pimento1979
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- Jun 14, 2010
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Friday, January 21 12:20am
I got up to go to the bathroom and felt a trickle unsure of what it is, I put a pad in and go back to bed. Everytime I wriggle around or feel the baby move, I feel more liquid come out. I get back up to go to the bathroom again, and had a bit more of a gush- my waters have broken! I giggle and say to Mark, I think my waters have broken. We *try* to get back to sleep but are both filled with nervous energy, so we go downstairs, have something to eat and watch a recorded episode of Greys Anatomy before convincing ourselves that we should go back to bed and get some sleep in case this is the real thing! Before I go back to bed, I got to the loo again and wipe away a bit of my mucus plug.
8am
Havent noticed anymore trickling since about 5am, but when I wake up at 8am, I wipe away a large mucus plug. I call my wonderful doula, Eleanor Fowler, and have a chat about whats happened. She suggests I call the midwife and tell her whats going on. I call the MW and she suggests she comes by to check me over and have a chat. She did, however, recommend I try reflexology or acupuncture to get things going naturally, as we are up against the clock now. I make appointments for both treatments.
Noon
MW comes by, we have a chat. She checks babys HR and my BP- both are fine. Baby felt to be LOA. She talks about sweeps, VE and swabbing for GBS, all of which I decline as I dont see how these would help at the moment (and all could introduce infection anyway). She documents all of this and says shell give me a call again later in the day.
Mark and I go for lunch at the local noodle house and I have a spicy hot and sour soup. Yum. I then go for my reflexology appointment and go home.
4pm
I start having period-like pains irregularly and for varying amounts of time, but am excited by it. These pains stop by 6pm. The MW rings and I tell her this- she is disappointed but says she will call me Saturday morning.
8pm
I have an acupuncture treatment which leaves me with irregular strong period-like pains throughout the night.
Saturday, January 22
7:30am
MW calls and asks for update- I tell her about the acupuncture and period-like pains throughout the night. We get off the phone and about 20 minutes later, the SOM calls me to say that we need to think about antibiotics and induction as it has now been more than 24 hours since my water broke. I told her I wasnt keen on either option but agree to another MW coming by to check things out.
Mark and I go for a long walk on uneven terrain, and by the end of the walk, I am having some very strong period-like pains, lasting anywhere between 20 seconds and 2 minutes. Get home and have multiple cups of double-strength RLT.
Noon
MW comes by and checks FHR and my BP- both again are fine. Baby felt to be LOA. This MW was very empowering, saying that although the hospital may want to give me antibiotics and induce me, that I dont have to do anything I dont want to. Mark and I agree to go into hospital for CTG monitoring and antibiotics, but no induction if CTG is OK.
We get to Delivery Suite and the first thing the MW says is So, were doing an induction. Mark and I look at each other and say No, we agreed to monitoring and antibiotics but no induction. MW says, This is an unusual request, I need to go speak to my supervisor. Supervisor (not SOM) comes back and says that if they give me antibiotics, then I HAVE to stay in for induction. Well, the CTG comes back absolutely fine and shows signs of contractions every 15 minutes or so (which I can feel). We decline the antibiotics and induction- the supervisor says that the registrar will have to come speak to me as I am now at high risk of infection and going against medical advice. 20 minutes later, the supervisor comes back and says the registrar is fine with me going home! But, Mark and I agree with her that we will come back in 24 hours for further monitoring. We decline swabs for GBS but agree to them taking blood to check my WBC count in case I came back, so that they can have a baseline.
After leaving hospital, we go for a nice pub lunch to keep the oxytocin flowing. At the end of the meal, I had to go to the loo and I had a massive period-pain contraction and am feeling positive that things are moving along.
5pm
We get home from the pub and go for another walk. My contractions are now every 10 minutes for anything from 15 to 60 seconds. We put on our Michael McIntyre DVD that we got for Christmas. That man is hilarious!
