MSE Pregnancy Club Birth Stories

LITTLEMISSFLOWER

:DBaby Finley’s Birth story born 3rd march 2010:j

Well as some of you know I was 12 days late and very fed up I hadn’t been sleeping my mw had said the week before that the baby was fully engaged but must have been very happy staying inside.:mad: She offered me a sweep but I thought I would give it another week, she booked me in for the following week to have an induction but she was sure I wouldn’t get that far, lol
On the morning of the induction I had to call at 7am to see if there was a bed ready I had watched obem the night before and had seen the lady called joy who was being induced and ended up in there for 4 days then having a c section :eek:so I was thinking I’m going for the long haul.

The hospital said come in for 9am, so we get there I had my mum and OH with me and they show me to a bed on a ward with 12 other people.
The mw came and gave me some papers to read about induction and what they do and said she would be back soon. By 10:30 there was still no sign of the mw and I was just sitting there about 11am a nurse came and took my bp and a swap for mrsa then put me on the baby heart monitor about 11:30 the mw came back and said she was going to check me and give me the induction gel which can take 6 hours if nothing happens you have more 6 hours later. She done a check and said my cervix was high and hard so done the gel and off she went again.:( By this time I sent the OH home it was costing loads to park and nothing was going on.
About 4pm the mw came back and said she would give me another gel at 5:30-6pm and that I would be staying in as she didn’t think I would go into labour before the next morning.:mad:
About 5pm I started to feel like I needed the toilet but I couldn’t go I started to get period type cramps and thought the hospital lunch had given me a upset belly the mw came back and said sometimes the gel gives you fake contractions and not to get my hopes up. So I got in my head it was nothing I didn’t want to get my hopes up but by 6pm the pains were getting stronger and about 10 mins apart the mw gave me some paracetamol and I was able to breathe though the pain.
The mw came back around 7pm the pain was now getting unbearable but she wanted to put me on the monitor which meant I had to get on the bed at that time my mum was rubbing my back and called my OH to come back.
About 7:30 I was getting stressed with the pain and having to be in the bed I just wanted to move around the mw said she would come back and check me and if i was dilating over 2cm she would give me some gas and air and if I was over 4cm I would be moved to the birth centre as at this point I’m still on a open ward with 12 others and just a curtain around us a few beds away I could hear a young girl screaming god please I don’t want this baby it hurts it hurts someone help me.:o
I remember thinking poor girl at least I had my mum and OH helping me to breath and giving me drinks keeping me cool ect:T ,by 8pm i was now having 2 contractions on top of each other about 2mins apart the mw checked and I was only 2-3cms she went and got the gas and air and i managed to get it working only taking it when I couldn’t take the pain anymore and it felt so good as the pain died away with the deep breaths a few more mins passed and I started to get dizzy from the gas and air I was thinking about the it’s a wipe-out show on TV and being on the spinning wheel:rotfl: the dizziness soon went but the next thing I know I was trying to talk but I couldn’t get the words out in my head they were clear but I couldn’t say anything . I wanted to push i was like get the mw I need to p-p-p-p- and my OH is say what you trying to say at that point i was like PUSHHHHHHHHHHHH. :rotfl:
My mum was like just breathe it’s ok just breath and I’m saying Noooo I need to p-p-p-PUSH.:rotfl:
By 8:30pm my OH was trying to find the mw but no one was around it turned out it was change over so when the new staff came in my OH grabbed one and said i needed to push she said she would have to look at my notes and would come and see me in a min.
When she did she said my notes say I’m only 2-3cm 25mins ago so I’m not ready to push I couldn’t talk but I could hear my OH say no please check her she wants to push, my first mw came back and said I can’t need to push as I was only 2-3 when she checked the new mw said well let’s see.
Then all hell broke the mw was shouting she’s fully dilated the old mw is saying I cant be with that they rip the gas and air from my mouth:mad: and start wheeling the bed out all my bits were showing:eek: and my oh was trying to cover me when about 6 people started running around. On route to the birth centre I had no gas and air I was shouting help me please they took me into a room but couldn’t get the bed in as there was a bed in the way then i had to get off the bed and get on another bed.
Cue another new mw she was asking where my notes were was i dilated or not I’m shouting give me gas and air my mum is shouting what a **** up it was and my OH is running around trying to get all bags and stuff together. The next few mins the mw at the birth centre checks me and tells all the others to just leave she gets my gas and air and it all gets calm again and it’s just me my mum and the OH with the mw she is saying just listen to your body and push when you want to with that I’m looking around and I see the birth pool ;)in the room I’m like I want to get in there but she’s saying sorry the baby is coming it’s too late to fill it now. :(With that I gave a big push and my waters broke i could hear my OH saying omg what’s that the next push they said the head was out my mum was like i told you it would have loads of hair .I had a bit of a rest and gave another big push and the body was out. I could hear my OH saying it’s a boy. I couldn’t hear any crying and was asking is he ok the next min I heard crying and I lost it I started crying telling OH i loved him so much i couldn’t control myself I just kept saying it’s my baby it’s my baby my mum was crying and my OH was just laughing at us both.:rotfl:
The mw gave me the baby and we had skin to skin his eyes were open and I put him on the breast.
After about 3 mins the mw told me to give a little push and out came the afterbirth she checked me and said i had a few grazes and a very small tear.:T
The mw then left us and made us some tea and coffee I was still looking at the birth pool lol.;)
Baby Finley weighed 7lbs 13oz and was born at 9pm. He’s now 2 weeks old and weights 8lbs 6oz
Over all I think I had an easy great labour I just wish the mw would of listened a bit sooner so there wasn’t the mad rush in the end.

