icklemonster
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Our yellow bump turned blue when Alexander finally decided to make his way into the world on the 16th October 2015 at 40+5. I wanted to document my birth story in some detail so here goes:
I was so frustrated going overdue (my daughter was 39+6 and I had been having early labour signs for weeks), so when I went for a sweep at 40+4 and was told my cervix was too posterior and closed to do it, I actually got home and burst into tears. (I hardly ever cry!) Well baby Alex must have been listening!
That night I got into bed at 10.30pm, put on the TV and suddenly felt very wet. Rushed to the toilet and it was clear my waters had gone as they kept pouring out every time I leaned forward. I called the hospital and they said to come in to confirm it was my waters, especially as I hadn't started contracting.
Straight after I called I started to get mild contractions though. I called my Mum to come look after Charlotte. By the time I got to hospital the contractions were mild but coming every 6 mins and they confirmed it was my waters. They said to go home and come back in once the contractions were 4/5 mins apart and I couldn't speak through them.
Well we got home and they started coming every 2.5 mins, only lasting 40 seconds but were ramping up. Being my second child I was scared I wouldn't make it, so we headed back to hopital an hour after arriving home!
By 1.30am the contractions were painful but I was told I was only 2cm so didn't qualify for the epidural I so desperately wanted - I wasn't even allowed gas and air yet, just codeine booooo.
I could tell I hit active labour quite soon after that but the midwife refused to examine me again as she said she couldn't keep examining me when my waters had gone due to risk of infection. After about an hour of me moaning and begging she eventually checked me, confirmed I was in active labour and said she would call the anaesthetist. As sods law would have it, there was no anaesthetist now available and nor would there be for another 6 hours due to ongoing emergencies!
Being completely honest, those were the longest, most awful 6 hours I've ever experienced, I had seriously forgotten how painful contractions are, and I even gave in to having pethedine as I seriously wanted to climb out of my own body. The pethedine sent me a bit lost in my own mind, it did take the edge off the pain a little but mainly made me feel totally wired.
When the anaesthetist finally arrived and I got my epidural at 8.30am I was already 8cm. It was at the same time as the midwife change and I was so grateful to get a really lovely midwife and a student who I really gelled with. (The first midwife was fine, just quite direct and we didn't quite have the same rapport).
The epidural was brilliant and started doing it's job. Hats off to all you Mumma's who choose to go without, I salute you as I don't know how I would have got through another couple of hours of the pain. It was quite a low dose and I was given a button to press if I wanted more epidural. I could still feel the pressure of each contraction but without the intense pain.
My cervix was checked again at 11.15am and told I was 10cm ready to push, but midwife said they would just let baby descend by itself for an hour to check it was in the perfect pushing position. I then started pushing and my advice for anyone with an epidural would be to ask the midwife to put her finger in you to check you are pushing in the right place. This happened with my daughter and she was born quickly after, so I requested this from the outset. It made a good difference and 40 minutes after starting to push Alexander was born at 12.55pm on 16/10/15 weighing 8lb2oz. I also naturally delivered my placenta about 3 minutes after having Alex - the midwives said that was quite rare to be so quick without an injection
Alex was much bigger than I expected. Especially as my bump was measuring small, I still can't figure quite how he fit into my belly. He is so long too, but we get the length measurement tomorrow when the midwife does her house visit.
I had a small 2nd degree tear but so far it doesn't seem as painful to sit down as the same type of tear I had with Charlotte.
So far he is a delight but we have had a few problems with feeding and his latch. I wasn't expecting it as I had such a successful time with Charlotte but it transpired she must have 'got it' much more naturally. Alex keeps latching, then releasing my nipple and continuing to suck on his tongue thinking he's still latched
. The midwives on the ward said he should get it soon, as I'm doing everything right, he just needs to realise that the nipple results in the food!
