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The birth of Ivy 2 December 2010
I am writing this after a very up and down Day 3 with squirting milk, major feeding confidence issues, sleep deprivation and a husband with gastric flu but at the moment Ivy is chock full of milk and sleeping so I will do my best.
My induction was booked for 8am 30 November due to gestational diabetes. We stayed at MILs the night before due to the snow forecast (glad we did now it took 15 mins to drive ¼ of a mile)
Arrive on the ward and I am shown to my bed. Obs are taken and I am put on a trace for 30 mins, pee is tested. The midwife then explains the induction process and that the first step is to give me a pessary that will stay in for 24 hours at most, the aim of this is to just get my cervix favourable for the hormone drip the next day.
As always in hospital LOADS of waiting and finally I get an internal at 2.30pm and am told that my cervix is really posterior and unfavourable but I am 1cm dilated. They pop in the pessary and I prepare myself for a long wait.
Nothing of note happens (it is a bit grim though, on an antenatal ward full of women who have high BP, random bleeding, ruptured membranes etc and loads of women in early labour waiting for a space on labour ward)
I send DH to his Mums house for dinner and some rest and tell him to come back the next day.
At 10pm I started to get a weird feeling in my tummy it felt like baby wiggling forward and really pressing out. I realise now it was a tightening though (doh!)
I was pretty uncomfy and one of the girls opposite me noticed and asked if I thought something was happening, I laughed it off and tried to get some sleep. I kept waking up, as you do in hospital, and felt uncomfortable, shift change happened and I told the new sister in charge and she said a good sign that cervix doing something. At 2.30 am I woke up and rolled onto my back and felt a little damp patch on my PJs, I wiggled again and GUSH! Pressed the call button and midwife confirmed my waters had gone. I was put on a trace immediately that showed little contractions and a happy baba.
Midwife then sent me off for an amazing hot bath with a hot towel over bump to kick things off. It definitely did the trick and by the time I got out the bath the pains were getting stronger and quite regular. Oh and when I got out the bath there was a lovely lump of green mucus plug ick! I kept being observed and put on trace and by 7am confirmed that contractions were mild but 2-3 mins apart and lasting up to a minute. I was told that as soon as space on labour ward I would be sent down and to get DH to come in. At this point I am so excited I was going to have my baby today!!!
That is when it gets a bit rubbish Nathan came in and the contractions literally stalled. I was still getting them, still in pain but not regular and not very long. Also labour ward was so busy I couldnt go down to get started on a drip. I was so fed up of waiting and I held off having an internal because my waters had gone and I wanted to wait til it was unbearable.
It got to 7pm on 1 December and I send DH back to his Mums for dinner and as if by magic I get a bed on labour ward! We trot down to the little room and all of a sudden it feels very real and very scary. Midwife introduces herself and the doctor. They explain the induction process that will set me off on a drip. They warn me that this stuff may well act like rocket fuel and contractions could be very strong and intense. After not sleeping for 36 hours and listening to screaming labouring women all night I openly admit I am bricking it and I opt for an epidural before even starting the drip I am not ashamed at this point I wanted a pain free labour.
Anaesthetist comes in and places the epi, and I can honestly say to anyone who is scared of the thought of an epi, it hurts less than a blood test! I cant really tell if working at this point because contractions are on and off but I could still move my legs, pee etc.
I get examined at this point and even with the waters going, contractions all day I am EXACTLY the same as when I was admitted! Sooooo I start on the drip, also I am wired up to the epi, have a saline drip and also a drip with antibiotics because of my waters having being gone for 18 hours at this point.
4 hours in and I can feel contractions, midwife says this may be pressure rather than pain, which the epi wont block. I am examined at this stage and still 1cm!!!!!
At this stage drip was upped loads and I could really feel lots of pain, so they did a special top up of the epi (not just a boost) and this finally worked and I got a little sleep.
4 hours in and my new midwife examines me I am now 3cm and she felt the baby wiggling on her finger! I feel a little bit more optimistic I may have my baby in the next week .
At this point it get painful, the epi just wasnt working and I was having to breathe and work hard to keep in control throughout the contractions. The anaesthetist came and took a look and they were discussing re-siting the epi etc after my next exam. I was pretty peed off to be honest, and my midwife felt sorry for me because I wasnt getting the pain relief I wanted.
