MSE Pregnancy Club Birth Stories

Sammy_Girl · 22 March 2011 at 12:19PM

Esme Rose born 19 March at 10:34 am - 4 days before EDD
7lb 14oz

Apologies, I think this will be a long one. I'm a bit of a rambler!

I started to lose my plug on the Wednesday morning but no other signs or symptoms until about 8pm on the Thursday evening. I hadn't had any Braxton Hicks during my pregnancy, so really didn't have an idea what contractions would feel like. From the 8pm on the Thursday, I was getting quite heavy crampy type pains and at first I thought I needed the loo, but couldn't go. As time wore on, I started to feel like they were probably contractions. We started timing them from about 9.30pm and they were about probably every 15 min or so, but getting to the point where I couldn't lie down when one would come along. So I would lie down to go to sleep and then wake up for a contraction and have to get out of the bed and lean over the bannister until it passed. We called the Maternity Assessment Unit who said that I should take a couple of paracetamol and a warm bath and try to sleep. That I wasn't to go in until contractions were 3-4 min apart. About 1am, DH and I gave up trying to sleep and got up and went downstairs where we set up the TENS machine and carried on timing. We stayed up then til about 5.30am when I really couldn't take any more and we went to the hospital. By this time my contractions were 5 min apart.

Got to the hospital and the contractions in the car were agony as I couldn't move to get into a comfortable position. Got to the hospital, and annoyingly the maternity department is just the longest waslk from the main entrance so it took ages to get there. Some other pregnant bint pushed in front of us just before we got to the desk so we weren't seen for another 20 min. Anyway, after checking BP, heart rate etc, the MW did an internal check and I was only 1.5cm dilated. I was gutted as I knew that they would send us home and I was in so much pain

So they sent us home with some codeine and paracetamol and i was advised to take a warm bath and call them when contractions were 3-4 min apart. The tablets and warm bath slowed down the contractions but i didnt mind as they were painful and TENS hadn't been very helpful. So Friday was not a good day. Contractions started up again around 8pm but they were only about 10-15 min apart and didn't seem to be progressing at all. I took another bath at midnight as i was so fed up and i was in complete agony - the bath def did not help. Fast forward to about 3.30am when my contractions suddenly leaped to every 3 min. So back to hospital we went - this time we used a porter and wheelchair! Went straight to be assessed and got told we were 7cm dilated. I couldn't believe it and DH cried :rotfl:

Seeing as I'd managed to 7cm with no pain relief (I'd given up the TENS) we thought that we would try G&A only and see how I got on. We got transferred to a nice room in the Midwifery Led Unit where I got changed and started on the gas and air. Found out I was currently the only lady labouring on the unit and the birthing pool was free so I opted to transfer to that room. Got in the pool and it was lovely

Got told I would get examined at 7am where hopefully I would be fully dilated. Now, up until this point I was labouring quite nicely and G&A was my new best friend

From about 6am things went downhill. Fast. Do you remember the Screamer on "One Born Every Minute" who we all wanted to slap

Well that was me x 20 :rotfl: The contractions were quick and fast and soooooooooo painful. Baby's HB was high so they took me out of the pool at about 7am and checked me internally. I had only dilated 1cm - I was distraught. From this point on, things are a bit hazy and I keep having flashbacks which do make me cringe. I didn't go back in the pool but was on this chaise longue (sp) type thing in the room, as I couldn't lie on a bed. I got checked again and I remember my waters breaking, and the waters gushing everywhere. And every contraction I had I leaked more - it was like I was constantly wetting myself. I could not stop screaming at the intensity of the contractions, and the head MW came in and told me to be quiet :rotfl: I said I wanted an epidural but they wouldn't give me one as I would have to transfer to the delivery suite and all their rooms were fully occupied. Hmmm. They insiste afterwards that this was true - but I'm not sure if I believe them. Mind you, I can't imagine actually getting up and moving to the other suite. Anyway, we agreed on Pethadine as a compromise, which they administered straightaway. Well they needn't have bothered. All it did was make me woozy and scream even more - it did nothing for the pain relief.

We got to after 10am and I still wasn't fully dilated and slowly losing the will to leave. I have memories of "Please someone help me", "I'm going to die" etc etc etc. Quite unpleasant really. Shortly afterwards I felt like I wanted to push - it was really surreal - MW was getting all jittery saying that I couldn't push as I was only 8cm - but I just knew I had to push. This weird kind of instinct kicked in and my body just took over. I got on all 4s on this stupid chaise longue thing and she checked me and she couldn' believe I was actually fully dilated now. She started running round getting all sheets and implements ready and she was so excited it was funny. She was all like "OMG, I can't believe you're fully dilated, this baby is on its way!!". DH keeps saying how excited she was - like it was Christmas! I just remember the pain being so bad, and pushing with all my might through my bottom. It was just the most weird, out of body experience I have ever had!

