Here is my little birth story for any one who would like a nosey!
I started with contractions 10 mins apart at 2am on Monday the 1st of March. They were mild but enough to keep waking me up every 10 mins. This carried on all day and until Tuesday morning.
By 6am Tuesday they were coming every 6ish mins and i went to the toilet and had some blood so we rand L&D and they said to come in and get checked.
When we got there they put us on the monitor and saw that contractions were coming every 5 mins so they checked me over but i was only just under 3cm at this point so they sent me home, the pain was still only mild anyway so i wasn't too fussed.
The contractions carried on all day with nothing much changing so at 7pm we dropped my son off at my mums for the night as induction was booked for the next day.
As soon as we got home at 7.30 the contractions suddenly got more intense and knowing i was almost at 3cm i thought it must have progressed so we rang L&D and they asked us to come in again.
When we got there she checked me over and said i was still just under 3cm! She said i had better stay in though as my membranes were bulging so my water could pop at any time.
By 1am the pain got to a stage where i needed something so i asked her for some codeine which she gave me. This did nothing after an hour so she checked me again and decided it was time to go to a delivery room.
I managed for a couple of hours with no more pain relief and it got to a point where i asked the MW for something more.
We went for the gas and air and after being showed how to do it properly and getting in to a routine with it i found it fantastic! It really helped and i found it quite a buzz at the same time lol as did my husband!
After a while on this (all sense of time disappeared so i am not too sure now of what time it was) it go to a stage where the pain was more powerful than the gas and air so i started to consider an epidural.
I asked the MW to check how far dilated i was and if i was still no where near i wanted the epi.
She told me i was 6cm and that if i was thinking about an epidural at this stage then it was probably best that i have one so we decided on that. I spoke it through with hubby because he knew i wanted to try without but at this stage i was tired and wired and wanted to regain some head control again.
I had the epi in at around half 7, i remember this as it was the exact same time as my last son.
My blood pressure dropped to 80/50 and i started to feel really ill, like i was dying in fact. The MW assured me that once they got a lot of water in to my system my blood pressure would stabalise and i would feel better again. It didn't feel like i would at the time but sure enough i did.
When the epidural kicked in it was only working down my right side, the left side was normal which can happen if the needle isn't inserted the right way.
They kept getting me to lay on my left side to try and encourage it to move evenly but it didn't work.
She then decided to break my waters as they were still holding on and she said it could stop progress. I was amazed at how much water there was and also the colour which was pink.
At 10.20am the MW checked my cervix and said i was 7cm dilated. She told me she would check me in 2 hours to see if the head was down and ready then she said she was off to get some breakfast if i didn't mind.
She left the room and literally in 1 min of her leaving the room i got an unbelievably painful sensation all down my left side followed with an unbelievable urge to push.
I was confused as i know she had just checked me and i was 7cm but i knew that what i was feeling was the need to push.
I shouted at hubby to go and get her as i needed to push but he tried to talk me out of it as he knew i was only 7cm. I got nasty and told him to f***ing get her as i knew it wasn't right.
She came in and told me to relax and that it was probably his head pushing down a bit and i screamed no that i need to push so she had a look.
She then declared that she could see his head and i was in fact giving birth!
It was such a shock and i think thank god the epi only worked on on side or i wouldn't have known he was on his way out.
I found the sensation indescribable and i can't even begin to describe what it felt like. All i know is that he was flying down the birth canal really fast.
She asked me to pant while the head was being born and when she said the head was born i saw my husbands face turn from amazement to looking really worried.
I then looked down and saw he had the cord around his neck. She said i needed to really try as it was so tight around his neck that it wouldn't slip over, he needed to get out to get it from around his neck and the cant cut it until the whole body is born.
This made me panic and get really upset but it also made my efforts to push 100 times better as i knew he had to get out asap but his shoulder was stuck so it was really hard.
After 5 mins of pushing the shoulders finally came out but Nathan wasn't crying and he looked all white and floppy
I am not stupid and i knew it wasn't right but the midwife assured me he was fine.
He was born at 10.57am and he weighed 8lb 11oz. It took 37 mins to go from 7cm to him being born and i really think it must have been the raspberry leaf tea that made the second stage go so quick.
He was taken over to the resuscitation table and given oxygen and heat lamps and they rubbed him with towels and put a little hat on him. They said he was congested as the cord had been really tight around his neck. I thought this meant full of mucous in his chest but they said it actually meant his head was all swollen and puffy with broken blood vessels.
I could hear little whimpers but no real crying so i continued to watch him and worry until they brought him over to me and put him on my chest.
When we looked down at him and saw his little eyes looking around the room and his little tongue waggling around in his mouth we both just cried with relief. We were so happy!
After an hour of alone time hubby went home to feed the cat and make some calls and i had an hour on my own with Nathan and i breast fed him and just admired all his tiny little features.
I feel the birth over all, apart from the cord incident was a good experience. I felt happy with the midwife she did a great job and i feel like they followed my birth plan perfectly. She even managed in the fuss to let hubby cut Nathans cord which i wouldn't have expected due to the circumstances.
I stayed in hospital in my own room till the next day and then we came home.