I had a few hours til my next internal and at this point it gets blurry, I was in loads of pain but didnt want gas and air because I was already being sick and I wanted to be in control. Drs started talking about lack of progress and lots of people were looking at the trace of babys heartbeat.
Anyway the induction was to continue and midwife asked us to bet on how many CM I would be now (I honestly thought 4cm, DH 5cm and midwife 6cm) but low and behold I was 10cm!!!!!!!! I did 3cm in 32 hours and 7cm in 4ish hours with no pain relief.
I was made to wait and hour at this point to let the head descend, I was lucky because as epi had failed I could feel the urge to push.
Finally the crucial moment came and I started pushing it was sooooooooooooo sooooooooooo hard but I at least felt proactive. Within 6 pushes DH could see the head and we were sooo close. My contractions started to play up though and they werent very regular. I was up against the clock because they would only let me push for an hour because of the waters having gone 36 hours before.
I tried everything to get her out, changing position and pushing so hard it felt like my veins would explode, I was so determined to hold her.
Then it got really frightening doctors came in and said baby needed help they put a clip on her head, put me in stirrups, called in a paediatrician, another midwife and a registrar. They tell me that they will use forceps and they needed to cut me. I didnt get a damn at this point and I just kept pushing throughout to try and get her there.
I gave a huge push and they inserted the forceps, it was immense pressure and I felt them dragging her out, this is the only time I screamed during the whole thing, when the shoulders came out it was a huge relief and I heard that amazing cry. They put her on my tummy and then whisked her away. I was stabbed with the placenta injection and I didnt even notice it come out. I was in floods of tears watching them suction my little baby but I knew she was OK because she was moving and yelling.
They wrap her up and give her back to me and the dr starts sewing me back together. Me and DH just sobbed and sobbed, she looked so beautiful and so wide eyed.
Recounting the whole thing back it sounds horrible but it wasnt all that awful, I just regret how medical it all got and I wish I could have pushed her our myself but the main this is she got here safely. I have no pain from my stiches, the only place that hurts is my tail bone.
Ivy weighed 6lb 7oz (so much for my GD making her fat!) and already the forcep marks have faded.
I am writing this after a very up and down Day 3 with squirting milk, major feeding confidence issues, sleep deprivation and a husband with gastric flu but at the moment Ivy is chock full of milk and sleeping so I will do my best.
My induction was booked for 8am 30 November due to gestational diabetes. We stayed at MILs the night before due to the snow forecast (glad we did now it took 15 mins to drive ¼ of a mile)
Arrive on the ward and I am shown to my bed. Obs are taken and I am put on a trace for 30 mins, pee is tested. The midwife then explains the induction process and that the first step is to give me a pessary that will stay in for 24 hours at most, the aim of this is to just get my cervix favourable for the hormone drip the next day.
As always in hospital LOADS of waiting and finally I get an internal at 2.30pm and am told that my cervix is really posterior and unfavourable but I am 1cm dilated. They pop in the pessary and I prepare myself for a long wait.
Nothing of note happens (it is a bit grim though, on an antenatal ward full of women who have high BP, random bleeding, ruptured membranes etc and loads of women in early labour waiting for a space on labour ward)
I send DH to his Mums house for dinner and some rest and tell him to come back the next day.
At 10pm I started to get a weird feeling in my tummy it felt like baby wiggling forward and really pressing out. I realise now it was a tightening though (doh!)
I was pretty uncomfy and one of the girls opposite me noticed and asked if I thought something was happening, I laughed it off and tried to get some sleep. I kept waking up, as you do in hospital, and felt uncomfortable, shift change happened and I told the new sister in charge and she said a good sign that cervix doing something. At 2.30 am I woke up and rolled onto my back and felt a little damp patch on my PJs, I wiggled again and GUSH! Pressed the call button and midwife confirmed my waters had gone. I was put on a trace immediately that showed little contractions and a happy baba.
Midwife then sent me off for an amazing hot bath with a hot towel over bump to kick things off. It definitely did the trick and by the time I got out the bath the pains were getting stronger and quite regular. Oh and when I got out the bath there was a lovely lump of green mucus plug ick! I kept being observed and put on trace and by 7am confirmed that contractions were mild but 2-3 mins apart and lasting up to a minute. I was told that as soon as space on labour ward I would be sent down and to get DH to come in. At this point I am so excited I was going to have my baby today!!!
