pinklizzy
Mummy to two little bears
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- Jul 4, 2008
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Our little princess Erin Nicholas arrived at 2.21 am on Tuesday November 9th, very unexpectedly as I had been booked for an elective c-section on the 10th due to her being breech.
Long story
Sunday was my baby shower, had a fab evening and we were totally spoilt! Towards the end of the evening I was starting to get a bit uncomfortable, odd twinges in my pelvis etc but put it down to the fact that I had been sitting in the same position for a while that night.
Got home, walked the dog, sorted out the rubbish and went to bed.
I woke up at about 11.30pm with crampy pains, nothing much just enough to keep me awake. After an hour or so it dawned on -me that the pains were coming on and off, building up then easing off
OH was downstairs playing on the playstation, celebrating the first day of his annual leave so off I went to find him. He wasnt convinced I was having contractions and told me to ask the girls on bnb- which I duly did!
Decided to go back to bed and see if they got any stronger/ more frequent although I was worried that if they were contractions as baby was breech, I would end up needing an emergency c-section.
3am-pains hadnt subsided, still coming every 7-10 mins and painful enough to keep me awake. I rang the labour ward number in my notes and spoke to a MW who advised me to take some paracetamol and try and sleep.
6am-Had had enough of the pains by now and decided to ring the ward again, this time MW advised I came in to be checked due to babys position. I called my mum who was taking us to hospital and woke up OH-who decided to take a 20 min shower!
Meanwhile I packed the rest of my hospital bag.
I arrived at the labour ward was put on the CTG and given an internal-1cm dilated. The MW wasnt able to determine babys position from the internal so after consulting the doctor, they decided to scan me. This scan showed that she was still a frank breech and at this point they asked me why I wanted a c-section rather than opting for an ECV. I was never offered an ECV as I was told they no longer did them! A lot of NHS politics I think! So the plan was made to admit me for 4 hours for monitoring, if nothing progressed then I would go home and wait until admission on Wednesday or they would section me after that days elective procedures.
So I was admitted to the ward at about 10.30am, still having pains every 7-10 minutes they were pretty intense and I could only relieve them by walking around or leaning on my OH. After an hour or so the MW came to see me and let me know that the consultant who offers ECVs at the hospital was in clinic today and was willing to scan me to assess whether or not I was favourable for the procedure.
The consultant was so lovely, she scanned me and there wasnt enough liquor to attempt it but she did some more measurements and said she thought I would be able to deliver vaginally as baby was quite small and Im tall (about 5 11) I never really wanted a c-section and she was so reassuring that OH and I agreed we would try for natural delivery.
Then came the waiting-alll day! OH and my mum were sent away outside of visiting hours so they popped home to pick up a few more bits and pieces while I continued having contractions at the same intervals, although they got stronger and sometimes came every 3-5 minutes, there was no real pattern to them.
8.30pm- MW did another internal, which was really painful and I was still only 1cm dilated. I had a little cry then as I just wanted to go home!
She offered me Meptin(sp?) to take the edge off the contractions and let me get some sleep. I really didnt want any pain relief but OH persuaded me to as I hadnt slept for nearly 24 hrs. All it did was make me feel woozy and really sick and feverish!
For the next few hours, I felt so unwell, couldnt settle-paced up and down the ward or was in the bathroom leaning over the sink. I also felt as if I needed to poo but couldnt. I remember thinking if I can't cope with this level of pain, I'm never going to get through actual labour
I got back into bed at 1am, turned over and my waters broke everywhere! So up I got again to find a MW who checked the sheets and found that they were stained with meconium-although this is quite normal with a breech as the bottom is being squeezed by the pelvis.
The MW said they would transfer me to the labour ward and rang my mum and OH to come in, at that point I told her I needed to poo, quite badly, to which she looked a bit shocked and arranged a wheelchair to take me down rather than walking.
I got the delivery room at 1.15am, MW put me on the CTG and then left, at which point I got a massive contraction and needed to push! I couldnt cope with lieing down still so pulled off all the monitors and go up to kneel over the chair in the corner which is where another MW found me about 5 mins later. She got me back on the bed and did another internal, I was so scared when she told me I was now 10cm dilated and baby was on her way. We have a 30 min journey fom home to the hospital so I was worried OH and mum would miss it!
Because she was breech we had lots of people in the room, 1 registrar, 1 consultant, two midwives and 2 neonatal nurses. I was given local anaesthetic and an episiotomy, they also put a drip up and gave me the gas and air.
My OH and mum arrived as I started pushing, after four pushes her little bottom and legs were born and 30 mins later, her head and shoulders were out too. She was very pale when she was born but had an apgar of 9 at 1 minute and 10 at 5 minutes.
After Id been stitched up, which was more painful than the birth!, the MW got her on to feed and weighed and measured her. I remember asking for a cup of tea as I was gasping and then went for a shower-its amazing that only an hour after giving birth, my pelvis was virtually pain free, after suffering from SPD-like pains since 29 weeks.
