MSE Pregnancy Club Birth Stories

hassle1

Here's my story.

on 4/9/2010 at 40 + 3 woke up early (7.30 - very early for me on a weekend, especially as I was working the day before) to what I thought was wind. Tried the loo and nothing. As I hadn't been able to have a no.2 for 2 days took some lactalose and paracetamol. After a few cuppa's and playing on PC decided to do some house cleaning, so was dancing around the front room cleaning to Its raining men, I need a hero and girls just wanna have fun (husband at work). Still had pain.

Decided to go and check horses so ended up doing an hrs walk, still had stomach ache.

Sister popped round saying she thought I was in labour. I was still adamant it was wind as it was not regular. Secretly she was timing me and when I was 4 mins apart husband rang hospital, who said to come in.
Had to wait 30 mins to be seen and was still in denial. Was told I was 2cm dilated, given a sweep and some codine.

By the time I got back to the car, the pain was a lot worse. Got home (20 min drive) and had a nice long bath, which seemed to ease the pain a little. Got out and threw up all over the floor. Pain was a lot worse so I put on my TENS machine and husband rang hospital, who advised to stay home as they were really busy, but if I couldn't cope to bring me in. Husband took me in anywhere, where we waitied for an hr to be seen. By then I was 9 cm dilated. They took me to a delivery suit and was told 'Shouldn't be long now'. It was about 23.00 by then.

By 6.00 am on 5th I was still trying to push (no further pain killers as gas and air was making me feel sick), midwife had to break my waters (horrible feeling) and the consultant was called. I think they thought I was being wimpy but I really couldn't push him out. An hr or so later they decided enough was enough and they would try ventuose. However, after 1 look they decided it wouldn't work and gave me an emergency c-section.

Luke was born at 08.30 with a 42cm head circumfrance and was taken straight to SCUBU. He was diagnosed with hydracephalus and transfered to Kings college hospital (1.30 hrs away from home) on 6th Sept. I was then discharged on 7th. Spent 3 ish weeks at Kings (during which he had an operation, blood transfusion, eeg, ecg, cat scan, mri, further bleed and fits). Eventually got home on 28th. We are now awaiting a 2nd operation but apart from that I have a lovely healthy baby boy.

shelley_crow

Baby C - Born 18/09/2010, at 39+6.

Not a very long or itneresting birth story -

I started having contractions at 10.30am on the 18th. They weren't painful or regular.

At 3pm, they were getting more intense and closer together so I rang the hospital and they told me to stay at home as long as I could. I pottered around the house, had a shower while my OH took our ds to his nan's.

I got to the hospital at 5pm to be shown straight to a delivery room, the contractions were around 3 mins apart and when I walked I had to stop. My consultant hadn't sent my notes to the right hospital so they had no info on me other than my name.

The midwife disappeared to read my bounty notes at half five pm, a doctor came in to take bloods at 6pm. I had gas and air at this point because I was in pain.

At 6.15 pm I sent my OH to get the midwife. SHe hadn't examined me so she came to do that. She realised that I was in so much pain and went to do the internal...but the baby's head was almost out! She ran to get her student who was going to deliver him. The student came in, just about had time to put any gloves on and caught ds when he shot out at 6.42pm. By 7.30pm, I was stitched up, holding ds and eating toast.

We were taken to the post natal ward at midnight. I had to stay in with ds for five days as he had pneumonia. He was on SCBU for 3 days.

Otherwise, it was the perfect birth: very quick and I was out of it for the painful parts, lol. Complete and utter contrast to the birth of ds2 five years earlier.

He was born at 8lb 5oz and five weeks later he is 12lbs, thriving after the scare he gave us.

dreambirdie

Here goes!!