Fishcake_Random

Anyanka Joan
Born - 19-03-10

I was 37+4 weeks on the Tuesday when my waters broke while I was in my partners shop which was a bit embarassing at I wasn't sure if I had wet myself. Called the local emergancy number and was given an appointment at a local birthing centre to check. The whole drive there I was convinced someone would check me over and laugh at me peeing myself. Once we got there the midwife asked to check my pad and had a whiff (best way to check apparently) and just said "definately waters breaking" explained everything to us and told us we had 48 hours to get into labour or I would have to go in to the local hospital to be induced.
48 hours later nothing had happend. It was now Thursday lunchtime and I went into hospital.
As someone who is very anti-medical intervention this was my worst nightmare and I was petrified and angry at myself for "messing up". My first midwife was lovely yet firm and gave me a talking to about getting baby out and basically told to me to man up which is 100% what I needed to be told. She managed with to get a pessery done and I had 6 hours to wander around and walk up and down lots of stairs if it didnt I would be given a drip. Checked again and nothing had happend alllthough my cervix were slightly softer apparently. Midwife changed over with midwife 2 as it was shift change time, new midwife was horrible to be honest. Decided it was to busy for me to be on a drip as a midwife moniters you constantly throughout so gave me another stronger pessery. She was really brutal when she did it and I was crying by the time she was done. I started getting pains, they were horrible and I was really struggling with the pain so asked OH to find midwife and ask for pain relief. He couldnt find her but kept leaving messages with all the other midwifes for her to see us. I was in pain every 5 minutes so thought I had started and was really excited, after 4hrs 30 mins they stopped dead and I paniced thinking something was wrong, at which point another midwife explained that thats what is supposed to happen and I wasnt labour. I was so upset because I'd gotten myself all excited. Then I had a third midwife come on shift and she was fantastic. Set me up on the drip and was lovely to chat to, kept us all upbeat ect after 15 hours I was examined again and even though I had been having contractions for about 12 hours every 3 minutes I had done nothing. I was barely 1cm dialated which to be honest I think was her being generous lol. I was offered anoteher 6 hours or go straight for a c-section. I said c-section and midwife agreed saying if I hadn't gone by now I probally wouldnt.
10 minutes later I was on the table listening to my baby girl cry, a moment I will never forget for as long as I live. OH was with me through out and held her while I was being sorted out. I was so exhausted the theatre staff had to wake me up after they had stitched me up, the surgeon even said "I was suposed to asked you frequently if you were okay and could feel anything but you looked so peacefull" I can officially say I felt nothing!
I was up and about within 12 hours and home before 48 hours.
x x x x

aless02

FR, don't you mean 37+4?? She'd be a huge lass if you were only 27 weeks! :eek:

kindofagilr

Elliot Michael William was born on 16th March at 11.29am (was due on March 8th) he weighed a very healthy 10lbs 11ozs.

A couple of weeks prior to the labour I had been having trouble sleeping, I would go to bed with OH at 9ish and by midnight most nights I would be awake and end up taking myself downstairs to watch !!!!! tv and check the net lol

So on the Monday the 15th I had been awake since midnight, I had been getting contractions off and on for at least 5 days, I would get a whole days worth of contractions and then they would just stop.

But the contractions started on Monday morning at 5am and I just knew they were the real deal, I cant describe how I knew, I just knew, so I took some paracetamol and got the contraction timer on the go, spent a couple of hours bouncing on my ball, I had a bath as they got more painful. I then had a show at about 6am.

