Just be aware, this is a labour and birth story so
please understand there may be some details or things that may not be talked
about that commonly. I’ll try my best to keep to it clean but if you are easily
upset or “grossed out” then it probably not best to carry on reading.
Thursday 5th- Braxton hicks pretty much all day, uncomfortable
but bearable.
Friday 6th (due date)- Braxton Hicks still in motion but
turned up a gear around 7pm that night. As it goes, pregnant women are advised
to hold out as long as possible before heading to the hospital; so I carried on
as normally as I possibly could, including having a bath, going to bed and
trying to sleep through them. I did get some sleep but not a lot that night.
Saturday 7th- after contracting all night and waking up with
them as they became more regular, I decided to ring my mum (around 5am) and
explain that they were coming every 5-6mins, she made her way to us from
Liverpool to Stoke (arriving about 7am). Contractions where still coming every
5-6mins, but they NEEDED to even closer together between 3-4mins apart; so I
held out as much as I could. After my mum had been with us an hour or so the
pain started getting more and more intense, and started coming every 4mins,
writing the times down on a scrap piece of paper and counting back. We rang the
birthing centre and they told me to make my way down. As far as pain relief
goes, I’d been using a TENs machine, but at this point I didn’t feel like it
was working anymore. We went to the birthing centre they gave me a room, the
midwife did all the routine checks and then I asked her to do an internal to
see what baby was doing. She checked and told me that I wasn’t dilated and that
the baby was coming down the cervix (cervical tube is about 3.5cm) and that
baby was 2cms down the tube. She told me the best thing to do was to head home
and wait it out, get as much rest as possible and the get my energy up. It
seemed the transition from home to the hospital had an effect on my body and my
contractions started slowing down, because of this I agreed to go back home.
Few hours after returning home, I lost my mucus plug, so I had a feeling that
things where moving, even if it was slowly.
Sunday 8th- with another rough day and night at home, and
contractions coming strong and regular, (even to the point where I vomited) and
now coming 3-4mins apart, I rang again; they told me to head in to centre once
more. The contractions kept coming but as the midwives don’t like to interfere
too much, no one wouldn’t do an internal so I had no idea what was going on
with baby, except that baby was partially back to back from them feeling my
tummy externally. It was just a case of going with the flow. After a good few
hours they were still coming, not as regular, but they were continuous none the
less. My hind waters broke around 11am that morning. There is a general rule
when your waters break that the baby needs to be delivered within 48 hours due
to this risk of infection. They booked me in for an induction Tuesday if things
didn’t progress naturally. So after a long day of being prodded and poked they
sent me home once more as they were not as regular but they had me booked in at
11 the following morning to monitor baby and make sure he was coping.
Monday 9th- with an additional hard night behind us (harder
than the previous two nights as water had gone), everything was a lot worse. We
went to get monitored at 11am in the Maternity assessment unit, each pain
becoming more and more unbearable. The baby was coping fine but one of the
midwives that where doing the assessment tried to bring the induction forward
as she could see I was exhausted, and said they would ring me that day with a
decision. They said there was nothing they could do for the time being and to
go home; so once AGAIN we headed back, later that evening we decided it would
be a good idea to go for a small walk round Queens Park to see if I could make
things come on even stronger, which seemed to work, even being in the park nothing
was wavering the contractions, they were coming like clockwork every 4mins and
I couldn’t move with the pain. In the park is where I got the phone call to say
there was a bed for me in the delivery suit and that they would induce me that
evening. I cried with the relief knowing that things would be moving one way or
another. My bed was booked for 9 that evening, on arriving the contractions
where closer together and a lot longer. Mel, my midwife decided to do an
internal knowing they were going to induce and get the baby out within 24hours.
On examination she told me I was 5cm and that my front water where bulging, so
she hooked them, and the relief was incredible. I managed to deal with the
contractions that followed for about 30mins, standing and putting on the TENs
machine. Deryck suggested that I couldn’t stand there all night so to try a
birthing ball to give my legs a rest. As I bounced on it without a contraction
is was comfortable, and then, another contraction hit…. at this point I
couldn’t bare the pain, it hit a whole other level; I decided that I wanted an
epidural; something I never wanted, but with the long labour and the baby being
the position he was I felt like my back was going to break, and I was
exhausted. The midwife suggested using the gas and air until the anaesthetist
came round. I was also reluctant to use this, when the contraction hit and I
was reminded of the pain, I gave it ago. It worked at first, but I HATED the
effect it had on my brain, I was sick on it, laughing and giggling on it,
everything was in slow motion and could barely respond to what was happening in
the room.