Woke up on the sunday night around 3am with what felt like intense period pains. thought it was braxton hicks. after about an hour i started timing them, they were coming every 5-8 mins.

couldnt get back to sleep so about 10am monday morning i went into hospital to get checked as the contractions were still coming every 5 or so mins. got an internal and i was a big fat 0 cm dilated! i was totally gutted! got told to go home and rest as it could be days yet. i was in considerable pain and very uncomfortable there was no way i could of slept( i checked my notes after and they actually wrote contractions in inverted commas - as if they were maybe braxton hicks by this point i bloody knew they were contractions!)

i went home and contractions slowed way down to every 10-15 mins and stopped for an hour but then picked up pace again. i stayed home as long as i could and the next morning i went back to the hospital (after another night minus sleep due to contractions being every 5-10 mins) i was checked again and i was 2cm dilated :j i was given codiene and again told to go home and rest. was a bit upset at the slow pace of the labour but happy i had dilated as that was at least some progress!

that night around 7pm(tuesday) i couldnt stick it any longer and went back to the hosptial i couldnt even speak during contractions (just doing that mad labour groan we all seem to get) got checked again and was still 2cm. i broke down in triage as i really couldnt handle the pain and paracetomal/codiene werent even taking the edge off it. they agreed to admit me so i could get some gas and air. went upstairs to a ante natal ward. by the time i got admitted etc it was 10pm. i got checked again and lo and behold i was 4cm dilated, so midwife said i could have pethadine. got the pethadine and thought i was in heaven. sent OH home so i could try and sleep a bit. about an hr later contractions started getting worse and i told midwife i wanted a epidural as soon as i was able to get one as i knew at this point i wasnt handling the pain very well and still had a long way to go.

about 12am phoned OH to come back and i went to delivery suite so i could try the gas and air. didnt like it at first as it made me feel drunk/stoned. but once i got the hang of it i loved it. started getting impatient around 1ish and asked the midwife where the epidural was. i think she had forgotten about it, because i was then told i had to wait an hour for the anethsitist to get out of theatre :mad:

by 3am epidural was sited and i had no contraction pain whatsoever except for an intense pressure down below. got my waters broken to try and speed things along.

dont remember much until about 5.30am. got midwife to check me as the pressure down there was getting too much and i felt like i wanted to push. my contractions had slowed down to every 10 mins at this point so i got something to speed them up. then at 7am i was told i could start pushing. it was so hard as i couldnt really feel what i was doing due to the epidural. after a few pushes i knew i wasnt going to get the baby out myself i was just so exhausted and !!!!ed off by this point.

just before 8 i was told a doctor was coming as babys heartbeat was all over the place and i needed a assisted delivery. 8am change of shift so had a new midwife take over in the midst of all the madness. doctor came and i was told they were going to try a ventouse and i would need a episiotomy:( i honestly didnt feel a thing when i was cut. but then the doctor had to attatch the vaccuum to babys head which wasnt fully down, that was honestly the sorest part. so doctor told me he would pull at the same time i was pushing. waited until next contraction and we did it and babys head came out. i remember the burning sensation( all over in a couple of seconds) and the stupid new midwife telling me"its ok its all over now the babys head is out" had to do another push/pull for babys body at which point i sqeauled "you f**king liar its not over ARGH" lol THEN it was all over. 4 mins later placenta came out which didnt hurt but i felt a huge sense of relief as the pressure pains etc stopped. then i started apologising to everyone in the room because i called them every bad word i could think of. i was so embarrased!!

ladylegs

Birth story of Molly Bea. (Slightly long:o)

On 3rd Nov at 2.15am, I felt a tidal wave and a weird sensation as my waters broke with a gush while in bed. I traipsed to the toilet and sat, trickling rapidly, while phoning the hospital midwife.

I emphasized that this was more than the 1-hour pad job: leaking spectacularly and yes, I was pretty sure I hadn’t wet myself. So off to hospital (2 Tena lady pads and a flannel down there to hold the flood back:o) and by 2.45am I was hooked up to a Foetal Heart Monitor where we witnessed intense and frequent contractions – 3 in 10 minutes at one point to my shock.:eek: I just thought they were Braxton Hicks, which I had had since week 24 and hadn’t noticed. The baby was not in distress thankfully so we went home to see what would happen and told that my baby was imminent.

So back home and unable to sleep through the pains I decided (regretfully) to take a bath. DO NOT TAKE A BATH if you want to continue Labouring. It relaxed me and the contractions died right off to niggly pains every hour.:( Due to the rupture of membranes (“SROM”) and increased infection risk, I still had to be induced on Nov 4th as nothing else kicked off with any regularity despite frantic ball-bouncing and stomping up/down the stairs.


