my labour and I was left to carry on in peace. I'd sent my mum and DH home by this point and at about 9pm I phoned them to tell them that contractions had stopped. The MWs were still hopeful that the contractions would start during the night but yet again they didn't. When I had to tell them that they had stopped completely, a decision was made to induce me in Labour and Delivery using the synto drip. I am given IV antibiotics because by this point my waters had been broken for about 60 hours. I'm all prepped and am hooked up to the monitors again. I didn't realise it but this was going to be my constant companion for the next 24 hours. The baby appeared to be happy and healthy and was still moving around nicely which was quite a feat given that there weren't any waters left.
I phoned my DH at that point as I had been told that I would be going as soon as possible as they weren't happy about how long the baby had been without waters. Mum and he arrived at about 8am and then we waited, and waited, and waited. I was seriously worried about the baby by the point because although the monitor was looking fine I couldn't help but think about how long my waters had been gone. Eventually, after 8 hours of waiting, I was brought down to Labour and Delivery, given more antibiotics, more monitoring and the synto drip was started. I was examined and was found to be a finger-tip dilated but still needing further effacement.
My contractions started pretty much immediately. I had asked about mobilisation and was told that as long as I didn't pull out my drip I could bounce on my ball and move around as much as I wanted. This was music to my ears and I spent the next 13 and a half hours moving, swaying, bouncing and generally getting to grips with the contractions. They kept asking me if I wanted any pain relief but in all honesty I didn't. It took 1.5 hours to turn it up to maximum but even on that dose I was doing fine. The baby was still fine and I was feeling great. I was examined at the end of this time and was found to be... 1cm dilated but fully effaced. I was a bit disappointed. I had been fantasising about finding out I was 6 cms and was about to have a baby. But this was not to be. The MW checked with the Doctors who decided to leave me where I was because I was making some progress. I was to stay on the drip for another 4 hours.
For some reason, I felt that the contractions were getting worse so I asked for G and A which I loved although it did make me talk rubbish! I felt like I was finally getting somewhere as they were more directed and more painful than they had been. AFter 4 hours I was checked again and was found to be 1cm dilated and fully effaced so, effectively, there had been no change at all. I felt really deflated but knew the decision was now out of my hands. I knew that I was going to have a c-section.
This was arranged and I talked it through with the Doctor, signed the consent forms and was taken to theatre. I was a given a spinal, everything was set up. My DH arrived in scrubs and pretty soon afterwards our beautiful baby Astrid was born.
We hadn't known her gender but where both delighted that she was a girl. We were told she weighed albs 13.5ozs and that as a result it is unlikely that I would have been able to give birth to her in any case without help. This is some consolation as I do sort of feel that I didn't get anything that i had hoped for in the birth I had. She makes it all worthwhile but I'm having difficulty getting to grips with what happened.
We are all so lucky that after 84 hours of no waters neither she nor I had any ill effects and both of us are happy and healthy. I'm finding the recovery from the c-section difficult because I've been getting spasms in my right shoulder. I know it's just referred pain from my diaphragm but they're horrible and nothing seems to make any difference to them.
There is a bit of a story about what happened after the birth for the 2 days I was in hospital but I'll write that some other time as I'm not sure I can cope with it at the moment. The MWs and the care I was given can't be faulted but I think what happened was the product of all the stress of getting to that point.
When I write this down, it's difficult to really see what the problem was. It was a logical progression from one thing to another which meant that Astrid arrived in the best way for her. I feel, however, that I didn't get the opportunity to actually give birth, I never felt the urge to push and I feel like my body has let me down. I'm really sad about the things we had planned and I'm upset that I wasn't able to give that to my DH or Astrid.
I had made the decision to go with whatever happened and to make the best of it. My DH says that I was great during the labour part and showed great strength of character. My MWs said that it was such a shame that I didn't get the labour I deserved.
I'm concerned about what happened because I want to know what will happen next time around, about how the c-section will limit my choices and if the same thing will happen again. I'm no longer concerned about the pain or coping with it but I just want to know that it doesn't have to be like that.
I'm going to stop writing here because I don't think I'm really getting to grips with what I'm trying to say. At the end of the day, Astrid is worth everything I went through but I feel cheated and upset by what happened.
My waters spontaneously ruptured at 5pm on Wednesday, whilst I was lying in bed waiting for DH to get home from work. Luckily, I'd literally just changed the bed and put a plastic sheet on to it catch anything during the labour. There wasn't a hugh amount of water and it was totally clear so I kind of wondered if this was it or if I'd just peed myself a little!
Anyway, I put on a normal pad which was soaked within 2 minutes and then moved onto a mat pad. Much more successful. I phoned the labour and delivery ward who told me to come and get checked to make sure it really was my waters. I phoned Neil who came home quick sharpish and we went in both feeling really excited although as I said to my MW I was going to feel a right numpty if it wasn't my waters.
Spent an hour on the monitor and pad was checked. MW was totally convinced that it was my waters and the toco monitor showed that I was having some mild and minor contractions but not in any real pattern. We were sent home to try and make contractions start and was advised to bounce on my ball, keep my legs open as much as possible and be as active as possible.
I phoned my mum to let her know what was happening and she decided to drive up that night. She arrived at about midnight and we all went to bed feeling really excited that this must mean something was about to happen.
I slept really well that night (oh dear!) so no contractions then. Had breakfast and Mum and I decided to go for a long walk. I had a couple of reasonable contractions during the walk but again they didn't turn into anything exciting. We prepped the house for the planned home birth still expecting that that was what was going to happen. Beds remade, kitchen cleaned, bathrooms cleaned etc. However, still nothing.
Went into hospital again to be checked out. Baby was still happy. I was still losing loads of water. Sent home again to carry on bouncing and try and make the baby be born but was told that I would need to be in the hospital for 9am to be induced if contractions didn't start during the night.
I tried so hard to make contractions start and they got to the point that they were about 6 minutes apart but not particularly strong. This went on for a couple of hours and then tapered off and disappeared during the night. At 10pm I started crying realising that things weren't going to go the way I had hoped. I told my husband that I felt like I'd failed our baby because something had happened that had stopped my body from responding in the way that it should do. I was really scared by the idea of being induced having heard any number of horror stories about synto inductions but we decided to take each step at a time. I knew the hospital had made a note of the fact that we'd wanted a home birth and they decided to let me have some time in the Midwife led Unit when I arrived instead of going straight to the labour ward. I was so hopeful.
After a lot of waiting around I was examined and found to be posterior and unfavourable. I was given the pessary and contractions started within about 30 minutes. Everything was going well until I had a big gush of waters which moved the pessary. A new one was put in and contractions continued. Unfortunately the same thing happened about 6 hours later. The MWs were hopeful that the pessary had been enough to kick-start my labour and I was left to carry on in peace. I'd sent my mum and DH home by this point and at about 9pm I phoned them to tell them that contractions had stopped. The MWs were still hopeful that the contractions would start during the night but yet again they didn't. When I had to tell them that they had stopped completely, a decision was made to induce me in Labour and Delivery using the synto drip. I am given IV antibiotics because by this point my waters had been broken for about 60 hours. I'm all prepped and am hooked up to the monitors again. I didn't realise it but this was going to be my constant companion for the next 24 hours. The baby appeared to be happy and healthy and was still moving around nicely which was quite a feat given that there weren't any waters left.
I phoned my DH at that point as I had been told that I would be going as soon as possible as they weren't happy about how long the baby had been without waters. Mum and he arrived at about 8am and then we waited, and waited, and waited. I was seriously worried about the baby by the point because although the monitor was looking fine I couldn't help but think about how long my waters had been gone. Eventually, after 8 hours of waiting, I was brought down to Labour and Delivery, given more antibiotics, more monitoring and the synto drip was started. I was examined and was found to be a finger-tip dilated but still needing further effacement.