That is when it gets a bit rubbish Nathan came in and the contractions literally stalled. I was still getting them, still in pain but not regular and not very long. Also labour ward was so busy I couldnt go down to get started on a drip. I was so fed up of waiting and I held off having an internal because my waters had gone and I wanted to wait til it was unbearable.
It got to 7pm on 1 December and I send DH back to his Mums for dinner and as if by magic I get a bed on labour ward! We trot down to the little room and all of a sudden it feels very real and very scary. Midwife introduces herself and the doctor. They explain the induction process that will set me off on a drip. They warn me that this stuff may well act like rocket fuel and contractions could be very strong and intense. After not sleeping for 36 hours and listening to screaming labouring women all night I openly admit I am bricking it and I opt for an epidural before even starting the drip I am not ashamed at this point I wanted a pain free labour.
Anaesthetist comes in and places the epi, and I can honestly say to anyone who is scared of the thought of an epi, it hurts less than a blood test! I cant really tell if working at this point because contractions are on and off but I could still move my legs, pee etc.
I get examined at this point and even with the waters going, contractions all day I am EXACTLY the same as when I was admitted! Sooooo I start on the drip, also I am wired up to the epi, have a saline drip and also a drip with antibiotics because of my waters having being gone for 18 hours at this point.
4 hours in and I can feel contractions, midwife says this may be pressure rather than pain, which the epi wont block. I am examined at this stage and still 1cm!!!!!
At this stage drip was upped loads and I could really feel lots of pain, so they did a special top up of the epi (not just a boost) and this finally worked and I got a little sleep.
4 hours in and my new midwife examines me I am now 3cm and she felt the baby wiggling on her finger! I feel a little bit more optimistic I may have my baby in the next week .
At this point it get painful, the epi just wasnt working and I was having to breathe and work hard to keep in control throughout the contractions. The anaesthetist came and took a look and they were discussing re-siting the epi etc after my next exam. I was pretty peed off to be honest, and my midwife felt sorry for me because I wasnt getting the pain relief I wanted.
I had a few hours til my next internal and at this point it gets blurry, I was in loads of pain but didnt want gas and air because I was already being sick and I wanted to be in control. Drs started talking about lack of progress and lots of people were looking at the trace of babys heartbeat.
Anyway the induction was to continue and midwife asked us to bet on how many CM I would be now (I honestly thought 4cm, DH 5cm and midwife 6cm) but low and behold I was 10cm!!!!!!!! I did 3cm in 32 hours and 7cm in 4ish hours with no pain relief.
I was made to wait and hour at this point to let the head descend, I was lucky because as epi had failed I could feel the urge to push.
Finally the crucial moment came and I started pushing it was sooooooooooooo sooooooooooo hard but I at least felt proactive. Within 6 pushes DH could see the head and we were sooo close. My contractions started to play up though and they werent very regular. I was up against the clock because they would only let me push for an hour because of the waters having gone 36 hours before.
I tried everything to get her out, changing position and pushing so hard it felt like my veins would explode, I was so determined to hold her.
Then it got really frightening doctors came in and said baby needed help they put a clip on her head, put me in stirrups, called in a paediatrician, another midwife and a registrar. They tell me that they will use forceps and they needed to cut me. I didnt get a damn at this point and I just kept pushing throughout to try and get her there.
I gave a huge push and they inserted the forceps, it was immense pressure and I felt them dragging her out, this is the only time I screamed during the whole thing, when the shoulders came out it was a huge relief and I heard that amazing cry. They put her on my tummy and then whisked her away. I was stabbed with the placenta injection and I didnt even notice it come out. I was in floods of tears watching them suction my little baby but I knew she was OK because she was moving and yelling.
They wrap her up and give her back to me and the dr starts sewing me back together. Me and DH just sobbed and sobbed, she looked so beautiful and so wide eyed.
Recounting the whole thing back it sounds horrible but it wasnt all that awful, I just regret how medical it all got and I wish I could have pushed her our myself but the main this is she got here safely. I have no pain from my stiches, the only place that hurts is my tail bone.
Ivy weighed 6lb 7oz (so much for my GD making her fat!) and already the forcep marks have faded.
https://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q158/lissylops1/Ivy4.jpg
https://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q158/lissylops1/Ivybath.jpg
https://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q158/lissylops1/Ivybath.jpg
she's gorgeous!
