Chatterbox84
Proud Mummy to Aaron
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- Mar 16, 2010
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Wooooo yay! Well I've not long been out of the hospital so you'll have to forgive the rather late update 
At 2am on Saturday 13th November, 2 hours after EDD#1 and 5 days before EDD#2, I felt what I knew straight away were contractions, like strong period pains. I immediately started timing them (using the unrelated 'babybump' iphone app = awesome, btw) and they were around 6-7 minutes apart and getting stronger. After I'd had 3 or 4 I woke up my sleeping hubby, who sat up with a start and had the biggest widest eyes I'd ever seen!! Weirdly, even though I was absolutely kacking myself about going into labour, I was really calm and just happy it was finally happening! I'd got fed up of waiting for it to happen!
I called my hospitals antenatal ward and spoke to a lovely girl called Abbie who advised me to have some tea and toast as it might be the last food I eat for a while, a hot bath and 2 paracetamols and labour at home until the pain became unbearable without help. By 7.30am it had, so we went in to our hospital that was a 30 min drive away, and I had an internal. Abbie advised I was 2cm dilated which actually surprised me as even though I knew what was happening, I somehow thought it was all in my head and perhaps had been having some weird BHs!! We were sent home and told to come back again when the contractions were even more painful and consistent (they were varying between 3 and 5 mins apart, lasting between 30-70 seconds). We got home again at 9.30 and all of a sudden, the contractions got stronger very quickly to the point where I had to stop cleaning the house and drying my hair like I had been doing before heading in the first time!! We headed back and even though I was still only 2cm, I said I wanted to stay in to go through early labour. I was given codeine and a birthing ball which was occasionally uncomfortable and seemed to make it worse, but it must've been doing something! We walked the corridors a few times and I refused food when the trolley came round which was weird as I probably was hungry...anyway, my poor husbands hands were getting squeezed to buggery so I took his wedding ring off him! I managed to close my eyes for 10 minutes at one stage, which I realise now must've been the 'transition' stage of labour. After that, the pain was getting worse so I was given a mobile bottle of G&A and started using that. My MW read through my birth plan and said it was very good, as it specified what i wanted but that all of it was open to change if required. I'd told the MW the contractions were really strong now and pleeeeease don't forget I'd like an epidural at the earliest possible stage!! She hooked me up to a monitor and checked me out again. I hadn't dilated any further though I was nearly full effaced and I think she didn't believe me!! She then gave me a sweep. It turned out the baby was in distress -her face said it all and she fetched a registrar. When she came back I was now in a lot of pain and obviously a little worried at the assistance she'd gone to get. The registrar asked me some questions and tried to adjust the monitor on my bump as it wasn't picking up any contractions at all! They were certainly there, I assured her jokingly
All of a sudden the pain was really unbearable, and I needed to vomit. I just remember my poor OHs face, he looked so upset at seeing me like that 
The registrar then performed another internal and I couldn't believe it...in the 20 minutes since last checking and having the sweep I'd gone from 2cm to 8cm!! No bloody wonder it was hurting so much now! I knew what that meant and for some reason, I didn't get upset at the thought of it being too late for an epidural, I just wanted to get the job done 
After what felt like a lifetime (apparently around 15 minutes) at about 5pm, a room had been cleaned up for me on the delivery suite down the hallway. I realised straight away it was the same room I'd originally had my internal in that morning and felt calmer as it was familiar. After that it was all certainly a blur, but I do remember my OH having a quick wee and me waiting a lifetime to go after him...I just remember there was quite a bit of blood and I decided against having a number 2!! I guess I was scared if I tried I might end up having a toilet baby! I changed into my labour nightie and climbed onto the bed. Like I say, it was quite blurry but I remember they put me in stirrups!! I reminded them I had SPD but I also managed to say 'but actually I've not felt any pain in my pelvis since the contractions started' so we went for it. My most vivid memory was holding my OHs hand and looking at him and saying 'help me' when the pain felt too much. He looked terrified. I meant help me with my breathing!! He did, the entire time, which was a HUGE help. My waters were broken and lots of technical doctor-speak words were said and then a trolley was wheeled in with a few different tools on it. I remember the room becoming full of people (about 7) and recognising the forceps then mouthing to my OH 'there's a pair of forceps', which I had told them i wanted to avoid unless things were desperate. I was told the Diamorphine would've made the baby drowsy and tha as he was already in distress and needed to get out quickly, did I really want it? When I said no, they offered me Pethidine. They injected it into my thigh (for some reason I said 'oh no', as if the pain would be bad!!!!) and then I just remember being told they were going to turn him round, try a ventouse (fail), then an episiotomy leading to the dreaded forceps. The Pethidine didn't even touch the sides!!
