MSE Pregnancy Club Birth Stories

efrieze

Firstly I need to outline my birth story with DD1 in Nov 2005. At 41+2, I woke up with pains in the night. 36 hours later, I still wasn’t in established labour and went into the hospital for monitoring. Another 12 hours later I was 3 cm and so was considered in established labour. Went into labour room, put on the drip, had a epidural (oh that was great!) and DD was delivered by ventouse another 8 hours later. Overall, I wasn’t unhappy with the experience although I had hoped it would be quicker and was definitely up for the epidural route this time around.

This time…
I officially stopped work on Friday (at 38 + 5) but had said I would be in the office on the following Wednesday (39+3) if nothing had happened. I did go in for a half day that day, and an almost full day on Thursday too as there was still stuff to do and I was bored at home. I travelled in both days by tube! Anyway, on Thursday evening I had a pregnancy reflexology session which included visualising letting go of all the stresses which theoretically were holding me back from going into labour (not sure I believe all this stuff but I did it anyway). It was very nice and relaxing and she gave me some homeopathic pills which I was to take on my due date (3 days later) if nothing had happened by then.

Went to bed as usual and woke up at 2.20am with pains. They were 7 mins apart and lasted for around 45 seconds which I thought sounded quite serious but I knew DD1 had taken such a long time that I wasn’t in a rush. Had a bath and DH woke at 4am with all the fuss. Contractions still around 7 mins apart at this stage and snoozed between each one. They started to get a bit closer and a little bit longer around 5am and I had another bath. DH then announced he was tired and was going back to sleep – er, no! It was all getting a bit harder then, breathing through each contraction became harder to do and I decided to go the hospital in the hope that they didn’t send me home at 1cm! I took the first half of the homeopathic remedy thingy that the reflexology woman gave me and called a taxi. My mother was staying with me to look after DD1 and I woke her at 6.45am to say I was going to the hospital – she asked me why (!) – erm, to give birth!

Anyway, taxi came at 7am and got to the hospital at 7.15am. I was asked if I had a complication-free pregnancy to date which I had and was immediately offered the luxury of the new birthing centre of the hospital. I was told it was like a hotel. That sounded good to me. We got in the room (it was nice in there) to then be told that they had no pain relief other than gas and air and pethedine (which I never wanted) and they believed in giving birth the way nature intended. DH and I looked at each other thinking ‘we are in the wrong place, we want the epidural and we want it now!’ but said nothing! Midwife wanted to check my dilation but at this stage contractions were getting quite intense and close together. EVENTUALLY I was able to stay still to be examined to find I was 8cm and almost ready to push. They had filled the birthing pool but I never really fancied that and there wasn’t much time to use it anyway - same with the gas and air and pethedine! About 10 mins later my waters broke and I felt ready to push, I am told it was 31 mins of pushing (very different from last time when the pushing lasted 2 mins followed by the ventouse delivery with 8 doctors in the room and I felt nothing) and my ENORMOUS DD arrived into the world au naturel at 8.41am. DH complained his hand hurt a bit from me 'holding' it during the pushing stage! The midwife didn’t want to give me the injection to accelerate the stage 3 (which I did want and which she eventually did) which took a further 41 mins. I tore a little but midwife said that she didn’t think I needed stiches and thought it would heal just as well on its own. Sounded fine to me. I fed DD for over an hour (big baby!) and she wasn’t weighed until about 2 hours after she was born and when they declared her to weight 10lbs 4oz – the 2nd largest baby born in the new birthing centre (out of 66) and the largest girl to date. I have to say that I am not convinced that they weighed her correctly as she doesn’t seem THAT big but whatever. They let us go home around 4pm (they wanted us to stay a minimum of 6 hours following the birth) and I was happy to be home so quickly.

It is not the labour I expected or planned, but for many it would be the ideal experience and I have to say that the healing process, so far (she was only born yesterday!) seems to be much faster than last time.


We have named her Roni Mae.

skintchick

I thought it was time that I wrote my birth story of my planned home birth.

I’ve finished writing it and it is 2,500 words so this is a short version for those who don’t want to plough through it all:
Waters broke 7am Tuesday July 21, contractions began same time, got worse throughout the day, to include vomiting with each one. Second stage started around 7.30pm and I started pushing at 12.50am. Baby Lilia rose was born at 1.10am on Wednesday July 22 weighing 6lbs 3oz. So it was all pretty quick, especially for a first labour, but also very intense as I didn’t get the gas and air until 11.45pm and I was in a lot of pain by then.

