WW1
Mum to a little lady x
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Where to begin?!
My birth story began last Wednesday (6th Jan). I was due for an induction at 39+1 as I had been measuring big and they wanted to have a controlled labour so if my waters broke they were monitoring baby (due to a possible cord prolapse).
On the Wednesday, I went in for 1.30pm, was settled and then given a pessary to start softening the cervix. This was for 24 hrs with the hope that spontaneous labour would soon follow. I stayed in Weds night and by the following morning my cervix had softened but was still only slightly opened.
Thursday lunchtime I was moved to a private room and given the synthetic oxytocin (can't remember the name) to kick start things properly. To start with it worked really well - the contractions kicked in and I used a mixture of gas and air and a tens machine to keep the pain under control.
At about 10pm I was 4cm dilated but the pain was becoming unbearable so the midwife suggested pethidine - I agreed and although it monged me out it seemed to do nothing for the pain at all!! At 1.30am Friday morning I gave in and had an epidural which was brilliant! Unfortunately i was still only 6cm dilated so they said they'd keep monitoring and hopefully I'd be ready to push by the morning. All through this Rebecca was head down and kicking happily so there weren't concerns about her becoming distressed.
At 7am they examined again to find I was no further on despite having had contractions every 2 mins! The decision was made that it was wise to have a caesarean before baby became distressed.
I was togged up and off we went into theatre. To be honest it wasn't nearly as bad as I feared. The staff were amazing - calm and collected. They tried to add to the epidural I already had but it didn't work (it turns out that it hadn't been inserted fully and some had pooled in my back which they think may have transferred to Rebecca through the placenta). I ended up having a spinal block which felt very weird. After a few minutes the operation began and after a bit of tugging Rebecca was born, screaming her head off! It was 10.47am and she weighed 8lbs.
She did then go a bit quiet and blue so needed a bit of oxygen to get her going again but was soon in my arms. That is truly the most amazing feeling I have ever felt - I know people tell you that but the reality is a far stronger emotion that I could ever imagine!
I lost quite a lot of blood but they sorted me out and I was soon in recovery.
Over the next 24 hours however they became concerned as she really wasn't feeding. She was extremely drowsy (they think because of the epidural) and due to my polyhydramniosis they were concerned there may have been some blockage in her digestive system. They tried to put a feeding tube down each nostril and could only get it down one side so at 4am they took her to SCBU for close monitoring. I cannot begin to explain how terrified I was - I went with her to SCBU but felt so helpless.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, Rebecca's feeding picked up slowly over the next 48 hours (I think the drowsiness was wearing off) and the docs were happy that she was swallowing. they also managed to get a tube down both nostrils so the blockage wasn't as they feared.
We stayed in hospital until Weds, partly for my recovery and partly to ensure Rebecca continued to feed. They weighed her at 5 days and she had lost only 5% of her birth weight - miraculous given the start she had!
We're now home and starting to get settled. I'm sore, tired but incredibly happy. She is the most precious thing and I feel utterly blessed. The only downside is that she hasn't latched on to the breast so I'm now doing a mixture of expressing and topping up with formula. I'll keep expressing for as long as i can - as long as she is feeding and happy then so am I!
Thank you all for reading (if you've made it this far!). It's been an incredible journey so far and I'm sure the rollercoater is set to continue!
My birth story began last Wednesday (6th Jan). I was due for an induction at 39+1 as I had been measuring big and they wanted to have a controlled labour so if my waters broke they were monitoring baby (due to a possible cord prolapse).
On the Wednesday, I went in for 1.30pm, was settled and then given a pessary to start softening the cervix. This was for 24 hrs with the hope that spontaneous labour would soon follow. I stayed in Weds night and by the following morning my cervix had softened but was still only slightly opened.
Thursday lunchtime I was moved to a private room and given the synthetic oxytocin (can't remember the name) to kick start things properly. To start with it worked really well - the contractions kicked in and I used a mixture of gas and air and a tens machine to keep the pain under control.
At about 10pm I was 4cm dilated but the pain was becoming unbearable so the midwife suggested pethidine - I agreed and although it monged me out it seemed to do nothing for the pain at all!! At 1.30am Friday morning I gave in and had an epidural which was brilliant! Unfortunately i was still only 6cm dilated so they said they'd keep monitoring and hopefully I'd be ready to push by the morning. All through this Rebecca was head down and kicking happily so there weren't concerns about her becoming distressed.
At 7am they examined again to find I was no further on despite having had contractions every 2 mins! The decision was made that it was wise to have a caesarean before baby became distressed.
I was togged up and off we went into theatre. To be honest it wasn't nearly as bad as I feared. The staff were amazing - calm and collected. They tried to add to the epidural I already had but it didn't work (it turns out that it hadn't been inserted fully and some had pooled in my back which they think may have transferred to Rebecca through the placenta). I ended up having a spinal block which felt very weird. After a few minutes the operation began and after a bit of tugging Rebecca was born, screaming her head off! It was 10.47am and she weighed 8lbs.
She did then go a bit quiet and blue so needed a bit of oxygen to get her going again but was soon in my arms. That is truly the most amazing feeling I have ever felt - I know people tell you that but the reality is a far stronger emotion that I could ever imagine!
I lost quite a lot of blood but they sorted me out and I was soon in recovery.
Over the next 24 hours however they became concerned as she really wasn't feeding. She was extremely drowsy (they think because of the epidural) and due to my polyhydramniosis they were concerned there may have been some blockage in her digestive system. They tried to put a feeding tube down each nostril and could only get it down one side so at 4am they took her to SCBU for close monitoring. I cannot begin to explain how terrified I was - I went with her to SCBU but felt so helpless.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, Rebecca's feeding picked up slowly over the next 48 hours (I think the drowsiness was wearing off) and the docs were happy that she was swallowing. they also managed to get a tube down both nostrils so the blockage wasn't as they feared.
We stayed in hospital until Weds, partly for my recovery and partly to ensure Rebecca continued to feed. They weighed her at 5 days and she had lost only 5% of her birth weight - miraculous given the start she had!
We're now home and starting to get settled. I'm sore, tired but incredibly happy. She is the most precious thing and I feel utterly blessed. The only downside is that she hasn't latched on to the breast so I'm now doing a mixture of expressing and topping up with formula. I'll keep expressing for as long as i can - as long as she is feeding and happy then so am I!
Thank you all for reading (if you've made it this far!). It's been an incredible journey so far and I'm sure the rollercoater is set to continue!
congrats