My contractions started pretty much immediately. I had asked about mobilisation and was told that as long as I didn't pull out my drip I could bounce on my ball and move around as much as I wanted. This was music to my ears and I spent the next 13 and a half hours moving, swaying, bouncing and generally getting to grips with the contractions. They kept asking me if I wanted any pain relief but in all honesty I didn't. It took 1.5 hours to turn it up to maximum but even on that dose I was doing fine. The baby was still fine and I was feeling great. I was examined at the end of this time and was found to be... 1cm dilated but fully effaced. I was a bit disappointed. I had been fantasising about finding out I was 6 cms and was about to have a baby. But this was not to be. The MW checked with the Doctors who decided to leave me where I was because I was making some progress. I was to stay on the drip for another 4 hours.
For some reason, I felt that the contractions were getting worse so I asked for G and A which I loved although it did make me talk rubbish! I felt like I was finally getting somewhere as they were more directed and more painful than they had been. AFter 4 hours I was checked again and was found to be 1cm dilated and fully effaced so, effectively, there had been no change at all. I felt really deflated but knew the decision was now out of my hands. I knew that I was going to have a c-section.
This was arranged and I talked it through with the Doctor, signed the consent forms and was taken to theatre. I was a given a spinal, everything was set up. My DH arrived in scrubs and pretty soon afterwards our beautiful baby Astrid was born.
We hadn't known her gender but where both delighted that she was a girl. We were told she weighed albs 13.5ozs and that as a result it is unlikely that I would have been able to give birth to her in any case without help. This is some consolation as I do sort of feel that I didn't get anything that i had hoped for in the birth I had. She makes it all worthwhile but I'm having difficulty getting to grips with what happened.
We are all so lucky that after 84 hours of no waters neither she nor I had any ill effects and both of us are happy and healthy. I'm finding the recovery from the c-section difficult because I've been getting spasms in my right shoulder. I know it's just referred pain from my diaphragm but they're horrible and nothing seems to make any difference to them.
There is a bit of a story about what happened after the birth for the 2 days I was in hospital but I'll write that some other time as I'm not sure I can cope with it at the moment. The MWs and the care I was given can't be faulted but I think what happened was the product of all the stress of getting to that point.
When I write this down, it's difficult to really see what the problem was. It was a logical progression from one thing to another which meant that Astrid arrived in the best way for her. I feel, however, that I didn't get the opportunity to actually give birth, I never felt the urge to push and I feel like my body has let me down. I'm really sad about the things we had planned and I'm upset that I wasn't able to give that to my DH or Astrid.
I had made the decision to go with whatever happened and to make the best of it. My DH says that I was great during the labour part and showed great strength of character. My MWs said that it was such a shame that I didn't get the labour I deserved.
I'm concerned about what happened because I want to know what will happen next time around, about how the c-section will limit my choices and if the same thing will happen again. I'm no longer concerned about the pain or coping with it but I just want to know that it doesn't have to be like that.
I'm going to stop writing here because I don't think I'm really getting to grips with what I'm trying to say. At the end of the day, Astrid is worth everything I went through but I feel cheated and upset by what happened.
lauraclili
Astrid's Mummy
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I'm the one with the teenager City! She'll help, I'm sure!
I'll ask my MW tomorrow as she's coming first thing. If it gets any worse I'll call the hospital.
x
I'll ask my MW tomorrow as she's coming first thing. If it gets any worse I'll call the hospital.
x
Glowstar
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Laura...your birth story made me feel really sad 
even though I've never had a c-section I can really relate to what you are saying...having a vision in your mind and then that not happening must be really upsetting. A similar thing happened to my friend...she was induced for 48hrs but it totally failed and she went straight to c-section, her baby was big too 9lbs 9oz.
Personally I don't think you've failed at all!! nor has your body! I think you were a complete trooper to be honest...I'm not sure I could have lasted as long as you did without demanding a c-section!. Ultimately I it's the baby that counts....and Astrid is beautiful
Maybe tell the MW about how you are feeling when you speak to her about your shoulder and ask about VBAC chances for next time
even though I've never had a c-section I can really relate to what you are saying...having a vision in your mind and then that not happening must be really upsetting. A similar thing happened to my friend...she was induced for 48hrs but it totally failed and she went straight to c-section, her baby was big too 9lbs 9oz.Personally I don't think you've failed at all!! nor has your body! I think you were a complete trooper to be honest...I'm not sure I could have lasted as long as you did without demanding a c-section!. Ultimately I it's the baby that counts....and Astrid is beautiful
Maybe tell the MW about how you are feeling when you speak to her about your shoulder and ask about VBAC chances for next time
wouldluvabub
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So excited to continue on into the mummy group. I love reading the birth stories!! It seems as though emergency c sections are much more common then I thought! Having had one myself I understand the whole feeling like you cheated thing! I spoke with my mum about it and she assured me that I didn't cheat as I labored to nearly fully dilated before I had the c section and if I had of tried to give birth naturally to brax he wouldn't be here!! Im sure we will eventually get our heads around it!
I can not believe my little baby is 2 weeks old today!! It's going so fast and he has changed so much! I am really lucky as he is such a good baby! I'm expecting him to change at any moment but currently he's sleeping quite well at night he went from about 10.30 till 3.00 was awake for an hour by the time we changed his nappy and fed him and setttled him again then he slept till 7.00!! He really is good!!
He had passed all his health checks with flying colours!! His a strong baby since birth he could hold his own head up and roll onto his side!! I love being a mummy and he makes it so easy for me!!!
I can not believe my little baby is 2 weeks old today!! It's going so fast and he has changed so much! I am really lucky as he is such a good baby! I'm expecting him to change at any moment but currently he's sleeping quite well at night he went from about 10.30 till 3.00 was awake for an hour by the time we changed his nappy and fed him and setttled him again then he slept till 7.00!! He really is good!!
He had passed all his health checks with flying colours!! His a strong baby since birth he could hold his own head up and roll onto his side!! I love being a mummy and he makes it so easy for me!!!
wouldluvabub
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In regards to the cord stump, we bathed bubs a few days after birth. We were told not to worry about it, we cleaned the cord a few times with a cotton tip and some water. That's all we did untill it fell off. It did take a while to fall off though.. About a week I think!! Anybody else had a shower with their bub? It's so fun!! He just loves the shower!!
waula
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Mitch - yay for being home... I thought it is absolutely mental that they let us home with Noah without giving us an instruction manual!!! 
hope Mia is settling in well and you're doing ok...can't wait to see some pics and read your birth story but we'll give you a bit of time to do that! 
and very glad you had and liked the epidural too. xxx
Loo - sounds like your 3rd stage was a bit mental!!! That's always the slightly overlooked bit isn't it!!! 
glad all is well now though and that you liked the epidural. AMAZING isn't it when you need it. 
Dharma looks absolutely gorgeous hun - be very proud! 
Laura - thank you for posting your birth story hun - it resembles mine quite a lot too...and I think you did fantastically well going all that time on full dose synto with only G&A.
I was squealing for an epidural very quickly! 
Please don't feel bad about ending up with your C-sec - I know it wasn't what you planned or hoped for but these big babies just don't want to come out and getting them out safely in a controlled manner has got to be the most important thing and you are in no way a failure - the recovery from these damn C-sec are pretty awful on top of an enormously long labour. I've been quite positive about my induction/c-sec nightmare because I felt like we made the right decisions for both me and Noah at the right times and trusted my body and what it was(n't) doing...but I'm very disappointed in the whole labour/delivery thing - found it in no way joyous/empowering/fulfilling at all - just wanted him out. And then in theatre he was the last thing I needed. I wasn't expecting that.