With great fortune and luck (and I'm sure the 70 odd cups of Raspberry Leaf Tea I had drunk over the last few weeks had something to do with it!) I only had to push for 10 minutes and my gorgeous girl was born

DH watched the while thing, he cried, he cut the umbilical cord and then he had the first cuddle whilst I delivered the placenta and composed myself. MW checked for tearing, and I only had a first degree tear so no stitches were needed. As my blood group is A Neg, a sample of the cord blood was taken to check baby's blood group. Fortunately, she has the same type as me, so I didn't need another Anti-D injection.

After tea and toast, I took a shower and transferred to the bay where we stayed for the mandatory 6 hours, then I couldn't wait to get home. So we were home for dinner and I didn;t have to stay overnight in hospital. To be honest, I was that embarrassed about my behaviour, I couldn't face one more MW/nurse saying "Oh, so you're the lady out of Room 2"!!

:eek: To top it off, as we were leaving and saying bye to our MW, she said 'Oh, I'll see you around - I only live down the road from you" :rotfl: Oh dear - how embarrassing!

I can't believe all that has happened over the past week. My due date is tomorrow, and I can't imagine still being pregnant! The whole birth was so surreal and like it happened to someone else, but I am quite proud of myself that I didn't have an epidural. Although not for want of trying!

waterbaby · 28 March 2011 at 2:55PM

So having had a third attempted sweep on Saturday, where once again my cervix was not ready, I was presented with a provisional induction appointment for Wednesday. I was really upset, and ended up in tears at my appointment.

At home on Sunday, I didn’t feel 100 per cent, and kept getting period pains – however I’d been getting these for the last three weeks so they didn’t cheer me up. At about 6, I felt exhausted and not very well so I went to bed without my tea. Soon I was throwing up my lunch, and I was sick 5 times in all. I was worried about my energy levels if I did go into labour, so I ate sweets and drank water as much as I could.

I felt almost better when I woke up, but no more period pains. I was so disappointed at yet another day sitting waiting. By lunchtime I was in floods of tears.

That evening, the pains picked up, and by bedtime I thought something was happening. THEN – OH declared that he was coming down with something! And he was properly shaking! He slept in the other room, and I did my best to sleep but got contractions every 20 minutes, gradually reducing to 10 during the night. A hot water bottle helped for a while. I phoned the midwife coordinator at about 5, to be told that ‘This number is not in use’ – what?? (Later I found out the pager system wasn’t working) So I phoned the birth centre direct and said I couldn’t come yet as I had to wait for DH to take DS to nursery. She was a bit concerned that I shouldn’t leave it too long, and she was right, DS had to be taken next door to the neighbour, with me opening the bathroom door every couple of minutes shouting ‘HURRY UP!’ because there was a distinct lack of urgency, they were watching CBeebies!. Luckily, DH’s illness had disappeared.

As we left for the birth centre, I knew that things were moving faster than the last time. We reached the A road at 6.30am and – a traffic jam! No! We went the back way round the village and luckily didn’t have to get an ambulance as we avoided the traffic jam. We made it, and got into the birth centre, and I was given entonox and examined, to be told I had done really well. I said ‘what does that mean’? and she said it means you’re 8 cm! Well I wasn’t expecting that. She asked where I wanted to have the baby (pool or bed) as it was very imminent! I got in the pool, and started pushing almost immediately. The waters still hadn’t broken, and even when the baby’s head came out, it was still in the waters, so they were broken artificially. Also, one hand was out in front like Superman.

Then after a three minute long second stage, the baby was born, and as she came up to the surface, we saw that we had a daughter. She cried straight away, and the midwives congratulated DH on producing both boy and girl sperm! They said I had done really well to get to 8cm at home and to push her out so fast, and I did feel really proud of myself!

Later on, my whole body was incredibly stiff because of the intensity of the contractions, and especially my arms from gripping the pool so tight, and it was uncomfortable to breathe and stand up, presumably as I had pushed so hard. I also had a bruised feeling on my forehead, and when I chatted to another lady, we realized that we had put our heads on the side of the pool between contractions, and must have bruised like that. However I had no stitches so that is a bonus.

We had a lovely stay at the birth centre, and came home two days later. Now the little angel is six days old, and has snoozed happily for most of the day.

gratefulforhelp_2 · 31 March 2011 at 7:09PM

Planned homebirth, no complications in pregnancy, baby #3 and homebirth #2.

Woke at 3.30 am with regular contractions, timed them - thanks whoever found the contraction master timer, with the link in the preggy thread - very useful as evidence for m/w.

After an hour they were every 9-10 min, so I rang delivery suite to say I may need to call a m/w out later. They gave me the usual carp about we might have one we might not. I ignored this.

DH took the day off and frustratingly, contractions came and went but did nothing organised until 6pm, by which time I had had three tantrums and they were about 3-4 min apart. eta the contractions not the tantrums!