Then at 7am I rang the delivery suite, they told me to come in and be checked over, so I went upstairs and woke OH, he was like WHAT lol

So we got the suitcases and put them in the car, and we went to the hospital (we left the bags in the car though lol)

We got in there and they put me in a delivery room, and then a MW came in and asked for a urine sample and then they did an internal, I was really !!!!ed off actually cos the student MW did it, and then the flipping MW did it, not ONCE did they ask if it was ok for student to do it, the actual MW was so flipping rough, she really hurt, they told me I was only 1 and a ½ cms dilated, so I was told to “go home and come back when the pains got stronger” I was like !!!!!! they are strong lol

So we got home, I was totally wrecked I couldn’t nap cos they hurt too much! So I spent from getting home till about 1pm trying to deal with them at home, they really hurt lol I took some Co-Codemol once I had got home at 7am, so OH suggested rather than taking some more ring the hosp again, so I rang the hosp and told them that the pains were getting unbearable (I sound like a right wuss don’t I lol)

So we got back to the hospital they took us to a room, wanted more urine off me, then they asked me to get on the bed and they attached me to baby monitors for 90 mins, no – one told me why, they gave me some pain killers which helped me.

Then they decided they wanted to move us to another delivery room, no idea why, so once they moved us, they hooked me up to the baby monitor again for another 90 minutes, Poor OH was getting tired at this point cos he had to hold the monitor onto me cos it wasn’t picking Elliot’s heartbeat up properly cos I think he was laying funny.

Eventually they took me off that thing, the pains were getting insane and I had a hot bath to try and help with the pain, while in the bath the MW came in and told my OH she would be coming back and she needed to check how far on I was cos if I wasn’t established (4cms) then they were going to send me home as they were very busy, I was in the bath freaking out at this point cos I was really hurting.

So I got out the bath and she examined me and I was 5cms YAY she was like do you want the good news or the very good news lol J this was at about 10pm I think.

So then we talked pain relief, and we got the Gas and Air on the go, which was a god send!

At some point they decided they wanted to move rooms again, Ive no idea what was with the room changing.

It all gets a bit blurry from here, at some point the gas and air wasn’t good enough and I requested an Epidural, they gave me the epidural which was heaven lol, I couldn’t feel a thing pain wise, they hooked the baby monitors onto me again, and poor OH had to hold them on again, and it was for hours this time.

I kept falling asleep (was so tired from the lack of sleep from the fortnight before) OH was having to drink lots of coffee, I wasn’t allowed any coffee L

I don’t remember times or anything anymore, but I needed a wee and the MW did a temp catheter which was fab J

About now Elliots heart started dipping on the monitor, but he was recovering every time, so they said as he was recovering he was fine but they would keep him on the monitor.

By now I think I was about 7 or 8cms and unfortunately the MW was ending her shift (she was lovely).

So I needed another wee and the stupid new MW made me try the bedpan, I mean I couldn’t hardly feel my legs, I had a needle in one of my hands and couldn’t lift myself properly and lo and behold I managed to pee on the bedpan but I pulled my Epidural out!!!!!

So we had to get the woman back in for another one but she had an emergency and I had to wait 45 mins, which wasn’t too bad I guess.

By now they had decided to put me on the drip to make me dialate quicker? And they said they would check on me in two hours, all the while Elliots heart keeps dropping, but picking up but dropping nevertheless.

Loads of doctors and MW’s kept coming in and checking on me, I got really !!!!ed off at some point cos they left the door open and the curtain open!

They then broke my waters, and said that Elliot had an hour to get down the birth canal before they would intervene.

Now Elliots heart started dropping to 60 (his HB had been 140 but dropping to 120) all of a sudden there were loads of doctors in the room, the drug guy (I cant spell his name lol) quickly pulled my epidural out, they got me to sign a c section form in case we had to go down that route, while explaining that they were going to have a try with the suction cap first, then the drug guy shot some drugs into my hand (after asking if I was allergic to anything) so I got wheeled to theatre, OH wasn’t anywhere to be seen so I was asking where he was, and apparently he had to wait outside for ten mins.

They put my legs in stirrups things I was covered in loads of sheets, then OH came in all gowned up, they told me they were going to try forceps and we had 3 tries, if I didn’t get him out in 3 then it was a c section.

The MW told me when I had a contraction and I pushed with all my might, hoping I was doing it right, didn’t get him 1st and 2nd attempt, then on the 3rd attempt we got him, he was put on my chest and was all purple and very big lol

They gave me and OH a cuddle of him then they took him away to special care as he was having a bit of trouble breathing, they then told me I had tore and were stitching me up, I have a 3rd degree tear and some damage to the bum L they took an hour to stitch me up, I lost 800mls blood, and for some reason I couldn’t stop shivering, apparently it was the pain killers I had been given.