8pm
I have another acupuncture appointment, after which the contractions start coming every 5 minutes for about 60-90 seconds.
10pm
I tell Mark to start filling the pool. I call Eleanor and the MW and tell them to come over. By the time they come, I am in the pool and contracting pretty regularly. MW happy with me being in the pool. I am in and out of the pool throughout the evening to go to the loo and everytime I get out, sit on the toilet, or go back downstairs, I have a contraction.
Sunday, January 23
1:30am
I have a VE- I am at 4cm. MW unsure of babys position- she thinks the head is transverse
I get back in the pool and as the evening/morning progresses, I start getting 2, 3 or 4 contractions back-to-back without a break in between. The contractions also feel like they start halfway up the wave, without a build-up am not sure if the beginning of the contraction is a bit dulled due to me being in the water or what the contractions are intense, I vomit and cry and shake and I think to myself, This must be Transition. Silly me. Neocortex engaged. Bad girl.
This progresses throughout the evening and I vomit intensely. Again, I think, This SURELY must be Transition.
Throughout this, however, my temperature has gone up, as well as my pulse, and the MW is starting to get concerned about infection. The first time she mentioned about thinking about transferring to hospital was about 2am. Mark and I ask for another half an hour, at which point my temp and pulse are still going up. I take some paracetamol and after another 30 minutes, temp and pulse still going up (by up, I mean my temperature is 37.7C and pulse is 102. My baseline at the beginning of the evening was 36.5C and pulse of 80). The MW is saying that she really suggests we think strongly about going in, and even if I am able to have the baby at home, that we would probably need to go in anyway for monitoring of the baby for 24 hours afterwards. Mark asks the sensible question, well, she is in labour isnt it natural for temp and pulse to go up? . MW says, yes, to a degree, but not as much as it has. We ask the MW whether shell stay with us in hospital and she says shell come in with us, but then probably transfer care to the Delivery Suite. We ask for another 30 minutes- but by this time (4am), contractions are getting more time in between them, but still very, very strong. MW concerned things are slowing down, so she suggests a VE to see where we are, and I agree.
7cm. Youve got to be kidding me (although I know about sphincter law, this VE was not helpful)! I start to freak out badly. I say out loud that I want an epidural. I try to vomit but there is nothing left to come out. My mind starts telling my body to stop. I dont want to do this anymore. I try to go to the loo and I cant wee. This really freaks me out. Obviously it was probably due to the babys head descending but I dont really care and all I want to do is wee. I climb into bed and put the covers over my head and just want it all to stop. Eleanor and Mark are amazing, making sure I breathe through the contractions but all I want is an epidural. The ambulance is called and in I get.
5am
I get into the ambulance and the first thing they offer me is Gas and Air. I tell them that I dont want it as I dont want to be sick (even though Ive already been sick). I get on the stretcher and off we go. We get to the hospital over a series of speed bumps and as soon as they wheel me into the delivery room, I try to jump off the stretcher even though its still 3 feet off the ground! As soon as I get off, I start leaning on the sink and feel an incredible urge to push. Eleanor gets my trousers off and I yell out, The baby is coming! (Eleanor and Mark tell me afterward that the MW is getting really excited at this point- and also that the Delivery Suite is so busy, that my MW has to stay with me. She was really brilliant, apparently she said you dont want this monitor strapped to you, do you? and they just hold the monitor up to my belly to hear the FHR). They get me up onto the bed, leaning over the top and Eleanor, Mark and the MW coach me through the pushing. The MW keeps monitoring my temp and pulse, which have now come down substantially! Great news.
I push for about 20 minutes and finally at 6:18am, Eva Rose made her entry, head and body at once, into this world in one almighty push, all 6lbs 6oz of her, 2 weeks and 1 day before her EDD. Physiological third stage takes about 20 minutes. MW checks me over for tears and I have a graze going up and a 2nd degree clean tear going down, but I decline suturing as Ive had enough of things down there! Eva starts rooting around and feeding like a champ!