I had taken paracetamol throughout the day up to my limit by this time. I rang delivery suite and was told there was no one to come out to me and when I told them I wasn't travelling anywhere, I was treated to a lecture on how I am "not allowed" to stay home without a midwife in attendance (this is bosewelox).

The lecturing m/w said she would set her supervisor on me (pretty much!!) and when her supervisor called, she was perfectly nice and was there within the hour with a second m/w. They examined me and I was 6 cm so we called the student who I had agreed could be there and then I just had to do first stage while they/we set up the sitting room for the delivery.

The room was done by 8pm, I started on the G and A, and by around 9pm I was on all fours thinking this is it. Nothing happened and nothing happened, and all those thoughts went through my mind about not being able to do it. M/w suggested an exam, which she did and I was only 9cm so too early to push, she suggested she break my waters which I agreed to readily - though uncomfortable having an exam through contractions - and she did this.

Immediately I felt the increased pressure of a head without the fluid sac, and felt the need to push, which I did and to their credit they let me do it my way with no nagging. Stage two 2 minutes! Baby was born and I panicked as he didn't cry, then he did and I was soo relieved.

I put him to the breast and waited for the placenta to be delivered (natural third stage since worry over nearly retained placenta last time). This took I guess about 25 min. Checks were done, I had a bath, a lot more blood than with the syntometrine, but blood loss in delivery was 100ml so it evened out.

Midwives had cleared up, checks were done on baby and DH had skin to skin. Off they went around 11.30 pm.

I am more sore and tired than last time, but three years older...and I know the whole thing was soo much more pleasant for me than labour in hospital. The midwives were faultless.

The DDs remained in bed throughout, until DD1 came down to see what the noise was (the doppler) and later we asked her down to inspect her baby brother.

In terms of pain, yeah ok it did hurt, but there was never a point where it was unbearable.

dustystar02 · 5 April 2011 at 11:10PM

This is a mammoth birth story so grab a cuppa before attempting the read.

Baby Dust Speck (Team Yellow) was due on the 1st April. At 38+1 I started getting blurry vision and also had severe swollen legs and hands. Dr Google pointed towards pre-eclampsia and so on I rang the maternity unit at my hospital who asked me to go in to be checked. Everything was fine except when they took some bloods they noticed that my platelets levels had dropped quite a lot since my 28 week check. They asked me to come back a week later to see if they dropped any further. The platelets are what makes your blood clot and so there was a worry that if they dropped any further my blood may not clot properly after childbirth.
I went back at exactly 39 weeks and attended the day unit to get more bloods taken. The results came back within an hour showing that my platelets had dropped dramatically and so they wanted to admit me straight away with a view to inducing me. To say I was panicked was an understatement. I was mainly concerned about the fact I only had put a two hour ticket on my car parking ticket lol!

I was taken over to the ante natal ward where I rang OH and told him to come down with my hospital bags. We saw the consultant that afternoon who said they were going to start inducing me that night. They diagnosed me with HELLP syndrome, a rare form of pre eclampsia which thankfully carried no risk to the baby.
This was Friday and on Friday night I was given my first pessary. Nothing happed and so I was woken at 2am again to be given another. When I woke in the morning still nothing was happening but the monitor I was strapped upto was showing I was having ‘tightenings’. I put on my TENS machine at this point. The tightenings didn’t appear to becoming anything more significant and so my mum and OH left at the end of visiting at 8pm. At 10pm a doctor came to me and said he was going to check me again, if there was still no movement from my cervix then they would look at booking me in for a c-section the following morning but as I couldn’t have an epidural due to the condition with my blood I would have to under GA which I really didn’t want. Also, as soon as they said I couldn’t have an epidural I was panicked as that was my safety net should it all get too painful so either way I was very scared and very nervous.
However, the doctor checked me which was very painful and said that my cervix was beginning to contract on it’s own and so he thought there was enough space to break my waters, but as I was in so much pain he wanted to do this after I had started on the gas and air. I rang my mum and OH and told them to make their way back to the hospital and I would meet them in my delivery room.

The gas and air was heavenly and I was giggling away as the doctor broke my waters pain free. I was then fixed upto a Synto drip to kick start my contractions. The delivery ward was so busy I didn’t have a midwife with me at all times but I had my mum, OH, TENS machine and the G+A and so was coping.
The contractions started to come thick and fast and were starting to get really painful, as I was so hot the TENS machine was starting to irritate my back which made me itch and so my mum became chief back scrather for the rst of my labour. I didn’t want to take the TENS off as I didn’t know how painful it would be without it. I was given a shot of diamorphine for the pain but it didn’t really make me any more comfortable. After a few hours of complete agony I begged my midwife to check me to see how far dilated I was. This was about 6am and by looking at the contractions on my graph we both agreed I’d made good progress so I was devastated to hear I was only 3cm. I sobbed and sobbed.