The pushing started, and just 10 minutes later, at 18:37 weighing only 5lb 15oz, baby Aaron Michael Edwards was finally born
the registrar cut the cord and put him on my chest, both against my birth plan but I understand why now.
I'll give you a shortish version of what then turned out to be an even longer story!! He suffered a Pneumothorax caused by MAS (meaning he blew a hole in his lung trying to clear the poop he had injested in the womb because of the distress he was in, possibly due to the cord being round his neck - they don't know), and was whisked to the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU). I was then carted off to theatre as I was told I'd suffered a 3rd degree tear in addition to the episiotomy. I was given a spinal (like when you have a C section) and was in there for an hour and a half getting stitched up. That was surreal! Looking down at my sausage legs and wanting to move them but not being able to! After, the amazing MWs wheeled me in my bed to SCBU so I could see him - he looked so ill and small, in an incubator with a cannula in his hand, and all sorts of tubes going on. I think I still must've been high as I didn't register how horrible the whole thing was. I was then taken to the Antenatal ward and my poor OH had to go home, god knows how shitty he must've felt. I learnt I had a catheter!! I was moved to a private room the next day only a couple of hours after another lady was put in my room with her baby, which was lovely of the staff as I missed my baby being on SCBU and hearing my roommate's little girl Abigail crying and feeding broke my heart. It goes without saying on my inevitable 3rd day I crumbled like a cookie and sobbed all night by his incubator. Not only that, with the expressing I was doing with my breastmilk I developed Mastitis which was pure agony - my boobs tripled in size and went solid as a rock, hot and tender. I have an inverted left nipple which meant the left side was worse than my right, as it didn't 'let down' as well as my right. I'd nearly fainted the night before with flu like symptoms which should've been a clue!! Aaron was on SCBU for 5 days and everyday he got a little stronger, bit by bit having a tube removed, or coming off the air, or getting shifted to High Dependency into a normal crib with a movement monitor. After he finally came back to my room (best day ever) we were kept in for 48 hours whilst I tried to fix my sore boobies and learn to feed him!
We came home on Friday night, and I cried when i walked in the door and OH cried with me. I'd missed the place so much but just hadn't realised! Aaron is now 8 days old and weighs 6lb 3oz, which the MWs seemed to be amazed by ('but he was in SCBU?? and you're breastfeeding?? with MASTITIS???'). He's happy, healthy and absolutely beautiful. The staff at Ormskirk District General that I saw (too many to name in the week I met them all) were amazing, and I couldn't speak any higher about all of them. I'm currently breastfeeding when possible - and bottlefeeding him my expressed milk - while the Mastitis clears, which is going really well. I really don't want to formula feed if I can help it so I'm giving it the best shot I can.
Whilst it all sounds terrifying and I doubt I'd have been reassured reading this leading up to my due date, I have to say when things started happening they just...happened. Your body is amazing and its designed to do what it has to, otherwise none of us would be here. I don't look back on the birth as traumatic in the slightest, though all the MWs said they weren't there to blow smoke up my arse, but I did a really good job and should be proud.