Here are a couple of pics for you, 1 around 1 hour after birth and one now we are home and my little family:
I started with contractions 10 mins apart at 2am on Monday the 1st of March. They were mild but enough to keep waking me up every 10 mins. This carried on all day and until Tuesday morning.
By 6am Tuesday they were coming every 6ish mins and i went to the toilet and had some blood so we rand L&D and they said to come in and get checked.
When we got there they put us on the monitor and saw that contractions were coming every 5 mins so they checked me over but i was only just under 3cm at this point so they sent me home, the pain was still only mild anyway so i wasn't too fussed.
The contractions carried on all day with nothing much changing so at 7pm we dropped my son off at my mums for the night as induction was booked for the next day.
As soon as we got home at 7.30 the contractions suddenly got more intense and knowing i was almost at 3cm i thought it must have progressed so we rang L&D and they asked us to come in again.
When we got there she checked me over and said i was still just under 3cm! She said i had better stay in though as my membranes were bulging so my water could pop at any time.
By 1am the pain got to a stage where i needed something so i asked her for some codeine which she gave me. This did nothing after an hour so she checked me again and decided it was time to go to a delivery room.
I managed for a couple of hours with no more pain relief and it got to a point where i asked the MW for something more.
We went for the gas and air and after being showed how to do it properly and getting in to a routine with it i found it fantastic! It really helped and i found it quite a buzz at the same time lol as did my husband!
After a while on this (all sense of time disappeared so i am not too sure now of what time it was) it go to a stage where the pain was more powerful than the gas and air so i started to consider an epidural.
I asked the MW to check how far dilated i was and if i was still no where near i wanted the epi.
She told me i was 6cm and that if i was thinking about an epidural at this stage then it was probably best that i have one so we decided on that. I spoke it through with hubby because he knew i wanted to try without but at this stage i was tired and wired and wanted to regain some head control again.
I had the epi in at around half 7, i remember this as it was the exact same time as my last son.
My blood pressure dropped to 80/50 and i started to feel really ill, like i was dying in fact. The MW assured me that once they got a lot of water in to my system my blood pressure would stabalise and i would feel better again. It didn't feel like i would at the time but sure enough i did.
When the epidural kicked in it was only working down my right side, the left side was normal which can happen if the needle isn't inserted the right way.
They kept getting me to lay on my left side to try and encourage it to move evenly but it didn't work.
She then decided to break my waters as they were still holding on and she said it could stop progress. I was amazed at how much water there was and also the colour which was pink.
At 10.20am the MW checked my cervix and said i was 7cm dilated. She told me she would check me in 2 hours to see if the head was down and ready then she said she was off to get some breakfast if i didn't mind.
She left the room and literally in 1 min of her leaving the room i got an unbelievably painful sensation all down my left side followed with an unbelievable urge to push.
I was confused as i know she had just checked me and i was 7cm but i knew that what i was feeling was the need to push.
I shouted at hubby to go and get her as i needed to push but he tried to talk me out of it as he knew i was only 7cm. I got nasty and told him to f***ing get her as i knew it wasn't right.
She came in and told me to relax and that it was probably his head pushing down a bit and i screamed no that i need to push so she had a look.
She then declared that she could see his head and i was in fact giving birth!
It was such a shock and i think thank god the epi only worked on on side or i wouldn't have known he was on his way out.
I found the sensation indescribable and i can't even begin to describe what it felt like. All i know is that he was flying down the birth canal really fast.
She asked me to pant while the head was being born and when she said the head was born i saw my husbands face turn from amazement to looking really worried.
I then looked down and saw he had the cord around his neck. She said i needed to really try as it was so tight around his neck that it wouldn't slip over, he needed to get out to get it from around his neck and the cant cut it until the whole body is born.
This made me panic and get really upset but it also made my efforts to push 100 times better as i knew he had to get out asap but his shoulder was stuck so it was really hard.
After 5 mins of pushing the shoulders finally came out but Nathan wasn't crying and he looked all white and floppy
I am not stupid and i knew it wasn't right but the midwife assured me he was fine.He was born at 10.57am and he weighed 8lb 11oz. It took 37 mins to go from 7cm to him being born and i really think it must have been the raspberry leaf tea that made the second stage go so quick.
He was taken over to the resuscitation table and given oxygen and heat lamps and they rubbed him with towels and put a little hat on him. They said he was congested as the cord had been really tight around his neck. I thought this meant full of mucous in his chest but they said it actually meant his head was all swollen and puffy with broken blood vessels.
I could hear little whimpers but no real crying so i continued to watch him and worry until they brought him over to me and put him on my chest.
When we looked down at him and saw his little eyes looking around the room and his little tongue waggling around in his mouth we both just cried with relief. We were so happy!
After an hour of alone time hubby went home to feed the cat and make some calls and i had an hour on my own with Nathan and i breast fed him and just admired all his tiny little features.
I feel the birth over all, apart from the cord incident was a good experience. I felt happy with the midwife she did a great job and i feel like they followed my birth plan perfectly. She even managed in the fuss to let hubby cut Nathans cord which i wouldn't have expected due to the circumstances.
I stayed in hospital in my own room till the next day and then we came home.
Here are a couple of pics for you, 1 around 1 hour after birth and one now we are home and my little family:
xx
Can't wait for some more birth stories from you ladies soon xxx
