L
Louise N
Guest
I finally feel ready to put pen to paper andwrite up my birth story, after 12 months. It all started on the day I was celebrating my birthday, although there was lots going on to distract me I became increasingly anxious about my babys lack of movements. I kept telling myself that I was being paranoid and by the end of the day I was so tired I literally fell in to bed and went straight to sleep. I woke up at 4am on April 2nd 2010. 4am waking had started to become a habit as my baby would get very active but this particular morning she was unusually still. Not wanting to wake my OH I went to the bathroom and prodded my tummy and kept saying come on, move will you. There was nothing and a flood of panic came over me. On the verge of tears I went to wake my OH and said straight away to call the hospital. It was Good Friday and only 5am, so the mat assessment unit was closed. After what could have been ages we found the number for the hospital switchboard and they put me through to a MW in the delivery unit. She was quite reassuring but said I should come in to get checked over.
I got myself dressed and hubby grabbed us some cereal bars to eat on the way.
Arriving at the unit I was sent off with a student MW with a Doppler. Even to my untrained ears, I knew straight away that the heartbeat didnt sound right. Another MW came in and hooked me up to the monitor. The tightness of the belt got my baby moving! And although her heartbeat dropped a couple of times, it was recovering quite quickly. After 1 and half hours the MW disconnected the monitor and took the traces to discuss with a consultant. Her words as she left the room were, right, lets decide what we should do with you
The next 15 minutes waiting for her and the consultant to come back were probably the longest 15 minutes of my life!
The consultant came in and predicted it was cord compression that was causing my babys distress and he did a scan. This was when it was discovered I hardly had any amniotic fluid!
The consultant said that he strongly recommended I go home to get my bag and car seat sorted and come in that evening for induction. I wasnt going to argue with that! I was given a sweep, which started off twinges right away.
Arriving back at the car in the car park it all became so real how much danger my baby was in and I broke down. After a few minutes we set off home. During the journey I switched our phones back on to find a load of messages from both of our parents, wanting to know if I was having any signs of labour starting and was it good news already that we werent at home. I made 2 quick very brief calls to say I was being induced that evening and wed keep them informed. We arrived home to find both sets of parents and more waiting on our doorstep
Really not what I needed! All I wanted was to be with my hubby and get my things together. I disappeared upstairs for a bath and left hubby to usher everyone out of the door!
The drive to the hospital went by in a blur I dont remember it at all but I was surprisingly calm when I arrived. I was greeted by a really nice MW who showed me to my bed, monitored my babys heartbeat for 30minutes and then administered the first gel.
The contractions started coming really quickly after the gel and were quite uncomfortable. At 9.30 hubby was asked to leave and I was given a paracetamol and a sleeping pill and told I should get some sleep. Sleep? Yeah right! Im contracting and the girl in the bed next to me is rustling crisp and biscuit packets all night!
I was really scared when hubby left but I could hear babies in the postnatal bay behind me crying and thats what got me through the evening on my own, knowing that Id be holding my baby soon.
Amazingly at about 2am I must have dozed off. I woke up at 4am desperate for the bathroom. The walk to the bathroom made my contractions much stronger! A few minutes later a MW wheeled a monitor to my bed to check my babys heartbeat again and administer the 2nd round of gel. I didnt need any more gel, I was found to be already 4 cm. I got in the shower; the warm water was amazingly relieving! When I got out the MW was already waiting to take me to delivery. I reminded her to call my hubby, Id had enough of doing this on my own!
My waters (what was left of them!) were broken and shortly after my hubby arrived and we were sent for a walk.
I could only manage to walk for less than a minute at a time, the pains were getting more and more intense. After half an hour I went back to delivery and was found to be 6 cm. At this point the pains were uncomfortable but not too painful. I was then hooked up to that horrible drip that makes you almost contract constantly! It was about half hour later that I thought Id better try some gas&air. I hated it, the taste and the lightheaded-ness were awful so I threw it away in hubbys direction. I was now 8 cm and the pains and pressure in my back were immense. My body was also pushing on its own! It was probably too late for an epidural but the MW agreed I could have one. By the time It was set up I was 10 cm and I didnt have to resist any more, what a relief!
The epidural didnt work but Im kind of glad because at least I didnt loose control of my legs and could move around although limited when I had a monitor on one side and the drip wires on the other.
As I was high risk it was decided I should have 2 MWs with me to monitor the heartbeat traces. My baby had gone back-to-back in labour and she had her hand up by her head! The MW said Im going to tickle her fingers so she moves her hand. That really made me and hubby giggle! After 40 minutes of pushing my babys heartbeat was dipping more and for longer so one of the MWs went to get a doctor. I remember the MW that was with me saying youre so close, get her out now and I can send the doctor away. (That sentence rung in my head for months after the birth) It wasnt happening, this baby was stuck fast!
The doctor decided I needed an episiotomy and a suction cup. A paediatrician then came in with resuscitation equipment. Once again, it all became very scary.
The worst pain of the whole labour was that suction cup going in. I actually screamed! And the doctor looked confused. I thought youd had pain relief he said. I have but it didnt work I managed to get out in reply.
I knew I had to push harder than I thought possible or Id be going to theatre, so I did and the next thing I know the MW is shouting stop pushing and out flew my baby girl really fast. My hubby said the doctor had to catch her!
For a few seconds, she was silent the cord was wrapped round her neck, body and tangled around one of her legs. Me and hubby just stared at each other and he gripped my hand as the MW untangled her. She then let out her first cry and was placed straight into my arms. She was so tiny but perfect
Thankfully the paediatrician left without needing to be used!
