Pixie81
Mummy to Oliver & Amelia
- Joined
- Aug 4, 2009
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Hi Ladies, I'm sorry it's taken me over a week to write this, but I've finally done it! I'm sorry it's so long!
Well after a pretty much sleepless, uncomfortable night, my hubby and I went into hospital on Saturday 17th April at 8am for me to be induced. Some of you might know I had been suffering from Obstetric Choleostasis, so I had to be induced at 38 weeks; which also happened to be on my Birthday!
I was monitored when I got to the hospital and left for what seemed like hours. Then a midwife finally came and examined me. She said I was already about 2cm dilated, but my cervix was still quite thick. She gave me the Prostin pessary and explained that if it didnt work first time I would be given a second one at 3pm, and if that didnt work I would be kept in overnight and given a third one the next morning. I was then put on the monitor again and left alone. The staff on the Rowan ward at Kettering General was few and far between and I thought the level of care they gave me was diabolical. About 30-45 minutes after being given the Prostin I started getting really bad pains really low down in my bump and in my back. I didnt know if they were contractions or not as I didnt think the Prostin wouldve taken effect that quickly and there were no midwives around to ask them. Eventually my husband found a midwife and asked her if I could start using my TENS machine. All she said was if she thinks she needs it. No one came to see me though. Then lunch came round. I was feeling a little bit nauseous, but as soon as I took the lid off the plate I threw up! Luckily I got a sick bowl just in time! I felt so bad for the three other women in my room that had to listen to me!
At about 1:30pm my Mum came up to the ward. By this time I was having really bad sickness and diarrhoea and was in a LOT of pain. The contractions were coming almost every minute and were lasting a lot longer. My husband went outside again and found a midwife to ask if there was anything I could take for the sickness and explained how much pain I was in. I had to wait about half an hour before she eventually came to see me. She asked me if I wanted to be examined again (surely she shouldve done that anyway? Why ASK me if I wanted to be examined??!!) Of course I said yes! She said my cervix had thinned out and I could go up to labour ward and have my waters broken at 3:30pm. I was in and out of the bathroom I dont know how many times and I lost count of the sick bowls I used up. In the end there was nothing left to come up and was just stomach acid.
My Dad and my Sister brought my Son (who is 10) in to see me and my sister bought me some birthday presents which I opened in between contractions! She got me a lovely handbag, an Urban Decay eyeshadow palette, a photo frame with a picture of me and her when we were little and also a recovery bag packed full of magazines, chocolates, biscuits, an iPod full of my favourite songs, etc etc. I just finished opening them when a midwife came to take me upstairs.
The rest is a bit of a blur from here. I got up to the labour ward and a midwife came and introduced herself to me. She also had a student midwife with her. They were both really nice. She examined me and broke my waters which were like Niagra Falls! I was told in the last few weeks of my pregnancy that I was holding a lot of fluid, but nothing couldve prepared me for that... I had my eyes shut as I felt totally out of it and couldn't physically open them, but I could feel it! It came out in a big gush and was really warm... like bath water! Then a few minutes later ANOTHER big gush! Everyone in the room was laughing and I think it got the midwifes feet! Things progressed very quickly from here and I felt the need to push almost immediately. I was examined and told I was 7cm dilated, but there was nothing I could do to stop the urge... I just HAD to push! The midwife told me to just do what my body was telling me to do, so I started pushing. I was trying to adjust my TENS machine, although I dont think I was using it properly. I hired the Mama TENS one from Boots and there were 3 stages to use for the three stages of labour, however I never managed to adjust it in between stages as it all happened so quickly, so it was still on level one throughout the whole labour. They mentioned trying gas and air, but as soon as I put the mouth piece to my lips I thought I was going to be sick, so I went without.
