I gave birth to my beautiful baby boy, Aiden James William Bradley at 2:53am on Sunday 26th August. OH and I are absolutely delighted and over the moon. I keep pinching myself to check I am not dreaming, I am so in love 
He weighed a whopping 10 lbs 2 ounces and was born by c-section due to his head being too big to fit through my pelvis.
A bit of background, OH and I started ttc in summer of last year and fell pregnant pretty much straight away. However I sadly miscarried at just under 6 weeks in the July
. We waited until I had at least one period before we tried again, and we got lucky first attempt. Unfortunately it wasn't to be either and I miscarried again at 6 weeks in the September . I felt really depressed, and also very worried that there might be something wrong with me being able to carry a baby past 6 weeks. Also, the fact my mum lost her first child further into her pregnancy added to my concerns. However I took comfort from the fact that I had managed to conceive without a problem both times as I know many couples suffer losses after having difficulty conceiving. We need to have 3 losses before they run tests so we decided to try again and if the same thing happened, then at least this time we'd get tested for any problems and find out the cause. Again, we let a period go by before trying again, and this time I fell pregnant on the 2nd attempt (December) and here I am today (after a very anxious pregnancy) with little Aiden! 
I had several reassurance scans throughout my pregnancy, some private and one on the nhs as a result of strange pains I was having, and they all said I was expecting a big baby as he was in the 95th centile. He was estimated to be between 8.5 and 9 lbs at birth. I was really worried about the birth given his size and also the fact I suffer from vaginismus, but I put it to back of my mind.
Anyway, moving on to the birth....I was due on 14th August. I was so certain I was going to pop early, not just because of his size, but also because I had a nagging feeling. Of course, I was wrong, as I went overdue. I couldn't believe it when 14th August came and went. 14th August felt like a really strange day, and the days that followed were filled with nerves and 'is this it' moments at every twinge and unusual ache and pain. I was scheduled for an induction at 10 days late, not the usual 2 weeks, as a precaution as I had traces of protein in my urine.
I went in on Friday 24th August at 2pm to be induced. I was shaking like a leaf, I can honestly say that I have never felt as nervous about anything in my life. I was shaking, with nerves. Nerves about the birth and what it was going to be like, nerves about what the next few hours, days, etc had in store, about meeting my baby, and nerves that the birth was going to go ok and nothing was going to go wrong. I was given a cubicle and was given my first pessary a couple of hours later. My OH, parents and MIL all came over to visit me that evening and apart from a few twinges and slightly stronger cramps, nothing was really happening. The monitor showed that there were contractions starting however there was no pattern being set. I was crampy and slightly uncomfortable overnight and didn't sleep well, however I was quite chuffed to have the room to myself and not be sharing with anyone
. The next morning I was given my second pessary, and a few hours later apart from a few twinges, still nothing was happening. Contractions were still showing on the monitor and were becoming more frequent but they were stopping and starting.
At 2pm, just before OH and my parents arrived to visit I started to get quite intense lower back pain and pushing down. There was no cramping though, just an intense stabbing pain which I can't really put into words. Again, no patterns to them though. My parents arrived and I was almost rolling around the floor with the pain. The doctor checked me but my cervix was still closed. I was given strong painkillers however they had no effect at all. I asked if I could have any gas and air but as it was just the ante-natal ward I was in, the hospital has a policy that only the labour ward can provide gas and air! I basically just had to cope with it. Later that afternoon, the pain was off the scale, but again no patterns to it, but I was told my cervix was softening which was something. All this carried on into the evening, pains were getting more intense and regular, but again..no pattern. I begged the nurse for more pain relief and she said she was waiting for the doctor to come down and couldn't do anything until then. Apparently there was an emergency in another department and the doctors were all held back, so I waited several hours in immense pain. When he came, he gave me the go ahead for some dia-morphine and it took the nurse nearly 20 minutes to get me it. I was a bit suspicious about the time she took as she had totally made it clear that she didnt want me to get the dia-morphine. Not that it did much good really, it took a tiny edge of it but not much.
I was told I could get dia-morphine again in 4 hours which would be 11pm on the Saturday night, so I literally counted the hours until 11pm only to be told that there were no doctors available as it was a Saturday night and they probably wouldn't want me to have any more anyway. I felt like crying out of frustration that I had been in hospital for over 24 hours and still no sign of baby, and also, I was in agonising pain with not even regular contractions - and very little pain relief!