EDIT: Mitch just seen your comment on Mia sleeping... I would reiterate all that has been said...we soon learned that Noah needs nappy/feed/burp/cuddle before putting back down in pram/moses basket... and for the first week at night he would sleep on DH's chest downstairs in between feeds so I could recover some sleep... he's now in our room and sleeping fine between feeds. Mum gave me a tip thats been invaluable - hot water bottle in moses basket when i'm feeding so its all warm and snuggly when he goes back down - instant sleep success. MW told me I had to feed/burp/nappy change/feed but that ended up with me being plastered with milk vomit so go with what you feel is right. Cuddles are essential and from all the stuff I've read you can't spoil them with love so cuddle away guilt free with pepperoni in her hair!!!! hope your first night went ok xxx
xxx
hope Mia is settling in well and you're doing ok...can't wait to see some pics and read your birth story but we'll give you a bit of time to do that! and very glad you had and liked the epidural too. xxx Loo -
sounds like your 3rd stage was a bit mental!!! That's always the slightly overlooked bit isn't it!!! glad all is well now though and that you liked the epidural. AMAZING isn't it when you need it. Dharma looks absolutely gorgeous hun - be very proud! Laura - thank you for posting your birth story hun - it resembles mine quite a lot too...and I think you did fantastically well going all that time on full dose synto with only G&A.
I was squealing for an epidural very quickly! Please don't feel bad about ending up with your C-sec - I know it wasn't what you planned or hoped for but these big babies just don't want to come out and getting them out safely in a controlled manner has got to be the most important thing and you are in no way a failure - the recovery from these damn C-sec are pretty awful on top of an enormously long labour. I've been quite positive about my induction/c-sec nightmare because I felt like we made the right decisions for both me and Noah at the right times and trusted my body and what it was(n't) doing...but I'm very disappointed in the whole labour/delivery thing - found it in no way joyous/empowering/fulfilling at all - just wanted him out. And then in theatre he was the last thing I needed. I wasn't expecting that.EDIT: Mitch just seen your comment on Mia sleeping... I would reiterate all that has been said...we soon learned that Noah needs nappy/feed/burp/cuddle before putting back down in pram/moses basket... and for the first week at night he would sleep on DH's chest downstairs in between feeds so I could recover some sleep... he's now in our room and sleeping fine between feeds. Mum gave me a tip thats been invaluable - hot water bottle in moses basket when i'm feeding so its all warm and snuggly when he goes back down - instant sleep success. MW told me I had to feed/burp/nappy change/feed but that ended up with me being plastered with milk vomit so go with what you feel is right. Cuddles are essential and from all the stuff I've read you can't spoil them with love so cuddle away guilt free with pepperoni in her hair!!!! hope your first night went ok xxx
xxx
mitchnorm
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Well I have handed a sleeping Mia over to hubby and have both hands free and a proper laptop to type up my birthing plan for you ladies. I am not putting as a spoiler.....so please skip over if you like....it is not too traumatic I promise.
Ladies with inductions being booked and worried about them....this is both positive and negative I guess from my experience.
So as you know on Saturday I was 40+4 and my induction had booked for the 25th March (+12 days).I woke up Saturday morning feeling a little unhappy about the amount of movement I had been getting for the last 12 hours or so....especially Saturday morning where I had one flutter and that was it. I thought well its Saturday, hubby is here...I am sure its nothing to worry about....phoned the hospital and they said to come straight in in the next 30 minutes. Very quick shower (thank god) and chucked hospital bag in car and off we went. Got there...they popped me on CTG to check babys HB and any contractions etc. She seemed fine to me.....then they took my BP where it all went a bit pear shaped. Bottom reading was over 94, 93 and 97 on 3 separate readings and she went to get registrar. Registrar said they wanted to proceed to induction that day and hubby should go home and get any bits I needed. Slightly panicked at this and felt all teary as I didnt feel good about evicting her early (although I was overdue). Doctor actually did a S&S there and then to see what was what.....all closed up and didnt get good contact but I had bleeding and a bloody show afterwards.
Moved to antenatal ward about midday......they explained that induction involved a pessary for 24 hours......if that doesnt work then 2 lots of the gel (6 hours apart) and then to IV syntocinin (probably wrong spelling). So LONG process but wouldnt let me go home at all. I was in for duration. So pessary went in around 1pm after another S&S. Hubby went home for while. My NCT friend was still in maternity ward so at 3pm I popped around to see her and her LO.....whilst I was chatting and for about an hour before that I had started to get really bad lower back pain and gentle contractions. She said thats how her natural early labour started.
Things moved very quickly (and then slowly and then quickly again!!) after that.....
Baby was showing signs of distress - lowering of HB at every contraction caused by pessary....they moved me to labour ward so they could monitor me more closely. Decided 5 hours after pessary went in to take it out again as baby not happy.....I was very disappointed but happy that baby was being looked after. They then said that the new plan was to move me back to antenatal ward....check me in morning....see if waters could be broken and go straight to IV induction ...no gel .
Contracting every 4-5 minutes for 40-60 seconds all night so they gave me some pethidine to help me sleep through them....makes you dead drowsy so good for this purpose but AVOID in labour. By morning I was 1cm dilated and she said that they would try and break waters....this was at 11am and I was EVENTUALLY moved to delivery suite at 7pm!!!!!!!!!!!! Not happy...still contracting ALL day
So here I was all good to go.....midwife went to break my waters which they do on a contraction...very uncomfy . BUT the first needle was blunt and she had to do again!!!! Waters broken....but then you continue to lose the waters on each contraction. So the waiting game started.....by 9pm I was contracting ALOT and painful....gas and air didnt touch it for me. Made me feel great and a little drunk between but didnt help pain of the actual contractions. I was really desperate for more pain relief but they offer me epidural until 4-5cm dilated cos it could stop labour if not established. They were not going to reassess dilation until 11pm (their policy) but I begged for her to check......mmmmm still only 2-3 cm dilated . I was inconsolable and in so much pain so I took some pethidine offered.....big mistake, so drowsy but did cut down the contractions.
By this time I wasnt on IV induction but knew they were going to use it SO I said once IV induction has started it wont stop until baby comes....YES!! Well then give me the epidural now then.....oh yes they said OK then. Mmmmmm made sense to me. Luckily the anaethetist was out of surgery around 11pm.........to managed the next couple of hours of pain and got myself the first person to get epi when she came out (turns out there were 3 people behind me....sooooo pleased). So epidural was AMAZING!!!! Yes I had numb legs, lady bits and tummy (up to below boobs/top of uterus) but I could still feel them and move them around if I wanted to....just were heavy. Dont think I could have walked. Midwife confessed at this stage baby had moved back to back and thats why my contractions were so unbelievably painful from about 8pm onwards.........thanks for telling me!
So epidural in.....contractions could still be felt...more tightening rather than painful. Syntocinin put on drip....off we go...this was 1am. Still only 2-3 cm dilated. I said to MW what time you reckon I will delivery 'from experience about another 4 hours to 4-5 cms...then probably another 8 hours to fully dilated'....OK fine...just keep epidural coming. Was worried about being so tired and not able to push by midday on Monday and I guess thats why inductions can end up as forceps assisted or c sections (including big babies of course).
