louise2710
Mummy to Oscar
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2011
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The wonderful Oscar arrived on his due date which was 11th October 2011.
Me and OH had spent the previous night bickering in bed about whether or not I would request a sweep at my midwife appointment the next day. He was desperate to get things moving due to having a lot of work commitments the following week (he is self employed) and whilst I had been doing loads to encourage labour (walking miles, dtd, Raspberry leaf tea, evening primrose oil and bouncing on my birthing ball) I really wasnt keen on a sweep.
Anyway, I'm fairly sure i got sick of him and went to sleep in a huff. I went to the loo at about 2.45 and then back to bed. I hadnt been asleep too long when i felt a trickle down below. It was about 3.20am. I thought it was just the epo capsule so wasnt worried but felt down just to check. It was watery, not oily, so definitely not the epo capsule. I sat up and there was another trickle. It hit me that it might be my waters so i stood up and they gushed out. I immediately turned the light on and said to oh "that will be my waters then" and he sat bolt upright. I think we were both in shock as i was just stood there in my PJs leaking water all over saying that i didnt know what to do. He told me to go to the loo and he called the birthing centre who told us to head in for assessment.
I got myself sorted out and we headed over. I wasnt examined, the mw just checked that it was my waters, listened to lo's heartbeat and told me to go back when I was having three contractions in a ten minute period. When i was in the birthing centre i had my first (very mild) contraction. We nipped to Asda on the way home and I waited in the car when OH bought some fruit (I wanted grapes and strawberries for labour) and some breakfast stuff.
I was too excited to go back to bed so i sat bouncing on my ball preparing my fruit and putting it into containers to take with me. I quickly whizzed round the house to tidy up and before we knew it my contractions were much stronger and i was having 2-3 every 10 mins. It was around 11am. I was using my tens machine but this seemed to be more of a distraction than actual relief. I was also timing the contractions on my iphone which served as a further distraction from the pain. I called the birthing centre and they told me to go back in. The journey was pretty awful, every bump in the road made the contractions a million times worse and I was sure I'd be kept in. I wasn't - I was only 2cm
and was devastated as i was in quite a lot of pain. The mw gave me some codine and told me to have a bath at home. The contractions increased in intensity in the bath and i couldn't cope anymore without the tens so i got out and put it back on. I kind of lost track of time and the contractions were agony. Oh kept telling me to turn up the tens (i only had it on 4 out of 10) but i refused as i wanted to save the stronger stuff for when it got worse. I was beginning to feel sick and couldnt move for the pain. The contractions seemed to be one after another and i was sick all over the floor. OH told me we were going straight to the birthing centre but i took a lot of persuading as i was sure they'd just sent me home again.
When we got in the car i was screaming that i wanted an epidural as soon as we got to hospital. I just couldnt bear the pain. I had planned a water birth with just gas and air but totally lost faith in myself. We eventually arrived and i got out of the car and was sick again. I couldn't walk and some nearby paramedics (the birthing centre was based at a hospital) took me in on a wheelchair.
When i got there the midwife said it was great that i was in pain as it definitely meant things were happening. She examined me and i think was as shocked as i was to find i was 7cm. She went off to immediately fill the pool and let me have gas and air in the meantime. At first it made me feel sick but soon i found it amazing. I couldn't get my trousers back on to walk to my room so i was wrapped in a sheet to walk along which took forever as i had to stop for every contraction.
The pool was immediately soothing and time just faded away. Everything is a bit of a blur to be honest and it seemed like before i knew it i was telling the midwife i needed to push. The urger was overwhelming. I never believed anybody who said your body would just take over but it really didnt. I knew exactly what to do. Crowning was pretty horrific and seemed to take ages. I felt like i was just going to completely split in two and whilst it made me afraid to push, i couldnt help it. Oscar was born at 5.20 pm. He came out with his arm over his head weighing 9lb8. I lifted him from the pool myself and immediately had skin to skin with him. It was completely overwhelming and all i was thinking was 'oh my god, ive just had a baby'. The mw encouraged me to try to feed him and he latched on immediately.
