Aunty E
Mummy to Mog and Teddy
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- Oct 28, 2008
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We decided that Saturday was a good day for Teddy to be born - OH is really really busy at the moment, and Saturday was the only day when he didn't have someone coming into the studio to record. And he was supposed to be playing for Comic Relief on Sunday (very exciting) so he had to born early enough to let OH get some sleep. So the day before (my due date) I took pulsatilla pillules every two hours, went for a long walk, lifted some really heavy things, cleaned the whole house, ate a curry, had a glass of wine and BD'd with OH. 4am I woke up with contractions - exactly as I did with Imogen. I went back to bed for a few hours, but was finding it very difficult to sleep, so I got up properly at 7am, took some more pulsatilla and went and bounced on the birthing ball. After ten minutes or so I had to go upstairs and wake up OH and get him to put the tens machine on for me. The contractions were every six minutes or so and about thirty seconds long, but they were very weak.
At about nine am we rang around to find someone to watch Imogen and got the MiL (who was THRILLED bizarrely) to drive down from Worcestershire to sit with Mog. Then my contractions seemed to die down. I don't know if this was because I'd been running around doing stuff, or because the TENS was working really really well, but I was panicking that it was all a false alarm and I'd got everyone worked up for no good reason. I went for a walk and ran up and down the stairs a few times, which did nothing. I bounced on the ball a bit, which helped a bit but not masses. I was getting (secretly as the MiL was there by then) a bit upset, so I thought the best thing to do was to go and sit upstairs for a bit by myself and rub the last of my clary sage on the bump. BINGO. Lay on the bed and focused on the smell of the clary sage, and relaxing my pelvic floor and core musces, visualised an opening flower and dozed in between contractions and they finally got uncomfortable enough for me to feel confident something was happening. I'd had no show, and with Mog I'd had a lot of bloody mucus, so I was still a bit worried. But anyway, although I wasn't as far along as I had been with her in terms of discomfort I was starting to think that we would need to go to the hospital in a little while. I went downstairs and sat with Mog for half an hour and then told OH to finish what he was doing as we needed to go soon. I couldn't really talk during contractions (a good sign I thought) and I really actually just wanted someone to tell me how far along I was. I was a bit worried we might get sent home, but was kind of ok with that.
Had a lovely calm trip to the hospital (unlike last time when it was rush hour, took an hour and I was in transition) and was examined nice and quickly where they found I was 4cm
WOO! Not as far as I would have liked, but deffo in established labour. They packed me off to the Lilac Birthing Suite as I'd said I didn't want an epidural (which was bizarre, as I'd really fancied one up until that point). The tens was still working really well and I'd cranked it up quite high, which was good as suddenly my contractions went a bit more hard core. Lovely midwife got me the gas and air and I think I'd worked out how to use it better this time, because it was AMAZING!!!! I felt like I was totally off my head, and I could still talk Apparently total crap most of the time, and I giggled a lot as well. A couple of hours later I was starting to consider asking for some more pain relief as the TENS was up to max and I wasn't able to take much of a break from the gas betwen contractions, but I was still walking a bit and rocking my hips, and OH was being brilliant. The Midwife kept wandering off and she had asked me if I needed to push, and I'd said that I was feeling the urge at the top of each contraction but that it wasn't uncontrollable. She went off again and suddenly the urge was uncontrollable and I was panting heavily and then I felt the baby's head come out. So I shouted for OH to get the Midwife and he ran out of the room shouting (he tells me that the baby's head and the blood between my legs was terrifying as last time there was no mess until we got to theatre really and he thought there was something horribly wrong). Midwives come running and start trying to get me onto the bed and I'm shouting at them to just catch the baby, but they get me up on the bed on my hands and knees and move me round and OH (god I love that man) finds the gas and air and shoves it into my mouth. Then two more pushes and out comes Teddy. All 8lb 8oz of him (Mog was 7lb 4oz, so this was a little bit of a shock). Robustly healthy and with a brilliant apgar score of 9 (unlike poor limp purple poo-covered Mog) at 1 minute Feeling him come out was unpleasant - I kind of missed the spinal at that point, and when I was waiting for the placenta to come out, but it was so great to be aware and not completely off my head like last time.
