BeanieBaby
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I can't quite believe 3 wks have passed and i'm only just getting around to posting this but hey ho, that's what having a newborn and a toddler does to you!!!
So here goes....
Sophia was due on 8 October. After lots of pineapple, raspberry leaf tea, curries, long walks, bouncing on the ball, etc. etc., she finally made an appearance on Monday 18 October, 10 days overdue! The fact she kept us waiting this long wasn't a huge surprise, as her big sis Bella kept us waiting even longer, arriving at 12 days overdue!!! I guess we have a couple of divas on our hands, choosing to take 'fashionably late' to another level!
So after a lot of anxiety about when things were going to start (due to childcare issues where Bella was concerned), my contractions finally woke me up at 12.50am on Monday 18 October. I headed into the bathroom and started timing them and noting them down on my mobile - they were coming every 4-5 mins initially, lasting approx. 30-35 seconds. Since I heard you need your contractions to be lasting longer in order for your to dilate, I relaxed a bit and camped out in there for about an hour or so, before I decided to go and wake up my OH. The contractions were still coming around every 4-5 mins but as they were regular I thought best not to take any chances (as we had Bella to think about also), so better get the ball rolling.
After my OH had woken up and been set a few tasks by me to get us organised and get the bags by the door etc, I called my sister. Initially we were due to have the in laws come to watch Bella but a couple of days before I went into labour my father in law came down with a virus so we had to come up with another plan. I was nervous asking my sis to come out in the middle of the night as she lives about 50 mins from us and she has a 7 month old baby, who she'd need to get ready and bring with her, so a lot of upheaval and possible delays if things were to happen quickly (I was born in the front seat of the car and my sis outside the delivery suite as my mum didn't make it, so if my waters were to break early, this could have been quite quick and was afraid she wouldn’t make it to us in time!). Luckily though when I called her at around 3am, she said her and her LO were awake as she'd just given her her night time feed and the bags were packed so with a little help from her OH, they were in the car and on the road in no time. It was lovely to have her arrive without Bella needing waking up and by the time we were ready to head off to the hospital all three of them were tucked up in bed and there were no dramas!
So, we finally headed into hospital at around 6.15am as my contractions had picked up a bit and were coming every 3 mins or so and lasting more like 45-50 seconds each. They were becoming more painful so prior to leaving my OH had put the TENS machine on me and this was working well for pain relief (I used it throughout my labour with my first and I swear by them, if you put them on early enough that is!).
I had chosen to labour in the Home from Home room as it’s a lot less clinical than the delivery suites. Downside is that they can't administer an epidural but that didn't worry me as if I got that desperate for one they'd just have to transfer me next door into a delivery suite. We got into our little room at around 6.50am and were met by one of the midwives. She said that since the midwives were changing over shifts at 7.30am she’d prefer not to examine me to see how dilated I was, since every midwife’s interpretation of dilation is different so it would be best for the same midwife to check me to keep things consistent. I was dying to know how far gone I was as I was labouring similar to with my other daughter to that point and I remembered my disappointment on arrival first time around when I was told I was only 2cm! Luckily when our newly assigned midwife checked at 7.30am I was delighted to hear that I was 6cm already and she could stretch me to 7cm!
So after that piece of good news we were told that she would be surprised if things didn’t happen quite quickly, so I was surprised after another couple of hours of painful contractions, when she told me there was no change! This is when it came to light that what had been dilating me wasn’t in fact Sophia’s head but my waters! I had had a sweep at 7 days overdue and had been told my ‘membranes were bulging’, which apparently means that the amniotic sac is bulging through the cervix and that’s what’s dilating you. This wasn’t bad news particularly as I was dilating, but she said that she was reluctant to break my waters manually as my labour could go backwards if once my waters had gone Sophia’s head didn’t engage fully to continue to dilate me! So we decided to stick with her advice and I said I was happy to carry on without intervention. This is when I decided to get some gas and air! I felt a bit of a fraud as was happy with the pain relief I was getting from my TENS machine, but I knew it would come in handy later and was always a bit gutted they talked me out of using any pain relief at all with my first, so was determined to give myself something this time around!
