lily123
Mammy <3
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Hello ladies 
This is quite a long one, so get yourselves a cuppa and get comfortable!
Just for a little bit of background information, i have pre-existing diabetes (type 2) and was having growth scans regularly throughout my pregnancy, i was being told constantly that LO was measuring 2 weeks bigger than she should be, and i was going to have a large baby.
My due date came... my due date passed, i was doing everything in my power to naturally start labour, RLT, EP oil, LOTS of walking, bouncing on my birthing ball, spicy curry... nothing seemed to work!
So i was overdue and rather fed up! I'd already lost my plug and according to my midwife, i was already nearly 3 cm dialated... she couldn't understand why i wasn't having contractions and to be honest, neither could i!
I had 2 membrane sweeps that did absolutely nothing, and LO was showing no signs whatsoever of wanting to move, So i was booked in for my induction for friday the 14th of may, 41+5 weeks gestation, 13 days past my due date.
So i arrive at Northallerton Friarage Hospital at 3PM feeling verrrrrry nervous, and get hooked up to the monitors more or less straight away, it showed that i was already having tightenings
they were very irregular but i felt a lot better knowing that things had already started naturally 
My midwife gave me an internal at 5PM and i was still 2.5 cm dialated, the first pessary was inserted at 6PM and at 6.30PM my mum and brother came to keep me company good job they did too, i forgot to bring my book so i was pretty bored and i just wanted my LO to come 
they stayed until 9PM (they stayed to watch coronation street with me 
) after my mum and brother had left, they strapped the monitors back on me and it showed i was having more contractions, still irregular but better than before 
I still couldn't even notice them at this point.
I'm not sure what time they took the monitors off me, but after i went for a walk around the hospital to try and get things going. After an hour of padding around the hospital on my own i started to get really emotional and just wanted my Mum
so i text her and she came back at roughly 11PM... I'm such a big baby
The midwives then inserted an insulin pump into my leg to keep my sugar levels regulated - this made me feel really tired for some reason so i tried to go to sleep, only to be woken up by my midwife sometime between 12 and 1AM to be given an internal, i was only 3cm dialated after 6 hours with a pessary, which meant i'd only dialated half a cm
and the midwife said that they didn't want to overstimulate me so they'd come back at 8AM to put in another pessary if nothing had happened, so my Mum went home (she only lives 10 mins drive away) and i tried to go to sleep, feeling a bit disheartened.
It was such a hot night and despite my best efforts, i could only manage 3 hours of sleep. When i woke up i was quite excited, i was thinking "Ooooh surely my baby will be born TODAY!!" (what little i knew!) It felt like i was waiting for a bus! I hadn't felt anything all night, not even slight cramping, and it was so hot and sticky in there i was sweating cobs A lovely new midwife came to insert a new pessary at roughly 7.30AM, still only 3cm dialated and was instructed to stay in my bed for an hour to let it settle. My Mum came back at 10AM and i went for a shower, still feeling nothing, and the blinking pessary fell out when i was on the toilet!!! It wasn't disolved at all either, no wonder i wasn't feeling anything
Had another pessary at 11AM (still only 3cm!) and went for another walk around the hospital at 12.30PM, i was feeling rather ambitious so me and my mum walked up two flights of stairs desperately trying to get something going... bad idea! More or less as soon as i'd reached the top step, i had this stabbing sensation in my back, coupled with a period pain that peaked and faded... finally i was having decent contractions
We got the lift back down to the maternity ward and i had another contraction in there. When we got back i told my midwife and she strapped me to the monitorsfor half an hour, it showed my contractions were about 6 minutes apart, and i could definitely feel them! Not painful as yet, just a little uncomfortable.
We went for more walks around the hospital (no stairs this time though) by about 5pm i was having to stop, close my eyes and breathe through each contraction, and by this point i'd say they were painful, i had 2 paracetamol and 2 codeine just to take the edge off and it really did help for a while. I somehow found it helpful to keep telling my mum everytime i was having a contraction; "Just so you know mum, i'm about to have another contraction" - She just laughed at me.
I was given an internal at roughly 6.30PM to find that i was 5 cm dialated and i was moved straight away into a fantastic room on the labour ward! It was absolutely massive and had it's own bathroom with a shower over the bath the midwives changed over and my new one was very nice but i felt like she was sticking to a schedule if you know what i mean :\ i was offered a TENS machine which i took, and it was amazing! I'd honestly reccomend them to anyone!