Tuesday 10th- Midnight hit, I vaguely remember Deryck and mum
saying happy anniversary, but I was so zonked on G&A I didn’t remember it
fully. By the time the anaesthetist came round the gas and air was not working
anymore and I was pretty much contracting without them stopping; it was just
constant. Getting the epidural in was probably the worse point during the
labour, trying to stay still while contracting made it near impossible for the
anaesthetist, he got the needle in but he hit a nerve on my right hand side,
twice. I’ve never experienced pain like it and I really screamed my lungs out,
at this point I really lost it. The pain was so intense I blacked out and don’t
really remember much after that. Next thing I knew I was coming down off the
gas and air and the sitting up in bed with the epidural in. I could feel the
contractions, but only the pressure that was in my ribs. It meant I could rest
and get myself composed for the birth. After an hour Mel did another internal
and told me I was fully dilated and that we would start getting ready to push.
So we did, I pushed for an hour which felt like hardly anytime at all, my mum
and Deryck where fantastic, encouraging me and supporting me. I tried with all
my might to get baby moved but not enough to come out, baby was side by side
and getting a bit distressed so the doctor thought best to use ventouse
(medical vacuum), if that wouldn’t work, forceps and then otherwise C-section.
It was here when I was so relieved to have had the epidural; otherwise I really
would have felt everything. They fitted the vacuum on baby’s head, and started
to pull, I still felt everything but on a dullish level. The worst part was the
babies head and shoulders coming out, the most uncomfortable feeling ever, when
his shoulders where out I distinctly remember at this point thinking ‘he’s got
his daddies shoulders’. Once the shoulders where out the rest of him followed
and there he was! Couldn’t believe he was here and in that moment we went from
2 people, to 3 and from a couple to a family. Although he was covered in gunk
and looking very blue, I couldn’t care less, I just wanted to hold him and the
sound of his cries was music to my ears. This was my baby, a moment that with
stick with me always! I’d waited 9 months to meet him.
With regards to the
gender, the midwife said I had a girl, I looked at Deryck who shook his head
‘No, I don’t think so’. The midwife laughed it off ‘Oop’s my mistake!’ and the
doctor confirmed he was a boy and joked about how it was hard to miss! They
took him to get cleaned up, he’d come out blue (often happens when they come
out fast) and he’d swallowed a lot of fluid. I couldn’t stop looking at him,
couldn’t believe that he was here. Deryck did cry, I was shocked and
overwhelmed I don’t really remember what I did, I just remember feeling happy
and relieved it was all over. Once settled we had him do skin to skin with me
and where left for a few hours to bond and get acquainted. After this, I was
cleaned up and transferred to a ward where I stayed for a day and night as
standard procedure, with Seth being in me for more than 24 with waters being
ruptured.
Wednesday 11th - I’ll never forget that first night. I was so
scared, Deryck wasn’t allowed to stay in the ward and so I had to cope the
first night, all alone, with my new born baby, while trying to recover from the
birth. He cluster fed all night, wanting to be close to me, sometimes he would
just latch on and fall asleep straight away. I couldn’t get any rest. The
midwives knew I would have it rough and so helped by taking him for an hour to
help me try and sleep, I managed to get about 20mins but every time I heard him
cry down the hall I woke up; my urge to be with him was overwhelming, even
after no sleep for the last 48 hours. It’s like your body kicks into survival
mode and puts your baby’s needs before your own. I was so sore, it hurt even to
breathe, but I didn’t care. The night passed and Deryck was with me before the
visiting times and didn’t leave my side. We went home later that day.
It takes a while to
recover from giving birth, but on a whole I think I’ve been rather blessed and
I’m not doing too bad all things considered. Often with an assisted delivery,
multiple stiches are needed, but I didn’t need a single one, all the members of
staff at the hospital said that that was a miracle in itself. Home life is
going well, sometimes it’s really hard, the main thing that makes it so is the
lack of sleep, but we are getting used to it. Breastfeeding is going well. It
still hurts but I’m hoping this will pass soon.
I just want to thank everyone for their love,
prayers and support over this last few weeks, people have been bringing us
meals, we been given so many gifts and cards we have nowhere left to put them
and generally we are overwhelmed with love, we didn’t expect so much!
It's been a long 9 months but Seth is finally here
and he was most definitely worth it.
