FeeMorr
Pregnant with no. 2
- Joined
- May 5, 2010
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Here's my story, so happy to finally be posting this! 
After 2 failed sweeps (first one the mw couldn't reach my cervix and the second was done by my consultant, however I don't think he actually did it properly) I went for the hat-trick and had a third one on Friday 15th October (8 days overdue). I found this one really really uncomfortable but felt that compared to the one the consultant did this one was actually done properly!
I woke on Saturday morning feeling lousy and started to get contractions, they felt similar to braxton hicks but more intense and I didn't feel breathless with them so knew they were the real deal. I felt very queasy so went back to bed for a sleep but by 11am I was up and running to the toilet to puke my guts up!
Felt a bit better afterwards but not well enough to eat and so this was the pattern for most of the day...feeling queasy and contracting every 7-8 minutes however the contractions didn't get any stronger. By bedtime they had stopped so managed to get a good sleep Saturday night however during a visit to the loo at about 6am on the Sunday morning my plug came out in one go so was chuffed that all that contracting meant something was happening at last! 
My contractions started up again Sunday morning and this time there were coming every 5 minutes or so for a few hours, then back to 7-8 minutes and although they were stronger than the ones on Saturday, they didn't get any stronger and finally stopped at teatime when I felt well enough to eat some toast.
I then had nothing until Monday afternoon when my contractions started up again about 2pm but again they stopped at tea time. I was quite pleased as was due to be induced Tuesday morning (19th October) so thought I would at least get another good nights sleep however at 4am I woke up to a thudding sensation in my uterus so I got up and just made it to the toilet when my waters broke. I rang the hospital and was told to wait until my contractions were coming every 2-3 minutes (which surprised me as I was told because I wanted a VBAC that they would get me in to have me monitored as soon as things started...now they were saying that they were treating me like any other woman in labour and to wait at home until I was in established labour!?). Anyway, I stuck my TENS machine on (would totally recommend TENS btw) and an hour later my contractions were every 3 minutes and getting really strong so I phoned back and was told I could come in to be checked but if that I wasn't in established labour I would be sent home (I don't think she thought I could be after only an hour!). By the time we got to the hospital half an hour later, my contractions had really ramped up and it seemed to take forever (and 6 or 7 contractions) before I waddled into ward 37 to be check where they found I was 5 cm....my first words were "can I have my gas and air now please" lol!
I was wheeled down to the labour suite with my gas and air which really took the edge off my contractions and I managed with this and my TENS for the next 4 hours which took me up to 7 cm dilated which is when I asked for Remifentanil (this link explains what this is if you are interested, scroll down as the section on remifenanil is halfway down the page...btw I didn't give birth at this hospital but just thought their info on it was really clear! https://www.drfogarty.co.uk/mat_pain.html). The doc they got to put the cannula in my hand made a right mess of it and had three attempts on my left hand before finally getting it in after 2 attempts on my right! My hands are both still back and blue and sore!
At this point I was also having problems peeing...I kept feeling like I needed to go....I managed to get to the loo but couldn't wee and of course had a really strong contraction whilst there but didn't have my gas and air with me in the loo so decided I wouldn't try that again! The midwife then decided to try and put a catheter in as she was worried I was having problems emptying my bladder and that it would get damaged when it came to the pushing stage...it was horrible getting it in and out as I could feel everything and it was a waste of time as bladder was empty anyway (even though I had been sipping water all day!).
The next few hours were a bit of a blur of contracting and napping in between the contractions.
I managed to get to 10cm when my contractions suddenly took on a whole new dimension of pain and after an examination they discovered the baby was back to back so I asked for an epidural and even though I was 10cm they said it was fine, so I got the most senior anaesthetist on call (after a traumatic experience with my first which was a section when a trainee did my spinal block and made a hash of it). This time it was a breeze and in in no time with little pain (although still had gas and air and remifentanil on the go!). I was then told they were ready for me to start pushing and would give me an hour, so even though I couldn't feel any pain I could still tell when a contraction was coming and with the help of the midwife started to push. After about 45 minutes the midwife said she didn't think it was going to happen as although he had turned a quarter way round he was facing my side and still had another quarter turn to make plus his head wasn't any further down for all the pushing and that the next option was a forceps delivery (and if that didn't work another section). My epidural was topped up and I was given a really deep block (couldn't feel my legs up to my chest). I was whleed in to theatre and they did all their prep and got me into position with my legs in stirrups. By the time they were ready to start he had miraculously turned and was finally in the right position so they thankfully didn't need to use the rotational forceps just the normal ones....I was told when to push as couldn't feel anything by this point and after 2 pushes his head came out and then I pushed the rest of him out naturally with 2 further pushes/contractions. It felt weird when they were pulling his head out as could feel this tugging sensation but tried no to focus on the fact it was my baby's head being tugged and concentrated on pushing instead!