My contractions were closer together now, and lasting for about 50 seconds at a time. I found i could breathe through them quite well, and as long as i pressed the Boost button on my TENS, i could cope with them quite well
At 10.15PM i had a differnet midwife, and i was kind of glad to be honest, the other one made me feel like i was on a strict schedule and if i hadn't dialated this much by this time then she'd put the drip on me, which i REALLY didn't want! his new midwife was amazing, i had a student midwife too named Kirsty and she was so lovely, she was only 2 years older than me and in between contractions me and my mum were just chatting away to her. They attatched me to monitors with really long wires so i could move around.
I was examined again at 1AM and i was 8cm things had started to get a lot more painful though, I was still managing very well (if i do say so myself ) with just the TENS machine, but i was shattered already and i knew it wouldn't be long before it got unbearable so i asked for a Meptid injection, and it was fantastic! I honestly hardly felt the pain of the contractions, all i could feel was the intensity of them. I lay on my side and chatted sleepily to my mum and my two lovely midwives, talking through the contractions fairly easily. I then had the random urge to be sick, thank god my mum grabbed the bin in time i was really violently sick for about 10 minutes 
not nice.
By about 3AM i was examined again and i was 9 cm dialated so they broke my waters, there was sooooo much fluid! I remember looking down off the bed and there was a massive puddle that nearly covered the whole of the floor! Thats when the pain really hit me hard so they gave me gas&air and it really helped! I Actually managed to laugh through a contraction once, i remmeber saying "Oooh i like this stuff, it makes me feel like Harry Potter!"
Thats when the transitional stage became noticable, i got such a strong urge to push and could hardly stop myself from pushing, so i was examined again and i was 10cm dialated!This was when the real pain started, at one point they tried to pry the gas and air off me so i could have some 'fresh air' but i was too tired to even move the nozzle out of my mouth. They put me in all different positions, kneeling up on the bed was absolutely awful, i had barely made a sound the whole labour but by this point i was crying quite a lot.
The pushing... oh my goodness it was so sore, my body was apparently going into shock: i was trembling unconrollably and vomiting violently. LO's head was on an angle, inclined to her right apparently, so she was ore or less stuck. After 3 hours of pushing my midwife finally said okay, we're gonna have to help you out a bit here. This made me more distressed. The anesthetist and a surgeon came in and explained that they were going to use forceps, but they could only try 3 pulls with the forceps and then it'd have to be a c-section. I was sooo scared i just burst into tears, all i could say was "Please no, please please no!"
So i was whisked straight away into the operating theatre where i was given an epidural (i saw the size of the needle... was absolutely massive, but i didn't feel a thing when it went in) everyone was saying "Don't push, whatever you do, don't push!" - the hardest thing ever! I thought that pushing hurt, but trying not to push when your body was trying to with all it's might was hella painful, i even pulled my canulla out of my hand in the struggle
Everything from my chest down started to go blissfully numb, honestly it ws a lovely feeling, the difference was night and day!
The forceps were inserted and i was told to push as hard as i could, i panicked and said "What?! I don't know how to push, i can't feel ANYTHING!" but i somehow managed it, and on my second push, my midwife said "Get ready to catch a baby!" and i, in my state of exhaustion, looked up towards the ceiling and said "Why?! Where's one coming from?!"
I remember another midwife saying "Okay linzie, the cord was wrapped round baby's neck twice, but don't worry it's off now!" - That terrfied me, my poor LO no wonder she didn't want to come out!
On my third push, the curtain was put down, and at 8.44AM on Sunday the 16th of May, my beautiful daughter was born and placed immediately on my chest
me and my mum were just crying loads and all i could think of was how lovely she was. She was bright purple and covered in my blood but i didn't care she was just looking up at me with her huge eyes as if she already knew who i was. it was the best moment of my life.
The next part was a total blur, my baby was taken away in a flash and there were suddenly abut 5 extra people in the room running around and shouting things, i was losing focus and everything was getting darker, i knew i was passing out. The last thing i saw before i lost conciousness was my mum, holding my daughter, but looking absolutely terrified.
I came round an hour later with a bag of blood above my head, attatched to a new IV in my hand. My mum explained that i'd had a massive bleed and this was my third transfusion. I was still very numb everywhere but all i could think of was my daughter, so my mum passed her to me out of her cot, and i just stared and stared at her she latched on to feed more or less straight away, with no problems and a perfect latch That was when i decided her name was Esmee (Es-MEE NOT Es-MAY!) Rae (Ray)
I had to stay in hospital days after she was born because i collapsed in the hospital shower later that day
I had ended up with TWO Episiotomies and my stitches were really sore! I was finally allowed to bring Esmee home on thursday 20th May
A very long and sligtly traumatic labour, but my beautiful daughter was worth every tiny bit of pain, and i'd do it all again if i had to
If you got to the end... well done!
x x x
This is quite a long one, so get yourselves a cuppa and get comfortable!