MW was excellent.....I got a side effect from epidural which was the judders...just uncontrollable shaking...annoying more than uncomfortable. Chattering teeth but I wasnt cold...then werent too worried. Oh just to say my epi was PCA (patient controlled) so I could alter / increase dose...she told me roughly when to push button to keep pain at bay. With the judders ongoing around 3am she said I will just check your dilation....8cms!!! OMG.
I started to feel really cold with judders and they chucked 3 blankets over me to warm me up before doctor came in the they did a temperature check.....sky high 38.9....ooops off came blankets....and cut me right back on epidural....luckily pain still at bay but if I continued til 12pm Monday...what then!!!???
Midwife checked me and I was already 10cm dilated at 4.25am.....she was very very surprised. She said right lets get this baby out (worried about her with my high temperature). Doctors were taking blood for culture for possible infection (reason for high temp) and continued to do so whilst I was pushing....WTF!!!!!!
So I could feel contractions......and midwife was feel tummy too to double check.....started pushing at 4.30am.....after first round of pushing I could feel the pressure but no pain. Doctor then announced that he would let me push for 15 minutes then off to theatre for instrument delivery as baby getting distressed and high temp issues. Midwife said 'NO!!!! I dont think so - this baby is coming NOW!' (love her )......
On the 4th contraction and round of pushing there she was out and put on my chest with a towel not wrapped....fan was on behind my head which they directed to her. So rather than wrapping her they had to get temp down (she had been cooking inside me....hubby said hindwaters and other 'bits' came out with her and they were really hot liquids!!!!!)...her temp was 39.6.
I asked about leaving cord for a while but cos of her high temp they wanted it cut in case they needed to take to the other side of the room quickly...fair enough...I was glad I asked. Hubby cut it. She stayed on me for a good 20 minutes and temp was good again.
She looked amazing but crying alot with high temp. So 10 minutes out.....4 hours established labour. So in terms of induction - it didnt started well but ended amazingly for me. I had one stitch and MW said a little graze....lucky girl.
Maybe RLT and EPO helped me with uterus doing its job. It has already gone right back apparently.....
I was on IV antibiotics for 24 hours (well three doses in 24 hours) due to the infection that caused raised temp....but Mia is totally unaffected. Bless her.
I feel fine considering.....downstairs not so tender....bit bleedy still but much much better
Sorry ladies that was an essay and just written as I remember and not condensed at all.
Sorry I have been off radar for a while and not catching up on everything......feeling really bad about that. You girls have been amazing over the last 9 months and however and whenever your babies come into the world, it will be the best experience of your lives. My birthing plan was read but I couldnt follow alot of it....no birthing pool! Only G&A mmmm! dont cut cord immediately! And they injected me to get placenta out due to wanting to get on with treating high temp.....took 10 minutes and didnt feel a thing.
xxx
Ladies with inductions being booked and worried about them....this is both positive and negative I guess from my experience.
So as you know on Saturday I was 40+4 and my induction had booked for the 25th March (+12 days).I woke up Saturday morning feeling a little unhappy about the amount of movement I had been getting for the last 12 hours or so....especially Saturday morning where I had one flutter and that was it. I thought well its Saturday, hubby is here...I am sure its nothing to worry about....phoned the hospital and they said to come straight in in the next 30 minutes. Very quick shower (thank god) and chucked hospital bag in car and off we went. Got there...they popped me on CTG to check babys HB and any contractions etc. She seemed fine to me.....then they took my BP where it all went a bit pear shaped. Bottom reading was over 94, 93 and 97 on 3 separate readings and she went to get registrar. Registrar said they wanted to proceed to induction that day and hubby should go home and get any bits I needed. Slightly panicked at this and felt all teary as I didnt feel good about evicting her early (although I was overdue). Doctor actually did a S&S there and then to see what was what.....all closed up and didnt get good contact but I had bleeding and a bloody show afterwards.
Moved to antenatal ward about midday......they explained that induction involved a pessary for 24 hours......if that doesnt work then 2 lots of the gel (6 hours apart) and then to IV syntocinin (probably wrong spelling). So LONG process but wouldnt let me go home at all. I was in for duration. So pessary went in around 1pm after another S&S. Hubby went home for while. My NCT friend was still in maternity ward so at 3pm I popped around to see her and her LO.....whilst I was chatting and for about an hour before that I had started to get really bad lower back pain and gentle contractions. She said thats how her natural early labour started.
Things moved very quickly (and then slowly and then quickly again!!) after that.....
Baby was showing signs of distress - lowering of HB at every contraction caused by pessary....they moved me to labour ward so they could monitor me more closely. Decided 5 hours after pessary went in to take it out again as baby not happy.....I was very disappointed but happy that baby was being looked after. They then said that the new plan was to move me back to antenatal ward....check me in morning....see if waters could be broken and go straight to IV induction ...no gel .
Contracting every 4-5 minutes for 40-60 seconds all night so they gave me some pethidine to help me sleep through them....makes you dead drowsy so good for this purpose but AVOID in labour. By morning I was 1cm dilated and she said that they would try and break waters....this was at 11am and I was EVENTUALLY moved to delivery suite at 7pm!!!!!!!!!!!! Not happy...still contracting ALL day
So here I was all good to go.....midwife went to break my waters which they do on a contraction...very uncomfy . BUT the first needle was blunt and she had to do again!!!! Waters broken....but then you continue to lose the waters on each contraction. So the waiting game started.....by 9pm I was contracting ALOT and painful....gas and air didnt touch it for me. Made me feel great and a little drunk between but didnt help pain of the actual contractions. I was really desperate for more pain relief but they offer me epidural until 4-5cm dilated cos it could stop labour if not established. They were not going to reassess dilation until 11pm (their policy) but I begged for her to check......mmmmm still only 2-3 cm dilated . I was inconsolable and in so much pain so I took some pethidine offered.....big mistake, so drowsy but did cut down the contractions.
By this time I wasnt on IV induction but knew they were going to use it SO I said once IV induction has started it wont stop until baby comes....YES!! Well then give me the epidural now then.....oh yes they said OK then. Mmmmmm made sense to me. Luckily the anaethetist was out of surgery around 11pm.........to managed the next couple of hours of pain and got myself the first person to get epi when she came out (turns out there were 3 people behind me....sooooo pleased). So epidural was AMAZING!!!! Yes I had numb legs, lady bits and tummy (up to below boobs/top of uterus) but I could still feel them and move them around if I wanted to....just were heavy. Dont think I could have walked. Midwife confessed at this stage baby had moved back to back and thats why my contractions were so unbelievably painful from about 8pm onwards.........thanks for telling me!
So epidural in.....contractions could still be felt...more tightening rather than painful. Syntocinin put on drip....off we go...this was 1am. Still only 2-3 cm dilated. I said to MW what time you reckon I will delivery 'from experience about another 4 hours to 4-5 cms...then probably another 8 hours to fully dilated'....OK fine...just keep epidural coming. Was worried about being so tired and not able to push by midday on Monday and I guess thats why inductions can end up as forceps assisted or c sections (including big babies of course).
MW was excellent.....I got a side effect from epidural which was the judders...just uncontrollable shaking...annoying more than uncomfortable. Chattering teeth but I wasnt cold...then werent too worried. Oh just to say my epi was PCA (patient controlled) so I could alter / increase dose...she told me roughly when to push button to keep pain at bay. With the judders ongoing around 3am she said I will just check your dilation....8cms!!! OMG.
I started to feel really cold with judders and they chucked 3 blankets over me to warm me up before doctor came in the they did a temperature check.....sky high 38.9....ooops off came blankets....and cut me right back on epidural....luckily pain still at bay but if I continued til 12pm Monday...what then!!!???
