My son was born on his due date so this time, when I got to 8 days overdue I was well and truly fed up! I went for a sweep at 3pm in the afternoon and felt like I was having mild contractions soon after. However, I had been having contractions on and off for the past week and was already 3cm dilated so thought it was just wishful thinking.
I woke up at 1am and thought 'that feels a bit more painful' then my waters broke as I sat up. We headed to the hospital and by the time I got to the ward the contractions were really strong and coming every few minutes so I asked for an epidural. The midwife checked me and I was 5cm.
An hour later she said I was on the list for an epidural but to tell her if I felt any pressure, which I did. She checked me again and I had progressed to 9cm and she said it was too late for one - I wish I had not listened to her at this point!
Very soon I needed to start pushing and this was much less painful than the contractions before. I was pushing for an hour and a half and it was very painful when I was crowning. My husband could see baby's head but then everything stalled. The midwife shouted 'shoulder dystocia', pressed the red button and the room filled with people.
The next few minutes were the most painful and scariest of my life. The baby had its shoulders stuck and they had to manouvere me and manually pull it out. I felt like my body was being ripped apart and I was terrified baby wasn't going to make it.
A few minutes later my beautiful baby girl was born. She did not cry straight away and they gave her some oxygen and suctioned her. It only took a few moments but they were the longest of my life.
She was all well and I got a cuddle while they assessed me. I had a third degree internal tear and had to go to surgery to be repaired.
Six days later, we are both doing well and my recovery has been much better than I expected. My baby girl was 9lb14oz! I seem to grow big babies but as I am only petite, have trouble birthing them. I am very happy to have completed our family and can categorically say I am never doing that ever again!!
I woke up at 1am and thought 'that feels a bit more painful' then my waters broke as I sat up. We headed to the hospital and by the time I got to the ward the contractions were really strong and coming every few minutes so I asked for an epidural. The midwife checked me and I was 5cm.
An hour later she said I was on the list for an epidural but to tell her if I felt any pressure, which I did. She checked me again and I had progressed to 9cm and she said it was too late for one - I wish I had not listened to her at this point!
Very soon I needed to start pushing and this was much less painful than the contractions before. I was pushing for an hour and a half and it was very painful when I was crowning. My husband could see baby's head but then everything stalled. The midwife shouted 'shoulder dystocia', pressed the red button and the room filled with people.
The next few minutes were the most painful and scariest of my life. The baby had its shoulders stuck and they had to manouvere me and manually pull it out. I felt like my body was being ripped apart and I was terrified baby wasn't going to make it.
A few minutes later my beautiful baby girl was born. She did not cry straight away and they gave her some oxygen and suctioned her. It only took a few moments but they were the longest of my life.
She was all well and I got a cuddle while they assessed me. I had a third degree internal tear and had to go to surgery to be repaired.
Six days later, we are both doing well and my recovery has been much better than I expected. My baby girl was 9lb14oz! I seem to grow big babies but as I am only petite, have trouble birthing them. I am very happy to have completed our family and can categorically say I am never doing that ever again!!