Just for a little bit of background information, i have pre-existing diabetes (type 2) and was having growth scans regularly throughout my pregnancy, i was being told constantly that LO was measuring 2 weeks bigger than she should be, and i was going to have a large baby.
My due date came... my due date passed, i was doing everything in my power to naturally start labour, RLT, EP oil, LOTS of walking, bouncing on my birthing ball, spicy curry... nothing seemed to work!
So i was overdue and rather fed up! I'd already lost my plug and according to my midwife, i was already nearly 3 cm dialated... she couldn't understand why i wasn't having contractions and to be honest, neither could i!
I had 2 membrane sweeps that did absolutely nothing, and LO was showing no signs whatsoever of wanting to move, So i was booked in for my induction for friday the 14th of may, 41+5 weeks gestation, 13 days past my due date.
So i arrive at Northallerton Friarage Hospital at 3PM feeling verrrrrry nervous, and get hooked up to the monitors more or less straight away, it showed that i was already having tightenings
they were very irregular but i felt a lot better knowing that things had already started naturally My midwife gave me an internal at 5PM and i was still 2.5 cm dialated, the first pessary was inserted at 6PM and at 6.30PM my mum and brother came to keep me company
good job they did too, i forgot to bring my book so i was pretty bored and i just wanted my LO to come they stayed until 9PM (they stayed to watch coronation street with me ) after my mum and brother had left, they strapped the monitors back on me and it showed i was having more contractions, still irregular but better than before I still couldn't even notice them at this point.I'm not sure what time they took the monitors off me, but after i went for a walk around the hospital to try and get things going. After an hour of padding around the hospital on my own i started to get really emotional and just wanted my Mum
so i text her and she came back at roughly 11PM... I'm such a big baby The midwives then inserted an insulin pump into my leg to keep my sugar levels regulated - this made me feel really tired for some reason so i tried to go to sleep, only to be woken up by my midwife sometime between 12 and 1AM to be given an internal, i was only 3cm dialated after 6 hours with a pessary, which meant i'd only dialated half a cm
and the midwife said that they didn't want to overstimulate me so they'd come back at 8AM to put in another pessary if nothing had happened, so my Mum went home (she only lives 10 mins drive away) and i tried to go to sleep, feeling a bit disheartened.It was such a hot night and despite my best efforts, i could only manage 3 hours of sleep. When i woke up i was quite excited, i was thinking "Ooooh surely my baby will be born TODAY!!" (what little i knew!) It felt like i was waiting for a bus! I hadn't felt anything all night, not even slight cramping, and it was so hot and sticky in there i was sweating cobs
A lovely new midwife came to insert a new pessary at roughly 7.30AM, still only 3cm dialated and was instructed to stay in my bed for an hour to let it settle. My Mum came back at 10AM and i went for a shower, still feeling nothing, and the blinking pessary fell out when i was on the toilet!!! It wasn't disolved at all either, no wonder i wasn't feeling anything Had another pessary at 11AM (still only 3cm!) and went for another walk around the hospital at 12.30PM, i was feeling rather ambitious so me and my mum walked up two flights of stairs desperately trying to get something going... bad idea! More or less as soon as i'd reached the top step, i had this stabbing sensation in my back, coupled with a period pain that peaked and faded... finally i was having decent contractions
We got the lift back down to the maternity ward and i had another contraction in there. When we got back i told my midwife and she strapped me to the monitorsfor half an hour, it showed my contractions were about 6 minutes apart, and i could definitely feel them! Not painful as yet, just a little uncomfortable.
We went for more walks around the hospital (no stairs this time though
) by about 5pm i was having to stop, close my eyes and breathe through each contraction, and by this point i'd say they were painful, i had 2 paracetamol and 2 codeine just to take the edge off and it really did help for a while. I somehow found it helpful to keep telling my mum everytime i was having a contraction; "Just so you know mum, i'm about to have another contraction" - She just laughed at me.I was given an internal at roughly 6.30PM to find that i was 5 cm dialated
and i was moved straight away into a fantastic room on the labour ward! It was absolutely massive and had it's own bathroom with a shower over the bath the midwives changed over and my new one was very nice but i felt like she was sticking to a schedule if you know what i mean :\ i was offered a TENS machine which i took, and it was amazing! I'd honestly reccomend them to anyone!My contractions were closer together now, and lasting for about 50 seconds at a time. I found i could breathe through them quite well, and as long as i pressed the Boost button on my TENS, i could cope with them quite well
At 10.15PM i had a differnet midwife, and i was kind of glad to be honest, the other one made me feel like i was on a strict schedule and if i hadn't dialated this much by this time then she'd put the drip on me, which i REALLY didn't want! his new midwife was amazing, i had a student midwife too named Kirsty and she was so lovely, she was only 2 years older than me and in between contractions me and my mum were just chatting away to her. They attatched me to monitors with really long wires so i could move around.