Midwife checked me and I was already 10cm dilated at 4.25am.....she was very very surprised. She said right lets get this baby out (worried about her with my high temperature). Doctors were taking blood for culture for possible infection (reason for high temp) and continued to do so whilst I was pushing....WTF!!!!!!
So I could feel contractions......and midwife was feel tummy too to double check.....started pushing at 4.30am.....after first round of pushing I could feel the pressure but no pain. Doctor then announced that he would let me push for 15 minutes then off to theatre for instrument delivery as baby getting distressed and high temp issues. Midwife said 'NO!!!! I dont think so - this baby is coming NOW!' (love her )......
On the 4th contraction and round of pushing there she was out and put on my chest with a towel not wrapped....fan was on behind my head which they directed to her. So rather than wrapping her they had to get temp down (she had been cooking inside me....hubby said hindwaters and other 'bits' came out with her and they were really hot liquids!!!!!)...her temp was 39.6.
I asked about leaving cord for a while but cos of her high temp they wanted it cut in case they needed to take to the other side of the room quickly...fair enough...I was glad I asked. Hubby cut it. She stayed on me for a good 20 minutes and temp was good again.
She looked amazing but crying alot with high temp. So 10 minutes out.....4 hours established labour. So in terms of induction - it didnt started well but ended amazingly for me. I had one stitch and MW said a little graze....lucky girl.
Maybe RLT and EPO helped me with uterus doing its job. It has already gone right back apparently.....
I was on IV antibiotics for 24 hours (well three doses in 24 hours) due to the infection that caused raised temp....but Mia is totally unaffected. Bless her.
I feel fine considering.....downstairs not so tender....bit bleedy still but much much better
Sorry ladies that was an essay and just written as I remember and not condensed at all.
Sorry I have been off radar for a while and not catching up on everything......feeling really bad about that. You girls have been amazing over the last 9 months and however and whenever your babies come into the world, it will be the best experience of your lives. My birthing plan was read but I couldnt follow alot of it....no birthing pool! Only G&A mmmm! dont cut cord immediately! And they injected me to get placenta out due to wanting to get on with treating high temp.....took 10 minutes and didnt feel a thing.
xxx
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love all the birth stories!!!!
sorry for everyone who didnt have it go as planned. i hope you find some peace about it
sorry for everyone who didnt have it go as planned. i hope you find some peace about it
emera35
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Love all the birth stories!
Finally have mine written now, i will put it in a spoiler, not because its scary, its really positive i think, but it is epically long, because i'm incapable of shortening things!
So here it is if you want to read it!
Finally have mine written now, i will put it in a spoiler, not because its scary, its really positive i think, but it is epically long, because i'm incapable of shortening things!
So here it is if you want to read it!
On the 11th March, I woke up needing the loo at 4am, and as I stood up felt a lot of pressure followed by a definite contraction, very mild, but enough to be uncomfortable. Went to the loo and had a couple of jelly like bits when I wiped, which I thought could be a little bit of plug. Went back to bed feeling hopeful as I was 41 weeks so was quite ready to have a baby!
Definite but mild contractions carried on all through that day and night and then all through the day on Monday. They were totally random and sporadic and certainly not in any pattern. A few of them on the Monday (12th) felt a bit stronger and like they might be actually doing something, but I knew I wasn't in labour. OH got home from work at 11pm on the Monday night . The contractions had completely stopped again by then, and I was soooo frustrated. I had a total meltdown at that point and just sobbed my heart out to OH for about an hour about how miserable and uncomfortable I was feeling, he ran me a bath and made me a cup of RLT and the we cuddled up in bed . I couldn't sleep, even though it was about 1.30am at this point, but I think I dozed for a bit.
At 2.20am I suddenly came out of my doze realising I was having a strong contraction. Properly strong! I checked the time quickly and then sat up in bed dead still and waited. Exactly 5 minutes later, another one, just as strong! They were seriously painful, and if they hadn't hurt so much I could have cheered! I timed them for about 20 minutes and they were pretty consistent at 4-5 minutes apart, so decided to wake OH up and tell him that I was finally in labour. We sat and timed a few more contractions, and I realised they were getting even stronger, so I called delivery suite to get them to send the midwife out. Apparently delivery suite were busy, and so the receptionist had a midwife call me back. After about 5 minutes I got a call back and the midwife asked me all the standard questions. I had a couple of contractions whilst on the phone, which she decided to talk me through (anyone who wants to know....never do this! She's so lucky you can't punch people down the phone!) Anyway, she decided she'd call the community midwife, and that I should expect another call from her shortly. I then laid a towel and some maternity bed pads on the bed incase my waters broke.
At about 3.15am the community midwife called and asked all the questions again. I warned her i'd had a quick labour last time, so she decided to call the second midwife to come right away, and also asked if she could bring a student with her (it would be the student's first birth she'd attended). I agreed. She then said she was on the other side of the city, and that it was really foggy, but she'd be there as soon as she could.
After making all the calls, which felt a bit stressful, I settled down lying on my left side in bed, which is how i'd laboured last time, and got OH to rub my lower back with some of the massage oils i'd made up whilst I just zoned out and did some visualisations. I felt really good and relaxed and totally lost all concept of time. The contractions were getting stronger all the time, and I couldn't get through them without moaning. OH kept reminding me to do my slow breathing, which was great because its easy to forget! I put my iPod on to have something to focus on, but the contractions just kept getting stronger and stronger, and I was lying there wishing the midwife would hurry the hell up, because i'd have really liked some gas & air at that point! I managed to control myself though and kept working with the contractions. Suddenly I started feeling a lot of pressure with the contractions and was slightly worried, as it was very soon, and I was concerned i'd get the urge to push. I knew that it could be pressure on a nerve or something similar that might make me feel like pushing. After a couple more contractions like that (they were coming about every 2 minutes by then), with more and more pressure I did get the urge to push, and said to OH its all getting a bit pushy, I don't want to push at the wrong time, but there is so much pressure, can you have a look and see if its ok to push or not?
So OH put my leg on his shoulder and had a look, he said its ok, I can see your waters bulging out, so that's what the pressure is, I think its fine! So, great, I though, I can relax a bit, and I relaxed with the next contraction, rather than trying to fight the pressure, hoping my waters would break and it would be a bit more comfortable pressure-wise. Then OH suddenly said Oh wait I can see hair, there's hair! Oh, the head is coming now! I think then we both suddenly realised we were going to have to do this alone, so I changed my position a bit and OH got my leg well up on his shoulder, and I said to him just tell me exactly what is happening, so I know when to push I spent 2 contractions pushing as gently as I could to get the head out, with OH telling me how I was doing, then had a good rest when he said the head was out. A few more gentle and one big push and he said the shoulders were out! As soon as I heard him say that, I pushed as hard as I could and she popped out, fully in her waters, which had never broken! Freyja Lynn was born at about 3.56am she weighed 7lb 15oz. Time of birth is a guess, as neither of us thought to look at the clock when she was actually born! OH said afterwards he could see her struggling inside the membranes so he tore them open by her face and then pulled them away from her head and handed her to me, and I took the rest of the membranes off her and got OH to hand me the nearest towel to wrap over her. I knew she was basically ok, because she was already crying, so I just gave her a good rub and kept her close against my chest and covered with the towel.
I said to OH that he better call an ambulance because I didn't fancy doing the 3rd stage alone when there was a chance of heavy bleeding, and we didn't know how long the midwives would be. The 999 operator told him to go and open the front door ready for the ambulance crew, and as he got to the front door, the midwives were just arriving. The first thing they did was find a hat for Freyja, which I had totally forgotten about in the moment, and take the towel i'd put on the heater to warm and cover her in that too. Then they took a photo of the 3 of us!