Harris James Walker was born at 18.03 on Tuesday 19th October and weighed a whopping 10lbs 12.5oz
I think I broke some records with some of the midwives that day 
He came out screaming and was taken away to be weighed etc so didn't get immediate skin on skin contact....it took them almost 40 minutes to sew me up as I had had an episiotemy and also got a 2nd degree tear
Managed to get a proper cuddle and skin on skin in the observation ward however my bladder was giving everyone cause for concern as they had put another catheter in for the forceps delivery and there wasn't a single drop of wee in it I was basically on the observation ward for 6 hours waiting for my catheter to fill which it finally did after 2 jugs of water and my hormone drip had finished (this can sometimes stop your bladder working).
I was in hospital for 2 nights and got home Thursday afternoon. We are all doing well although I have developed PUPPS (https://dermatology.about.com/cs/pregnancy/a/puppp.htm) which is driving me mad as can't take anything for it as breastfeeding. Harris is also jaundice probably due to some slight bruising from the forceps. If it hasn't cleared up by next Tuesday (14 days after he was born) then the midwife is going to refer us back up to the hospital to get him checked out.
As Harris is feeding so well (he got weighed this morning by the midwife and in 10 days since being born has put on 7oz already!) I have started him on the routine I used for my daughter (although she started it at 5 weeks old!). So he had one week of feeding on demand and then on Tuesday this week I started the routine and last night he had a textbook sleep and fed at approx 7pm, 11pm, 3am and 7am give or take (a HUGE improvement on the first few days when he had night and day mixed up and slept all day and was really unsettled during the night...). If anyone is interested this is an amazing book and really helped me with my daughter 2 years ago and is what I am following for Harris (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Baby-Secre...709X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1288385498&sr=8-1)
Here are some piccies.....
After 2 failed sweeps (first one the mw couldn't reach my cervix and the second was done by my consultant, however I don't think he actually did it properly) I went for the hat-trick and had a third one on Friday 15th October (8 days overdue). I found this one really really uncomfortable but felt that compared to the one the consultant did this one was actually done properly!
I woke on Saturday morning feeling lousy and started to get contractions, they felt similar to braxton hicks but more intense and I didn't feel breathless with them so knew they were the real deal. I felt very queasy so went back to bed for a sleep but by 11am I was up and running to the toilet to puke my guts up!
Felt a bit better afterwards but not well enough to eat and so this was the pattern for most of the day...feeling queasy and contracting every 7-8 minutes however the contractions didn't get any stronger. By bedtime they had stopped so managed to get a good sleep Saturday night however during a visit to the loo at about 6am on the Sunday morning my plug came out in one go so was chuffed that all that contracting meant something was happening at last! My contractions started up again Sunday morning and this time there were coming every 5 minutes or so for a few hours, then back to 7-8 minutes and although they were stronger than the ones on Saturday, they didn't get any stronger and finally stopped at teatime when I felt well enough to eat some toast.
I then had nothing until Monday afternoon when my contractions started up again about 2pm but again they stopped at tea time. I was quite pleased as was due to be induced Tuesday morning (19th October) so thought I would at least get another good nights sleep however at 4am I woke up to a thudding sensation in my uterus so I got up and just made it to the toilet when my waters broke. I rang the hospital and was told to wait until my contractions were coming every 2-3 minutes (which surprised me as I was told because I wanted a VBAC that they would get me in to have me monitored as soon as things started...now they were saying that they were treating me like any other woman in labour and to wait at home until I was in established labour!?). Anyway, I stuck my TENS machine on (would totally recommend TENS btw) and an hour later my contractions were every 3 minutes and getting really strong so I phoned back and was told I could come in to be checked but if that I wasn't in established labour I would be sent home (I don't think she thought I could be after only an hour!). By the time we got to the hospital half an hour later, my contractions had really ramped up and it seemed to take forever (and 6 or 7 contractions) before I waddled into ward 37 to be check where they found I was 5 cm....my first words were "can I have my gas and air now please" lol!