My partner and I arrived at hospital 8.30am 4th Nov and sat in 2 waiting rooms for 90 minutes:mad: – frustrating as I just wanted to get things moving and I paced the triage room like a wild animal- still leaking umconfortably! Eventually we met the lovely midwife and she said I was only 0.5cm dilated (a pathetic “fingertip”) although cervix was softened. It was so devastating to hear. During this 1st vaginal exam, I had what she called "a very bloody show" and the bed sheets needed changing. Eurgh!!!!:o


With pessary gel in, we waited for the prostaglandins to work their magic and due to constant foetal monitoring, my water birth plan was scrapped totally and so too was any chance of active labouring. I was not in control, my body failed to contract properly so I needed a host of medical interventions as one thing after another failed too. At least they let me turn the nasty strip lights off for some mood lighting!


The pessary was useless so syntocinon drip was up next. (Putting the canula in my hand alone produced an explosion of blood on the bed which didn’t bode well). I was stuck with the drip for over 12 hours and despite going up to the highest dosage possible, I failed to dilate past 3-4cm even though my contractions were every 40-60 seconds and often back to back which was really challenging and felt like hell. The pain was relentless but I breathed through each of them and found the ”zone”. I had a bed pan too as I was pretty much rooted to the bed and armchair so not a great place to labour anyway. I declined gas and air as I didn’t feel it was working so relied on a TENS machine as my back and rectal pressure was agony from how baby was lying.:o

The midwife said she’d never seen someone cope so well on the drip but it didn’t console me. Nothing I could do was helping – my body was refusing to work in the way it was designed to. It made me feel like a failure even though I have never worked so hard in all my life.:( All dignity left the room with rectal paracetamol given for intense pressure on my bum (epidural could not ease this pressure at all) and a catheter being fitted to deal with the excess fluid from the drip. Eeek!
I knew I hadn’t progressed when my midwife examined me after 8 hours and refused to look me in the eye and tell me my progress straight away...I had done a measily 2cm in 8 hours and was exhausted.:mad: By 2.15am and a further 4 hours at stage 1 I had managed another 1cm! I had earned an epidural and persuaded to end this nightmare. I was so tired contracting fast and violently with little reward but felt relief to know it was going to ease. I curled over a pillow on the bed and went cold turkey with the contractions as the anaesthetist waited for them to pass before putting in the needle. This took a long 15 minutes before taking effect. The epidural worked:j but I still could not dilate quickly enough and this time it was down to baby’s head being too high up on the cervix.



Next up, an emergency c-section by local anaesthetic. I had some hours to sleep before the op at 11am but couldn’t! My partner got into his greens and came in to theatre with me but soon, he was back in the waiting room as I would not go under and could feel everything. :(The anaesthetists were puzzled by my ability to stay awake so upped the drugs quota again and got me ready for the op by general. There was nowhere left to go now...I’d had pretty much every intervention and Molly was about to be plucked out of me, finally at 11.57am on 5th November. :A


I needed oxygen following the op as I had reacted to the anaesthetic (surprise surprise) but I was soon out of recovery and the first thing I saw was the incubator with my beautiful little girl lying facing me. :)Someone suggested getting Molly some formula as I was so exhausted but I was determined to breastfeed her myself...especially since I had missed out on delivering her, hearing her first cries and having vital skin-to-skin bonding of a normal birth.



And we did it. I fed her for 15 minutes in the recovery room and we were wheeled back to the maternity ward together. Finally, I felt like a mum.


I didn’t like reading “Failure to progress” as the reason for my c-section but a combination of factors out of my control were at play and it hasn’t put me off having just one more go ..especially since the end result is the best thing ever!:j
Maybe next time I can use the large black towel I had bought especially for the water birth I never experienced.:rotfl:

"Remember remember the 5th of November"....How can I forget? The scars will fade in time but my love for this new little person grows every day.

pukkamum

Well ladies hers mine. Lilly Janine born 8/11/10
I had an elective c-section following two previous emergency sections so was booked in for 8 am the 8th november.
DH and i got to hospital at eight and at nine were told there were no emergencies and they weren't busy so would be taken down to theatre soon hooray we thought then we sat and sat, and sat and sat a bit more.
Midwife came back eventually to tell us it had suddenly gotten really busy and she would let us know soon.
It was 12 by this time and i was starving and bored and getting more than a little anxious.
They put a drip in my arm at half twelve as they were worried about me dehydrating.