Amongst all the pain I was well out of it and still couldnt even open my eyes but I was aware that there were a lot of people in the room. I could hear them saying the babys heart rate was dipping and they couldnt find it on the usual monitor, so they were trying to attach a clip to the babys head but couldnt get it to work. Eventually they managed to find the heart rate on the monitor and the clip was taken off. The babys head was crowning from the middle instead of the front and she had her arm up with her hand under her chin. The midwife tried to turn her head. I cant really remember all of this, all I was aware of was the constant need to push. They kept telling me little pushes which was hard work as I wanted to do big ones! The midwife kept saying I know it stings, push past the stinging sensation and I remember thinking yeah... thats what it feels like!! How does she know?? I kept telling myself one more push and her headll be out, then you wont have long to go! Then after what only seemed like 6 pushes or so... after one BIG push she sort of slipped out! In full! No head first... just one whole slippy baby! Finally I could open my eyes and I couldnt stop smiling! She was so gorgeous! She was a bit blue and covered in vernix but I couldnt stop stroking her tiny little face. She was so beautiful. Amelia Rose Clifton was born at 4:28pm weighing 6lb 6oz after a 2 hour and 40 minute labour. She was the student midwifes last baby to be delivered for her to be fully qualified and she said she would always remember her.
While the placenta was delivered I was told to put her to the breast and she took to it more or less straight away. Its amazing how babies can feel around for the nipple that early on. I did have gas and air for the placenta. I dont remember having to deliver it with my last pregnancy, but this time I remember it feeling just as bad as delivering Amelia I thought I was having twins at one point!! Lol. I had gas and air which was pretty good, although it made me feel dizzy when I opened my eyes after and my voice was deep and croaky! My lips were also really dry. The midwife examined me and found that I had tore inside a bit so I needed to have stitches.
I noticed that Amelias left eye was a little bruised and the midwife called the paediatrician while she wrote up her notes. Everything happened so quickly that she didnt get a chance to write up any notes throughout the whole labour. It took her ages!
The paediatrician came and looked at Amelias eye and said it looked like a blocked tear duct but wanted his senior doctor to have a look at it. He said he wouldnt be long, but the midwife said she needed to stitch me up as I had already been waiting an hour and a half so he said he would hang around outside and would be in when we were ready.
The stitching took about 40 minutes to do and I had to have my legs up in stirrups! It seemed to take forever. When we were finished, the doctor was nowhere to be found.
After that I was left for a bit to have a cup of tea and some biscuits and a nurse got me a sandwich. I finally had my appetite back! I hadnt been able to eat anything for weeks as the choleostasis had made me lose my appetite and made me nauseous so eating food was a bit of a novelty! Crunch creams never tasted so good!
After that a nurse came to get me and I went for a shower while my mum and hubby took all my stuff down to another room down the hall. She took me down to the bathroom in a wheelchair. I had a nice shower and got dressed and was amazed how good I felt. I didnt feel like I had just given birth at all. I was on a total high. I think the pregnancy and the choleostasis really took it out of me. I was pretty ill for weeks before the birth. It was so nice to feel my old self again.
I came out of the bathroom and the wheelchair was there waiting for me but there was no one to be seen. Then I saw my DH at the top of the hall waving at me so I walked up. Apparently I walked up there really fast and he had a go at me saying ive just given birth and I should slow down!! I really felt great though! I was told that once the doctor had been to see Amelias eye, we could go home.
We waited ages and ages in the room for the doctor and his senior to come. My dad, sister and my son had come back to see us and they kept them waiting outside for about 2 hours as they kept saying the doctor had to come first. We were so bored and I just wanted to go home. Eventually at about 9pm they let them come in twos, but my mum and my husband had to wait outside and take it in turns. My son came in and wouldnt stop grinning when he saw his new baby sister. He was such a proud big brother! I gave him the present that Amelia had bought him
and he shouted YES!! which echoed around the ward when he opened the new DSi that we had bought him. He opened it up and started taking pictures of Amelia straight away. He then went and swapped places with my sister. She and my Dad were over the moon and thought she was gorgeous.
It got to 10:30pm and the doctor STILL hadnt been to see us, so we decided it would be best if I stayed the night in hospital and got some rest (even though I wasnt feeling tired in the slightest!) so I was taken back downstairs to Rowan ward. I was lucky enough to be given my own private room as there werent many ladies on the ward. My husband left at about 11pm and I sat up and wrote out some birth announcement cards until 12:40 when I thought I would try and get some sleep.