So they took me to recovery room once I was stitched, attached a catheter and made me lay there for an hour while they monitored my blood levels (OH took a pic which Ive now seen and I look like death SO white)

They then took me back to my room and OH was allowed to go to see Elliot in SCBU, they said they would take me on the bed in a bit.


I had some tea and toast, the MW cleaned me off in my bed, then they took me to see Elliot, he looked so swollen L he had had a Pneumothorax

A pneumothorax occurs when the tiny air sacs (alveoli) in a baby’s lung burst, leaking air into the space between the lung and chest wall (pleural space).

Meconium aspiration syndrome is another cause of pneumothorax in newborns. As the baby is being born, he or she may breathe in the first bowel movement, called meconium. This may cause breathing problems and the need for a breathing machine.
Less commonly, an otherwise healthy baby can develop an air leak when he or she takes the first few breaths after birth. This occurs because of the pressure needed to expand the lungs for the first time.
Pneumothorax is more common in boys than girls.
All our family came to visit him that night, and OH went home when visiting ended, then 3 nurses came to see me to tell me Elliot was going to be transferred to another hospital 25 miles away L
OH came back to hospital and they put me in a room of my own, then at about 1am Elliot was brought to see us before he left, it was horrible seeing him go.
On the wed we rang the hospital he was at to be told he was doing well, and that he could be coming back on Thursday, so I spent the day in the hospital with OH thinkinh Elliot was coming back next day.
Next day arrives and we are told no he isn’t coming back, so the hospital arranges a transfer for me to be with him, I was transferred on the Thursday afternoon, we got to see him as soon as we got to the new hospital and he looked a lot better but still swollen.

They had fixed his Pneumothorax as soon as he got there, they had drained it away and it didn’t come back, he was in SCBU because his oxygen levels kept dropping slightly, but by Saturday he was managing to keep them at a decent level.
So on the Saturday he came into my room with me, that night was scary I tell you lol being left with him on my own! But we got through it, he only woke a couple of times for food and nappy changes.
Then we were finally discharged home together on the Sunday, 5 days after he was born.

We are getting along ok now, obv we are all learning as we go J
Well done if you have read this epic post lol

albionsarah

To all the pregnant ladies reading this thread, don't panic! Some labours are really quite straightforward. Here is my birth story:

Baby Megan born 18th December 2009.

Baby wasn't due for another 11 days and I'd had no signs and didn't feel any different, went to bed as normal. At 1.30am I turned over in bed and my waters broke big time, I woke my OH up who helpfully said 'oh you've wet yourself' and promptly went back to sleep!

Not really knowing what to expect, I got up and pottered around a bit, made some Twinks hobnobs and had a bath, shaving 'down there' as best as I could. Having heard the horror stories of women being shaved with a dry razor, I wasn't taking any chances!

My contractions started at 3am, no real pattern to them though. I tried to time them but there were all over the place, so came on MSE and tried to pass the time. They only really felt like mild period pains at this stage.

At 5am I phoned the midwife unit who got a very stroppy midwife to call me back. I explained the situation so far, she said 'you sound far too cheerful to me, phone the office at 9am'.

The contractions started to get worse so I woke up OH and made him have a shower and get ready just in case. I paced around and told myself to keep calm and that I probably had ages to go. By 7.30am the pain was pretty bad so I phoned back and the midwife said she'd meet us at the Maternity Unit which is 10 miles away.

We met her there at 8am, I was examined and was already 9cm dilated! Yes the pain was bad, but the gas and air made me feel sick after the first few sucks so I just writhed around and swore a lot! For me, the contractions bit was the worst, when I started the pushing bit I felt much better as I had something to focus on and something to 'do' rather than just waiting for the pain of each contraction to stop.

Megan was born at 11.15am weighing 7lb 10oz, only 3 and a bit hours after we got there. They ran me a lovely hot bath and we were home by the afternoon.

I had one midwife from start to finish, who never left the room, and a student midwife with me too. If anyone is considering giving birth at a Maternity Unit rather than a main hospital, I would say go for it!

gill_81uk

Thomas Peter, born April 27th 2010

Sorry but it's a long one!

Took a couple of bump pics on Sat 24th at 38+5. We had the ILs round for a chinese and we were all saying we thought baby would be staying put for a while as I'd had no twinges and was feeling really fit.

We went to bed at midnight and DH jokingly said that it would be a nightmare if something happened at that time of night as he was exhausted. I'd been suffering with heartburn for the few days previous so DH had got me some gaviscon tablets which I took for the first time right before bed. I felt really sick when I lay down so had a walk around then got back in bed. I was just dosing off when I felt a twinge & lots of warm liquid gushing out.