And the long version:
I had noticed over the weekend of July 18/19 that the baby had gone quite quiet, and on Monday the 20th I had a lot of Braxton Hicks. In the week before I’d been quite stroppy like PMT and just felt somehow off colour, although as I was convinced baby was going to be late I didn’t think much of it. I had two due dates – July 20 and July 24, and expected the baby to come the following week.

On the Monday, I said to OH ‘this will either all kick off tonight or go deathly quiet for a week or so’. He was due to go to London for a meeting on the Tuesday so when the BH stopped on Monday night at 11pm, and I had nothing overnight, I decided it wasn’t happening.

I had the best night’s sleep in a long time that night, and OH got up at 6.30 to get ready for his meeting.

At 7am I felt I really needed the loo, so I started to get up when I felt a whoosh and my waters went on the bed – luckily I’d been sleeping on a bed pad meant for bedwetting children for a few weeks so it was all contained.

I went to the loo and put on a pad, checked the colour (totally clear) and went and told OH he was not going to London after all!

I was wary of not getting contractions and being forced into induction like someone from my antenatal class, so I rang my doula to alert her but not the MWs.

Then I spent some time cleaning the house and packing my labour bag in case of transfer to hospital.

I then called a friend and arranged for her to take me for a walk by the river at 11am, as I had read that a walk will speed up labour, and as I’d also read that first-timers take ages I wanted to get things moving.

My contractions began not long after my waters went. My waters kept going throughout the morning, gushing out bit by bit, and my show also began but it wasn’t what I’d expected – I was expecting globs of snotty mucus but what I got was egg-white consistency clear/bloody stuff dripping out of me on the loo for hours. Nice.

I went for the walk with my friend, and then she took me home and I ate lunch.

My memory is a little hazy in places, but OH says I went for a lie down.

The contractions in the morning were not very strong – more like mild period pains, but as the day wore on they started to get a bit more painful although still not worse than a period.

At 4.30pm I felt I should tell the MWs, so I called the hospital and told them I had been having contractions since 7am, but I told them my waters had gone at 2pm so that I could buy some time should I not go into established labour within the 24-hour timescales hospitals go by.

A MW came out at 5.15 just after I’d watched Deal or No Deal, and my doula was present for the meeting.

I agreed to a VE (vaginal examination) and she felt around. I was fully effaced and 1-2cms dilated, which isn’t loads, but she did say she felt that when I got going it would be quick. I have no idea how they know these things but she was right!

She looked through my birth plan and said she would not be the main MW, but would be the second. The main one would be someone who lived locally and who, I found out afterwards, had 33 years’ experience and was very pro-home birth who told me afterwards that ‘my ladies never transfer’, so I was in the best hands although at times I did not feel like that .

She went off saying she would call at 8.30 to see how I was doing. I sent my doula home to have some dinner and see to her children, and we planned to have some but when OH started cooking salmon it made me feel sick so I went to bed to try and rest while he ate.

The contractions started to get much stronger, and unfortunately I turned out to be one of those lucky women who vomit with every first-stage contraction. I was totally unable to use my breathing techniques as all I could do was hang over the toilet and be sick with each one.

I’ve since been told that this speeds up the dilation and, while utterly miserable, is in that sense a good thing. I did also find that concentrating on being sick took my mind off the pain, which was seriously gearing up.

At 8.10 I looked at my watch and decided I could not possibly last another 20 minutes until the MW called to see how I was. I called my Oh upstairs (I’d sent him away cos there was nothing he could do for me) and demanded he call my doula and MW.

The MW talked to me to determine how I was and said she would come out. It turned out that while she lived locally, she was actually at a course miles away and it took her until 10.30pm to arrive!

By the time she did come I was desperate for some pain relief. I’d moved downstairs to the sofa where I was curled in a bit of a ball, hanging over the side being sick into a bowl with each contraction while my OH and doula encouraged me.

I’d had plans about being massaged but when anyone touched me I hated it. I tried the TENS machine when I was upstairs and really hated that, so I felt a bit at a loss with regard to pain relief and was desperate for the MW to arrive.

However, when she did get here she arrived WITHOUT the gas and air because she had come straight to me, and then I had to labour with no pain relief at all until she eventually went to get it at 11.45pm.

