Pyrrhic
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Name: Niamh Elizabeth Rose
D.O.B: 23rd December 2008
Time: 4:15pm
Weight: 7lbs 11.5oz
Gestation: 40+11
Length of Labour: 21 hours
Length of Active Labour: 7 hours 15mins
Length of time pushing: 30mins
Pain Relief: TENS until 10cm, then gas and air
Well I had always imagined and hoped that I would have as natural a birth as possible. I was looking forward to being at home and feeling my contractions start and telling my OH excitedly that we would have our LO soon. Unfortunately, that wasn't to be! My little girl was running late, so the decision was made to induce me at 7pm on the 22nd of December when I was 40+10.
In all honesty I was terrified and made several posts on here looking for advice. I didn't know whether to hold off and wait for her to come naturally, or to go ahead with the induction as the health risks can increase the further on the pregnancy goes. In the end I decided to be induced and OH and I arrived at the hospital at 6:30pm.
I was hoping to get a private room, but they were full so was shown to a ward room. Thankfully it was just myself and one other woman who I ended up chatting to most of the evening. It was nice to have some company.
I was given the gel at 7pm and was told I was still only 1cm dilated. My contractions started almost straight away. The midwife explained that this was just my uterus contracting from the gel and was normal, but they wouldn't expect me to go into proper contractions for some time and that I would probably need more gel at 9am. Well, the contractions didn't stop, but I told OH to go home at about 8pm so he could rest up and get some sleep. I tried to lie on my bed but it was just too painful. I tried sitting up, walking, etc and everything was just too sore. In the end I bounced on a birthing ball all night and didn't sleep a wink.
By 1am my contractions were very intense and coming every 5mins. I couldn't find a position to ease them, but I didn't want to try to take any pain relief just yet as I knew they were only going to get worse. One of the midwives ran me a bath which I stayed in for over an hour. The contractions were so bad by this point that I couldn't move when I was having one.
By 3am I was exhausted and the contractions were getting very heavy. It was then that I asked for a TENS machine to help. I didn't feel any different at first, but kept bouncing on my ball and using the TENS and after about an hour I started to feel a little better. I stayed like this until 8am when I begged the midwives to have a look at me. From 6am my contractions had started coming every 2mins and I was in so much pain. I felt like there was no break between the contractions at all and I just wanted to sleep.
I had a midwife come and check me at 8:30am and I was only 3cms, but she decided to break my waters and take me up to the delivery suite. My OH arrived around the same time.
At first I tried walking around the suite to try and help the contractions. My MW asked me to sit on the bed to check my blood pressure, and I never got off the bed again. Now lots of people and books say lying down through your labour is the worst thing you can do, but I was exhausted. I could barely open my eyes and I was getting dizzy. I couldn't even sit up on my own and when I needed the toilet my OH and midwife had to help me get there. There was no way I could have done anything but lie down.
I don't remember much of the next few hours as it seemed to pass so quickly. I stayed on the TENS machine for the duration of my labour and didn't ask for any other pain relief. To be honest though, it crossed my mind alot. My LO was back to back so the pain was incredibly intense and not only across my bump, but also in my bum and back. I apparently didn't make any noise and just gripped the bed when I had a contraction. I had my eyes closed for the entire thing and I didn't want to be touched or talked to by anyone, even my OH! The poor man had to just sit and watch me in pain. At one point he picked up a newspaper to read and after 5 minutes of the pages rustling I opened my eyes, looked directly at him and said 'If you don't put that paper down right now I'll shove it up your fucking arse.'
He duly did!
At 1:30pm the midwife checked me again. I was only 4cms! 6.5 hours of labour for 1cm! I was too out of it to be upset by that point though, and the midwife decided then to start me on the drip to speed things up. She put it on a half dose.
I cannot even describe how painful things got after that. The contractions were now right on top of each other and unbearable. My TENS machine got whacked up pretty high then. I had no idea if it was helping, but I wasn't about to take it off and find out.
By 3pm I was telling the midwife that I was going to have to push soon. She told me that it wasn't possible as an hour and a half ago I'd only been 4cms. She told me she'd check me at 4pm.