I woke DH & rang triage to tell them. I went in to be examined. They put a trace on & found baby was very active & happy & sent me home to see what happened. We were told to go in for induction at 8am the following morning if nothing haapened.

Managed a couple of hours sleep once we got home at 4am but my waters were still gushing so I was really uncomfortablle. There was no sign of anything happening so I spent the day being as active as possible, bouncing on my ball and doing loads of tidying and sorting out in the hope of kicking something off. My waters gradually changed from clear to pink which the hospital said was normal and was probably my show.

Later that evening I started to get tightenings, they were uncomfortable but not too painful. We timed them and they seemed fairly regular but then stopped so we went to bed at midnight. I woke up at 3 with painful tightenings, too painful to stay in bed with, so I went downstairs and had some breakfast. They were coming every ten minutes until about 5.30 when they disappeared! I went back to bed and managed another hours sleep before we had to get up to go to the hospital.

At the hospital we got sent up to the labour ward. We had a little curtained area with a nearly flat gymball, a bed and a chair. I was here from 8am, waiting to hear when we could go down to the delivery suite for the induction drip, sitting on the bed reading. They did a trace and other checks and found I was 3cm dilated. I was pleased my bouncing and pains had done something! I then had to be hooked up to an antibiotic drip because it had been over 24 hours since my waters broke. This took 15 mins to run in but they didn't remove it for 2 hours which I found very frustrating as I knew I should be moving about and trying to get things going. I then got some lunch and at 1pm they arrived to take us downstairs.

She got us settled in a delivery suite and then informed me that as it was an induction I would have to be on a trace and drip the whole time and wouldn't be able to move about. I was quite upset by this as I wanted to use my tens machine and a gym ball and generally be active. (I had originially wanted a waterbirth) Just as she was about to start the next antibiotic drip there was an emergency and she had to dash off. When she came back it was shift changeover so she handed me over to another (much nicer and more efficient) midwife who got my drip going and went to look for a pump to start the induction off. They had no available pumps and was told someone had gone to get one. I was having a few mild contractions by this time.

I got a bit peckish and started to eat and apple, then the midwife came in and said I was nil by mouth because I was being induced. I was not impressed and a bit annoyed noone had told me this earlier! She didn't really want me to have too much of my sports drink either. She examined me and found I was 4cm dilated by this point which was disappointing. She could see how fed up I was so she suggested they take me off the trace for a while so I could walk around. She then very kindly offered me a gym ball to sit in and fixed my trace and drip so I could sit on the gym ball rather than the bed, which they aren't really supposed to do.

At 5.40pm they eventually got my drip going. The contractions started getting stronger quite quickly but had no real pattern to them. At 9.30 they were too much so I asked for epidural. She offered me gas & air as well at this point which was amazing and I really wished I'd had it sooner!

I was tied to the bed again but was super chilled after the gas and air and it was a really good epidural so I had zero pain. The shift changed and I luckily got another really nice midwife. She suggested we get some sleep which I badly needed as I'd had 4 hours sleep since 7am Sat morning. I managed to dose for a couple of hours. She examined me at 2am and found I was fully dilated and said we would start to push in an hour. She had to have a break and got someone else in. She told this midwife that my drip would need turning up if the contractions died down and that I was due an epidural top up. The other midwife stayed about 15 mins, left the room for 20 (we hadn't been left for longer than 2 mins since the epidural) popped back in and then left again and came back just after the other midwife returned and said something about popping to the toilet! The other midwife then discovered she hadn't topped up my epidural or turned up the drip and was no very happy! I wasn't really having regular enough contractions because of this but we had to start the pushing stage. She decided it would be useful for me not to have the top up so that I had some idea of when the contractions were coming as the trace wasn't picking them up.

Just as I started pushing I knocked my hand and the shunt flew out, meaning that I wasn't getting the drip to encourage the contractions anymore. It was all an absolute nightmare from this point onwards. The pushing started really well and he was coming down, but as the contractions weren't frequent enough he was making hardly any progress. This went on for an hour with very little progress made.

I was exhausted after everything that had happened over the last 36 hours, could barely recognise when I was having a contraction because the epidural had been so good and was getting really upset and frustrated about not being able to do it. The trace wasn't picking the contractions up eithger so it was pretty much guess work when to push.

She got another midwife in because we had been pushing for over an hour and I could see from their faces and what they were saying that things were going badly. DH was getting upset and I felt like I had let everyone down because I couldn't do it and couldn't do anything about it, and I was so worried about my baby.