We (my doula, MW and me) all have a chat and agree that probably baby was not in optimal position, which may explain waters breaking and nothing happening, followed by those contractions back-to-back and my temp and pulse going up as my body needed to work extra hard to get her into the right position. The MW was fantastic though- she said to Eleanor that she doesnt take transfer into hospital lightly, and it was obvious that she was very much all for keeping me at home as long as I wanted to. Mark and I are very thankful for her and will definitely be writing her a thank you note.
We are kept in hospital for 24 hours and Eva is fine- no signs of infection. My milk came in on the third day.
So although I didnt get my home birth, I wouldnt have changed anything about the birth itself I do regret freaking out as much as I did and I wonder if it was normal, or whether it was the fact that the baby wasnt in precisely the right positioning or whether I was anticipating transition too much. Whether it was the ambulance ride, or the safety aspect of the hospital, Eva came out safely and I was still able to give birth without any interventions.
Mark said to Eleanor after all this was over, "Originally, I was a bit skeptical about the need for a doula, but after all that, I really appreciated your support and felt really enabled to help Cathy, especially when the going got tough. It was reassuring to have someone experienced there that what was happening was perfectly normal." Bless!
At todays 5 day MW appointment, Eva has only lost 50 grams! Brilliant! But my 2nd degree tear, although pretty much healed, has not healed evenly and the two edges of the wound have overlapped. Although small in the scheme of things, it was enough to send me into tears. This is the first time Ive cried since the birth so maybe it was a mix with the baby blues, too. I feel stupid for not having had the sutures when offered to me, but theres nothing I can do about it now. I had asked Mark to look at my perineum yesterday and he said he wasn't sure if it was a mixture of swelling, but he said it looked like another vaginal lip... again, not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but it really upsets me just to type this! I'm not vain about "down there" and I know Mark doesn't care...
Anyway, that's my story- I hope I don't upset anyone with my honesty about how I was feeling after the VE at 7cm. But here are some cute pictures to cheer you up in case I did
I got up to go to the bathroom and felt a trickle unsure of what it is, I put a pad in and go back to bed. Everytime I wriggle around or feel the baby move, I feel more liquid come out. I get back up to go to the bathroom again, and had a bit more of a gush- my waters have broken! I giggle and say to Mark, I think my waters have broken. We *try* to get back to sleep but are both filled with nervous energy, so we go downstairs, have something to eat and watch a recorded episode of Greys Anatomy before convincing ourselves that we should go back to bed and get some sleep in case this is the real thing! Before I go back to bed, I got to the loo again and wipe away a bit of my mucus plug.
8am
Havent noticed anymore trickling since about 5am, but when I wake up at 8am, I wipe away a large mucus plug. I call my wonderful doula, Eleanor Fowler, and have a chat about whats happened. She suggests I call the midwife and tell her whats going on. I call the MW and she suggests she comes by to check me over and have a chat. She did, however, recommend I try reflexology or acupuncture to get things going naturally, as we are up against the clock now. I make appointments for both treatments.
Noon
MW comes by, we have a chat. She checks babys HR and my BP- both are fine. Baby felt to be LOA. She talks about sweeps, VE and swabbing for GBS, all of which I decline as I dont see how these would help at the moment (and all could introduce infection anyway). She documents all of this and says shell give me a call again later in the day.
Mark and I go for lunch at the local noodle house and I have a spicy hot and sour soup. Yum. I then go for my reflexology appointment and go home.
4pm
I start having period-like pains irregularly and for varying amounts of time, but am excited by it. These pains stop by 6pm. The MW rings and I tell her this- she is disappointed but says she will call me Saturday morning.
8pm
I have an acupuncture treatment which leaves me with irregular strong period-like pains throughout the night.
Saturday, January 22
7:30am
MW calls and asks for update- I tell her about the acupuncture and period-like pains throughout the night. We get off the phone and about 20 minutes later, the SOM calls me to say that we need to think about antibiotics and induction as it has now been more than 24 hours since my water broke. I told her I wasnt keen on either option but agree to another MW coming by to check things out.