If you haven't given up reading by now, then thank you for reading my birth story
xx xx
At 2am on Saturday 13th November, 2 hours after EDD#1 and 5 days before EDD#2, I felt what I knew straight away were contractions, like strong period pains. I immediately started timing them (using the unrelated 'babybump' iphone app = awesome, btw) and they were around 6-7 minutes apart and getting stronger. After I'd had 3 or 4 I woke up my sleeping hubby, who sat up with a start and had the biggest widest eyes I'd ever seen!! Weirdly, even though I was absolutely kacking myself about going into labour, I was really calm and just happy it was finally happening! I'd got fed up of waiting for it to happen!
I called my hospitals antenatal ward and spoke to a lovely girl called Abbie who advised me to have some tea and toast as it might be the last food I eat for a while, a hot bath and 2 paracetamols and labour at home until the pain became unbearable without help. By 7.30am it had, so we went in to our hospital that was a 30 min drive away, and I had an internal. Abbie advised I was 2cm dilated which actually surprised me as even though I knew what was happening, I somehow thought it was all in my head and perhaps had been having some weird BHs!! We were sent home and told to come back again when the contractions were even more painful and consistent (they were varying between 3 and 5 mins apart, lasting between 30-70 seconds). We got home again at 9.30 and all of a sudden, the contractions got stronger very quickly to the point where I had to stop cleaning the house and drying my hair like I had been doing before heading in the first time!! We headed back and even though I was still only 2cm, I said I wanted to stay in to go through early labour. I was given codeine and a birthing ball which was occasionally uncomfortable and seemed to make it worse, but it must've been doing something! We walked the corridors a few times and I refused food when the trolley came round which was weird as I probably was hungry...anyway, my poor husbands hands were getting squeezed to buggery so I took his wedding ring off him! I managed to close my eyes for 10 minutes at one stage, which I realise now must've been the 'transition' stage of labour. After that, the pain was getting worse so I was given a mobile bottle of G&A and started using that. My MW read through my birth plan and said it was very good, as it specified what i wanted but that all of it was open to change if required. I'd told the MW the contractions were really strong now and pleeeeease don't forget I'd like an epidural at the earliest possible stage!! She hooked me up to a monitor and checked me out again. I hadn't dilated any further though I was nearly full effaced and I think she didn't believe me!! She then gave me a sweep. It turned out the baby was in distress -her face said it all and she fetched a registrar. When she came back I was now in a lot of pain and obviously a little worried at the assistance she'd gone to get. The registrar asked me some questions and tried to adjust the monitor on my bump as it wasn't picking up any contractions at all! They were certainly there, I assured her jokingly
All of a sudden the pain was really unbearable, and I needed to vomit. I just remember my poor OHs face, he looked so upset at seeing me like that The registrar then performed another internal and I couldn't believe it...in the 20 minutes since last checking and having the sweep I'd gone from 2cm to 8cm!! No bloody wonder it was hurting so much now! I knew what that meant and for some reason, I didn't get upset at the thought of it being too late for an epidural, I just wanted to get the job done After what felt like a lifetime (apparently around 15 minutes) at about 5pm, a room had been cleaned up for me on the delivery suite down the hallway. I realised straight away it was the same room I'd originally had my internal in that morning and felt calmer as it was familiar. After that it was all certainly a blur, but I do remember my OH having a quick wee and me waiting a lifetime to go after him...I just remember there was quite a bit of blood and I decided against having a number 2!! I guess I was scared if I tried I might end up having a toilet baby! I changed into my labour nightie and climbed onto the bed. Like I say, it was quite blurry but I remember they put me in stirrups!! I reminded them I had SPD but I also managed to say 'but actually I've not felt any pain in my pelvis since the contractions started' so we went for it. My most vivid memory was holding my OHs hand and looking at him and saying 'help me' when the pain felt too much. He