At one the midwife came and said they were aiming for 1.30 we were so releived to have some sort of time frame and strated to get excited.
Midwife came and put in my catheter (not nice) and gave me me a drink to stop me being sick or getting heartburn which instantly made me fell very sick.

We were taken down to theatre and sat waiting in the anaesthetic room.
They then came and said another emergency had come up and we would have to wait AGAIN!!!!!

By this point i was really getting more than a little worked up and freaked out.

We were taken to another room and the anaesthetist and surgeon came to see me, they were lovely and really put me at ease explaining everthing that was going to happen etc.

Eventually it was time to go, DH stayed behind to get into his gown and i was taken to theatre.
I sat on the bed and waited for them to do the spinal, i have to say at this point i started to freak out a little without DH there. The doctor was chatting away obviously trying to keep me occupied but i was desperate to tell him to !!!!!! so i could go in the 'zone' (take myself away from situation).
The spinal went in with no trouble and i hardly felt a thing, then thank god DH came back.

It was so weird lying there waiting and i couldn't believe it when doctor said she was bursting my waters, it had only been minutes, i felt some tugging, a shout of 'oh it's bum first' and then the loudest cry you have ever heard!!!!!

They brought her over and she was still screaming and immediately rooting for food!!!!!!!!

DH held her whilst they stitched me up and as soon as i was in recovery they put her on the breast skin to skin where she fed for an hour!!!!!!!!

I am now on day 11 after my section and wound healy nicely i have no pain and am managing to walk small distances xxxxxx

MERFE

Robert Jacob born 11/11/10 at 2:16pm 36 weeks by elective c-section weighing 7lb 15oz

It all started when I went into the hospital on the tuesday evening about 5ish, I was taken to a bed and settled for a bit then at 6:15pm they came and gave me my first dose of steriods. I then had to test my blood sugar levels every hour as the steriods can make these rise and I was suffering with gestational diabetes. At about 9:30pm my blood sugars were measuring high enough for them to want to put in a sliding scale insulin drip. So I waited then at 11pm they said they were moving me to the delivery suite since the ward was so busy and short staffed but the delivery suite was nearly empty. When I got there the midwife could not get a canula in my hand, tried both and a wrist then called the doctor, who put one in my wrist straight away (although I don't think very well as I had nothing but problems with it and eventually a reaction all the way up my arm). I was woken every hour to test my blood sugars and the insulin adjusted as needed. At 6:15am I was given the second steriod injection. OH came in for 8 ish the next morning expecting to go to theatre shortly when the surgeon came round and said he wasn't doing the section that day because the steriods will not have had time to work and that I was on the list for thursday. We were very disappointed, expected a baby that day and to be up and about by the evening but now I was being squeezed in on the thurs and didn't know when it would be, knew it was best for the baby though.

I continued to measure my blood sugars every hour and was able to come off the sliding scale by evening. OH went home to pick the kids up from school and rebook the baby sitters for thurs. So a very boring evening spent listening to people screaming, being sick and getting moved along in having their babies. After dinner my blood sugars went up again so I went to let the midwife know, hadn't seen her for ages and she had gone home, new midwife checked procedure and said I didn't need sliding scale 12 hours after steriods unless my blood sugars went above 10 which they had not so they actually disconnected me from the drip which made moving around alot easier. Plus it meant I no longer had to test my sugars every hour and was such a relief, I managed to get a semi decent sleep.

I found out at 11pm that I was first on the afternoon list for sections the next day so OH didn't come in till after he had dropped the kids to school. I was given my premeds and told to go for a walk, so OH and I walked round the whole hospital and it was great to get away for a bit, it was so hot on the ward. At about 1pm the anaesthetist came to explain about the op. We waited some more then at 1:30 a midwife came and was shocked I was not in my gown and OH had no scrubs. A quick change and we were rushed along to theatre where everyone was waiting. The anaesthetist struggled to get the local in before the spinal injection and apparently just kept hitting bone - ouch. I was nearly sick and struggling to breathe during the op so they had to tilt the table, my blood pressure dropped several times. I could feel them pulling around and it seemed a really long time compaired to my other 2, then we heard the baby crying. They had needed to use the forceps to get him out. OH had a quick hold but then they had to go do the measuring etc. His blood sugar was only 1.8 so he had to have a formula feed whilst I was being put back together. OH fed him. I was told there was alot of fluid - erm yes I know that, and that a 4th section would be tricky as the uterus is very thin at the bottom but we are not planning on any more. The recovery room was freezing, both me and the baby were shivering like crazy but we had to wait ages for someone to come and help move us to the ward.