At 3:30pm there was a shift changeover and a new midwife came on. She was introduced to me, but everything is quite hazy. The one thing that does stick out for me though is my MW said to the new one: 'She's doing very well, I haven't even heard her say ouch yet'.
Not long after the changeover I told the MW that I needed to push. I was told she had to check me first. I told her I couldn't stop myself, and that the baby was coming now! She went to give me an internal and with just looking at me she could already see my LOs head!
My body then started to push on it's own and I fought against it as the mw hadn't told me I could push yet. It hurt like hell. I asked for the gas and air then to help me through it. The mw then told me that my body would naturally push and that I could now push down with each contraction. I listened to every single word she said from that point as I wanted to avoided tearing. It took about 30mins of pushing for my little girl to be born at 4:15pm. I cannot describe the immense feeling as she slipped from my body. It was just amazing, the best feeling on earth. I loved her before I even looked at her.
The midwife placed her straight onto my chest, and waited for the cord to stop pulsing before my OH cut it. I was too tired to try to touch or even hold her, so my OH took her. He started talking to her and she stopped crying instantly to listen to his voice. I watched as she was weighed and taken care of by the MWs and then as I was stitched (no tear, just a small graze that required one stitch) I watched my OH cuddling her in a chair next to my bed.
She is the most perfect thing I have ever laid eyes on, and I love her so much.
I had lost a lot of blood during labour, so was hooked up to a drip and had to stay on the bed when I was transferred onto a ward.
I stayed in hospital until the afternoon of the 24th December and then pretty much discharged myself as I was getting so stressed out on the ward and not sleeping.
Niamh is 5 days old now and doing very well.
She is just gorgeous and I feel as though I had such a fantastic labour and birth. I even told my MW half an hour after I'd had her that I would do it all again that night. I still wish I could do it again, as the moment I gave birth to he is by far and away the most amazing moment of my life, and I will never forget it.
I will update with pictures when I can.
Here she is a few hours old:
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/sublime_envy/Sophie/SDC10027.jpg
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/sublime_envy/Sophie/SDC10073.jpg
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/sublime_envy/Sophie/SDC10053.jpg
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/sublime_envy/Sophie/SDC10052.jpg
D.O.B: 23rd December 2008
Time: 4:15pm
Weight: 7lbs 11.5oz
Gestation: 40+11
Length of Labour: 21 hours
Length of Active Labour: 7 hours 15mins
Length of time pushing: 30mins
Pain Relief: TENS until 10cm, then gas and air
Well I had always imagined and hoped that I would have as natural a birth as possible. I was looking forward to being at home and feeling my contractions start and telling my OH excitedly that we would have our LO soon. Unfortunately, that wasn't to be! My little girl was running late, so the decision was made to induce me at 7pm on the 22nd of December when I was 40+10.
In all honesty I was terrified and made several posts on here looking for advice. I didn't know whether to hold off and wait for her to come naturally, or to go ahead with the induction as the health risks can increase the further on the pregnancy goes. In the end I decided to be induced and OH and I arrived at the hospital at 6:30pm.
I was hoping to get a private room, but they were full so was shown to a ward room. Thankfully it was just myself and one other woman who I ended up chatting to most of the evening. It was nice to have some company.
I was given the gel at 7pm and was told I was still only 1cm dilated. My contractions started almost straight away. The midwife explained that this was just my uterus contracting from the gel and was normal, but they wouldn't expect me to go into proper contractions for some time and that I would probably need more gel at 9am. Well, the contractions didn't stop, but I told OH to go home at about 8pm so he could rest up and get some sleep. I tried to lie on my bed but it was just too painful. I tried sitting up, walking, etc and everything was just too sore. In the end I bounced on a birthing ball all night and didn't sleep a wink.
By 1am my contractions were very intense and coming every 5mins. I couldn't find a position to ease them, but I didn't want to try to take any pain relief just yet as I knew they were only going to get worse. One of the midwives ran me a bath which I stayed in for over an hour. The contractions were so bad by this point that I couldn't move when I was having one.
By 3am I was exhausted and the contractions were getting very heavy. It was then that I asked for a TENS machine to help. I didn't feel any different at first, but kept bouncing on my ball and using the TENS and after about an hour I started to feel a little better. I stayed like this until 8am when I begged the midwives to have a look at me. From 6am my contractions had started coming every 2mins and I was in so much pain. I felt like there was no break between the contractions at all and I just wanted to sleep.
