emz_x
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I finally feel up to posting this so better late than never. 
Ethan was born Monday 18th July at 6.37pm weighing 5lbs 14 oz after a 70 hour labour but less than 10 minutes of pushing! He was born at 37+3 weeks gestation and he's absolutely gorgeous. I still can't quite get used to being a mummy!
I first started getting contractions on the Friday at around 8pm after
and they were coming every 20 mins or so. I didn't really think anything of it and just thought they were Braxton Hicks as I'd been getting stronger pains for the previous few days.
However, a couple of hours later the contractions were getting a lot more regular so I decided to keep an eye on them. At about 4am Saturday morning I decided to get examined because I was having 2-3 contractions within ten minutes and they were lasting about 40 seconds.
I went down to the hospital and found out I was 2cm dilated but not very effaced, although I was kept in hospital for monitoring as my baby was thought to be slightly on the small side. The next afternoon I was sent home because my labour hadn't progressed and my contractions were dying down a bit.
On Saturday night I got my show and hoped that things would speed up a bit after that. I began to get regular contractions again on the Sunday but didn't go back to the hospital until 11pm because I didn't want to be turned away again.
They examined me and found I was 2cm still
but I was nearly 100% effaced. They suggested sending me home but I burst into tears because I was so disappointed and I was extremely exhausted from the early labour, so they admitted me and gave me some diamorphine so I could rest a bit.
The Monday went by in a bit of a blur. I progressed to 3cm and was allowed gas and air. Then I went to 4cm so I got in the birthing pool. 4 hours later and I was still 4cm and they suggested sending me home even though my contractions were really strong!
However, I point blank refused. I had another shot of diamorphine and rested a bit and was found later to be 5cm. At this point, I was struggling to cope with the pain and asked for an epidural. Unfortunately, the anaesthetist didn't come for an hour and that was only to talk to me about the procedure. He said he'd come back after he'd sorted out a woman who'd been waiting longer than me.
At this point I was alone with my mum. OH hadn't turned up because I didn't know how long we'd be waiting and so he'd just got back from work. My contractions started to become unbearable and blended into each other but the midwife was nowhere around. She had 2 other women to attend to because they were understaffed.
Mum suggested pushing slightly to see if it helped with the pain so I did, making my waters break. They contained meconium and it panicked me so I started pushing like crazy to get him out. Mum had to leave me on my own for a minute to get the midwife seeing as no one answered the call button. When they came back, I was crowning so I continued to push like crazy. I found out afterwards that his heart rate had dropped and they were going to give me an episiotomy but I'd managed to push him out before they could.
Luckily, he was absolutely perfect and had an Apgar rating of 9 immediately after birth! I had second degree tears but was fine once they stitched me up. I could even walk to the recovery ward.
My advice is stick to your guns. Don't let anyone try to send you home if you're getting strong contractions. Trust your body and be pushy! If I'd gone home the last time they tried getting rid of me I'd have probably had him at home or in the car.
Here's my little boy
:
Ethan was born Monday 18th July at 6.37pm weighing 5lbs 14 oz after a 70 hour labour but less than 10 minutes of pushing! He was born at 37+3 weeks gestation and he's absolutely gorgeous. I still can't quite get used to being a mummy!I first started getting contractions on the Friday at around 8pm after
and they were coming every 20 mins or so. I didn't really think anything of it and just thought they were Braxton Hicks as I'd been getting stronger pains for the previous few days.However, a couple of hours later the contractions were getting a lot more regular so I decided to keep an eye on them. At about 4am Saturday morning I decided to get examined because I was having 2-3 contractions within ten minutes and they were lasting about 40 seconds.
I went down to the hospital and found out I was 2cm dilated but not very effaced, although I was kept in hospital for monitoring as my baby was thought to be slightly on the small side. The next afternoon I was sent home because my labour hadn't progressed and my contractions were dying down a bit.
On Saturday night I got my show and hoped that things would speed up a bit after that. I began to get regular contractions again on the Sunday but didn't go back to the hospital until 11pm because I didn't want to be turned away again.
They examined me and found I was 2cm still
but I was nearly 100% effaced. They suggested sending me home but I burst into tears because I was so disappointed and I was extremely exhausted from the early labour, so they admitted me and gave me some diamorphine so I could rest a bit.The Monday went by in a bit of a blur. I progressed to 3cm and was allowed gas and air. Then I went to 4cm so I got in the birthing pool. 4 hours later and I was still 4cm and they suggested sending me home even though my contractions were really strong!
However, I point blank refused. I had another shot of diamorphine and rested a bit and was found later to be 5cm. At this point, I was struggling to cope with the pain and asked for an epidural. Unfortunately, the anaesthetist didn't come for an hour and that was only to talk to me about the procedure. He said he'd come back after he'd sorted out a woman who'd been waiting longer than me.At this point I was alone with my mum. OH hadn't turned up because I didn't know how long we'd be waiting and so he'd just got back from work. My contractions started to become unbearable and blended into each other but the midwife was nowhere around. She had 2 other women to attend to because they were understaffed.
Mum suggested pushing slightly to see if it helped with the pain so I did, making my waters break. They contained meconium and it panicked me so I started pushing like crazy to get him out. Mum had to leave me on my own for a minute to get the midwife seeing as no one answered the call button. When they came back, I was crowning so I continued to push like crazy. I found out afterwards that his heart rate had dropped and they were going to give me an episiotomy but I'd managed to push him out before they could.Luckily, he was absolutely perfect and had an Apgar rating of 9 immediately after birth! I had second degree tears but was fine once they stitched me up. I could even walk to the recovery ward.
My advice is stick to your guns. Don't let anyone try to send you home if you're getting strong contractions. Trust your body and be pushy! If I'd gone home the last time they tried getting rid of me I'd have probably had him at home or in the car.
Here's my little boy
:
you did amazing girl! 