I really was utterly desperate, and at the point of asking for my emergency pethidine prescription because I felt I could not bear any more. I had totally withdrawn into myself and was not able to focus on anyone or anything other than getting through each contraction.

I had stopped being sick, and was obviously in the second stage although the MW didn’t seem to realise it. Afterwards she decided I had gone into the first stage at 7.30pm, while on my own basically.

The MW rolled up a towel and had me lean back into it while she supported my weight, then I rolled from side to side on it. OH then took over. This was to get things moving as I had requested upright positions to assist delivery. It was really hard work.

I was getting contractions in my thighs. I could see my thigh muscles standing right out and it was burning with pain to the point where I thought I would fall over. I kept thinking ‘I can’t do this, I can’t do this’.

I was in a world of pain at this point, and at some point in this I begged for the gas and air, at which point the MW dashed to get it and returned at 11.45pm.

I was really desperate for it and found that it really helped take the edge off the pain, which was enough to make it bearable, kind of.

I had a moment when I decided I might tell everyone I would have a lie down for a couple of hours and carry on when I was rested.

While one part of my head was thinking this, another part was thinking ‘this is transition, this is when you will start pushing’. I had read about transition and how it is the worst bit but very short, so I knew things were moving along.

The Mw wanted me to have a wee to empty my bladder so I went upstairs, but because of being so sick I had nothing left in me to come out. But while I was there the contractions changed, and I started to push involuntarily.

After about three of those, my doula who was with me said ‘are you pushing?’. I managed to moan ‘uh huh’ and she said ‘have you been pushing long?’. ‘uh huh’. She managed to establish I’d done it three times.

Then she checked between my legs as I sat on the loo, bending forward and hanging onto the towel rail (while part of my head was saying ‘do not pull this off the wall, it will cost a fortune to sort out’) and then raced off to the landing shouting to the MW’ she’s pushing! She’s pushing on the loo!’.

They got me back downstairs to my birthing area of a waterproof sheet covered with an old duvet and bedwetting pads, with my birth ball on, and I was leaning onto the birth ball while still kind of standing.

I was pushing and it was hurting, and people were saying ‘you’re doing so well’ but I didn’t feel I was, and then I suddenly felt like my clitoris was going to tear in two vertically, so when the Mw told me to push again I thought ‘I’m not bloody doing that! I want my clitoris!’

I found out afterwards this is normal and is when the pubic bone is opening and pressing against the skin, and that your clitoris will NOT tear in two, but I wish someone had told me that before!

Anyway, I didn’t have much choice but to push. I’d started pushing at 12.50am I found out later, and the MW was really coaching me. Sometimes I ignored her cos I didn’t feel like pushing when she said, and I basically listened to my body and next time I will ask for a non-coached second stage as I really felt my body knew what it was doing.

Anyway, I could feel the head was between my legs, I was being told to push, and I felt I only had one more push in me and that was it, so I took a deep breath, sucking lots of gas and air, then pushed.

At the same time, I wanted to vocalise and I let out the most bloodcurdling scream ever. OH actually curled in a corner and put his fingers in his ears!

With that, I felt a slither between my legs and my baby fell onto the floor! She was so quick coming out the MW didn’t have a chance to catch her! It was 1.10am.

I looked down at this blue and white thing, all curled up and covered in vernix, and the MW said ‘pick your baby up’ and I thought ‘what?! I don’t want to do any more work! Why do I have to do everything? Can’t someone else do something?’

But of course I reached down and held her out to OH to tell me the sex, but he was just crying and didn’t say anything, so the MW said ‘it’s a girl’ and I couldn’t believe it!

I cuddled her close and she started screaming which was disconcerting but apparently good for her lungs, and then I had to think about the placenta.

I had wanted to Lotus, where you don’t cut the cord, but leave it all attached until it drops off, but the cord was very short and I couldn’t even lift her to my breast with it attached, so we waited for it to stop pulsating and then cut it.

The MW used our cotton cord ties to tie it off. At the beginning of the labour proper we had put 1m of cotton tape into boiling water and boiled it for ten minutes, then left it to cool. The MW used it wet so it would tighten as it dried.

Then she was handed to OH to hold while I delivered the placenta. This is not actually what I wanted to do – I wanted to feed her while sitting/lying down and then stand up after half an hour to do the placenta, but the MW was quite forceful and I was exhausted, and my doula and Oh didn’t stand up for me as I’d hoped, so I just did what they said.