Mark and I go for a long walk on uneven terrain, and by the end of the walk, I am having some very strong period-like pains, lasting anywhere between 20 seconds and 2 minutes. Get home and have multiple cups of double-strength RLT.
Noon
MW comes by and checks FHR and my BP- both again are fine. Baby felt to be LOA. This MW was very empowering, saying that although the hospital may want to give me antibiotics and induce me, that I dont have to do anything I dont want to. Mark and I agree to go into hospital for CTG monitoring and antibiotics, but no induction if CTG is OK.
We get to Delivery Suite and the first thing the MW says is So, were doing an induction. Mark and I look at each other and say No, we agreed to monitoring and antibiotics but no induction. MW says, This is an unusual request, I need to go speak to my supervisor. Supervisor (not SOM) comes back and says that if they give me antibiotics, then I HAVE to stay in for induction. Well, the CTG comes back absolutely fine and shows signs of contractions every 15 minutes or so (which I can feel). We decline the antibiotics and induction- the supervisor says that the registrar will have to come speak to me as I am now at high risk of infection and going against medical advice. 20 minutes later, the supervisor comes back and says the registrar is fine with me going home! But, Mark and I agree with her that we will come back in 24 hours for further monitoring. We decline swabs for GBS but agree to them taking blood to check my WBC count in case I came back, so that they can have a baseline.
After leaving hospital, we go for a nice pub lunch to keep the oxytocin flowing. At the end of the meal, I had to go to the loo and I had a massive period-pain contraction and am feeling positive that things are moving along.
5pm
We get home from the pub and go for another walk. My contractions are now every 10 minutes for anything from 15 to 60 seconds. We put on our Michael McIntyre DVD that we got for Christmas. That man is hilarious!
8pm
I have another acupuncture appointment, after which the contractions start coming every 5 minutes for about 60-90 seconds.
10pm
I tell Mark to start filling the pool. I call Eleanor and the MW and tell them to come over. By the time they come, I am in the pool and contracting pretty regularly. MW happy with me being in the pool. I am in and out of the pool throughout the evening to go to the loo and everytime I get out, sit on the toilet, or go back downstairs, I have a contraction.
Sunday, January 23
1:30am
I have a VE- I am at 4cm. MW unsure of babys position- she thinks the head is transverse
I get back in the pool and as the evening/morning progresses, I start getting 2, 3 or 4 contractions back-to-back without a break in between. The contractions also feel like they start halfway up the wave, without a build-up am not sure if the beginning of the contraction is a bit dulled due to me being in the water or what the contractions are intense, I vomit and cry and shake and I think to myself, This must be Transition. Silly me. Neocortex engaged. Bad girl.
This progresses throughout the evening and I vomit intensely. Again, I think, This SURELY must be Transition.
Throughout this, however, my temperature has gone up, as well as my pulse, and the MW is starting to get concerned about infection. The first time she mentioned about thinking about transferring to hospital was about 2am. Mark and I ask for another half an hour, at which point my temp and pulse are still going up. I take some paracetamol and after another 30 minutes, temp and pulse still going up (by up, I mean my temperature is 37.7C and pulse is 102. My baseline at the beginning of the evening was 36.5C and pulse of 80). The MW is saying that she really suggests we think strongly about going in, and even if I am able to have the baby at home, that we would probably need to go in anyway for monitoring of the baby for 24 hours afterwards. Mark asks the sensible question, well, she is in labour isnt it natural for temp and pulse to go up? . MW says, yes, to a degree, but not as much as it has. We ask the MW whether shell stay with us in hospital and she says shell come in with us, but then probably transfer care to the Delivery Suite. We ask for another 30 minutes- but by this time (4am), contractions are getting more time in between them, but still very, very strong. MW concerned things are slowing down, so she suggests a VE to see where we are, and I agree.