It was half a hour later it all kicked off. I was getting ready for a very uncomfortable night and went to the toilet to find bright red blood. I panicked, and called the nurse through. She said she thought it was some of the plug, and offered to do an internal examination to check where things were at now. The cervix was still closed but softening at my internal exam 25 minutes before so I wasn't holding out much hope for anything to be happening. I was wrong! The nurse said "I am going to get a second opinion on this but I think I might be phoning down the labour ward very soon" . I could have kissed her! I prayed this might be the case and it was! The other nurse told me I had progressed to 7cm dilated and they phoned the labour ward! I went to the toilet and right enough, it was then I lost all my plug. On the way down to the labour ward, the nurse told me I must have a better pain threshold than I thought to be that far dilated on such little pain relief.
OH had gone home for the night so I phoned him and he got a taxi straight to hospital (luckily he got one as it was nearly midnight on a Saturday night)! I was taken downstairs to the labour ward, and I was checked and I had progressed to 9cm just as OH arrived. Contractions were coming thick and fast by now and for once there was a pattern, every couple of minutes. The midwife called a doctor in and they whispered among themselves for a few minutes before telling me that the baby's head was measuring too big for my pelvis and I could never give birth vaginally to him.
The doctor told me I was strongly advised to have a c-section, to which I was party relieved about as I suffer from vaginismus and although I fully understood the implications of a c-section, I would have chosen it if I could. The midwifes at my appointments weren't very forthcoming at my requests for an elective c-section. I was taken to theatre and getting the anaesthetic in proved to be difficult as they were giving my gas and air at this point for the contractions which were horrendous and happening nearly every minute. I had to keep taking it and the anaesthetist wasn't getting a chance to get me anesthetised. Then the doctor came over and told me that they needed to get the baby out asap as there were signs of foetal distress and she talked me through the contractions without gas and air so I could get the anesthetic and get the op started.
OH came in and sat beside me. I was told to expect a bit of slight 'tugging an pulling' to which I didn't feel anything. I wasn't even aware I had been opened up when I heard an almighty cry. My little boy had made his entrance into the world, I couldn't believe it or describe in words the feeling when I heard that cry, or when they showed me him! When I heard them say he was 10 lbs 2 and I couldn't believe it! I was told that there was no way I could have managed to push him out naturally with the size of my pelvis and how big he was 
. My cousin's baby is that weight just now at 2 months old!
I can't stop looking at him, nor can I believe that he is actually mine and I am his mummy!
Here are some photos of my little pride and joy
He weighed a whopping 10 lbs 2 ounces and was born by c-section due to his head being too big to fit through my pelvis.A bit of background, OH and I started ttc in summer of last year and fell pregnant pretty much straight away. However I sadly miscarried at just under 6 weeks in the July
. We waited until I had at least one period before we tried again, and we got lucky first attempt. Unfortunately it wasn't to be either and I miscarried again at 6 weeks in the September . I felt really depressed, and also very worried that there might be something wrong with me being able to carry a baby past 6 weeks. Also, the fact my mum lost her first child further into her pregnancy added to my concerns. However I took comfort from the fact that I had managed to conceive without a problem both times as I know many couples suffer losses after having difficulty conceiving. We need to have 3 losses before they run tests so we decided to try again and if the same thing happened, then at least this time we'd get tested for any problems and find out the cause. Again, we let a period go by before trying again, and this time I fell pregnant on the 2nd attempt (December) and here I am today (after a very anxious pregnancy) with little Aiden! I had several reassurance scans throughout my pregnancy, some private and one on the nhs as a result of strange pains I was having, and they all said I was expecting a big baby as he was in the 95th centile. He was estimated to be between 8.5 and 9 lbs at birth. I was really worried about the birth given his size and also the fact I suffer from vaginismus, but I put it to back of my mind.
Anyway, moving on to the birth....I was due on 14th August. I was so certain I was going to pop early, not just because of his size, but also because I had a nagging feeling. Of course, I was wrong, as I went overdue. I couldn't believe it when 14th August came and went. 14th August felt like a really strange day, and the days that followed were filled with nerves and 'is this it' moments at every twinge and unusual ache and pain. I was scheduled for an induction at 10 days late, not the usual 2 weeks, as a precaution as I had traces of protein in my urine.