I was in some discomfort afterwards until they FINALLY got around to stitching me up (I lay there sucking the gas for an hour wishing they'd come and shoot me full of local, but maybe this is normal, I don't know). I had a second degree tear, which was on the site of my enormous episiotomy from Mog, but it didn't take too long to stitch up, and then I got some nice skin to skin with Teddy, who immediately attacked my nipples and latched on. Then Daddy dressed him and I got to have a lovely shower and off to the ward for a good night's sleep. Except I was too hopped up on adrenaline to sleep, but it was ok, I wasn't so very tired OH went home and then off to the BBC the next day to do his recording and we were eventually discharged at lunchtime and have been home for a day, and it's brilliant. Still not sure how to deal with a newborn again, but getting the hang of it and Mog is pretending that Teddy doesn't exist, so not a bad result 
At about nine am we rang around to find someone to watch Imogen and got the MiL (who was THRILLED bizarrely) to drive down from Worcestershire to sit with Mog. Then my contractions seemed to die down. I don't know if this was because I'd been running around doing stuff, or because the TENS was working really really well, but I was panicking that it was all a false alarm and I'd got everyone worked up for no good reason. I went for a walk and ran up and down the stairs a few times, which did nothing. I bounced on the ball a bit, which helped a bit but not masses. I was getting (secretly as the MiL was there by then) a bit upset, so I thought the best thing to do was to go and sit upstairs for a bit by myself and rub the last of my clary sage on the bump. BINGO. Lay on the bed and focused on the smell of the clary sage, and relaxing my pelvic floor and core musces, visualised an opening flower and dozed in between contractions and they finally got uncomfortable enough for me to feel confident something was happening. I'd had no show, and with Mog I'd had a lot of bloody mucus, so I was still a bit worried. But anyway, although I wasn't as far along as I had been with her in terms of discomfort I was starting to think that we would need to go to the hospital in a little while. I went downstairs and sat with Mog for half an hour and then told OH to finish what he was doing as we needed to go soon. I couldn't really talk during contractions (a good sign I thought) and I really actually just wanted someone to tell me how far along I was. I was a bit worried we might get sent home, but was kind of ok with that.
Had a lovely calm trip to the hospital (unlike last time when it was rush hour, took an hour and I was in transition) and was examined nice and quickly where they found I was 4cm
WOO! Not as far as I would have liked, but deffo in established labour. They packed me off to the Lilac Birthing Suite as I'd said I didn't want an epidural (which was bizarre, as I'd really fancied one up until that point). The tens was still working really well and I'd cranked it up quite high, which was good as suddenly my contractions went a bit more hard core. Lovely midwife got me the gas and air and I think I'd worked out how to use it better this time, because it was AMAZING!!!! I felt like I was totally off my head, and I could still talk Apparently total crap most of the time, and I giggled a lot as well. A couple of hours later I was starting to consider asking for some more pain relief as the TENS was up to max and I wasn't able to take much of a break from the gas betwen contractions, but I was still walking a bit and rocking my hips, and OH was being brilliant. The Midwife kept wandering off and she had asked me if I needed to push, and I'd said that I was feeling the urge at the top of each contraction but that it wasn't uncontrollable. She went off again and suddenly the urge was uncontrollable and I was panting heavily and then I felt the baby's head come out. So I shouted for OH to get the Midwife and he ran out of the room shouting (he tells me that the baby's head and the blood between my legs was terrifying as last time there was no mess until we got to theatre really and he thought there was something horribly wrong). Midwives come running and start trying to get me onto the bed and I'm shouting at them to just catch the baby, but they get me up on the bed on my hands and knees and move me round and OH (god I love that man) finds the gas and air and shoves it into my mouth. Then two more pushes and out comes Teddy. All 8lb 8oz of him (Mog was 7lb 4oz, so this was a little bit of a shock). Robustly healthy and with a brilliant apgar score of 9 (unlike poor limp purple poo-covered Mog) at 1 minute Feeling him come out was unpleasant - I kind of missed the spinal at that point, and when I was waiting for the placenta to come out, but it was so great to be aware and not completely off my head like last time.I was in some discomfort afterwards until they FINALLY got around to stitching me up (I lay there sucking the gas for an hour wishing they'd come and shoot me full of local, but maybe this is normal, I don't know). I had a second degree tear, which was on the site of my enormous episiotomy from Mog, but it didn't take too long to stitch up, and then I got some nice skin to skin with Teddy, who immediately attacked my nipples and latched on. Then Daddy dressed him and I got to have a lovely shower and off to the ward for a good night's sleep. Except I was too hopped up on adrenaline to sleep, but it was ok, I wasn't so very tired
OH went home and then off to the BBC the next day to do his recording and we were eventually discharged at lunchtime and have been home for a day, and it's brilliant. Still not sure how to deal with a newborn again, but getting the hang of it and Mog is pretending that Teddy doesn't exist, so not a bad result 
I had a lovely call from D at midnight to tell me the news which was very much appreciated. Looking forward to seeing all of you soon 