My waters finally broke, naturally at around 11am (I think?!) and more or less flooded the home from home room!
I was so embarrassed when the midwife said she’d never seen so much amniotic fluid! What got us was that it kept on coming too, as Sophia’s head moved lower and lower! We had a bit of a laugh about it since I seemed more concerned at that than the fact I’d already lost all my dignity prior to getting to this stage! 
Up until this point my OH said although I seemed in a lot of pain through my contractions, I had been cracking jokes and barking orders for sweets from my labour bag and later croissants from the breakfast trolley out in the hall! My waters breaking was the turning point though as that’s where the contractions and pain went up a level (or 3!) and it wasn’t fun anymore! However we got through it and I soon got the urge to push (or for those of you that haven’t been there, the urge is to do a big poo!). The body truly is amazing and knows exactly what to do as I kept saying I wasn’t sure whether I had the urge or not but when that feeling comes there’s no mistaking it, you just have to push….! That’s where I got a little bit more vocal and we realised as her head crowned that she had been ‘back to back’! This to the midwife’s horror could have been quite difficult as it was unexpected (she must have turned during the labour since she was still floating!), but thanks to our clever little girl, there were no dramas as much to everyone’s surprise, especially the midwife’s, as she crowned she then did a 180 degree rotation all by herself and came out with no intervention needed (just as the midwife was thinking of forceps or vontouse I’m sure!). Time of arrival 12.17pm.
I had a 2nd degree tear which needed stitches as much to our surprise our little princess weighed in at a whopping 8lb 6.5oz!! This was not expected since her sis was 2 days later at 12 days overdue and only weighed in at 7lb 3oz! She was absolutely gorgeous though and after shedding a few tears she latched on, skin to skin and that’s where our new chapter in our lives began……
3 wks on, we’re loving being a family of 4 (or 6 should I saw with 2 cats in tow too lol!) and are enjoying getting to know our beautiful baby girl. Its hard work don’t get me wrong, but even through the logistical nightmare of looking after 2, the sleepless nights, nipple soreness and weight gain issues, its all worth it and we wouldn’t change it for the world!
https://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs498.ash2/77175_10150312400550324_718700323_15321118_6775535_n.jpg
xxx
So here goes....
Sophia was due on 8 October. After lots of pineapple, raspberry leaf tea, curries, long walks, bouncing on the ball, etc. etc., she finally made an appearance on Monday 18 October, 10 days overdue! The fact she kept us waiting this long wasn't a huge surprise, as her big sis Bella kept us waiting even longer, arriving at 12 days overdue!!! I guess we have a couple of divas on our hands, choosing to take 'fashionably late' to another level!
So after a lot of anxiety about when things were going to start (due to childcare issues where Bella was concerned), my contractions finally woke me up at 12.50am on Monday 18 October. I headed into the bathroom and started timing them and noting them down on my mobile - they were coming every 4-5 mins initially, lasting approx. 30-35 seconds. Since I heard you need your contractions to be lasting longer in order for your to dilate, I relaxed a bit and camped out in there for about an hour or so, before I decided to go and wake up my OH. The contractions were still coming around every 4-5 mins but as they were regular I thought best not to take any chances (as we had Bella to think about also), so better get the ball rolling.
After my OH had woken up and been set a few tasks by me to get us organised and get the bags by the door etc, I called my sister. Initially we were due to have the in laws come to watch Bella but a couple of days before I went into labour my father in law came down with a virus so we had to come up with another plan. I was nervous asking my sis to come out in the middle of the night as she lives about 50 mins from us and she has a 7 month old baby, who she'd need to get ready and bring with her, so a lot of upheaval and possible delays if things were to happen quickly (I was born in the front seat of the car and my sis outside the delivery suite as my mum didn't make it, so if my waters were to break early, this could have been quite quick and was afraid she wouldn’t make it to us in time!). Luckily though when I called her at around 3am, she said her and her LO were awake as she'd just given her her night time feed and the bags were packed so with a little help from her OH, they were in the car and on the road in no time. It was lovely to have her arrive without Bella needing waking up and by the time we were ready to head off to the hospital all three of them were tucked up in bed and there were no dramas!