I went in on Friday 24th August at 2pm to be induced. I was shaking like a leaf, I can honestly say that I have never felt as nervous about anything in my life. I was shaking, with nerves. Nerves about the birth and what it was going to be like, nerves about what the next few hours, days, etc had in store, about meeting my baby, and nerves that the birth was going to go ok and nothing was going to go wrong. I was given a cubicle and was given my first pessary a couple of hours later. My OH, parents and MIL all came over to visit me that evening and apart from a few twinges and slightly stronger cramps, nothing was really happening. The monitor showed that there were contractions starting however there was no pattern being set. I was crampy and slightly uncomfortable overnight and didn't sleep well, however I was quite chuffed to have the room to myself and not be sharing with anyone
. The next morning I was given my second pessary, and a few hours later apart from a few twinges, still nothing was happening. Contractions were still showing on the monitor and were becoming more frequent but they were stopping and starting. At 2pm, just before OH and my parents arrived to visit I started to get quite intense lower back pain and pushing down. There was no cramping though, just an intense stabbing pain which I can't really put into words. Again, no patterns to them though. My parents arrived and I was almost rolling around the floor with the pain. The doctor checked me but my cervix was still closed. I was given strong painkillers however they had no effect at all. I asked if I could have any gas and air but as it was just the ante-natal ward I was in, the hospital has a policy that only the labour ward can provide gas and air! I basically just had to cope with it. Later that afternoon, the pain was off the scale, but again no patterns to it, but I was told my cervix was softening which was something. All this carried on into the evening, pains were getting more intense and regular, but again..no pattern. I begged the nurse for more pain relief and she said she was waiting for the doctor to come down and couldn't do anything until then. Apparently there was an emergency in another department and the doctors were all held back, so I waited several hours in immense pain. When he came, he gave me the go ahead for some dia-morphine and it took the nurse nearly 20 minutes to get me it. I was a bit suspicious about the time she took as she had totally made it clear that she didnt want me to get the dia-morphine. Not that it did much good really, it took a tiny edge of it but not much.
I was told I could get dia-morphine again in 4 hours which would be 11pm on the Saturday night, so I literally counted the hours until 11pm only to be told that there were no doctors available as it was a Saturday night and they probably wouldn't want me to have any more anyway. I felt like crying out of frustration that I had been in hospital for over 24 hours and still no sign of baby, and also, I was in agonising pain with not even regular contractions - and very little pain relief!
It was half a hour later it all kicked off. I was getting ready for a very uncomfortable night and went to the toilet to find bright red blood. I panicked, and called the nurse through. She said she thought it was some of the plug, and offered to do an internal examination to check where things were at now. The cervix was still closed but softening at my internal exam 25 minutes before so I wasn't holding out much hope for anything to be happening. I was wrong! The nurse said "I am going to get a second opinion on this but I think I might be phoning down the labour ward very soon" . I could have kissed her! I prayed this might be the case and it was! The other nurse told me I had progressed to 7cm dilated and they phoned the labour ward! I went to the toilet and right enough, it was then I lost all my plug. On the way down to the labour ward, the nurse told me I must have a better pain threshold than I thought to be that far dilated on such little pain relief.
OH had gone home for the night so I phoned him and he got a taxi straight to hospital (luckily he got one as it was nearly midnight on a Saturday night)! I was taken downstairs to the labour ward, and I was checked and I had progressed to 9cm just as OH arrived. Contractions were coming thick and fast by now and for once there was a pattern, every couple of minutes. The midwife called a doctor in and they whispered among themselves for a few minutes before telling me that the baby's head was measuring too big for my pelvis and I could never give birth vaginally to him.
The doctor told me I was strongly advised to have a c-section, to which I was party relieved about as I suffer from vaginismus and although I fully understood the implications of a c-section, I would have chosen it if I could. The midwifes at my appointments weren't very forthcoming at my requests for an elective c-section. I was taken to theatre and getting the anaesthetic in proved to be difficult as they were giving my gas and air at this point for the contractions which were horrendous and happening nearly every minute. I had to keep taking it and the anaesthetist wasn't getting a chance to get me anesthetised. Then the doctor came over and told me that they needed to get the baby out asap as there were signs of foetal distress and she talked me through the contractions without gas and air so I could get the anesthetic and get the op started.
OH came in and sat beside me. I was told to expect a bit of slight 'tugging an pulling' to which I didn't feel anything. I wasn't even aware I had been opened up when I heard an almighty cry. My little boy had made his entrance into the world, I couldn't believe it or describe in words the feeling when I heard that cry, or when they showed me him!
When I heard them say he was 10 lbs 2 and I couldn't believe it! I was told that there was no way I could have managed to push him out naturally with the size of my pelvis and how big he was . My cousin's baby is that weight just now at 2 months old!I can't stop looking at him, nor can I believe that he is actually mine and I am his mummy!
Here are some photos of my little pride and joy
you must be a really proud Mummy, he is gorgeous and great story too, you did amazing 