The consultant came to visit me at 8am and I begged for some pain relief. We discussed my options. As I couldn’t have an epidural we discussed a c-section which I was still reluctant to do. He then started talking about a new drug the hospital were offering but it was very new and not a lot of the staff were trained on it. The only anaesthetist that was trained on administering it was luckily on call and so we decided to go ahead with that one. It was called Remifentanil and I cannot recommend it enough. It is patient admistered and so I was given a button to click every 2 minutes to time in with my contractions. As soon as I was hooked upto it I was so relived. I could hold a conversation but was so exhausted by then I just closed my eyes and wished the time away. All the midwives were brought into my room to be shown the new drug and I was the guinea pig to show them how to work it. It didn’t help that the clocks went forward at 2am that night yet the clock in my delivery room didn’t change and so it was so confusing for me to try and work out the time and how long my contractions were.

I was like this for a few hours and I vaguely remember the midwife checking me and declaring my 8cm. Not long after this, about 1pm I felt the urge to push. Typically, at this point the Remifentanil started to run out. The anaesthetist came back into the room to reset the dose and I grabbed her in my urge to push, and that is where she stayed. My midwife was at the bottom of the bed telling me to push, OH was at the side of me and my mum was just sobbing her heart out at the bottom of my bed.
The remifentinal was never topped up as the poor anaesthetist was locked under my arm and so I was passed the gas and air again. This mixed with the remifentinal made me start to hallucinate which would have been funny had I not needed to concentrate so hard on pushing.
I started to push and I was so exhausted I was finding it a real struggle, I was so hot and sweaty I was begging for buckets of water to be thrown on me and a few midwives came in with towels soaked in freezing water which they dumped on my head. After an hour of pushing another midwife was brought in who linked my left arm as the poor anaesthetist linked my right arm. As I pushed they both lifted my back off the bed. I was really struggling and the main midwife mentioned getting the doctor in with the ventouse which I really didn’t want.

OH was watching the monitor and kept telling me when I was having a contraction (as if I didn’t know) but I kept shouting at him to stay quiet cos everytime I had a contraction they were telling me to push and I really didn’t want to anymore ha ha!
Another hour went by and finally the head appeared. I wouldn’t say I particularly remember that hurting, I was so exhausted by then it was just a relief. They asked me if I wanted to touch it but I didn’t. The midwife told me to then pant and the body soon followed and my baby boy was placed on my chest. Sadly he was toatlly limp and completely blue and I started to scream, at which point he was wisked away to the corner of the room behind me. All I could think at this moment was an immense sense of relief that all that pain and agony was over but I soon started to realise something was wrong with the baby. Doctors and midwives were rushing in and out of the room shouting orders and medical terms and OH and my mum were frozen solid at the side of my bed. As the baby was being treated behind me I couldn’t grasp exactly what was happening but I heard the doctors telling the baby to breathe and I realised he hadn’t cried. This went on for what seemed like an age but was in fact 10 minutes when all of a sudden there was a huge yelp and a wailing cry filling the room. My poor baby hadn’t took a breath for the first ten minutes of his life but thankfully there were no lasting side effects.

I on the other hand was a mess. My face had swelled up hugely due to the drugs, pressure of pushing and the HELLP syndrome. I could hardly see. The baby was passed to my mum while OH came to my bedside while I delivered the placenta. This then got stuck and the midwife seemed a bit concerned as to what to do. After 50 minutes it came through and I didn’t feel a thing but I was that panicked about this that I still hadn’t seen my son properly or held him.
Once the placenta was delivered he was handed to me and I sobbed with relief and love.
I needed four stitches for a small tear which after 2 hours of strenuous pushing doesn’t seem too bad and I thank the raspberry leaf tea for that.

Joseph James was born at 3.04pm weighing 6lb 14oz. He was monitored overnight as was I and we were allowed to leave hospital two days later.
Since then I have struggled with breastfeeding but that is a whole other story.
I cannot imagine my life without JJ and immediately after the birth I was declaring him an only child, only for the next day to but whispering to him about his younger brother or sister and how I hope their delivery will be less eventful.
Any future pregnancies will have to be closely monitored but JJ is soooo worth it. I would do it all again tomorrow J

KittyKate · 15 April 2011 at 3:57PM

Hi guys, thought I'd share my birth story too - the stories on here are lovely, thankyou for sharing them ladies

(Sorry if this is a bit long!!)

OK so my hubby and I were due our first baby on Sunday 27 March. I'd been on a walk on the Friday and since Friday night had had Braxton Hicks over Friday and Saturday, going 7 mins apart then tailing off when I had a bath and went to bed. So when nothing happened on Sunday we were a bit disappointed! We went on a long, long walk through the park on Sunday, hot weather, plenty of water, and climbing steep steps, walking over grass and rocks and so on. Nothing again! So we went home, had a salad for tea and went to bed.