OH forgot to do skin to skin, and the MW was fiddling with the cord despite my birth plan saying I wanted no interference, so I said to her ‘please stop touching the cord’ and she did.

I then stood and rotated my hips for a bit and after 20 minutes the placenta flopped out. I had a good look at it when the MW examined it, and we took some photos as I thought it was so amazing.

I then went to the sofa and was handed our daughter to feed. She was very cold so I stripped my top off and we fed for 20 minutes, after which she pinked up and warmed up and was fine.

Her Apgar score was 9 at birth (cos she was cold and blue she lost a point) and 10 five minutes later, so she was really healthy.

The MWs hung around until 4.30am, to check I was Ok and fill in all the paperwork, then left. My doula left a bit afterwards and we went to bed. I don’t remember much after that to be honest – I assume we slept but it’s a blur.

I was so relieved it was all over and so fascinated by this amazing little girl we had made.

Since then every Mw who has read my notes has said ‘oh didn’t you do well, sounds like a lovely birth’ and apparently the main MW at the birth has told other MWs it was ‘a beautiful birth’, so despite a few issues I have with it I feel positive about it now, although I’ve had a few wobbly moments where I felt I didn’t do very well.

My doula said this is because I have nothing to compare it to, and in fact it was the best birth she has ever attended.

So that’s my very long birth story!

EDIT: I forgot to say the MW massaged my perineum with water as I delivered and I didn't tear at all. I did have an internal rip, but no stitches required and it seems to be healed now.

ladybirdintheuk

Well done Skinty

maybebaby80

Congratualtions and well done Skinty - I have been looking forward to reading your birth story.

SugarSpun

Cross posted from the pregnancy thread:

Molly Elizabeth, born by emergency C section 4th August, 8:15pm.

I was induced on Tuesday morning. After the prostaglandin gel, they sent me off for an hour and a half to walk. Around the hospital gardens and the streets surrounding. I came back for monitoring after 90 minutes of solid agonising exercise and some contractions, the most memorable while attempting to buy a bottle of water - the shop assistant was petrified. During the monitoring my waters broke. There wasn't a lot, and at first I was concerned I might have just wet myself.

Unfortunately, there was so little fluid remaining that there was pressure on the umbilical cord, so they put me on a saline drip. They'd already started the oxytocin at this stage, and I'm inordinately sensitive to it apparently. I was getting contractions once a minute, lasting a minute. So the wonderful anaesthetist turned up and gave me an epidural, and I believe I gave him a cookie and told him I loved him.

Four litres of saline solution later, nobody had bothered to catheterise me and my bladder was assuming epic proportions. And the baby's heartrate dropped to 60 from 140-150 from the pressure. Sadly, this we only know in hindsight; it happened three times (me on oxygen and turning/being helped to turn from side to side) before anyone realised what was actually going on. By that stage there was an amount of fluid in my bladder that humiliatingly overflowed the bag they were storing it in and I was being prepped for surgery while inhaling a superdose of oxygen and trying to explain that my husband had gone up to our room to eat and could someone call him please? I'd left his number in my pants pocket on the other side of the room, but between the pain and the panic and the mask I'd forgotten how to speak German and just kept shouting about my pants.

Eventually the English-speaking midwife figured it out (I had a team of two doctors, five midwives and an anaesthetist all there at this stage) and they called him. He was there inside 30 seconds and I can't imagine how terrifying the scene he walked into was - oxygen-masked wife being wrestled into anti-DVT thigh-highs while someone else is using disinfectant soap to remove her down-there hair and someone else is monitoring your infant's ever-dropping heartrate. Once the pressure from the bladder was relieved her heart went back up to normal, but by that stage she was pretty much sitting in sludge, and all the forcible turning me from side to side had dislodged her from the exit position. So we went straight to the operating room and she was born inside 15 minutes.

I felt a lot of pressure and pulling and pushing, and then Husband, who was on my side of the modesty sheet and peering over to get a ringside view of my insides, started laughing. Apparently they held her up for him to see and she immediately stuck out her bottom lip at him. Then they made her peek at me over the modesty sheet and took her off to be looked after (first Apgar 9 despite the low heartrate; the oxygen and the deep breathing as soon as I knew what was happening worked magic). He went with her, and I just drifted till I was all sewn up.