Then at 02:20am I was rudely awakened by the doctor! She said that the doctor we were waiting for earlier had now finished his shift, and she was doing the late shift. The earlier one had been held up in the SCBU with some very sick babies. She looked at Amelias eye and said the same thing.. blocked tear duct but she would have to get a second opinion from HER senior! Grrrr... She said he may come down in an hour or so or may wait until the morning. Luckily it was the in morning and the first doctor we saw came back with his senior. They said we could go home as soon as an appointment had been booked for her to go to the eye department. That was at about 11am... To cut a long story short, after a LOT of waiting around and pestering the midwives to go home, we eventually left the hospital at 6:30pm!! I tell you, Im so glad there was a TV in that room or I think I would have lost the plot!
We have been home a week now and Amelias eye is SO much better. We took her to the eye hospital on Tuesday and she was given eye drops and antibiotics. The doctor there extracted loads of puss out of it and told us to keep massaging the corner of the eye to get rid of all the gunk out of it. We then had to take her back on Wednesday so that another doctor could have a look at it. She specialises in the same condition Amelia has, but in adults. She said that when she was in the womb she probably opened her eyes during labour where it got infected. The midwife did say that there was a bit of meconium in my waters, so it was probably that which got in it. Apparently the puss that was coming out was the amniotic fluid. She told us to stop the eye drops, but continue with the antibiotics. She has been taking them for 5 days now and today you wouldnt even know she had anything wrong with it. Its still a tiny bit bruised but the shape of her eye is straightening out and she hasnt had any puss in it for 2 days. Before; because there was such a big lump there, it had pushed her eye a bit wonky. Bless her. Also I think her tear ducts must be working now as she had a little tear earlier when she cried.
I am so in love with my little girl! I never knew I could love someone as much as I love her. I get so emotional when I look at her I could cry! She is SO beautiful and tiny. I wish she could stay this small forever! I could just eat her up! She is in tiny baby clothes at the moment as newborn ones just hang off her.
Anyway, that was my birth story. Sorry its so long! Here are a few photos. You can see how much better her eye is getting....
Well after a pretty much sleepless, uncomfortable night, my hubby and I went into hospital on Saturday 17th April at 8am for me to be induced. Some of you might know I had been suffering from Obstetric Choleostasis, so I had to be induced at 38 weeks; which also happened to be on my Birthday!
I was monitored when I got to the hospital and left for what seemed like hours. Then a midwife finally came and examined me. She said I was already about 2cm dilated, but my cervix was still quite thick. She gave me the Prostin pessary and explained that if it didnt work first time I would be given a second one at 3pm, and if that didnt work I would be kept in overnight and given a third one the next morning. I was then put on the monitor again and left alone. The staff on the Rowan ward at Kettering General was few and far between and I thought the level of care they gave me was diabolical. About 30-45 minutes after being given the Prostin I started getting really bad pains really low down in my bump and in my back. I didnt know if they were contractions or not as I didnt think the Prostin wouldve taken effect that quickly and there were no midwives around to ask them. Eventually my husband found a midwife and asked her if I could start using my TENS machine. All she said was if she thinks she needs it. No one came to see me though. Then lunch came round. I was feeling a little bit nauseous, but as soon as I took the lid off the plate I threw up! Luckily I got a sick bowl just in time! I felt so bad for the three other women in my room that had to listen to me!
At about 1:30pm my Mum came up to the ward. By this time I was having really bad sickness and diarrhoea and was in a LOT of pain. The contractions were coming almost every minute and were lasting a lot longer. My husband went outside again and found a midwife to ask if there was anything I could take for the sickness and explained how much pain I was in. I had to wait about half an hour before she eventually came to see me. She asked me if I wanted to be examined again (surely she shouldve done that anyway? Why ASK me if I wanted to be examined??!!) Of course I said yes! She said my cervix had thinned out and I could go up to labour ward and have my waters broken at 3:30pm. I was in and out of the bathroom I dont know how many times and I lost count of the sick bowls I used up. In the end there was nothing left to come up and was just stomach acid.