At about midnight I still wasn't asleep, but hubby was. I started to get the contractions again, and used the online contraction timer (godsend!!) to time them. They were at 7 minutes lasting maybe a minute or so, so I woke hubby up and said I'd get in the bath but could he stay awake in case anything happened. He jumped up convinced 'this is it' but I wasn't so sure. Well, I got in the bath and in less than 20 minutes my contractions were at 3 minutes! So hubby called the midwife and she said it's time to come in. At this point I am thinking, well I am glad I cleaned the house spick and span if we're having visitors (priorities eh!!)

I dressed in a nice floaty long top and leggings as I didn't want to 'show up looking a mess' (I think I'd watched too much one born every minute), we got down to the car, bags already packed and in the boot. The hospital is about 20 mins away and my hubby did it at 30, terrified to go faster in case he was pulled or he hurt me, bless! Anyway, for reasons best known to no-one there are flipping speed humps on the entrance to the hospital. First hump at about 1mph and my waters went! It was JUST like on TV and I'd been told that never happens. 'They've gone!' I sobbed to my hubby. He looked a bit shocked but was very very calm and got me to the front entrance to the hospital. As I stepped out of the car, WHOOSH! Another huge huge, er, water evacuation. I was standing in a puddle! We got in the hospital and my ugg boots were filled to the brim (niiiice) and I was waddling, making a squishing sound. 'There can't be that much' said hubby (as my floaty top stopped short of my undercarriage, it was dry) so I lifted it up and I was soaked from thighs to toes! 'Oh' he said. Haha.

So, we got to the assessment room and the midwife popped the baby heart and contraction monitors over my bump. With every contraction I whooshed another gush of water, to the point where the bed was so soaked, fluid was dripping on the floor. Hubby kept talking, to take my mind off things, the love. He gave me a biscuit but I was sick immidiately, nerves probably. After 20 mins on a birthing ball, my contractions were getting stronger and stronger so off they took me to the birthing centre, which has birth pools.

I changed into my bikini (a fetching Kelly Brook one with a skirt for modesty

) and before I got in the midwife introduced me to the joys of gas and air. As hubby put it 'one suck on that and you were gone'. It was like five gin and tonics! I felt pleasantly fuzzy, but the contractions were as painful as ever so in the pool I went. After a good four or five hours my mum turned up to support us (she's a nurse too), and suddenly the pain changed to a distinctly 'pushing' pain. I was taken out of the pool, because it was relaxing me too much and by this point I was exhausted. At about 11am Monday I was taken to the medical delivery room, where I was told to push. Push I did!! For hours! But try as I might, baby wasn't getting any further than the very top of it's head. I was offered an epidural, but I turned it down as my birth plan was gas and air only.

A doctor came in and he did a procedure which felt like he was scratching my insides. I was also put on a drip to keep me awake as I was screaming how tired I was (apparently - I don't even remember having the drip put in!). The doctor said if I couldn't deliver naturally he'd consider forceps. My mum whispered to my husband 'I don't want her to have to have that, it's awful', and in utter fear I added a good 10% to my pushes!

'It's not coming, it's not coming' I sobbed. 'It is', said the midwives (there were two, it's a teaching hospital and one was a student), 'just feel down there, that's the top of the head!', 'NO WAY!' I shouted (I have no idea why I was grossed out by that!). I shouted to hubby 'I'm going to be sick' and he got a cardboard bowl, but I changed my mind. The minute he moved the bowl away I was sick over my nightie. Luckily everyone else was spared and my nightie was taken off so I could do skin on skin with baby (the hospital was boiling hot as most maternity hospitals are)

Eventually around 2pm the midwife said they'd be giving me a little cut to help baby come out. 'CUT ME!!!' I was screaming. I felt the needles down there, and then the cut, and assumed baby would just pop out

not quite, but after another nine or ten hearty pushes, the head came out.

Hubby says he was terrified for a moment the baby wouldn't be OK, but baby turned it's head and squeaked and made a little bubble with it's mouth. I could see him crying, and needed to push more, and with one (much easier) push, the body 'slithered' out (well, that's what it felt like!)

Immidiately the midwife flopped baby onto my chest for skin on skin, and my mum had been told to rub baby with a towel. Hubby came around to me and I was crying 'I did it, I did it' and sobbing away. But we didn't know whether we had a boy or a girl, in the confusion we'd all forgotten to check! So the midwife turned baby around and said to hubby to check. His voice was breaking as he said 'it's a little girl, we've got a little girl'. Everyone started to cry! She was born at 14.23 on Monday 28th March.