I had a midwife come and check me at 8:30am and I was only 3cms, but she decided to break my waters and take me up to the delivery suite. My OH arrived around the same time.
At first I tried walking around the suite to try and help the contractions. My MW asked me to sit on the bed to check my blood pressure, and I never got off the bed again. Now lots of people and books say lying down through your labour is the worst thing you can do, but I was exhausted. I could barely open my eyes and I was getting dizzy. I couldn't even sit up on my own and when I needed the toilet my OH and midwife had to help me get there. There was no way I could have done anything but lie down.
I don't remember much of the next few hours as it seemed to pass so quickly. I stayed on the TENS machine for the duration of my labour and didn't ask for any other pain relief. To be honest though, it crossed my mind alot. My LO was back to back so the pain was incredibly intense and not only across my bump, but also in my bum and back. I apparently didn't make any noise and just gripped the bed when I had a contraction. I had my eyes closed for the entire thing and I didn't want to be touched or talked to by anyone, even my OH! The poor man had to just sit and watch me in pain. At one point he picked up a newspaper to read and after 5 minutes of the pages rustling I opened my eyes, looked directly at him and said 'If you don't put that paper down right now I'll shove it up your fucking arse.'
He duly did!At 1:30pm the midwife checked me again. I was only 4cms! 6.5 hours of labour for 1cm! I was too out of it to be upset by that point though, and the midwife decided then to start me on the drip to speed things up. She put it on a half dose.
I cannot even describe how painful things got after that. The contractions were now right on top of each other and unbearable. My TENS machine got whacked up pretty high then. I had no idea if it was helping, but I wasn't about to take it off and find out.
By 3pm I was telling the midwife that I was going to have to push soon. She told me that it wasn't possible as an hour and a half ago I'd only been 4cms. She told me she'd check me at 4pm.
At 3:30pm there was a shift changeover and a new midwife came on. She was introduced to me, but everything is quite hazy. The one thing that does stick out for me though is my MW said to the new one: 'She's doing very well, I haven't even heard her say ouch yet'.
Not long after the changeover I told the MW that I needed to push. I was told she had to check me first. I told her I couldn't stop myself, and that the baby was coming now! She went to give me an internal and with just looking at me she could already see my LOs head!
My body then started to push on it's own and I fought against it as the mw hadn't told me I could push yet. It hurt like hell. I asked for the gas and air then to help me through it. The mw then told me that my body would naturally push and that I could now push down with each contraction. I listened to every single word she said from that point as I wanted to avoided tearing. It took about 30mins of pushing for my little girl to be born at 4:15pm. I cannot describe the immense feeling as she slipped from my body. It was just amazing, the best feeling on earth. I loved her before I even looked at her.
The midwife placed her straight onto my chest, and waited for the cord to stop pulsing before my OH cut it. I was too tired to try to touch or even hold her, so my OH took her. He started talking to her and she stopped crying instantly to listen to his voice. I watched as she was weighed and taken care of by the MWs and then as I was stitched (no tear, just a small graze that required one stitch) I watched my OH cuddling her in a chair next to my bed.
She is the most perfect thing I have ever laid eyes on, and I love her so much.
I had lost a lot of blood during labour, so was hooked up to a drip and had to stay on the bed when I was transferred onto a ward.
I stayed in hospital until the afternoon of the 24th December and then pretty much discharged myself as I was getting so stressed out on the ward and not sleeping.
Niamh is 5 days old now and doing very well.
She is just gorgeous and I feel as though I had such a fantastic labour and birth. I even told my MW half an hour after I'd had her that I would do it all again that night. I still wish I could do it again, as the moment I gave birth to he is by far and away the most amazing moment of my life, and I will never forget it.I will update with pictures when I can.
Here she is a few hours old:
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/sublime_envy/Sophie/SDC10027.jpg
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/sublime_envy/Sophie/SDC10073.jpg
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/sublime_envy/Sophie/SDC10053.jpg
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/sublime_envy/Sophie/SDC10052.jpg