My Dad and my Sister brought my Son (who is 10) in to see me and my sister bought me some birthday presents which I opened in between contractions! She got me a lovely handbag, an Urban Decay eyeshadow palette, a photo frame with a picture of me and her when we were little and also a recovery bag packed full of magazines, chocolates, biscuits, an iPod full of my favourite songs, etc etc. I just finished opening them when a midwife came to take me upstairs.
The rest is a bit of a blur from here. I got up to the labour ward and a midwife came and introduced herself to me. She also had a student midwife with her. They were both really nice. She examined me and broke my waters which were like Niagra Falls!
I was told in the last few weeks of my pregnancy that I was holding a lot of fluid, but nothing couldve prepared me for that... I had my eyes shut as I felt totally out of it and couldn't physically open them, but I could feel it! It came out in a big gush and was really warm... like bath water! Then a few minutes later ANOTHER big gush! Everyone in the room was laughing and I think it got the midwifes feet! Things progressed very quickly from here and I felt the need to push almost immediately. I was examined and told I was 7cm dilated, but there was nothing I could do to stop the urge... I just HAD to push! The midwife told me to just do what my body was telling me to do, so I started pushing. I was trying to adjust my TENS machine, although I dont think I was using it properly. I hired the Mama TENS one from Boots and there were 3 stages to use for the three stages of labour, however I never managed to adjust it in between stages as it all happened so quickly, so it was still on level one throughout the whole labour. They mentioned trying gas and air, but as soon as I put the mouth piece to my lips I thought I was going to be sick, so I went without. Amongst all the pain I was well out of it and still couldnt even open my eyes but I was aware that there were a lot of people in the room. I could hear them saying the babys heart rate was dipping and they couldnt find it on the usual monitor, so they were trying to attach a clip to the babys head but couldnt get it to work. Eventually they managed to find the heart rate on the monitor and the clip was taken off. The babys head was crowning from the middle instead of the front and she had her arm up with her hand under her chin. The midwife tried to turn her head. I cant really remember all of this, all I was aware of was the constant need to push. They kept telling me little pushes which was hard work as I wanted to do big ones! The midwife kept saying I know it stings, push past the stinging sensation and I remember thinking yeah... thats what it feels like!! How does she know?? I kept telling myself one more push and her headll be out, then you wont have long to go! Then after what only seemed like 6 pushes or so... after one BIG push she sort of slipped out! In full! No head first... just one whole slippy baby! Finally I could open my eyes and I couldnt stop smiling! She was so gorgeous! She was a bit blue and covered in vernix but I couldnt stop stroking her tiny little face. She was so beautiful. Amelia Rose Clifton was born at 4:28pm weighing 6lb 6oz after a 2 hour and 40 minute labour. She was the student midwifes last baby to be delivered for her to be fully qualified and she said she would always remember her.
While the placenta was delivered I was told to put her to the breast and she took to it more or less straight away. Its amazing how babies can feel around for the nipple that early on. I did have gas and air for the placenta. I dont remember having to deliver it with my last pregnancy, but this time I remember it feeling just as bad as delivering Amelia I thought I was having twins at one point!! Lol. I had gas and air which was pretty good, although it made me feel dizzy when I opened my eyes after and my voice was deep and croaky! My lips were also really dry. The midwife examined me and found that I had tore inside a bit so I needed to have stitches.
I noticed that Amelias left eye was a little bruised and the midwife called the paediatrician while she wrote up her notes. Everything happened so quickly that she didnt get a chance to write up any notes throughout the whole labour. It took her ages!
The paediatrician came and looked at Amelias eye and said it looked like a blocked tear duct but wanted his senior doctor to have a look at it. He said he wouldnt be long, but the midwife said she needed to stitch me up as I had already been waiting an hour and a half so he said he would hang around outside and would be in when we were ready.
The stitching took about 40 minutes to do and I had to have my legs up in stirrups! It seemed to take forever. When we were finished, the doctor was nowhere to be found.