So, we finally headed into hospital at around 6.15am as my contractions had picked up a bit and were coming every 3 mins or so and lasting more like 45-50 seconds each. They were becoming more painful so prior to leaving my OH had put the TENS machine on me and this was working well for pain relief (I used it throughout my labour with my first and I swear by them, if you put them on early enough that is!).
I had chosen to labour in the Home from Home room as it’s a lot less clinical than the delivery suites. Downside is that they can't administer an epidural but that didn't worry me as if I got that desperate for one they'd just have to transfer me next door into a delivery suite. We got into our little room at around 6.50am and were met by one of the midwives. She said that since the midwives were changing over shifts at 7.30am she’d prefer not to examine me to see how dilated I was, since every midwife’s interpretation of dilation is different so it would be best for the same midwife to check me to keep things consistent. I was dying to know how far gone I was as I was labouring similar to with my other daughter to that point and I remembered my disappointment on arrival first time around when I was told I was only 2cm! Luckily when our newly assigned midwife checked at 7.30am I was delighted to hear that I was 6cm already and she could stretch me to 7cm!
So after that piece of good news we were told that she would be surprised if things didn’t happen quite quickly, so I was surprised after another couple of hours of painful contractions, when she told me there was no change! This is when it came to light that what had been dilating me wasn’t in fact Sophia’s head but my waters! I had had a sweep at 7 days overdue and had been told my ‘membranes were bulging’, which apparently means that the amniotic sac is bulging through the cervix and that’s what’s dilating you. This wasn’t bad news particularly as I was dilating, but she said that she was reluctant to break my waters manually as my labour could go backwards if once my waters had gone Sophia’s head didn’t engage fully to continue to dilate me! So we decided to stick with her advice and I said I was happy to carry on without intervention. This is when I decided to get some gas and air! I felt a bit of a fraud as was happy with the pain relief I was getting from my TENS machine, but I knew it would come in handy later and was always a bit gutted they talked me out of using any pain relief at all with my first, so was determined to give myself something this time around!
My waters finally broke, naturally at around 11am (I think?!) and more or less flooded the home from home room!
I was so embarrassed when the midwife said she’d never seen so much amniotic fluid! What got us was that it kept on coming too, as Sophia’s head moved lower and lower! We had a bit of a laugh about it since I seemed more concerned at that than the fact I’d already lost all my dignity prior to getting to this stage! Up until this point my OH said although I seemed in a lot of pain through my contractions, I had been cracking jokes and barking orders for sweets from my labour bag and later croissants from the breakfast trolley out in the hall! My waters breaking was the turning point though as that’s where the contractions and pain went up a level (or 3!) and it wasn’t fun anymore! However we got through it and I soon got the urge to push (or for those of you that haven’t been there, the urge is to do a big poo!
). The body truly is amazing and knows exactly what to do as I kept saying I wasn’t sure whether I had the urge or not but when that feeling comes there’s no mistaking it, you just have to push….! That’s where I got a little bit more vocal and we realised as her head crowned that she had been ‘back to back’! This to the midwife’s horror could have been quite difficult as it was unexpected (she must have turned during the labour since she was still floating!), but thanks to our clever little girl, there were no dramas as much to everyone’s surprise, especially the midwife’s, as she crowned she then did a 180 degree rotation all by herself and came out with no intervention needed (just as the midwife was thinking of forceps or vontouse I’m sure!). Time of arrival 12.17pm. I had a 2nd degree tear which needed stitches as much to our surprise our little princess weighed in at a whopping 8lb 6.5oz!! This was not expected since her sis was 2 days later at 12 days overdue and only weighed in at 7lb 3oz! She was absolutely gorgeous though and after shedding a few tears she latched on, skin to skin and that’s where our new chapter in our lives began……
3 wks on, we’re loving being a family of 4 (or 6 should I saw with 2 cats in tow too lol!) and are enjoying getting to know our beautiful baby girl. Its hard work don’t get me wrong, but even through the logistical nightmare of looking after 2, the sleepless nights, nipple soreness and weight gain issues, its all worth it and we wouldn’t change it for the world!
https://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs498.ash2/77175_10150312400550324_718700323_15321118_6775535_n.jpg
xxx