They decided they would do an episiotomy and debated needing forceps. They got the docors in and they started to prepare. I really didnt want forceps and somehow through their encouragement and shouting at me managed to get together some huge pushes and they got him out.

He was put straight on me, blue, wriggling and covered in blood and DH was crying and telling me how well I had done. I couldn't take it in and was shaking and clutching him, just so relieved he was here and ok.

The stitching up afterwards was really painful so I had some more gas and air. He was trying to latch on and the midwife suggested I should try and breast feed while she stitched me up so I shouted that I wanted to wait! We tried as soon as she finished and he did really well

He was born on Tuesday April 27th at 5.15am, 52 hours after my waters broke! I could tell he was big and it turned out he weighed 8lb 5 oz which I couldnt believe as I hadnt looked or felt big while I was carrying him. DH was besotted with him immediately but I felt quite detached and didn't really feel as though he was my baby! That changed throughout the day as I nursed him and took care of him and by nighttime I was as besotted as DH.

I felt really guilty and couldn't talk to DH about the birth for the first couple of days, but the more we have gradually talked about it the more he's made me realise that the difficulties were down to the problems with the contractions and losing the drip rather than me just not being able to do it. I am just so relieved to have my beautiful little boy here safely.

*Louise*

Well I reckon they get easier as you have more of them lol...

DS1 - 1999
OH and I moved into our new home 1 week before he was born, I reckon painting the kitchen was what set it off
Pains started at 7am. My nan was visiting that day and every time I had a twinge she was panicking lol (she had 5 of her own!) Went into hospital at 7pm and was in labour for hours, really boring! Then DS developed a heart monitor so we were hooked up to a monitor. By 3am I was falling asleep between contrations I was so exhausted. Eventually because of the heart murmur and the time labour was taking they took me to theatre for a forceps delivery. OMG that was not nice - the anaesthetic froze me from the chest down, I hated it. When they were using the forcept I honestly thought they were going to pull his little head right off there was so much force.:eek: He was born at 8am right on his due date.
Obviously a lot of stitches due to needing an episiotomy, but overall it wasn't all that bad. Stayed in for 2 days

DS2 - 2005
Tried everything to get him moving but went the 10 days over and had to be induced. Not too bad, contractions happened a lot faster and the birth was fine, apart from having an internal haemotoma which meant me being taken to theatre and getting that sorted out. Got out a day after the birth.

DD - 2007
Another lazy one! She was booked to be induced on OH's birthday but 2 hours after the appointment was made she decided she didn't want to share her day after all :rotfl:
She was the first one that I actually experienced my waters breaking at around 2pm. I phoned OH who said he had to finish up a few things before he could leave work (!!) so I went and had a shower, dried and straightened my hair and even done my makeup:rotfl:My mum came over to watch the boys and OH took me in at 4pm.
Slight panic when I was told 'oh there's no space, we might have to find you a cupboard somewhere (yeah, habloodyha!) but they fast tracked me as they thought I would be 'finished faster than the first time mums'
Daughter born at 7pm...NO BEDS free in maternity so we went home at 11pm, (would have been sooner but there was a wait to be discharged)she never even got her checks done or anything, we had to go back a few days later.
I couldn't believe how good I felt afterwards - no pain, no discomfort, I felt totally normal :T


I was quite pleased with myself that not once during any labours did I give OH any grief or tell him he was never coming near me again :rotfl:

rachelet

Well my labours have definitely got quicker each time and I am definitely not having any more children as I don't think I would get to the hospital in time if I were to have another baby!

Here are my labour stories:

2002: My first daughter was due on 4th May but I went overdue, I had a midwife appt a few days after my due date who examined me and said I was 3cm dilated and that they would book me in for an induction on the Sunday but that I would probably go into labour naturally before then. My labour started with what I thought was my waters breaking on the Friday night but the contractions kept coming and going. As I was about half an hour drive away from the hospital I decided to stay in and my husband went home for a sleep. He was back the next day and my contractions kept starting and stopping so I kept going for walks round the hospital. Eventually in the afternoon, they started getting worse so I was transferred to the delivery suite. I had some gas and air and then the pain got really bad, so I asked for more pain relief and eventually got given some pethidine. But I also kept the gas and air and ended up falling asleep between contractions and managed to slow them down as well. I spent ages pushing and in the end had a ventouse delivery. My daughter was born at 2:00am in the morning and was 7lb 11oz. This was probably the worst of my labours and definitely the most complications for me as I was diagnosed as beign severely anaemic after the birth and had to have a blood transfusion. This almost put me off having any more children but I did have more!