After that I was left for a bit to have a cup of tea and some biscuits and a nurse got me a sandwich. I finally had my appetite back! I hadnt been able to eat anything for weeks as the choleostasis had made me lose my appetite and made me nauseous so eating food was a bit of a novelty! Crunch creams never tasted so good!
After that a nurse came to get me and I went for a shower while my mum and hubby took all my stuff down to another room down the hall. She took me down to the bathroom in a wheelchair. I had a nice shower and got dressed and was amazed how good I felt. I didnt feel like I had just given birth at all. I was on a total high. I think the pregnancy and the choleostasis really took it out of me. I was pretty ill for weeks before the birth. It was so nice to feel my old self again.
I came out of the bathroom and the wheelchair was there waiting for me but there was no one to be seen. Then I saw my DH at the top of the hall waving at me so I walked up. Apparently I walked up there really fast and he had a go at me saying ive just given birth and I should slow down!! I really felt great though! I was told that once the doctor had been to see Amelias eye, we could go home.
We waited ages and ages in the room for the doctor and his senior to come. My dad, sister and my son had come back to see us and they kept them waiting outside for about 2 hours as they kept saying the doctor had to come first. We were so bored and I just wanted to go home. Eventually at about 9pm they let them come in twos, but my mum and my husband had to wait outside and take it in turns. My son came in and wouldnt stop grinning when he saw his new baby sister. He was such a proud big brother! I gave him the present that Amelia had bought him
and he shouted YES!! which echoed around the ward when he opened the new DSi that we had bought him. He opened it up and started taking pictures of Amelia straight away. He then went and swapped places with my sister. She and my Dad were over the moon and thought she was gorgeous.It got to 10:30pm and the doctor STILL hadnt been to see us, so we decided it would be best if I stayed the night in hospital and got some rest (even though I wasnt feeling tired in the slightest!) so I was taken back downstairs to Rowan ward. I was lucky enough to be given my own private room as there werent many ladies on the ward. My husband left at about 11pm and I sat up and wrote out some birth announcement cards until 12:40 when I thought I would try and get some sleep.
Then at 02:20am I was rudely awakened by the doctor! She said that the doctor we were waiting for earlier had now finished his shift, and she was doing the late shift. The earlier one had been held up in the SCBU with some very sick babies. She looked at Amelias eye and said the same thing.. blocked tear duct but she would have to get a second opinion from HER senior! Grrrr... She said he may come down in an hour or so or may wait until the morning. Luckily it was the in morning and the first doctor we saw came back with his senior. They said we could go home as soon as an appointment had been booked for her to go to the eye department. That was at about 11am... To cut a long story short, after a LOT of waiting around and pestering the midwives to go home, we eventually left the hospital at 6:30pm!! I tell you, Im so glad there was a TV in that room or I think I would have lost the plot!
We have been home a week now and Amelias eye is SO much better. We took her to the eye hospital on Tuesday and she was given eye drops and antibiotics. The doctor there extracted loads of puss out of it and told us to keep massaging the corner of the eye to get rid of all the gunk out of it. We then had to take her back on Wednesday so that another doctor could have a look at it. She specialises in the same condition Amelia has, but in adults. She said that when she was in the womb she probably opened her eyes during labour where it got infected. The midwife did say that there was a bit of meconium in my waters, so it was probably that which got in it. Apparently the puss that was coming out was the amniotic fluid. She told us to stop the eye drops, but continue with the antibiotics. She has been taking them for 5 days now and today you wouldnt even know she had anything wrong with it. Its still a tiny bit bruised but the shape of her eye is straightening out and she hasnt had any puss in it for 2 days. Before; because there was such a big lump there, it had pushed her eye a bit wonky. Bless her. Also I think her tear ducts must be working now as she had a little tear earlier when she cried.
I am so in love with my little girl! I never knew I could love someone as much as I love her. I get so emotional when I look at her I could cry! She is SO beautiful and tiny. I wish she could stay this small forever! I could just eat her up! She is in tiny baby clothes at the moment as newborn ones just hang off her.
Anyway, that was my birth story. Sorry its so long! Here are a few photos. You can see how much better her eye is getting....
Congratulations again! And well done xxx
xxx
xx