Felt like we were kicked out of hospital too soon 2 days later, in alot of pain I just about made it to the car then when we got home I nearly passed out trying to get up the stairs to go to the toilet but a week on and I can go on the school run and get out for a short walk during the day. We have been to and from the hospital a few times with the baby, all fine now but I maybe did a bit more than I should have walking round the hospital. Little man is here and that is all that matters.

Bufger

Ethan James born 17/11/10 - birth story of my brave and strong partner.

she went in to be induced on 16th (tues) at 8am. she was put straight on to a foetal heart monitor which showed babys base line quite low but not as a cause for concern. they gave her a pessary to kickstart things which took some sort of effect around 5pm. these eventually wore off at 9pm and they said they'd do another in the morning (they kept her in)

morning came and they did the same again but this time it took effect right away and she got regular contractions. at midday she was so uncomfortable i ran her a bath and helped her bathe, as soon as she was in her waters broke! after that contractions came thick and fast.

12.40 - 3cms
1pm - foetal heart monitored, baby in distress so rushed to labour ward.
1.30 - 6cms gas and air baby heart goes back to ok
2.30 - 6cms epidural (2 missed attempts nearly caused serious damage, 3rd went in but didnt work).
5.30 - 9cms baby really stressed again
6.30 - emergency episiotomy
6.48 - ethan delivered and rushed away (he wasnt breathing). he had the cord wrapped twice around his neck. 10 mins under the heated lamp being rubbed down and on oxygen bought him back to us. mum was being stitched up but was in distress as we really thought we'd lost him.

i think they got it wrong for us, they didnt listen to my partner when she had the instinct that something was wrong and they didnt do anything quickly at all. both are now ok and we can all put it behind us but i think we'll go private for the next one (not very mse but with some things i dont care!)

Ethan is the best though. took me ages to type this one handed because hes asleep in the other

ticklepenny_2

Belated Birth Story 20/05/09

At 35 weeks I had a scan and it turned out that DD was an awkward breech so my only real chance at a natural birth was to have an External Cephalic Version at 36 weeks. This failed, possibly due to the fact that they forgot to give me the injection before they attempted the manipulation, however they did also mention that DD was measuring 7lbs and would proably be 9lbs on EDD. At this point it was decided that for a safe delivery my only option was a Csection. I was petrified, upset and angry at not being able to try for the natural birth I had set my heart on.
At 39 weeks and 5 days I went into hospital at 7am and was told that I would be having DD at 11.30am as long as there were no emergencies. I had not been in hospital overnight since I was born, and I am a wuss when it comes to the mention of operations. At 10:55 I waddled along to the operating theatre where I broke down into tears, luckily OH was there to calm me down with the best line ever "I am so proud of you for the last 9 months and for going through this to make sure our child arrives safely." Which just made me blub more but in a happier way and less petrified. Originally when the Csection had been decided I had wanted to be under GA for the operation but having spoken to a friend to had an emergency Csection I quickly changed my mind and decided that I wanted to see my baby as soon as she arrived in the world even if I wasnt able to have the natural birth I'd set my heart on.
The spinal [STRIKE]tap[/STRIKE] block (I hate needles) I told the aneasthetist that I didnt want a running commentary on what he was doing and didnt want to see the needles, just for him to say this may hurt when he was about to do anything. Summary of spinal block - they numb the area with local aneasthetic then put in the spinal block. Within moments there was a warm sensation then I couldnt move my legs.
They put up the screen then tested with a cold spray to see whether I was numb enough for the operation. They proceeded once satisfied I couldnt fel anything. It felt really weird. Like when you have your mouth numbed for a filling an you run your tongue around the inside of your cheek. So you know something is moving about but that is all you know.
DD was pulled out bum first and immeadiately I could take a deep breath (something I hadnt been able to do for over a month). They started stitching me back up whilst they announced that DD was 10lb3oz.