I was wheeled down to the labour suite with my gas and air which really took the edge off my contractions and I managed with this and my TENS for the next 4 hours which took me up to 7 cm dilated which is when I asked for Remifentanil (this link explains what this is if you are interested, scroll down as the section on remifenanil is halfway down the page...btw I didn't give birth at this hospital but just thought their info on it was really clear! https://www.drfogarty.co.uk/mat_pain.html). The doc they got to put the cannula in my hand made a right mess of it and had three attempts on my left hand before finally getting it in after 2 attempts on my right! My hands are both still back and blue and sore!
At this point I was also having problems peeing...I kept feeling like I needed to go....I managed to get to the loo but couldn't wee and of course had a really strong contraction whilst there but didn't have my gas and air with me in the loo so decided I wouldn't try that again! The midwife then decided to try and put a catheter in as she was worried I was having problems emptying my bladder and that it would get damaged when it came to the pushing stage...it was horrible getting it in and out as I could feel everything and it was a waste of time as bladder was empty anyway (even though I had been sipping water all day!).
The next few hours were a bit of a blur of contracting and napping in between the contractions.
I managed to get to 10cm when my contractions suddenly took on a whole new dimension of pain and after an examination they discovered the baby was back to back so I asked for an epidural and even though I was 10cm they said it was fine, so I got the most senior anaesthetist on call (after a traumatic experience with my first which was a section when a trainee did my spinal block and made a hash of it). This time it was a breeze and in in no time with little pain (although still had gas and air and remifentanil on the go!). I was then told they were ready for me to start pushing and would give me an hour, so even though I couldn't feel any pain I could still tell when a contraction was coming and with the help of the midwife started to push. After about 45 minutes the midwife said she didn't think it was going to happen as although he had turned a quarter way round he was facing my side and still had another quarter turn to make plus his head wasn't any further down for all the pushing and that the next option was a forceps delivery (and if that didn't work another section). My epidural was topped up and I was given a really deep block (couldn't feel my legs up to my chest). I was whleed in to theatre and they did all their prep and got me into position with my legs in stirrups. By the time they were ready to start he had miraculously turned and was finally in the right position so they thankfully didn't need to use the rotational forceps just the normal ones....I was told when to push as couldn't feel anything by this point and after 2 pushes his head came out and then I pushed the rest of him out naturally with 2 further pushes/contractions. It felt weird when they were pulling his head out as could feel this tugging sensation but tried no to focus on the fact it was my baby's head being tugged and concentrated on pushing instead!
Harris James Walker was born at 18.03 on Tuesday 19th October and weighed a whopping 10lbs 12.5oz
I think I broke some records with some of the midwives that day He came out screaming and was taken away to be weighed etc so didn't get immediate skin on skin contact....it took them almost 40 minutes to sew me up as I had had an episiotemy and also got a 2nd degree tear
Managed to get a proper cuddle and skin on skin in the observation ward however my bladder was giving everyone cause for concern as they had put another catheter in for the forceps delivery and there wasn't a single drop of wee in it
I was basically on the observation ward for 6 hours waiting for my catheter to fill which it finally did after 2 jugs of water and my hormone drip had finished (this can sometimes stop your bladder working).I was in hospital for 2 nights and got home Thursday afternoon. We are all doing well although I have developed PUPPS (https://dermatology.about.com/cs/pregnancy/a/puppp.htm) which is driving me mad as can't take anything for it as breastfeeding. Harris is also jaundice probably due to some slight bruising from the forceps. If it hasn't cleared up by next Tuesday (14 days after he was born) then the midwife is going to refer us back up to the hospital to get him checked out.
As Harris is feeding so well (he got weighed this morning by the midwife and in 10 days since being born has put on 7oz already!) I have started him on the routine I used for my daughter (although she started it at 5 weeks old!). So he had one week of feeding on demand and then on Tuesday this week I started the routine and last night he had a textbook sleep and fed at approx 7pm, 11pm, 3am and 7am give or take (a HUGE improvement on the first few days when he had night and day mixed up and slept all day and was really unsettled during the night...). If anyone is interested this is an amazing book and really helped me with my daughter 2 years ago and is what I am following for Harris (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Baby-Secre...709X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1288385498&sr=8-1)
Here are some piccies.....