I had opted to deliver the placenta in the water without the injection so i just stayed holding him. After almost an hour it was clear that nothing was happening and the cord was cut and OH took him. I tried to get out of the pool but couldnt. I had lost a lot of blood and ended up passing out. The next thing I knew, all of the lights were on full and alarms were going off. I was dragged from the pool and put on an emergency bed where they tried to deliver the placenta. There was about 8 mws in the room at that point. I had a catheter inserted to make it easier and eventually it came out. It weighted a whopping 5lb! They couldnt stop the blood however and i was aware of various things going on down below. I was gutted that the birth had become so medicalised and i heard them saying i needed to be taken to theatre. I was taken upstairs to the hospital where they luckily managed to stop the blood loss without the need for theatre. I was put on a drip and stitched up and OH and Oscar came up to sit with me. I hadnt seen them for ages. I finally got to hold him again at around 10pm when they allowed me to eat ( i was starving and felt really faint but they told me to hold off in case i ended up needing to go to theatre after all. I was admitted to a postnatal ward for overnight observation which really upset me as i was hoping to have been able to go home after the birth. In the birthing centre your partner was allowed to stay with you until discharge but he was kicked out from the ward at about 10.45.
I spent the night just staring at Oscar, completely in awe of him. I was allowed home at midday on 12th and have had no problems apart from the obligatory soreness since. I really cant believe i did it and am so glad i didnt have the epidural i was screaming for in the car. I would definitely recommend a water birth and have already started to forget the pain.
Having a baby is the most wonderful thing in the world and id do it all again tomorrow. Time is going so quickly and i cant believe Oscar is already 10 days old! Hes lovely and whilst he hasnt quite mastered the art of sleeping for more than an hour at a time at night, we are doing fine. Ive had no problems feeding him and all is well.
Sorry this is so hugely long - it all just came pouring out!
Me and OH had spent the previous night bickering in bed about whether or not I would request a sweep at my midwife appointment the next day. He was desperate to get things moving due to having a lot of work commitments the following week (he is self employed) and whilst I had been doing loads to encourage labour (walking miles, dtd, Raspberry leaf tea, evening primrose oil and bouncing on my birthing ball) I really wasnt keen on a sweep.
Anyway, I'm fairly sure i got sick of him and went to sleep in a huff. I went to the loo at about 2.45 and then back to bed. I hadnt been asleep too long when i felt a trickle down below. It was about 3.20am. I thought it was just the epo capsule so wasnt worried but felt down just to check. It was watery, not oily, so definitely not the epo capsule. I sat up and there was another trickle. It hit me that it might be my waters so i stood up and they gushed out. I immediately turned the light on and said to oh "that will be my waters then" and he sat bolt upright. I think we were both in shock as i was just stood there in my PJs leaking water all over saying that i didnt know what to do. He told me to go to the loo and he called the birthing centre who told us to head in for assessment.
I got myself sorted out and we headed over. I wasnt examined, the mw just checked that it was my waters, listened to lo's heartbeat and told me to go back when I was having three contractions in a ten minute period. When i was in the birthing centre i had my first (very mild) contraction. We nipped to Asda on the way home and I waited in the car when OH bought some fruit (I wanted grapes and strawberries for labour) and some breakfast stuff.