2005: My second daughter was due in December not long before Christmas but again I went over my due date. I was booked in for a membrane sweep a week after my due date, but again my labour started naturally. I started getting a few twinges before I went to bed, but managed to get to sleep. I then woke up at about 3am with the contractions being a lot worse and a lot closer together. I woke my husband up and he drove me to the hospital. When I got there, I knew this time that I wanted an epidural and so asked for one as soon as I got to the hospital. This worked great, although it was working a lot better down my left hand side and so my leg was completely numb and I couldn't move it. But I could still feel some pain on my right hand side. This then got better towards the end and I couldn't feel any pain, but could feel that I needed to push. The only problem with the epidural was that it made me feel sick and I ended up being sick a few times but this helped push the baby down! My second daughter was eventually born at 2pm in the afternoon and weighed 7lb 15oz. She had the cord wrapped round her neck and had to be helped with some oxygen but was absolutely fine otherwise. The midwife also explained that she was in an awkward position inside me and thats why I struggled to push her out. She also said the epidural was a good idea as without it I would have been in lots of pain because of the position the baby was in and the labour would have taken just as long!

2008: My son was due nearly the same day as my second daughter but I ended up going into labour one day early this time instead of going overdue! I think he was in a rush to get out. This was the first time that my waters definitely broke whilst I was at home. I went to go to bed at 10pm felt a pop and then just about got to the toilet in time for my waters to start coming out. I had been feeling twinges for about a week beforehand but thought these were practice contractions. On the way to the hopsital, I was getting quite painful contractions and every time I had a contraction, more liquid would come out. At the hospital, I was taken straight to the delivery suite where they said it was too late to have an epidural. As I now love in France, the only pain relief given is an epidural or nothing. So I now had to face labour with no pain relief!! In the end I was given some oxygen to have whilst I was having contractions but in the end it happened so quickly, the pain was over quite soon. I ended up only giving 1 push and my son was out. The midwives were telling me to stop and I didn't realise it was because he was out already. This was only four hours after my waters had broken at 2am in the morning again and he weighed 8lb 1oz.

2010: Definitely my last baby. My last daughter was due just 8 days before my first daughter's brithday and as I reached the end of my pregnancy, I got really big so somehow knew I wouldn't go over due. As it was I went into labour 2 days before my due date. I was told during the pregnancy that this baby would be bigger than my other babies and they were right. Again I had twinges for about a week before I went into labour like my other pregnancy but again thought these were just practice contractions again. I woke up in the middle of the night as I needed the toilet and then started to feel contractions. I then felt part of my waters break so woke my husband up. This was 3:00am in the morning that I started to feel the contractions. We tried to get someone to come round and look after the other children but couldn't wake anyone up so eventually, I told my husband to just get the other kids in the car and he could drop me off at the hospital, take the kids home and then come back to the hospital as I would probably take a while and he would be able to find someone by then. By the time we got to the hospital it was 5am and when they examined me I was 8cm dilated. I was told I wasn't allowed to push as they had to get some antibiotics into me for the baby. Again it was all happening too quickly for an epidural, so again I just had a bit of oxygen to help me in between contractions. After only being in the hospital for an hour, my daughter was born at 6:00am weighing 9lb 2oz after only 4 pushes. My husband didn't make it back to the hospital in time and had only just got back home by the time the baby was born! This is why I am definitely not having anymore children as the hospital is half an hour away by car and if the labours get any shorter, I will have the next baby in the car or at home!

With the last two labours I can say that yes it is the most pain you will ever be in, but if I can do it without pain relief then anyone can, as I am the worst wimp in the world when it comes to pain!

choccybikkie_2

Isobel Rae Knowles born 11/05/2010.

I was 8 days overdue when I went for a midwife appt on fri 7th may 2010 and for the 1st time ever my BP was high. Midwife gave me a membrane sweep and said she was certain that the sweep would work and I would have my baby by the next day as I was 3-4cm dilated fully effaced and cervix was as soft as it could be and stretchy?!
She also booked me in to be induced on the monday when I would be 11 days overdue just incase the sweep didn't work..........
It didn't. I had a large plug loss on the saturday and again on the sunday with lots of BH but nothing else.
I called the hospital on the monday morning and was told to go in.
We arrived at the hosp at 9am and was sent to the ADAU,slightly confused. I was left waiting around (on a plastic chair with NO food or drink!!:mad:) until 3pm when I decided I'd had enough and walked out.
Amazingly that spurred them on and they then found me a bed on maternity ward. I was then left on a trace being monitored for 4 hrs!!!
This time at 10pm my DH got annoyed and had a go at MW who then decided to actually examine me.
She then found that I wouldn't need to have the prostaglandins or anything but that I could just go up to labour ward and have my waters broken (I had told them this and my MW had written this in my notes had they read them!)
At this point I will add that this hosp has recently had its maternity dept put under 'Special measures' as it was so poor- this made me think things would have been better.