As the midwives got to work sewing me up and so on, our little girl, who we'd already picked the name Amelia Celeste for, rooted and latched and had a feed straight away. She was so warm and heavy (8lb 4oz!) I felt a bit overwhelmed but not tired (but desperate for a shower). Amelia was taken to be cleaned, my husband cut the cord and dressed her, and after a cup of sugary tea and a round of toast I was allowed a shower (though I wasn't allowed to use my nice shower gel I'd packed due to the stitches, I had to wash hair and body in antibacterial wash. Was still the nicest shower ever!)

I had to stay in hosptial that night so they could check her over, make sure she was feeding her and so on. I was in a private room, and being alone with her for the first time was overwhelming. I daren't sleep, I just sat watching her breathe. My husband hadn't wanted to leave me but he had to take my mum to our house to stay over (and the midwives wanted me to bond with Amelia for feeding). Hubby texted me that night telling me how much he loved us both and how proud he was of me. I will always cherish that.

It's three weeks on nearly and baby Amelia is in her moses good as gold having a nap. She's had a bath and feed and is dressed in a pink dress and she's just so perfect and gorgeous. I can't imagine life without her. She's made me love hubby even more, if that's possible, and made my life complete. I do occasionally feel overwhelmed but it's not PND - I am just so happy

Pic of my little princess over on the pregnancy thread: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=42869078&postcount=6475

go_cat · 15 April 2011 at 4:35PM

dustystar02 wrote: »

Everything was fine except when they took some bloods they noticed that my platelets levels had dropped quite a lot since my 28 week check. They asked me to come back a week later to see if they dropped any further. The platelets are what makes your blood clot and so there was a worry that if they dropped any further my blood may not clot properly after childbirth.
I went back at exactly 39 weeks and attended the day unit to get more bloods taken. The results came back within an hour showing that my platelets had dropped dramatically and so they wanted to admit me straight away with a view to inducing me.

They diagnosed me with HELLP syndrome, a rare form of pre eclampsia which thankfully carried no risk to the baby.

I too had Pre eclampsia diagnosed at 2 days overdue after a urine infection for 2 weeks that wouldn't clear up and feet the size of an elephant . A random blood test by my doctor i was called back into drs next day for results which showed my platlets had dropped to dangerous levels (61) My BP by then was almost 200 ( although some of this could have been the shock of being told about my platlets ) She thought it was HELLP syndrome

Rushed into be induced within the hour. One knitting needle later and my waters were broken ( constantly feeling like i was wetting myself) also told off for going to the loo and leaking fluid everywhere :rotfl:

Had hormone injection to induce labour plus I has strep B so has antibiotics in one arm and hormone induction in the other- no movement for me then was stuck to the bed for the next 14 hours.

After 14hrs of gas and air - they didn't dare give me epidural due to platlets - i was only 4 cm dilated :eek:

By this time they had confirmed HELLP syndrome and I was seriously ill. My mum was rushed accross and her and my Dh spend all night by my side

I must have deteriorated as suddenly I was told i had to have emergency c section by GA again due to no epidural.

Rushed to theatre DH and mum waiting outside not knowing if we had survived.

Few minutes later my DS was born although his APGAR scores were awful until the 10min check

I was ok once anesthetic wore off and DS had no ill effects at all

That was 4 years ago and now my little man is about to start school in september. I have been advised HELLP sydrome can happen again so whilst any future pregnancy would be monitored its not a risk we want to take

rach · 15 April 2011 at 4:47PM

sorry to highjack. My sister had HELLP and we thought we may lose her too. However she has just had a 2nd baby, no problems with hellp this time and her care this time was much better. she had a planned section at 38 weeks which meant they avoided anything developing at the end. Dustystar she also had problems bf as her body had just been through too much. I am super pro bf and think almost everyone can with support but for her it was truly impossible. I also had ds under a GA so I know it's an odd experience xx

maybe I will soon be able to add my birth story...still struggle to think about it all

todolistsocd · 15 April 2011 at 5:20PM

Hi Everyone :hello:
Hope you are all well and OK?

My Birth stories:
1st baby was born on 22 January 2008.
Hospital birth, Baby was back to back, she came out dry and cut from back to front but got a lovely beautiful healthy little girl.
Now, she is 3 going on 33. (Definately tell she's mine) :rotfl:

2nd baby was born on 22 July 2010.
Home birth planned. Midwife did not turn up so,
Hubby had to break my waters and he delivered our baby boy himself.
Now, he is 9 months old, has 1 tooth and crawling around putting fingerprints on aything he can touch. :rotfl:

2 completely different births and completely different pregnancies.
I must say, I am proud of Hubby for not freaking out and for bringing our baby into this world safely.
I don't know what would have happened to either of us if he hadn't been there, love him loads.

chickywiggle · 17 April 2011 at 8:41PM

baby Noah (tinywiggle's) story
born: VERY naturally.... 6lb 3oz on 17th April 2011 @ 6.16am

the pre-birth story

around 6 weeks pg i got severe itching... to the point i was ripping my skin to shreds every day. i had an appt with the hospital dermitologist for an unrelated issue and asked him. eventually...many many blood tests later... we concluded it was just "an allergy to baby"
treated it with steroids, creams and anti-histimenes which although took the edge off didn't by any means stop it. i had a month off work while we treated an infection in the rash that had formed.