I was too excited to go back to bed so i sat bouncing on my ball preparing my fruit and putting it into containers to take with me. I quickly whizzed round the house to tidy up and before we knew it my contractions were much stronger and i was having 2-3 every 10 mins. It was around 11am. I was using my tens machine but this seemed to be more of a distraction than actual relief. I was also timing the contractions on my iphone which served as a further distraction from the pain. I called the birthing centre and they told me to go back in. The journey was pretty awful, every bump in the road made the contractions a million times worse and I was sure I'd be kept in. I wasn't - I was only 2cm
and was devastated as i was in quite a lot of pain. The mw gave me some codine and told me to have a bath at home. The contractions increased in intensity in the bath and i couldn't cope anymore without the tens so i got out and put it back on. I kind of lost track of time and the contractions were agony. Oh kept telling me to turn up the tens (i only had it on 4 out of 10) but i refused as i wanted to save the stronger stuff for when it got worse. I was beginning to feel sick and couldnt move for the pain. The contractions seemed to be one after another and i was sick all over the floor. OH told me we were going straight to the birthing centre but i took a lot of persuading as i was sure they'd just sent me home again.When we got in the car i was screaming that i wanted an epidural as soon as we got to hospital. I just couldnt bear the pain. I had planned a water birth with just gas and air but totally lost faith in myself. We eventually arrived and i got out of the car and was sick again. I couldn't walk and some nearby paramedics (the birthing centre was based at a hospital) took me in on a wheelchair.
When i got there the midwife said it was great that i was in pain as it definitely meant things were happening. She examined me and i think was as shocked as i was to find i was 7cm. She went off to immediately fill the pool and let me have gas and air in the meantime. At first it made me feel sick but soon i found it amazing. I couldn't get my trousers back on to walk to my room so i was wrapped in a sheet to walk along which took forever as i had to stop for every contraction.
The pool was immediately soothing and time just faded away. Everything is a bit of a blur to be honest and it seemed like before i knew it i was telling the midwife i needed to push. The urger was overwhelming. I never believed anybody who said your body would just take over but it really didnt. I knew exactly what to do. Crowning was pretty horrific and seemed to take ages. I felt like i was just going to completely split in two and whilst it made me afraid to push, i couldnt help it. Oscar was born at 5.20 pm. He came out with his arm over his head weighing 9lb8. I lifted him from the pool myself and immediately had skin to skin with him. It was completely overwhelming and all i was thinking was 'oh my god, ive just had a baby'. The mw encouraged me to try to feed him and he latched on immediately.
I had opted to deliver the placenta in the water without the injection so i just stayed holding him. After almost an hour it was clear that nothing was happening and the cord was cut and OH took him. I tried to get out of the pool but couldnt. I had lost a lot of blood and ended up passing out. The next thing I knew, all of the lights were on full and alarms were going off. I was dragged from the pool and put on an emergency bed where they tried to deliver the placenta. There was about 8 mws in the room at that point. I had a catheter inserted to make it easier and eventually it came out. It weighted a whopping 5lb! They couldnt stop the blood however and i was aware of various things going on down below. I was gutted that the birth had become so medicalised and i heard them saying i needed to be taken to theatre. I was taken upstairs to the hospital where they luckily managed to stop the blood loss without the need for theatre. I was put on a drip and stitched up and OH and Oscar came up to sit with me. I hadnt seen them for ages. I finally got to hold him again at around 10pm when they allowed me to eat ( i was starving and felt really faint but they told me to hold off in case i ended up needing to go to theatre after all. I was admitted to a postnatal ward for overnight observation which really upset me as i was hoping to have been able to go home after the birth. In the birthing centre your partner was allowed to stay with you until discharge but he was kicked out from the ward at about 10.45.
I spent the night just staring at Oscar, completely in awe of him. I was allowed home at midday on 12th and have had no problems apart from the obligatory soreness since. I really cant believe i did it and am so glad i didnt have the epidural i was screaming for in the car. I would definitely recommend a water birth and have already started to forget the pain.
Having a baby is the most wonderful thing in the world and id do it all again tomorrow. Time is going so quickly and i cant believe Oscar is already 10 days old! Hes lovely and whilst he hasnt quite mastered the art of sleeping for more than an hour at a time at night, we are doing fine. Ive had no problems feeding him and all is well.
Sorry this is so hugely long - it all just came pouring out!