They brought the baby over to me to see her while I was still being sewn up, and she just kind of hung out there and stared wide-eyed at me. She's gorgeous. Then they took me off to recovery and told Husband he'd be able to come later on. The recovery nurses were absolute b!tches - we figured out the problem; I'm publicly insured but we were paying an excess for a family room so we could all room in. They saw "public insurance" and treated everyone else first. I was the first person in this four-bay room and the last to be seen, the only one not to get offered extra painkillers and at one point I asked if they'd call my husband and said he was on the top floor in our room. The nurse responded that there was no way he was up there as those rooms cost €200/night. I was too wiped to argue, but then he turned up with the baby and we did skin to skin time and I announced that I want to do it again. They then kept me there till 6am instead of letting me up to our room (the way they did with the other mother...) thus wasting €200+ of our money. Husband wasn't allowed to stay with me or with the baby, so we were all three alone in different places. One of the nurses did a belly examination so rough I was actually wailing and the doctor grabbed her hands and stopped her touching me.

Note: we brought homemade cookies to say thank you to the staff and only the recovery nurses didn't get any. I feel this is totally appropriate.

She's perfect. We're home. I'm so in love.

newmoneysaver_2

Copied from the pregnancy thread.

Liam James - born 27/07/09

Waters broke but no contracts/pains, booked in for induction 24hrs later but water go green due to meconium, so go back to hospital a bit earlier. 2 cm dilated but cervix still thick. Put on monitor and moved to consultant led care - so no midwifery led acre and no birth pool
Kept on monitor throughout, and moved to delivery site and started on drip. Gas and air and then pethidine later and not really progressing, still on 2cm but cervix fully effaced.
At some point the contractions are too intense - more than the recommend 5 contractions in 10 minutes - I was having 7 :eek: - the drip is turned down from the maximum setting. At some point I am also given dia-morphine but don't know when. I'm beginning to talk rubbish but can sleep - I sleep for over an hour through contractions.
I remember being told and and 5cm dilated and the next thing I remember is being told sharp scratch and me begging hubby not to let then cut me. (He says this was the hardest part - he just wanted to leave the room as there was nothing he could do - this makes me well up!) I'm then being told to push, but I don't think I can really tell when to push and I don't feel anything down below. They keep repeating push deep - one more push etc for what feel like forever...Hubby said I was pushing for over an hour :eek: I am totally unaware that a suction cap has been attached to baby!
Baby born and rushed to medical table. I think it took 7 minute to bring him round, but again I didn't really know what was happening, just that things weren't right. I was so out of it I didn't realise half of what had happened. Oh, and the doctor and midwife were called to an emergency so I wasn't stitched up straight away. When they came round to it, I was in a complete state - hubby had to abandon baby so that he could come and calm me down - something I feel guilty about and and being so soft.

After birth I expressed I want to try and breast feed, but both baby and I were groggy from the drugs. I was advised baby had low blood sugars due to all the distress, and that he would require a top-up feed of formula, to which I agreed. Liam was born at 8:38pm and we were moved to the ward at 3am!!! As we had managed a feed I was advised to express and Liam was fed 10mls by syringe, and his blood sugars tested as he was still low. This was to happen for the next 24hrs until he got 3 good readings. I was advised to try BF but to also express if needed. At 5am he was fed a formula top up again and I was left to get on with it.

Throughout the next day we were kind of just left to get on with feeding - I did ask for help, but didn't really get any useful advise, just to let Liam try, maybe hand express and let him lick off the nipple and to express and syringe feed as Liam was still very groggy from the drugs. He basically slept solid for the next 24hrs, he didn't even react to having his foot pricked for his blood sugar checks.

On the Wednesday evening I was lucky to be assigned a fantastic midwife for the evening shift. She spent time with me throughout the evening trying to establish BF. We had one successful feed at 11pm, but had a further 3 attempts throughout the night. I broke down at around 4pm and requested a bottle, we discussed it and I explained I felt the syringe feeding was a step too far, I always said I would try to BF but I didn't want it to become a big issue if it worked :clap: if not I wasn't going to beat myself up. I felt I was wasting time away from hubby being in the hospital as the feeding was the only thing stopping us being discharged. To me, it was better to establish a bond with daddy than to crack BF, so we are now bottle feeding! I was discharged at 8pm on Wednesday - after we had proved bottle feeding was established. He was taking 1oz when we left the hospital, which he has increased to 2z every 4hrs and he took nearly the full 3oz at his last feed. :T

Ishtar

What a great thread...I've only just seen it, but here's the story of my DS's birth in March this year....