They asked how long it had been since the birth, and we reckoned about 5 minutes. Anyway, they felt my tummy and after about another 5-10 minutes I delivered the placenta with a couple of pushes. Then they spent a while trying to find the cord clamps etc. (the midwife's delivery pack was apparently missing a load of stuff! ) So eventually OH cut the cord, well after i'd delivered the placenta. Freyja was a little on the cold side after not being wrapped up enough right after the birth, but I stayed snuggled with her for about an hour and she had a good feed, and after that warmed up quickly.
The midwives checked me over (small 1st degree tear, no stitching needed, woohoo!) and then made us a cup of tea, ran me a bath and cleared up the mess and changed the (totally trashed) bedsheets for us and then went off to make up some notes and left us to it!
Apart from being slightly alarming when we realised that we were having the baby unattended, the whole experience was fantastic and really relaxed. Everything that my first labour wasn't! Plus OH gets to be super smug about the whole thing, and is the talk of the midwives clinic!
Definite but mild contractions carried on all through that day and night and then all through the day on Monday. They were totally random and sporadic and certainly not in any pattern. A few of them on the Monday (12th) felt a bit stronger and like they might be actually doing something, but I knew I wasn't in labour. OH got home from work at 11pm on the Monday night . The contractions had completely stopped again by then, and I was soooo frustrated. I had a total meltdown at that point and just sobbed my heart out to OH for about an hour about how miserable and uncomfortable I was feeling, he ran me a bath and made me a cup of RLT and the we cuddled up in bed . I couldn't sleep, even though it was about 1.30am at this point, but I think I dozed for a bit.
At 2.20am I suddenly came out of my doze realising I was having a strong contraction. Properly strong! I checked the time quickly and then sat up in bed dead still and waited. Exactly 5 minutes later, another one, just as strong! They were seriously painful, and if they hadn't hurt so much I could have cheered! I timed them for about 20 minutes and they were pretty consistent at 4-5 minutes apart, so decided to wake OH up and tell him that I was finally in labour. We sat and timed a few more contractions, and I realised they were getting even stronger, so I called delivery suite to get them to send the midwife out. Apparently delivery suite were busy, and so the receptionist had a midwife call me back. After about 5 minutes I got a call back and the midwife asked me all the standard questions. I had a couple of contractions whilst on the phone, which she decided to talk me through (anyone who wants to know....never do this! She's so lucky you can't punch people down the phone!) Anyway, she decided she'd call the community midwife, and that I should expect another call from her shortly. I then laid a towel and some maternity bed pads on the bed incase my waters broke.
At about 3.15am the community midwife called and asked all the questions again. I warned her i'd had a quick labour last time, so she decided to call the second midwife to come right away, and also asked if she could bring a student with her (it would be the student's first birth she'd attended). I agreed. She then said she was on the other side of the city, and that it was really foggy, but she'd be there as soon as she could.
After making all the calls, which felt a bit stressful, I settled down lying on my left side in bed, which is how i'd laboured last time, and got OH to rub my lower back with some of the massage oils i'd made up whilst I just zoned out and did some visualisations. I felt really good and relaxed and totally lost all concept of time. The contractions were getting stronger all the time, and I couldn't get through them without moaning. OH kept reminding me to do my slow breathing, which was great because its easy to forget! I put my iPod on to have something to focus on, but the contractions just kept getting stronger and stronger, and I was lying there wishing the midwife would hurry the hell up, because i'd have really liked some gas & air at that point! I managed to control myself though and kept working with the contractions. Suddenly I started feeling a lot of pressure with the contractions and was slightly worried, as it was very soon, and I was concerned i'd get the urge to push. I knew that it could be pressure on a nerve or something similar that might make me feel like pushing. After a couple more contractions like that (they were coming about every 2 minutes by then), with more and more pressure I did get the urge to push, and said to OH its all getting a bit pushy, I don't want to push at the wrong time, but there is so much pressure, can you have a look and see if its ok to push or not?
So OH put my leg on his shoulder and had a look, he said its ok, I can see your waters bulging out, so that's what the pressure is, I think its fine! So, great, I though, I can relax a bit, and I relaxed with the next contraction, rather than trying to fight the pressure, hoping my waters would break and it would be a bit more comfortable pressure-wise. Then OH suddenly said Oh wait I can see hair, there's hair! Oh, the head is coming now! I think then we both suddenly realised we were going to have to do this alone, so I changed my position a bit and OH got my leg well up on his shoulder, and I said to him just tell me exactly what is happening, so I know when to push I spent 2 contractions pushing as gently as I could to get the head out, with OH telling me how I was doing, then had a good rest when he said the head was out. A few more gentle and one big push and he said the shoulders were out! As soon as I heard him say that, I pushed as hard as I could and she popped out, fully in her waters, which had never broken! Freyja Lynn was born at about 3.56am she weighed 7lb 15oz. Time of birth is a guess, as neither of us thought to look at the clock when she was actually born!
OH said afterwards he could see her struggling inside the membranes so he tore them open by her face and then pulled them away from her head and handed her to me, and I took the rest of the membranes off her and got OH to hand me the nearest towel to wrap over her. I knew she was basically ok, because she was already crying, so I just gave her a good rub and kept her close against my chest and covered with the towel.I said to OH that he better call an ambulance because I didn't fancy doing the 3rd stage alone when there was a chance of heavy bleeding, and we didn't know how long the midwives would be. The 999 operator told him to go and open the front door ready for the ambulance crew, and as he got to the front door, the midwives were just arriving. The first thing they did was find a hat for Freyja, which I had totally forgotten about in the moment, and take the towel i'd put on the heater to warm and cover her in that too. Then they took a photo of the 3 of us!
They asked how long it had been since the birth, and we reckoned about 5 minutes. Anyway, they felt my tummy and after about another 5-10 minutes I delivered the placenta with a couple of pushes. Then they spent a while trying to find the cord clamps etc. (the midwife's delivery pack was apparently missing a load of stuff! ) So eventually OH cut the cord, well after i'd delivered the placenta. Freyja was a little on the cold side after not being wrapped up enough right after the birth, but I stayed snuggled with her for about an hour and she had a good feed, and after that warmed up quickly.The midwives checked me over (small 1st degree tear, no stitching needed, woohoo!) and then made us a cup of tea, ran me a bath and cleared up the mess and changed the (totally trashed) bedsheets for us and then went off to make up some notes and left us to it!
Apart from being slightly alarming when we realised that we were having the baby unattended, the whole experience was fantastic and really relaxed. Everything that my first labour wasn't! Plus OH gets to be super smug about the whole thing, and is the talk of the midwives clinic!
MsCrow
March Mama 2012
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Hello laddies
Sorry to be a bit rubbish by posting and running. I'm loving reading the birth stories. Here's mine. I took it off the other thread as parts of it still distress me and I didn't want to upset anyone waiting to go into labour.
Sorry to be a bit rubbish by posting and running. I'm loving reading the birth stories. Here's mine. I took it off the other thread as parts of it still distress me and I didn't want to upset anyone waiting to go into labour.
I had spent Sunday 11th March doing usual things, making bath bombs for Mother’s Day at my local craft club and meeting friends at the pub afterwards. I didn’t feel anything different, the usual stabbing pains down low had been a feature for a couple of weeks. My parting shot to my best friend was “pah, nothing will happen for at least a week”.
I took a while to fall asleep; Andy was next to me, snoring away. At 1:30am I woke with a jolt, feeling different and a slight dampness between my legs. I got to the loo to feel a slow trickling and saw it was a clear and sort of stretchy fluid. At this point I felt a tightening and realised it wasn’t all normal but I wasn’t convinced it was anything major so I got up, went downstairs and turned the laptop on to read some posts and see what happened.