In all honesty from someone dead set against a c section it really wasnt too bad, and is well worth the prize. I will advise people to take regular pain relief afterwards and take it easy. Just tend to you and baby's basic needs and take advantage of any offers of help. Oh and sleep when baby sleeps, as sleep helps you heal .

I hope that helps someone else and if you have any questions please feel free to PM me

sarahjanetim

I am currently 21 weeks pregnant. My sister went to the hospital 3.15am Tuesday morning, the hospital sent her home at 6.20 am saying to go back when her contractions are more severe and more regular. I had a phone call 7.45 am asking to go over and look after my nephew whilst she goes back up the hospital the pains are getting much worse. I arrived at 8am and she was in full labour on the bathroom floor. Her partner was on the phone to 999 telling him what to do, however he had one hand free. I decided to take the initiative and do the delivery myself. Towels, cushions and flannel on the head. I don't want to go into too much detail but by 8.15 me and her partner had deilvered a beautiful baby girl. The paramedics arrived, but by that time the baby was wrapped up in a towel warm and cosy in the mothers arms. The paramedics cut the cord with her partner and the midwife came to finish the rest off. What an experience! I feel an extremely strong bond towards my niece, who was also born with a veil/caul which is extremely rare and apparently means she is destined for great things! :j

CL

Juliet Sarah born 4.04pm 25/11/10

After a very good pregnancy, with no complications, I reached my due date and hadn't experienced any Braxton Hicks. I had an appointment at 4 days overdue and was examined and told that I was 1cm dilated. I was given a date for induction which was the evening 9 days past my due date.

I went to hospital to be induced at 7pm and was examined before my first pessary was given and found to be still 1cm dilated and unfavourable. In hindsight, at this point I think I should have said that as I was unfavourable I was going home for another few days and would allow induction when I was more favourable. I was given the first pessary at 11pm and told that it was unlikely that anything would happen that night and I would be examined again at 6am and given another pessary if it was necessary.

At 6am I was found to be still 1cm and had had no contractions and was given pessary number 2. I was told that I would be examined at lunchtime and if necessary another pessary would be given at 10pm that night.

At 2pm I had still had no contractions and was examined and told that my cervix was "closed to 1cm". The doctor who examined me said that if the 3rd pessary did not work it was likely that I would need to have a section. TBH I was very happy with this. The idea of a section was always more appealling to me than a natural birth, but I really didn't want to have both labour and an emergency section.

I was given a 3rd pessary at 10pm and overnight had period type pains, but no contractions. I was examined the next morning and found to be 1cm still. The consultant then told me if I wanted to attempt one more pessary, I could, but it was unlikely to work as the last 3 hadn't. He asked me what I would like to do and I said I wanted to have a section that day. I was 11 days overdue and had already spent 2 nights in hospital. He said that was fine and when the 3 sections scheduled for that morning were done, I would have mine.

At 3pm I was taken to the delivery suite to meet the anaesthetist and surgeon. They were both amazing and talked me through everything. I was then taken into the theatre and the anaesthetist did the spinal block and talked to me the whole time, telling me to ask him to stop if I was unhappy at any point. I felt a little nausious and the anaesthetist talked to me and held a kidney dish by my face. He was very kind. The screen was put up and then my DH was called in. After about 10-15 mins Juliet was born and I had asked the anaesthetist to tell us if it was a girl or a boy as soon as they were born. After she was cleaned and weighed, Juliet was given to my DH and I was stitched up.

In the recovery room I think I was in shock and was shivering. I hadn't eaten from 11pm the night before and had asked DH to bring cereal bars and water in the bag with the baby's clothes. I didn't feel like holding Juliet until I had eaten and as soon as I had, I held her and breast fed her. The next morning I was able to get a shower, and by the evening of the next day I felt very well.

I was very happy with the care I received pre- and post-birth. Every member of staff I encountered were so caring and so keen to help. People talk about losing your dignity when you have a baby, but the staff did their best to prevent this.

I would recommend a planned c-section to anyone. I had a really positive experience and discomfort has been minimal.