hanfromman
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Baby Jack Edward Ian came into the world on 5th January 2013 at 11.24pm, weighing 5 pounds 15.5 ounces
Things started to happen on New Years Eve (I think) when I started having my bloody show. This continued until the 4th January, when I had a MW appointment. I was 1cm dilated at the appt, but she couldn't attempt a sweep so I was booked in for another appointment on the 8th January.
Later that day, about 5pm, I started to get mild contractions about 20 minutes apart. After a few hours of this I started to think maybe something really was happening, and by midnight they were 7 minutes apart and 30-40 seconds long. I rang the on call midwife who said they need to be a minute long, so just hang tight for the time being and have a bath to soothe them. I didn't get any sleep that night as the contractions carried on. In the morning my DH rang the on call midwife again, who happened to be our community midwife that day. She again said to have a bath and call back in an hour. I did have a bath this time and found (slightly to my horror!) that it slowed the contractions down! My DH rang her back and told her this, and she said to ring back if they get to 4-5 minutes apart.
By about 1pm they were steadily 4-5 minutes apart and almost a minute long, so I rang her and she said she'd be over within an hour. She arrived and examined me and I was 4cm dilated and could stretch to 5! She showed my DH some back rubbing techniques and rang the delivery suite and said we should head over there at about 4pm.
So I got there and after about an hour or two my contractions had become far stronger and about 2-3 minutes apart. I hated the gas and air - it worked enough to block out the start of the contraction but couldn't do anything to the worst bit so I found I was just hit by a wall of pain with no warning! I started to get quite angry with the gas and air
And took it out on the bed by kicking and punching it At 6pm I was examined and was 5cm. At some point after this I requested Pethidine but found it did nothing but make me drowsy
After 6pm the contractions really did become unbearable and I eventually begged for an epidural! However at 9.30 or 10pm they examined me again and I was fully dilated, so I'd done 5cm in less than 4 hours!!
Then I started pushing and immediately felt happier and found the contractions easier to deal with, as I had the pushing to distract me and felt the pain was actually doing something! I was stood up for most of the pushing, hanging off my poor husband! However towards the end they got me to lie on the bed as they could see I would have to be cut. Eventually, with the help of an episiotomy, the head came out, and then I had to push the body out without a contraction as my contractions had decreased to 10 minutes apart I honestly don't remember any 'ring of fire', just the pain of the contractions!!
Jack was passed to me straight away and then I was stitched up. It's all a bit of a blur cos of the Pethidine, but I think I've got most of the story down! Incidentally, I stayed a bit spaced for about 5 days afterwards, and my community MW investigated and found that I'd been given a full dose of Pethidine, despite being only a size 8 - apparently I should only have been given half a dose! I regret the Pethidine, but at the time just felt desperate.
Jack had impeccable timing because my parents had arrived on the 4th, and my DH's sister was visiting us just for the one night, so they all got to see him
He was also 36 minutes before his due date!
Anyway here are some pics!
Things started to happen on New Years Eve (I think) when I started having my bloody show. This continued until the 4th January, when I had a MW appointment. I was 1cm dilated at the appt, but she couldn't attempt a sweep so I was booked in for another appointment on the 8th January.
Later that day, about 5pm, I started to get mild contractions about 20 minutes apart. After a few hours of this I started to think maybe something really was happening, and by midnight they were 7 minutes apart and 30-40 seconds long. I rang the on call midwife who said they need to be a minute long, so just hang tight for the time being and have a bath to soothe them. I didn't get any sleep that night as the contractions carried on. In the morning my DH rang the on call midwife again, who happened to be our community midwife that day. She again said to have a bath and call back in an hour. I did have a bath this time and found (slightly to my horror!) that it slowed the contractions down! My DH rang her back and told her this, and she said to ring back if they get to 4-5 minutes apart.
By about 1pm they were steadily 4-5 minutes apart and almost a minute long, so I rang her and she said she'd be over within an hour. She arrived and examined me and I was 4cm dilated and could stretch to 5! She showed my DH some back rubbing techniques and rang the delivery suite and said we should head over there at about 4pm.
So I got there and after about an hour or two my contractions had become far stronger and about 2-3 minutes apart. I hated the gas and air - it worked enough to block out the start of the contraction but couldn't do anything to the worst bit so I found I was just hit by a wall of pain with no warning! I started to get quite angry with the gas and air
And took it out on the bed by kicking and punching it At 6pm I was examined and was 5cm. At some point after this I requested Pethidine but found it did nothing but make me drowsy After 6pm the contractions really did become unbearable and I eventually begged for an epidural! However at 9.30 or 10pm they examined me again and I was fully dilated, so I'd done 5cm in less than 4 hours!! Then I started pushing and immediately felt happier and found the contractions easier to deal with, as I had the pushing to distract me and felt the pain was actually doing something! I was stood up for most of the pushing, hanging off my poor husband! However towards the end they got me to lie on the bed as they could see I would have to be cut. Eventually, with the help of an episiotomy, the head came out, and then I had to push the body out without a contraction as my contractions had decreased to 10 minutes apart
I honestly don't remember any 'ring of fire', just the pain of the contractions!!Jack was passed to me straight away and then I was stitched up. It's all a bit of a blur cos of the Pethidine, but I think I've got most of the story down! Incidentally, I stayed a bit spaced for about 5 days afterwards, and my community MW investigated and found that I'd been given a full dose of Pethidine, despite being only a size 8 - apparently I should only have been given half a dose!
I regret the Pethidine, but at the time just felt desperate.Jack had impeccable timing because my parents had arrived on the 4th, and my DH's sister was visiting us just for the one night, so they all got to see him
He was also 36 minutes before his due date!Anyway here are some pics!