Soon after contractions began, whilst I was typing an email to my election agent, as I realised I better get some matters in order before I had the baby. Time had essentially run out for everything I needed to do before the birth. I sent a few other emails and calmly measured the new cradle mattress so I could cut and sew it up. By now the contractions were extremely strong and I needed to stop and breathe through them, putting down the needle and thread to lean on the kitchen counter top. Realising, thanks to Glowstar, I ought to scope things out I spoke to the delivery unit who asked me to come in, be checked out so I could come back home. Knowing, at 3am, I might not make it back home I started to find the cds we wanted to take, pack Andy’s bag with cameras and muesli bars and I made him a coffee, me a mint tea and went to gently wake him up. Off he went to get some taxi money, such was our unpreparedness, and I leant on the living room doorframe during contractions or waddled upstairs to change maternity pads which now showed some blood from the plug.
By 4am the taxi to the delivery unit was a quiet hell of three contractions that seemed to finally last forever. Previous to this they had felt short but Andy had timed them and they 40 or so seconds though they felt like 10 seconds, such is the disembodying feeling of a contraction. The midwife, Kerry, checked me out which was so painful but the good news came back, I was 6cm dilated and no, I wasn’t going to be sent home. The bad news was that the baby’s heartbeat was dipping during contractions so out the window went my birthing pool experience. I mourned this temporarily as I begged to change positions from being on my back and please, could she find a cd player and dim the lights? She thankfully came back with a ropey cd player, apologising about the small room and the disarray of the unit as it was being refurbished. All I wanted to listen to was Tracy Chapman’s Let it Rain, a hasty late addition to the cd pile but a total comfort album for me. For some reason various lyrics made me laugh at their appropriateness. I began to realise how tenuous things felt with every contraction making the baby’s heartbeat slow.
“Almost got what I want
Almost found what I lost
Almost saved you and myself
Almost won but it doesn't count
And never does
Never does”
The contractions between 7-10cm were the most painful thing I have ever experienced but I managed to get through them with gas and air, and just concentrating on the music, on Andy next to me and on squeezing the bed’s bars through each one. The point at which I must have been transitioning we were alone and I began to panic as I heard the heart monitor tracking the beat slow, slow, slower, stop. My baby’s heartbeat had stopped. Panic. Hearing it come back as the contraction ended and pick up speed. All I remember is roaring in a deeper, Golgotha type voice to “get the midwife”. She came in, quickly assessed everything and said I was definitely ready to push and it was a relief to be told it was ok to, I was panicking before that it wasn’t safe. It was about 5:45am by now and I spent a good hour trying to push the baby out, feeling the movement’s inch closer but each time, the head slip back, it felt so impossible even with my legs hoisted up against the midwife and Andy. By now I had given up on the gas and air, it felt in the way to me being able to concentrate on pushing, during which I managed to burst veins all over my back, neck and face leaving me speckled with little blood spots. Besides which, it was a different type of pain that I just quietly needed to get through.
6:30am and it was clear I wasn’t getting any closer to the baby being born and the heartbeat was continuing to dip. The midwife got a colleague and they both agreed my perineum was too tight and it was stopping the baby coming. It would later transpire the baby had also slightly turned and was partially back to back. In addition to this the heartbeat was dipping due to the pressure on the baby’s head. I later realised we could have lost the baby had they not taken action when they did; the speed of the whole birth had taken everyone by surprise. I agreed, with some relief, to having an episiotomy. None of this was in my birth plan but I had realised long before I just needed to make sure the baby was ok. After the cut it was all so quick, pushing the head out seemed a doddle after the miniscule progress that had gone before, I leaned down and saw the head and a push later, the baby was out, immediately crying to my complete relief. Andy asked “is it a boy or a girl” and Kerry held the baby up, “a girl”. She was born at 06:48 and weighed 6lbs. I’d like to say I cried with happiness, I didn’t. My love grew quietly and steadily after that point; it took a while to get over the shock of the speed of the labour and what had happened. Andy, however, was immediately smitten.
"Every time we get close
I just run
And the wind on my face
Last rays of the sun
Shine on my skin
My heart slow me down
Is all that I can feel
All that I can feel
Should be happy to be loved
Happy to be"
They laid her on my stomach just as Andy helped me dispense with my bra so we could get some decent skin to skin time. Edith looked largely unimpressed at the whole situation. I’m grateful that Kerry carried out my wish of a natural third stage, despite the anxieties about increased blood loss. They waited a good 20 minutes and I cut the cord as she lay on me, grizzling underneath a bloody towel. She was pink, the back of her head was bruised dark purple, she was covered in vernix, had long dark hair and immediately opened her dark blue intense eyes to look at Andy and I. During this time I delivered the placenta which I had great fun looking at later (what an awe-inspiring special ‘organ’ and was carefully stitched up by Jan, the midwife who had come on at 7am. She left us largely to our own devices and I managed to feed Edith for half an hour. Lucky really as she would be uninterested in food for a good 18 hours after. I left Edith in Andy’s arms, chatting away to her as I went, on shaky legs, to have the best shower ever. We made it up to the post-natal ward about 11am and I curled up in bed with Edith in a plastic crib next to me, both of us drifting in and out of consciousness, looking at each other out of the corners of our eyes.
I took a while to fall asleep; Andy was next to me, snoring away. At 1:30am I woke with a jolt, feeling different and a slight dampness between my legs. I got to the loo to feel a slow trickling and saw it was a clear and sort of stretchy fluid. At this point I felt a tightening and realised it wasn’t all normal but I wasn’t convinced it was anything major so I got up, went downstairs and turned the laptop on to read some posts and see what happened.
Soon after contractions began, whilst I was typing an email to my election agent, as I realised I better get some matters in order before I had the baby. Time had essentially run out for everything I needed to do before the birth. I sent a few other emails and calmly measured the new cradle mattress so I could cut and sew it up. By now the contractions were extremely strong and I needed to stop and breathe through them, putting down the needle and thread to lean on the kitchen counter top. Realising, thanks to Glowstar, I ought to scope things out I spoke to the delivery unit who asked me to come in, be checked out so I could come back home. Knowing, at 3am, I might not make it back home I started to find the cds we wanted to take, pack Andy’s bag with cameras and muesli bars and I made him a coffee, me a mint tea and went to gently wake him up. Off he went to get some taxi money, such was our unpreparedness, and I leant on the living room doorframe during contractions or waddled upstairs to change maternity pads which now showed some blood from the plug.
By 4am the taxi to the delivery unit was a quiet hell of three contractions that seemed to finally last forever. Previous to this they had felt short but Andy had timed them and they 40 or so seconds though they felt like 10 seconds, such is the disembodying feeling of a contraction. The midwife, Kerry, checked me out which was so painful but the good news came back, I was 6cm dilated and no, I wasn’t going to be sent home. The bad news was that the baby’s heartbeat was dipping during contractions so out the window went my birthing pool experience. I mourned this temporarily as I begged to change positions from being on my back and please, could she find a cd player and dim the lights? She thankfully came back with a ropey cd player, apologising about the small room and the disarray of the unit as it was being refurbished. All I wanted to listen to was Tracy Chapman’s Let it Rain, a hasty late addition to the cd pile but a total comfort album for me. For some reason various lyrics made me laugh at their appropriateness. I began to realise how tenuous things felt with every contraction making the baby’s heartbeat slow.