I'd already been into hospital twice thinking I was in labour - contractions regular and strong, and what I thought was my waters breaking....both times I was sent home - my 'waters breaking' was due to my bladder, which gave way at the peak of a contraction...:o

Anyway, I finally went into labour at 11.30am on his birthday, but based on the above didn't think much of it...did the normal things like collecting DD from school. Came back and found that making lunch was a bit of a challenge as I had to keep pausing to grip the edge of the work surface. To be honest, I still didn't think much of it - it was painful, but quite manageable.

At about 2pm OH came into the bedroom, took one look at me and decided to phone the midwives for advice - contractions 1m30s-2m every 8 minutes. He was concerned that something was happening - me, I told him not to panic, it was probably just another false alarm :rolleyes:

Midwives didn't think so though - they arrived tyres screeching (well, almost!) and tore up the stairs with their emergency kit bags. MW took one look around the bedroom, wondered why it wasn't prepared (thought I was having a home birth). I was booked into the local community hospital - they run a DOMINO system for uncomplicated pregnancies. MW examined me and found I was 3cm dilated with baby at station -3, but things were progressing rapidly - she told me I might have to settle for a home delivery. I insisted on the hospital and was told I'd better get a move on.

MW went on ahead and filled the birth pool - something I hadn't considered, but which turned out to be very welcome. We arrived there 25 minutes after she had left us, I was then at 4 cm with the baby starting to engage. They were initially reluctant to let me into the pool (can slow labour apparently), or give me gas and air (:eek:) until I was a bit further on (I have to say I insisted quite forcefully to be given this!). Finally, got into the pool 6 cm dilated, stayed half an hour then got out for something to eat. MW examined me - 10 cm with membranes bulging.

Got back in the pool. Pain wasn't actually too bad, but still needed gas and air to take the edge off it. Felt my waters go and moved to a more comfortable position - on my knees with arms over the side of the pool. Things got very painful from then on, but within 18 minute of pushing DS arrived. Both midwives were amazing, I lost my focus a couple of times (ie. started shouting very loudly!) and they gently guided me back to what I needed to do....

Just before he was born the MW said 'one more push for the head, then you can rest', but my body was having no more of it ...one almighty push saw him born, head, shoulders and the rest of him, very quickly and I was lucky not to have torn too badly (1st degree, no stitches). He had the cord wrapped round his neck 3 times, but they acted quickly to unravel it. It was left attached until it stopped pulsing, then OH cut it.

All in all 3hrs 46 minutes - a complete contrast to the instrumental delivery I had with DD, which was 14.30 hours of absolute agony, fear and complete loss of autonomy.

DS took to the breast almost immediately - MW tried to get involved and shoved my boob into his mouth! But he knew what he wanted to do....He's now a very chunky 5 month old.

Sadly, for many reasons, he'll probably be our last child, but I'd do it all again tomorrow if I had to.

And I would highly recommend a water birth if at all possible.

D.

angelicmary85

Hi Guys!

I just wanted to share my birth stories with you...

My 1st one is too long and complicated to type out but basically contractions lasted from Monday morning until DD was born on the Weds afternoon! Had to have my waters broken and be induced when everything stopped... didn't get any pain relief at all because the MW's thought I was faking it! :eek: Anyway after DD popped out, I got a cuddle and then went for a shower, got dressed and packed my bag to go home!

2nd birth was fab!

contractions started properly at 4.30pm, strapped on TENS at about 6.00pm, left home about 7.30pm to go the hospital (30min drive) and arrived bout 8.00pm after making a few wee stops on the way as I felt I might have to push soon!

Anyway, got strapped to that monitor thing that they put you on and a wee while later I ripped it off, pulled troursers and knickers down and shouted for a midwife...got rushed to the labour suite pretty much standing up in the wheelchair with my legs crossed trying to keep bubs in then just as I got onto the MW broke my waters and out popped my wee boy after 2 pushes! DS born at 9.12pm!

Hedgehog28

Here is my birth story…just a bit late as Hugh was born on the 8th June this year! First I should explain that I live in Belgium at the moment, so it is normal for someone to be in hospital for four or five days after giving birth. I am lucky in that my gynaecologist speaks very good English and so for the delivery (and for some of the earlier stages, depending on the midwife), I didn’t have to concentrate on speaking French!