Anyway, I'm so glad he's finally here, and DH and I so excited we have a son to experience! Charlotte so far seems really good at the introduction of a baby brother, especially as he bought her a singing and dancing toy robot
I was so frustrated going overdue (my daughter was 39+6 and I had been having early labour signs for weeks), so when I went for a sweep at 40+4 and was told my cervix was too posterior and closed to do it, I actually got home and burst into tears. (I hardly ever cry!) Well baby Alex must have been listening!
That night I got into bed at 10.30pm, put on the TV and suddenly felt very wet. Rushed to the toilet and it was clear my waters had gone as they kept pouring out every time I leaned forward. I called the hospital and they said to come in to confirm it was my waters, especially as I hadn't started contracting.
Straight after I called I started to get mild contractions though. I called my Mum to come look after Charlotte. By the time I got to hospital the contractions were mild but coming every 6 mins and they confirmed it was my waters. They said to go home and come back in once the contractions were 4/5 mins apart and I couldn't speak through them.
Well we got home and they started coming every 2.5 mins, only lasting 40 seconds but were ramping up. Being my second child I was scared I wouldn't make it, so we headed back to hopital an hour after arriving home!
By 1.30am the contractions were painful but I was told I was only 2cm so didn't qualify for the epidural I so desperately wanted - I wasn't even allowed gas and air yet, just codeine booooo.
I could tell I hit active labour quite soon after that but the midwife refused to examine me again as she said she couldn't keep examining me when my waters had gone due to risk of infection. After about an hour of me moaning and begging she eventually checked me, confirmed I was in active labour and said she would call the anaesthetist. As sods law would have it, there was no anaesthetist now available and nor would there be for another 6 hours due to ongoing emergencies!
Being completely honest, those were the longest, most awful 6 hours I've ever experienced, I had seriously forgotten how painful contractions are, and I even gave in to having pethedine as I seriously wanted to climb out of my own body. The pethedine sent me a bit lost in my own mind, it did take the edge off the pain a little but mainly made me feel totally wired.
When the anaesthetist finally arrived and I got my epidural at 8.30am I was already 8cm. It was at the same time as the midwife change and I was so grateful to get a really lovely midwife and a student who I really gelled with. (The first midwife was fine, just quite direct and we didn't quite have the same rapport).
The epidural was brilliant and started doing it's job. Hats off to all you Mumma's who choose to go without, I salute you as I don't know how I would have got through another couple of hours of the pain. It was quite a low dose and I was given a button to press if I wanted more epidural. I could still feel the pressure of each contraction but without the intense pain.
My cervix was checked again at 11.15am and told I was 10cm ready to push, but midwife said they would just let baby descend by itself for an hour to check it was in the perfect pushing position. I then started pushing and my advice for anyone with an epidural would be to ask the midwife to put her finger in you to check you are pushing in the right place. This happened with my daughter and she was born quickly after, so I requested this from the outset. It made a good difference and 40 minutes after starting to push Alexander was born at 12.55pm on 16/10/15 weighing 8lb2oz. I also naturally delivered my placenta about 3 minutes after having Alex - the midwives said that was quite rare to be so quick without an injection
Alex was much bigger than I expected. Especially as my bump was measuring small, I still can't figure quite how he fit into my belly. He is so long too, but we get the length measurement tomorrow when the midwife does her house visit.
I had a small 2nd degree tear but so far it doesn't seem as painful to sit down as the same type of tear I had with Charlotte.
So far he is a delight but we have had a few problems with feeding and his latch. I wasn't expecting it as I had such a successful time with Charlotte but it transpired she must have 'got it' much more naturally. Alex keeps latching, then releasing my nipple and continuing to suck on his tongue thinking he's still latched
. The midwives on the ward said he should get it soon, as I'm doing everything right, he just needs to realise that the nipple results in the food!Anyway, I'm so glad he's finally here, and DH and I so excited we have a son to experience! Charlotte so far seems really good at the introduction of a baby brother, especially as he bought her a singing and dancing toy robot
. I hope he gets the hang of nursing soon, sucking his own tongue is so cute bless him!