at around 30 weeks i was back to ripping at my skin again. i was getting no sleep at all and i certainly couldn't work. i beggged my midwife to do something and the baby consultants at the hospital eventually (tho reluctantly) diagnosed Obstetric Colistisis (linky here). i say reluctantly as my bile acid levels never rose more then a few % over the normal levels.
after about 2 weeks of taking the new medication i was feeling much better and sleeping again. although by this point the dr had signed me off work until my mat leave started.

following twice weekly appointments at the mat hospital daycare unit it was decided to induce at 38 weeks.

the birth

planned day of induction: sunday 17th april.

friday 15th: i had passed a couple of blood clots and rang the mat hospital to see if they wanted me to get checked over. i got there about 6.30pm.... got seen at 9pm and eventually (with no clear idea why it had happened) got admitted to a pre-natel ward at 5am. the plan being to start induction saturday not sunday.

Saturday 16th: after being rudly awoken by the ward lights being switched on, curtains opened and "gooood morninnnggggg" at 7.30am i was forced to get up.
had all the monitiring checks done on me and baby and all ok. got told not to go further then brekkie room tho as dr would want to see me on their morning rounds.

At 5pm the dr started his ward rounds!!! and told me there was no way he'd allow induction early as they were full to bursting on labour ward and i could spend the night in hosp or go home and come back sunday for my induction (bed etc allowing).
i choose to go home. very :mad: and in tears. half hour later my midwife came in to see me and said if i wanted to stay they would induce me in a few hours time...... she had explaind to the dr that due to the backlog etc if i went home the liklihood was i'd be bumped off tomorrows lists and that wouldnt be good for me or baby. so.....i stayed.

at 7pm i got moved into my induction room and monitred. 8.40pm.... was decided i was reallly unfavourable for induction and would need the prostin pessery. job done i was back on the monitor for an hour. hubby went home as we guessed it'd be at least 12-24 hours before even the slightest thing happened.

told at 10pm to get some sleep as it could be a long day tomorrow and that i'd be woken at 12.40am for my next monitoring call.

at 12.20am i had the strongest stomaches cramps and sat up..... felt a trickle of fluid and was convinced my waters had gone/ were going. went to loo.... loadsss of fluid and a bit of blood loss. started with strong pains every 5 mins that i cringed thro till midwife came in about 1am. i mentioned all this to her and was told yeah i'd get some tightning and loss as id been examined.

thro the hour long monitoring i was in PAIN breathing thro contractions every 5 minutes each lasting around a minute a time. midwife came in..... checked the trace.... told baby off for sleeping and made me drink gallons of water to wake him up..... which i did.... and he played ball. she asked me on her return how frequently i thought i was feeling 'tightnings' so i pointed out every one recorded on the trace i'd felt...... she basically (without saying it) called me a liar.

after taking me off the trace told me to get some sleep. i laughed!!

at around 2 ish i asked her for some co-codimal to try and help ease the pain so i could sleep.... this was fine as dr had written me up 2 super strength ones earlier in day for my headache and i'd only had one

4.30am i called her back telling her the 'tightenings' were now every 2-3 minutes lasting a minute a time and that the last 3 didn't even seem to be that far apart.
she acted once again as if i was some wimp and told me to have a bath and see if i felt any better after that.
i was now beginning to think i WAS just being a wimp and the pain was in my head and felt sooo strong (pillow biting) cause i was tired.

got in the bath and it made no difference.... if anything the pains were stronger.

i then got 3 or 4 contractions where i had sooooo much pressure in mu bum they were agonising. i was just convinced a needed a big poo

got out the bath (more blood loss) and actually tried (don't :rotfl:) to push out this poo as it was obviously the only thing to do!!

3 more contractions later i felt a different sensation and though.... nooo i need to push this baby out!

called the midwife and asked if it was still normal to feel like i wanted to push (this was prob about 6am)........... her face was a picture!!! you know the "no you are obviously a very insane woman but i'll humour you" face...... till she made me get on the bed - examined me and went well...... white!! told me to breath and started yeling for other staff.

declared i had lost the pessery and did i know where or when? i won't repost my expletive response. told me she was fetching a wheelchair and moving me straight down to delivery ward........ while yelling at someone else to tell them i was coming down and that i was 9cm dilated.

while all this was happening i was telling them i needed to push and doing so while being told not too.

when the transfer staff arrived i said i wasn't going anywhere and should i ring my hubby as it'll take him half hour to get here.
she HANDED ME MY PHONE AND TOLD ME TO DO IT!!!! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:
i rang hubby and told him to get moving ..... all the time thiking it's not gonna make any difference tho and struggling not to scream with the pain.