At 11pm I was transferred up to Labour ward,was seen straight away and had my waters broken by 11.15pm :j
I felt a contraction begin straight away and for the next half an hour I paced the labour room as the pains intensified. I then felt the need to lean on something so I got on my knees and leant on the bed. The MW was coming in and out the room and was suprised how quickly things seemed to be progressing. Dh was trying to give me the gas and air but it annoyed me so I was pushing it away. MW suggested I got off the hard floor so I got on the bed on my knees and leant over the back of the lifted bed. Suddenly the pains were joined by a lot of pressure (but didn't have any urge to push) so the mw examined me and found I was 7-8 cm's.
Almost immediatly I had a real urge to push and laid onto my left side, MW was telling me not to push as I wasn't fully dilated. I could then feel the baby pushing down and I was now trying to hold it back, MW looked and said "Oh yes,baby's coming"!!! without any pushing she was born at 00:28am. The 1st stage was 1 hour 10 mins and the second stage was 3 mins :rotfl:......third stage was 4 mins.
Isobel was born with the cord twice round her neck but was healthy pink colour and perfect.
She weighed 7lb 13oz and we had skin to skin and she found the breast straight away.
She is a very contended but hungry baby She'd put on 1 lb 3 oz by day 10 :eek:

I did lose a LOT of blood afterwards (which is a risk factor for 4th or more babies) but nothing too concerning.
I'm very much in love with my beautiful lil girl and although the maternity ward were rubbish the labour team were Amazing and I have very positive memories of the birth.

musogirl295

Holly Alyssa born 25/05/10, 6lbs 13oz

Things started to happen on Sunday lunchtime when I was 2 days over and already getting very fed up! We decided to go to Pizza Express for lunch and whilst we were there I was getting weird feelings in my belly but I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was. On visiting the loo (sorry for TMI) I thought the loo roll was slightly pink tinged but again didn't want to get my hopes up and put it down to the odd lighting in the restaurant loo!

On getting home I realised that I most definately had had my show and got a bit overexcited. DH and I went on a mad dash organisation spree, cleaning the house and getting things prepared. Over the course of the afternoon the funny belly feelings started to increase and by about 6pm I was able to say they were definately contractions. By about 10pm they were reasonably painful (or so I thought!) and coming about every 5 mins. We rang the delivery unit to see what they wanted us to do as we were a little concerned cos the hospital is a fair way away from us. They said to hang tight, so we did until midnight when I was finding the pains much harder to bear. We went into hospital and was examined. I was only 1cm dilated so they sent us home. Even by the time we got home at 3am the pains had gotten significantly worse and I was really struggling, so by 6am we made our way back in. As my contractions were still only about 4 mins apart they wouldn't put me in delivery unit. Instead I was put on a ward for women being induced. On examination I was still only 3cm but we discovered that baby had turned so she was not only back to back but also her head had turned into a side on position. This explained why the pains were so bad at such an early stage. I stayed on this ward all day, walking up and down, wailing in pain. I felt so guilty as all the other women on the ward were trying to sleep! I was given paracetemol for the pain which obviously didn't do a thing and later in the evening I was given a tens machine which went a long way to helping up until about 8pm (mon eve now!). At this point I was making so much noise that they sent a doctor over and they decided to move me up to delivery.

The moment we got up there I went on the gas and air which helped a little and then I got an epidural. When this kicked in it was heaven. I managed to get a few hours sleep (as did DH) and they put me on a drip to try and speed things up a bit. However, it turned out that the epidural wasn't being very effective and every few hours the chronic pains would return and I would have to have it topped up. I had this topped up 4 times in total and each time feeling returned in different parts of me at different times. Had an examination at 5am (Tues morn) and was still only 3 cm so we thought we were in for the long haul. Then at about 10am the MW did another exam and I was 9 and a half cms already. Pushing began at about half 11 but I was really struggling with the pains through the epidurals that weren't working and I had increasing pressure in my hips which made every position I moved to really uncomfortable. In the end because of baby's twisted position and the fact that I was so tired the decision was made to move to theatre and Holly was delivered with the aid of forceps. Surprisingly, she arrived showing absolutely no signs of stress and she scored 10 on the AGPAR at 1 minute.


All in all, it wasn't the birth I imagined or planned but it worked out it in the end and I can't praise the Midwifes and doctors highly enough!