Good luck this month mommylov!
Right, I'm going to try to write about Matthew's birth now, especially for you Manny!
In early hours of Tues 16th I started to have a show- passed lots of little bits of blood and mucus. Also period-type pains had been getting stronger over the previous few days. Went to see consultant to discuss when they would induce me if nothing happened, and mentioned feeling reduced movements-still lots of movement, but definitely less than there had been. I was sent to the labour ward for a CTG- a trace of baby's HR over half an hour or so- and they found that Matthew's HR kept dropping very low- at one point down to 76!! They thought his cord might be in an awkward position, so decided to start inducing me that night. Also, they could see small contractions on the CTG although I couldn't yet feel them distinctly. At this point my cervix was quite soft but very far back and not dilated at all.
Approx 8pm they inserted a prostaglandin gel- felt a bit of a burning sensation at this point but it wasn't really painful. They expected this to soften my cervix more but not that I would go into proper labour, and so they sent my husband home. However, I started contracting from this really quickly, every 5 mins or so through the night, not unbearably painful but certainly too uncomfortable to sleep. I was given some co-codamol and then I think the midwives thought I was sleeping as nobody came to check on me again, so it was a bit of a lonely night!
In the morning I was 1-2cm dilated and they tried to break my waters but my cervix was too far back. I had very painful contractions every 3 mins or so throughout the morning, then a midwife tried again to break my waters, but, again, my cervix was too far back, so she had to get a Dr to try and it was the most unbelievably painful experience- I think just because of the position of my cervix, and also apparently as the membranes were really tight to Matthew's head- and I had to beg him to stop. He then said the midwife never should have got him to try without giving me some pain relief first, and the midwife said it was his fault for being too rough! Either way it was absolutely awful, and I immediately vomited profusely, everywhere, after they had stopped. After that, my contractions suddenly got even more painful and they gave me diamorphine, which made me really sleepy- I could feel the pain, but just not really do anything about it! They thought they hadn't managed to break my waters, but I got little bits of leakage here and there so they must have.
Eventually, I dilated to 6cm and they took me to the delivery ward. At this point I asked for an epidural- 2 very painful hours later the anaesthetist eventually arrived. It was very hard getting through that time, hoping he would turn up any minute, and constantly being disappointed! He did the epidural, which in itself was not painful at all, but I could still feel a lot, and when I told the anaesthetist, he said 'well, I put the epidural in the right place, so if it's not working, it must be you!!' Didn't really know what to say to that! Eventually it worked a bit and I had a short period of relief, then it stopped working - they topped it up but again it only lasted a very short time. I then developed a really high temperature, which they were v concerned about, although said it might just have been due to the epidural.
To be continued.....!
I can't believe I will be joining you soon, 26 days to go, if I'm on time, obviously!
club this month and be 3rd time lucky! 