7cm. Youve got to be kidding me (although I know about sphincter law, this VE was not helpful)! I start to freak out badly. I say out loud that I want an epidural. I try to vomit but there is nothing left to come out. My mind starts telling my body to stop. I dont want to do this anymore. I try to go to the loo and I cant wee. This really freaks me out. Obviously it was probably due to the babys head descending but I dont really care and all I want to do is wee. I climb into bed and put the covers over my head and just want it all to stop. Eleanor and Mark are amazing, making sure I breathe through the contractions but all I want is an epidural. The ambulance is called and in I get.
5am
I get into the ambulance and the first thing they offer me is Gas and Air. I tell them that I dont want it as I dont want to be sick (even though Ive already been sick). I get on the stretcher and off we go. We get to the hospital over a series of speed bumps and as soon as they wheel me into the delivery room, I try to jump off the stretcher even though its still 3 feet off the ground! As soon as I get off, I start leaning on the sink and feel an incredible urge to push. Eleanor gets my trousers off and I yell out, The baby is coming! (Eleanor and Mark tell me afterward that the MW is getting really excited at this point- and also that the Delivery Suite is so busy, that my MW has to stay with me. She was really brilliant, apparently she said you dont want this monitor strapped to you, do you? and they just hold the monitor up to my belly to hear the FHR). They get me up onto the bed, leaning over the top and Eleanor, Mark and the MW coach me through the pushing. The MW keeps monitoring my temp and pulse, which have now come down substantially! Great news.
I push for about 20 minutes and finally at 6:18am, Eva Rose made her entry, head and body at once, into this world in one almighty push, all 6lbs 6oz of her, 2 weeks and 1 day before her EDD. Physiological third stage takes about 20 minutes. MW checks me over for tears and I have a graze going up and a 2nd degree clean tear going down, but I decline suturing as Ive had enough of things down there! Eva starts rooting around and feeding like a champ!
We (my doula, MW and me) all have a chat and agree that probably baby was not in optimal position, which may explain waters breaking and nothing happening, followed by those contractions back-to-back and my temp and pulse going up as my body needed to work extra hard to get her into the right position. The MW was fantastic though- she said to Eleanor that she doesnt take transfer into hospital lightly, and it was obvious that she was very much all for keeping me at home as long as I wanted to. Mark and I are very thankful for her and will definitely be writing her a thank you note.
We are kept in hospital for 24 hours and Eva is fine- no signs of infection. My milk came in on the third day.
So although I didnt get my home birth, I wouldnt have changed anything about the birth itself I do regret freaking out as much as I did and I wonder if it was normal, or whether it was the fact that the baby wasnt in precisely the right positioning or whether I was anticipating transition too much. Whether it was the ambulance ride, or the safety aspect of the hospital, Eva came out safely and I was still able to give birth without any interventions.
Mark said to Eleanor after all this was over, "Originally, I was a bit skeptical about the need for a doula, but after all that, I really appreciated your support and felt really enabled to help Cathy, especially when the going got tough. It was reassuring to have someone experienced there that what was happening was perfectly normal." Bless!
At todays 5 day MW appointment, Eva has only lost 50 grams! Brilliant! But my 2nd degree tear, although pretty much healed, has not healed evenly and the two edges of the wound have overlapped. Although small in the scheme of things, it was enough to send me into tears. This is the first time Ive cried since the birth so maybe it was a mix with the baby blues, too. I feel stupid for not having had the sutures when offered to me, but theres nothing I can do about it now. I had asked Mark to look at my perineum yesterday and he said he wasn't sure if it was a mixture of swelling, but he said it looked like another vaginal lip... again, not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but it really upsets me just to type this! I'm not vain about "down there" and I know Mark doesn't care...
Anyway, that's my story- I hope I don't upset anyone with my honesty about how I was feeling after the VE at 7cm. But here are some cute pictures to cheer you up in case I did
Congratulations on your gorgeous babe!