I was examined again at 1AM and i was 8cm
things had started to get a lot more painful though, I was still managing very well (if i do say so myself ) with just the TENS machine, but i was shattered already and i knew it wouldn't be long before it got unbearable so i asked for a Meptid injection, and it was fantastic! I honestly hardly felt the pain of the contractions, all i could feel was the intensity of them. I lay on my side and chatted sleepily to my mum and my two lovely midwives, talking through the contractions fairly easily. I then had the random urge to be sick, thank god my mum grabbed the bin in time i was really violently sick for about 10 minutes not nice.By about 3AM i was examined again and i was 9 cm dialated so they broke my waters, there was sooooo much fluid! I remember looking down off the bed and there was a massive puddle that nearly covered the whole of the floor! Thats when the pain really hit me hard so they gave me gas&air and it really helped! I Actually managed to laugh through a contraction once, i remmeber saying "Oooh i like this stuff, it makes me feel like Harry Potter!"
Thats when the transitional stage became noticable, i got such a strong urge to push and could hardly stop myself from pushing, so i was examined again and i was 10cm dialated!This was when the real pain started, at one point they tried to pry the gas and air off me so i could have some 'fresh air' but i was too tired to even move the nozzle out of my mouth. They put me in all different positions, kneeling up on the bed was absolutely awful, i had barely made a sound the whole labour but by this point i was crying quite a lot.
The pushing... oh my goodness it was so sore, my body was apparently going into shock: i was trembling unconrollably and vomiting violently. LO's head was on an angle, inclined to her right apparently, so she was ore or less stuck. After 3 hours of pushing my midwife finally said okay, we're gonna have to help you out a bit here. This made me more distressed. The anesthetist and a surgeon came in and explained that they were going to use forceps, but they could only try 3 pulls with the forceps and then it'd have to be a c-section. I was sooo scared i just burst into tears, all i could say was "Please no, please please no!"
So i was whisked straight away into the operating theatre where i was given an epidural (i saw the size of the needle... was absolutely massive, but i didn't feel a thing when it went in) everyone was saying "Don't push, whatever you do, don't push!" - the hardest thing ever! I thought that pushing hurt, but trying not to push when your body was trying to with all it's might was hella painful, i even pulled my canulla out of my hand in the struggle
Everything from my chest down started to go blissfully numb, honestly it ws a lovely feeling, the difference was night and day!
The forceps were inserted and i was told to push as hard as i could, i panicked and said "What?! I don't know how to push, i can't feel ANYTHING!" but i somehow managed it, and on my second push, my midwife said "Get ready to catch a baby!" and i, in my state of exhaustion, looked up towards the ceiling and said "Why?! Where's one coming from?!"
I remember another midwife saying "Okay linzie, the cord was wrapped round baby's neck twice, but don't worry it's off now!" - That terrfied me, my poor LO
no wonder she didn't want to come out!On my third push, the curtain was put down, and at 8.44AM on Sunday the 16th of May, my beautiful daughter was born and placed immediately on my chest
me and my mum were just crying loads and all i could think of was how lovely she was. She was bright purple and covered in my blood but i didn't care she was just looking up at me with her huge eyes as if she already knew who i was. it was the best moment of my life.The next part was a total blur, my baby was taken away in a flash and there were suddenly abut 5 extra people in the room running around and shouting things, i was losing focus and everything was getting darker, i knew i was passing out. The last thing i saw before i lost conciousness was my mum, holding my daughter, but looking absolutely terrified.
I came round an hour later with a bag of blood above my head, attatched to a new IV in my hand. My mum explained that i'd had a massive bleed and this was my third transfusion. I was still very numb everywhere but all i could think of was my daughter, so my mum passed her to me out of her cot, and i just stared and stared at her
she latched on to feed more or less straight away, with no problems and a perfect latch That was when i decided her name was Esmee (Es-MEE NOT Es-MAY!) Rae (Ray) I had to stay in hospital days after she was born because i collapsed in the hospital shower later that day
I had ended up with TWO Episiotomies and my stitches were really sore! I was finally allowed to bring Esmee home on thursday 20th May
A very long and sligtly traumatic labour, but my beautiful daughter was worth every tiny bit of pain, and i'd do it all again if i had to
If you got to the end... well done!
x x x
Sorry it was so traumatic, but glad she arrived safely. You did a wonderful job xxx