new midwife took one look and said push whenever i want as she could see his head (6.16am)......... the wheelchair wasnt needed and find her a delivery trolley. legs followed at 6.17.bubs was wrapped and handed to me and was perfectly healthy and happy..... tho a bit colder then they would have liked.
hubby followed at about 6.25!!! as i was struggling with a stubborn placenta being told to push and me saying they could go **** themselves as i physically couldn't do anything!!!!

the boring bit

after tea and toast and a bath (but please be quick as we need your room) i was moved round to the ward designed to cope with new babies after seeing vertually every staff member on the wrong ward turn a funny shade of white saying "we dont do babies" .

i was given the gold star seal of approval from the dr, hearing woman, and midwives and discharged home at 4pm.

here's a pics:

madnessandmayhem · 1 May 2011 at 8:04PM

Heres my birth story for Max, born 11.48pm 30th April weighing 7lbs exactly!

Bit of background info first-Max is baby number 3-my first 8 years ago ended in an emergency c section after 20 hours due to failure to progress and ds 1 getting distressed.
Baby number 2, 4 years ago ended with needed a hormone drip to speed things up as i wasn't progressing and still lasted 16 hours and ending with a forceps delivery.

At about 4.15pm yesterday i felt a couple of 'trickles' and was pretty sure that my waters had gone, but not 100% sure as it was only trickles. I left it about an hour to keep an eye on it before ringing the hospital. I rang them at about 5ish and they said to give it till 9pm and ring them back if i was sure that it was my waters.
In the meantime i started getting contractions-easily managed and not lasting too long, and were irregular in that i would have a few 4 mins apart and then they'd go to 8-9mins apart.
By 8pm it was fairly obvious this was 'IT' so i rang back, and due to the fact of a previous c section and the fact that on thurs my midwife had thought the baby was breech, they told me to come in.
We arranged a babysitter and headed on in. Got there about 8.20pm and at about 9pm they scanned me to check baby's position and found he was head down. I was also examined and wasn't dilated at all.
After talking to the doctors it was decided that they would monitor baby for a bit then take me up to the maternity ward to wait for things to happen. Baby was happy enough and at about 10pm they took me up to the ward-by the time i got there the contractions were really starting to hot up a bit and i was struggling to cope. At 10.45 I decided i really needed something for the pain so was examined and found to be 5cm :eek:
So back down to delivery suite we go, where i am given gas and air while we wait for the anaethetist to give me an epidural-she only takes about 1min to turn up-all the while the contractions are getting longer, stronger and closer together. She puts the canula in my hand for the drip and the contractions are so intense, that she's asking me if it's a 'pushy' pain-I just kept saying (crying actually cos i was terrified!) that i didn't know-the whole time telling dh that i wanted to go home lol Anyway as i can't sit still for the epidural the midwife checks, and finds i'm now 8cm ( this at about 11.05pm) and they say i can have the epidural if i can sit still for it-I'm still saying i dont know lol and the dh then takes over and tells them, no-which actually he was right as i couldnt stay still! the midwife says she'll get me some pethidine, but she has literally just left the room when i tell dh to buzz her cos i needed to push :eek: this was at 11.15pm
It's all a bit blurry after that lol i was sucking on the g & a like my life depended on it-but i was also carping it cos i knew i had to do it without anything.
I do remember lying there with my eyes shut just constantly breathing the gas and air while they were getting stuff sorted and it was a complete out of body experience-then the midwife told dh to take the gas and air away-I was begging for it but she didn't budge lol
and my body just kind of took over and 'did' it-took a few quite hard pushes to get the head out, then a couple more pushes and he was out, at 11.48pm The midwife then lifted up the baby so we could see for ourselves that we had another little boy!! he was lifted straight up on to my chest for skin to skin and he din't cry-he was just so content-I was in a state of shock at the speed of it at the end, and the fact i did it myself with just gas and air!
After about an hour (still having skin to skin) Max fed......and fed....and fed! It was lovely-we were left to it just the 3 of us-at about 2am I had a bath and dh got Max dressed and we were taken up to the ward-where I didn't sleep-but Max did all night!!

looking back, I was absolutley terrified, but i am glad things happened the way they did and that i couldnt have an epidural! I did need stitches, but not many, and I can't believe how well i feel today-obviously need to take it easy but nothing compared to how i was after the other 2.
DH was absolutley brilliant, and I could not have it without him-he made me get up and walk about which i'm sure helped! he encouraged me, and kept me going, and I am so chuffed I managed to do it 'normally' after the 2 previous births I had-and i feel so much better being able to actually do things without too much difficulty! I'm looking forward to the next 2 weeks with dh being off work and actually being able to enjoy the time together instead of feeling poorly and like an invalid!!

MSE Pregnancy Club Birth Stories

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