So all that time I spent coping with the pain on my own, wanting to curl up on the bathroom floor, was actually established labour, I just didn't realise, and didn't want to keep bothering the MW's
I'm so so glad I managed to avoid a c-section and I'm proud of myself for managing to deliver her vaginally, I'd do it all again tomorrow for my little girl
Long story
Sunday was my baby shower, had a fab evening and we were totally spoilt! Towards the end of the evening I was starting to get a bit uncomfortable, odd twinges in my pelvis etc but put it down to the fact that I had been sitting in the same position for a while that night.
Got home, walked the dog, sorted out the rubbish and went to bed.
I woke up at about 11.30pm with crampy pains, nothing much just enough to keep me awake. After an hour or so it dawned on -me that the pains were coming on and off, building up then easing off
OH was downstairs playing on the playstation, celebrating the first day of his annual leave so off I went to find him. He wasnt convinced I was having contractions and told me to ask the girls on bnb- which I duly did!
Decided to go back to bed and see if they got any stronger/ more frequent although I was worried that if they were contractions as baby was breech, I would end up needing an emergency c-section.
3am-pains hadnt subsided, still coming every 7-10 mins and painful enough to keep me awake. I rang the labour ward number in my notes and spoke to a MW who advised me to take some paracetamol and try and sleep.
6am-Had had enough of the pains by now and decided to ring the ward again, this time MW advised I came in to be checked due to babys position. I called my mum who was taking us to hospital and woke up OH-who decided to take a 20 min shower!
Meanwhile I packed the rest of my hospital bag.
I arrived at the labour ward was put on the CTG and given an internal-1cm dilated. The MW wasnt able to determine babys position from the internal so after consulting the doctor, they decided to scan me. This scan showed that she was still a frank breech and at this point they asked me why I wanted a c-section rather than opting for an ECV. I was never offered an ECV as I was told they no longer did them! A lot of NHS politics I think! So the plan was made to admit me for 4 hours for monitoring, if nothing progressed then I would go home and wait until admission on Wednesday or they would section me after that days elective procedures.
So I was admitted to the ward at about 10.30am, still having pains every 7-10 minutes they were pretty intense and I could only relieve them by walking around or leaning on my OH. After an hour or so the MW came to see me and let me know that the consultant who offers ECVs at the hospital was in clinic today and was willing to scan me to assess whether or not I was favourable for the procedure.
The consultant was so lovely, she scanned me and there wasnt enough liquor to attempt it but she did some more measurements and said she thought I would be able to deliver vaginally as baby was quite small and Im tall (about 5 11) I never really wanted a c-section and she was so reassuring that OH and I agreed we would try for natural delivery.
Then came the waiting-alll day! OH and my mum were sent away outside of visiting hours so they popped home to pick up a few more bits and pieces while I continued having contractions at the same intervals, although they got stronger and sometimes came every 3-5 minutes, there was no real pattern to them.
8.30pm- MW did another internal, which was really painful and I was still only 1cm dilated. I had a little cry then as I just wanted to go home!
She offered me Meptin(sp?) to take the edge off the contractions and let me get some sleep. I really didnt want any pain relief but OH persuaded me to as I hadnt slept for nearly 24 hrs. All it did was make me feel woozy and really sick and feverish!
For the next few hours, I felt so unwell, couldnt settle-paced up and down the ward or was in the bathroom leaning over the sink. I also felt as if I needed to poo but couldnt. I remember thinking if I can't cope with this level of pain, I'm never going to get through actual labour
I got back into bed at 1am, turned over and my waters broke everywhere! So up I got again to find a MW who checked the sheets and found that they were stained with meconium-although this is quite normal with a breech as the bottom is being squeezed by the pelvis.
The MW said they would transfer me to the labour ward and rang my mum and OH to come in, at that point I told her I needed to poo, quite badly, to which she looked a bit shocked and arranged a wheelchair to take me down rather than walking.
I got the delivery room at 1.15am, MW put me on the CTG and then left, at which point I got a massive contraction and needed to push! I couldnt cope with lieing down still so pulled off all the monitors and go up to kneel over the chair in the corner which is where another MW found me about 5 mins later. She got me back on the bed and did another internal, I was so scared when she told me I was now 10cm dilated and baby was on her way. We have a 30 min journey fom home to the hospital so I was worried OH and mum would miss it!
Because she was breech we had lots of people in the room, 1 registrar, 1 consultant, two midwives and 2 neonatal nurses. I was given local anaesthetic and an episiotomy, they also put a drip up and gave me the gas and air.
My OH and mum arrived as I started pushing, after four pushes her little bottom and legs were born and 30 mins later, her head and shoulders were out too. She was very pale when she was born but had an apgar of 9 at 1 minute and 10 at 5 minutes.
After Id been stitched up, which was more painful than the birth!, the MW got her on to feed and weighed and measured her. I remember asking for a cup of tea as I was gasping and then went for a shower-its amazing that only an hour after giving birth, my pelvis was virtually pain free, after suffering from SPD-like pains since 29 weeks.
So all that time I spent coping with the pain on my own, wanting to curl up on the bathroom floor, was actually established labour, I just didn't realise, and didn't want to keep bothering the MW's
I'm so so glad I managed to avoid a c-section and I'm proud of myself for managing to deliver her vaginally, I'd do it all again tomorrow for my little girl