I had a tough few months after the birth. I felt really upset by the trauma of it and I suffered many bladder infections due to the bruising caused by the suction cup. My doctor thought I was suffering from PND. I was prescribed some ADs which I took for a couple of months but then I decided I didnt want to be numb to it, I wanted to get over it, not mask it. So I weaned off them over the course of 2 weeks. I had a birth afterthoughts appointment, which helped massively. I feel really positive now and wanted to share my story, its just a shame its taken me 12 months! Writing this up has been really theraputic too.
Thank you (& well done) if you've made it to the end of my really long story.
I got myself dressed and hubby grabbed us some cereal bars to eat on the way.
Arriving at the unit I was sent off with a student MW with a Doppler. Even to my untrained ears, I knew straight away that the heartbeat didnt sound right. Another MW came in and hooked me up to the monitor. The tightness of the belt got my baby moving! And although her heartbeat dropped a couple of times, it was recovering quite quickly. After 1 and half hours the MW disconnected the monitor and took the traces to discuss with a consultant. Her words as she left the room were, right, lets decide what we should do with you
The next 15 minutes waiting for her and the consultant to come back were probably the longest 15 minutes of my life!The consultant came in and predicted it was cord compression that was causing my babys distress and he did a scan. This was when it was discovered I hardly had any amniotic fluid!
The consultant said that he strongly recommended I go home to get my bag and car seat sorted and come in that evening for induction. I wasnt going to argue with that! I was given a sweep, which started off twinges right away.
Arriving back at the car in the car park it all became so real how much danger my baby was in and I broke down. After a few minutes we set off home. During the journey I switched our phones back on to find a load of messages from both of our parents, wanting to know if I was having any signs of labour starting and was it good news already that we werent at home. I made 2 quick very brief calls to say I was being induced that evening and wed keep them informed. We arrived home to find both sets of parents and more waiting on our doorstep
Really not what I needed! All I wanted was to be with my hubby and get my things together. I disappeared upstairs for a bath and left hubby to usher everyone out of the door!The drive to the hospital went by in a blur I dont remember it at all but I was surprisingly calm when I arrived. I was greeted by a really nice MW who showed me to my bed, monitored my babys heartbeat for 30minutes and then administered the first gel.
The contractions started coming really quickly after the gel and were quite uncomfortable. At 9.30 hubby was asked to leave and I was given a paracetamol and a sleeping pill and told I should get some sleep. Sleep? Yeah right! Im contracting and the girl in the bed next to me is rustling crisp and biscuit packets all night!
I was really scared when hubby left but I could hear babies in the postnatal bay behind me crying and thats what got me through the evening on my own, knowing that Id be holding my baby soon.
Amazingly at about 2am I must have dozed off. I woke up at 4am desperate for the bathroom. The walk to the bathroom made my contractions much stronger! A few minutes later a MW wheeled a monitor to my bed to check my babys heartbeat again and administer the 2nd round of gel. I didnt need any more gel, I was found to be already 4 cm. I got in the shower; the warm water was amazingly relieving! When I got out the MW was already waiting to take me to delivery. I reminded her to call my hubby, Id had enough of doing this on my own!
My waters (what was left of them!) were broken and shortly after my hubby arrived and we were sent for a walk.
I could only manage to walk for less than a minute at a time, the pains were getting more and more intense. After half an hour I went back to delivery and was found to be 6 cm. At this point the pains were uncomfortable but not too painful. I was then hooked up to that horrible drip that makes you almost contract constantly! It was about half hour later that I thought Id better try some gas&air. I hated it, the taste and the lightheaded-ness were awful so I threw it away in hubbys direction. I was now 8 cm and the pains and pressure in my back were immense. My body was also pushing on its own! It was probably too late for an epidural but the MW agreed I could have one. By the time It was set up I was 10 cm and I didnt have to resist any more, what a relief!
The epidural didnt work but Im kind of glad because at least I didnt loose control of my legs and could move around although limited when I had a monitor on one side and the drip wires on the other.
As I was high risk it was decided I should have 2 MWs with me to monitor the heartbeat traces. My baby had gone back-to-back in labour and she had her hand up by her head! The MW said Im going to tickle her fingers so she moves her hand. That really made me and hubby giggle! After 40 minutes of pushing my babys heartbeat was dipping more and for longer so one of the MWs went to get a doctor. I remember the MW that was with me saying youre so close, get her out now and I can send the doctor away. (That sentence rung in my head for months after the birth) It wasnt happening, this baby was stuck fast!
The doctor decided I needed an episiotomy and a suction cup. A paediatrician then came in with resuscitation equipment. Once again, it all became very scary.
The worst pain of the whole labour was that suction cup going in. I actually screamed! And the doctor looked confused. I thought youd had pain relief he said. I have but it didnt work I managed to get out in reply.
I knew I had to push harder than I thought possible or Id be going to theatre, so I did and the next thing I know the MW is shouting stop pushing and out flew my baby girl really fast. My hubby said the doctor had to catch her!
For a few seconds, she was silent the cord was wrapped round her neck, body and tangled around one of her legs. Me and hubby just stared at each other and he gripped my hand as the MW untangled her. She then let out her first cry and was placed straight into my arms. She was so tiny but perfect
Thankfully the paediatrician left without needing to be used!I had a tough few months after the birth. I felt really upset by the trauma of it and I suffered many bladder infections due to the bruising caused by the suction cup. My doctor thought I was suffering from PND. I was prescribed some ADs which I took for a couple of months but then I decided I didnt want to be numb to it, I wanted to get over it, not mask it. So I weaned off them over the course of 2 weeks. I had a birth afterthoughts appointment, which helped massively. I feel really positive now and wanted to share my story, its just a shame its taken me 12 months! Writing this up has been really theraputic too.
Thank you (& well done) if you've made it to the end of my really long story.
A very late congratulations! 
and congrats!
my son who is 5 months old was a very traumatic birth also, I may just write it up 