“Almost got what I want
Almost found what I lost
Almost saved you and myself
Almost won but it doesn't count
And never does
Never does”
The contractions between 7-10cm were the most painful thing I have ever experienced but I managed to get through them with gas and air, and just concentrating on the music, on Andy next to me and on squeezing the bed’s bars through each one. The point at which I must have been transitioning we were alone and I began to panic as I heard the heart monitor tracking the beat slow, slow, slower, stop. My baby’s heartbeat had stopped. Panic. Hearing it come back as the contraction ended and pick up speed. All I remember is roaring in a deeper, Golgotha type voice to “get the midwife”. She came in, quickly assessed everything and said I was definitely ready to push and it was a relief to be told it was ok to, I was panicking before that it wasn’t safe. It was about 5:45am by now and I spent a good hour trying to push the baby out, feeling the movement’s inch closer but each time, the head slip back, it felt so impossible even with my legs hoisted up against the midwife and Andy. By now I had given up on the gas and air, it felt in the way to me being able to concentrate on pushing, during which I managed to burst veins all over my back, neck and face leaving me speckled with little blood spots. Besides which, it was a different type of pain that I just quietly needed to get through.
6:30am and it was clear I wasn’t getting any closer to the baby being born and the heartbeat was continuing to dip. The midwife got a colleague and they both agreed my perineum was too tight and it was stopping the baby coming. It would later transpire the baby had also slightly turned and was partially back to back. In addition to this the heartbeat was dipping due to the pressure on the baby’s head. I later realised we could have lost the baby had they not taken action when they did; the speed of the whole birth had taken everyone by surprise. I agreed, with some relief, to having an episiotomy. None of this was in my birth plan but I had realised long before I just needed to make sure the baby was ok. After the cut it was all so quick, pushing the head out seemed a doddle after the miniscule progress that had gone before, I leaned down and saw the head and a push later, the baby was out, immediately crying to my complete relief. Andy asked “is it a boy or a girl” and Kerry held the baby up, “a girl”. She was born at 06:48 and weighed 6lbs. I’d like to say I cried with happiness, I didn’t. My love grew quietly and steadily after that point; it took a while to get over the shock of the speed of the labour and what had happened. Andy, however, was immediately smitten.
"Every time we get close
I just run
And the wind on my face
Last rays of the sun
Shine on my skin
My heart slow me down
Is all that I can feel
All that I can feel
Should be happy to be loved
Happy to be"
They laid her on my stomach just as Andy helped me dispense with my bra so we could get some decent skin to skin time. Edith looked largely unimpressed at the whole situation. I’m grateful that Kerry carried out my wish of a natural third stage, despite the anxieties about increased blood loss. They waited a good 20 minutes and I cut the cord as she lay on me, grizzling underneath a bloody towel. She was pink, the back of her head was bruised dark purple, she was covered in vernix, had long dark hair and immediately opened her dark blue intense eyes to look at Andy and I. During this time I delivered the placenta which I had great fun looking at later (what an awe-inspiring special ‘organ’
and was carefully stitched up by Jan, the midwife who had come on at 7am. She left us largely to our own devices and I managed to feed Edith for half an hour. Lucky really as she would be uninterested in food for a good 18 hours after. I left Edith in Andy’s arms, chatting away to her as I went, on shaky legs, to have the best shower ever. We made it up to the post-natal ward about 11am and I curled up in bed with Edith in a plastic crib next to me, both of us drifting in and out of consciousness, looking at each other out of the corners of our eyes.
emera35
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Thanks for your story MsC it reminded me alot of my experience with Roh. I was in shock afterwards and realise in retro-spect quite traumatised by it. I still feel that horrible choked feeling and like the pit of my stomach drops out when i think about his heartrate getting slower and slower. I know how frightening that is. Sounds like you were amazing though, and so was little Edith! It will get easier to think about over time.
I know how frightening that is. Sounds like you were amazing though, and so was little Edith! It will get easier to think about over time.
waula
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oh my ladies...thank you for your birth stories...might be slightly emotional at this end 
but I just love how much we go through to have our little ones and yet how it is always 100% the best thing we ever do.
Mitch - well done on knowing to go in with the reduced movements...and so glad you got a vaguely natural birth from your induction - it sounds like it went on for days though!
hope you are settling in well at home with Mia and all is well - massive hugs hun xxx
Emera - I think your OH is immense. And so glad you got your home birth...xxx
MsC - hero. 6cm on arrival to hospital??! wow. I love the lyrics. Hope you are doing ok and Edith BF improving? I always think of you as I sit down to BF the naughty left boob and just hope things are improving for you...such a rollercoaster xxx
For everyone still waiting huge and know that life just wont be the same again - not sure how i'd contemplate posh afternoon tea now with Noah so enjoy your last few days of normality!!!! and sending you lots of labour-inducing thoughts and hoping you're all stuffing your faces with aubergine/curry/pineapple!
pig semen. nuff said.
Missy - you ok?? big hugs to you and Ted
but I just love how much we go through to have our little ones and yet how it is always 100% the best thing we ever do.Mitch - well done on knowing to go in with the reduced movements...and so glad you got a vaguely natural birth from your induction - it sounds like it went on for days though!
hope you are settling in well at home with Mia and all is well - massive hugs hun xxxEmera - I think your OH is immense. And so glad you got your home birth...xxx
MsC - hero. 6cm on arrival to hospital??! wow. I love the lyrics. Hope you are doing ok and Edith BF improving? I always think of you as I sit down to BF the naughty left boob and just hope things are improving for you...such a rollercoaster xxx
For everyone still waiting huge
and know that life just wont be the same again - not sure how i'd contemplate posh afternoon tea now with Noah so enjoy your last few days of normality!!!! and sending you lots of labour-inducing thoughts and hoping you're all stuffing your faces with aubergine/curry/pineapple!pig semen. nuff said.
Missy - you ok?? big hugs to you and Ted
MsCrow
March Mama 2012
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Thanks Emera, reading your story really cheered me, I love that you and your OH were complete troopers in the way you dealt with being at home and alone but also how special that must have made it.
Waula, breastfeeding buddy, it's going ok! My friend, who set up a breastfeeding cafe, has been a complete support via text. She was the one who sent through the laid back breastfeeding link which the La Leche League person also recommended. Edith's still having a growth spurt I think but her fussiness and need to hang out on me isn't worrying me now, I'm just going with it and the reclining feeding position is really comfortable for both her latch and for chilling her, and me, out. I'd recommend trying it, and mixing it into other positions, it can be helpful for c-section scars too. How's it going with you?
Had a bath this morning with Edith which was FAR LESS stressful than the stupid sodding baby bath we got given. I hate it as it's cumbersome and I don't feel safe bathing her in it. A co-bath made much better sense and she preferred it. Spent this afternoon going into the village to photocopy the hand and foot prints we took a few days ago. I've made thank you cards to send to people which I've spent the rest of the day on and off writing in between feeds.
Waula, breastfeeding buddy, it's going ok! My friend, who set up a breastfeeding cafe, has been a complete support via text. She was the one who sent through the laid back breastfeeding link which the La Leche League person also recommended. Edith's still having a growth spurt I think but her fussiness and need to hang out on me isn't worrying me now, I'm just going with it and the reclining feeding position is really comfortable for both her latch and for chilling her, and me, out. I'd recommend trying it, and mixing it into other positions, it can be helpful for c-section scars too. How's it going with you?
Had a bath this morning with Edith which was FAR LESS stressful than the stupid sodding baby bath we got given. I hate it as it's cumbersome and I don't feel safe bathing her in it. A co-bath made much better sense and she preferred it. Spent this afternoon going into the village to photocopy the hand and foot prints we took a few days ago. I've made thank you cards to send to people which I've spent the rest of the day on and off writing in between feeds.