looked terrified. I meant help me with my breathing!! He did, the entire time, which was a HUGE help. My waters were broken and lots of technical doctor-speak words were said and then a trolley was wheeled in with a few different tools on it. I remember the room becoming full of people (about 7) and recognising the forceps then mouthing to my OH 'there's a pair of forceps', which I had told them i wanted to avoid unless things were desperate. I was told the Diamorphine would've made the baby drowsy and tha as he was already in distress and needed to get out quickly, did I really want it? When I said no, they offered me Pethidine. They injected it into my thigh (for some reason I said 'oh no', as if the pain would be bad!!!!) and then I just remember being told they were going to turn him round, try a ventouse (fail), then an episiotomy leading to the dreaded forceps. The Pethidine didn't even touch the sides!!The pushing started, and just 10 minutes later, at 18:37 weighing only 5lb 15oz, baby Aaron Michael Edwards was finally born
the registrar cut the cord and put him on my chest, both against my birth plan but I understand why now.I'll give you a shortish version of what then turned out to be an even longer story!! He suffered a Pneumothorax caused by MAS (meaning he blew a hole in his lung trying to clear the poop he had injested in the womb because of the distress he was in, possibly due to the cord being round his neck - they don't know), and was whisked to the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU). I was then carted off to theatre as I was told I'd suffered a 3rd degree tear in addition to the episiotomy. I was given a spinal (like when you have a C section) and was in there for an hour and a half getting stitched up. That was surreal! Looking down at my sausage legs and wanting to move them but not being able to! After, the amazing MWs wheeled me in my bed to SCBU so I could see him - he looked so ill and small, in an incubator with a cannula in his hand, and all sorts of tubes going on. I think I still must've been high as I didn't register how horrible the whole thing was. I was then taken to the Antenatal ward and my poor OH had to go home, god knows how shitty he must've felt. I learnt I had a catheter!! I was moved to a private room the next day only a couple of hours after another lady was put in my room with her baby, which was lovely of the staff as I missed my baby being on SCBU and hearing my roommate's little girl Abigail crying and feeding broke my heart. It goes without saying on my inevitable 3rd day I crumbled like a cookie and sobbed all night by his incubator. Not only that, with the expressing I was doing with my breastmilk I developed Mastitis which was pure agony - my boobs tripled in size and went solid as a rock, hot and tender. I have an inverted left nipple which meant the left side was worse than my right, as it didn't 'let down' as well as my right. I'd nearly fainted the night before with flu like symptoms which should've been a clue!! Aaron was on SCBU for 5 days and everyday he got a little stronger, bit by bit having a tube removed, or coming off the air, or getting shifted to High Dependency into a normal crib with a movement monitor. After he finally came back to my room (best day ever) we were kept in for 48 hours whilst I tried to fix my sore boobies and learn to feed him!
We came home on Friday night, and I cried when i walked in the door and OH cried with me. I'd missed the place so much but just hadn't realised! Aaron is now 8 days old and weighs 6lb 3oz, which the MWs seemed to be amazed by ('but he was in SCBU?? and you're breastfeeding?? with MASTITIS???'). He's happy, healthy and absolutely beautiful. The staff at Ormskirk District General that I saw (too many to name in the week I met them all) were amazing, and I couldn't speak any higher about all of them. I'm currently breastfeeding when possible - and bottlefeeding him my expressed milk - while the Mastitis clears, which is going really well. I really don't want to formula feed if I can help it so I'm giving it the best shot I can.
Whilst it all sounds terrifying and I doubt I'd have been reassured reading this leading up to my due date, I have to say when things started happening they just...happened. Your body is amazing and its designed to do what it has to, otherwise none of us would be here. I don't look back on the birth as traumatic in the slightest, though all the MWs said they weren't there to blow smoke up my arse, but I did a really good job and should be proud.
If you haven't given up reading by now, then thank you for reading my birth story
xx xx