I hadn’t had the easiest of pregnancies (gestational diabetes, premature labour at 30 weeks, followed by horrible attacks of pain which was eventually identified as a necrotic fibroid on my uterus). I am pretty certain that it was this final thing that probably caused Hugh to be born about two and a half weeks early, weighing just under 2.5kg. There…you know the outcome, so you don’t have to read the essay which is probably about to follow…

I stopped taking all the medication to keep Hugh in when I reached 37 weeks, but had to carry on with the anti inflammatory drug that was keeping the fibroid problem at bay. A couple of days later I saw my doctor and we agreed that I could try halving the dose, so I did that the next day. All seemed fine until I woke up at midnight in agony….this went on for a couple of hours but I eventually got some sleep. The next day I had backache then started to get a lot of pain in my lower pelvic region at about midday and then it became really painful going to the loo…by which time I had convinced myself that I had got a bad urine infection. I phoned the hospital and they told me that it would be better to come in for some tests and then they could give me something to treat it.

DH and I went to the maternity section of the hospital (I had dithered so much deciding what to do that it was now about 9pm on Sunday evening). They took a sample and I was hooked up to the monitoring machine…I think that I may have been having the odd contraction, but this was not unusual for me. Anyway, at about 11pm the midwife came back to explain that I didn’t have an infection and she was just going to do an examination. I said that I was already 1cm dilated, and then she told me, “Well, you are 2.5cm dilated now, the baby is coming tonight!” Both DH and I were a bit shocked and he had to go home to get my hospital bag as we were somewhat unprepared! The night passed, with neither of us getting much sleep. I still had not felt an actual contraction, so was finding it very hard to believe that Hugh was on his way. I got to 3cm dilated, and then no further. I was also getting warning pains from my fibroid which told me it was about to cause problems again, so was worrying about needing to take the pill for that. Even though I had had an enema and was being drip-fed antibiotics, I still expected that my doctor was going to arrive and tell me I could go home…err, no.

At about 5am the midwife came in to say that the anaesthetist would be arriving in about half an hour (they are very keen on epidurals here as gas and air isn’t an option and I had told her previously that I wanted to see how things progressed before deciding whether to have one). I said something like, “Oh, am I not going home, as the baby isn’t really coming at the moment?” The midwife looked at me as if I was completely mad and very nicely explained that I couldn’t possibly go home in my current state and it really would be better to have an epidural as they were going to have to give me an oxytocin substitute to get things started again, by order of my doctor (who must love having me as a patient as she was always being phoned in the early hours by the hospital to say that I’d been admitted with yet another pain attack). At this point I realised that the birth really was imminent!
Or not, as it turned out…I had the epidural (very quick and was still able to move my legs) and they broke my waters. Four hours and much upping of the oxytocin later and I was still only 4cm dilated. Then at about 11am the midwife told me that I was 7cm dilated…by midday they had called my doctor and physiotherapist because I was 9cm dilated and by the time my doctor arrived about ten minutes later I felt like I really needed to push! They got me ready and then used a mirror to show me Hugh’s head. DH held my hand and knee and watched the proceedings down below! My physio and the midwife helped me to push when I needed to and my doctor and a student midwife did the actual delivery part. It took about quarter of an hour and wasn’t nearly as bad as I’d feared! The epidural definitely did its stuff as although I could feel the need to push, I had practically no pain, and this was in spite of the fact that my fibroid was probably playing up again (something that would have made labour somewhat more complicated, if I had been writhing around).

Hugh had a hat bunged on his head and then he was put on my chest for a cuddle (and a wail) whilst my doctor sorted out the placenta. Unfortunately she couldn’t collect enough cord blood for a full donation, but it could still be used for research purposes. Then they took Hugh away to be checked and weighed etc. DH went with him and then dressed him in his clothes…the midwife took a picture of this and Hugh looks so tiny!

We tried to get him to latch on to the breast, but he couldn’t to start with and eventually he was fed some of my colostrum on a teaspoon. To start with I had to call the midwife for help each time he needed feeding as he needed help latching on..but we got there over the days I was in hospital. In fact, he got the hang of it so well that he started to put on about a pound a week! That has slowed down (so I’m a bit less exhausted now!) and he now weighs about 5kg, at nine and a half weeks old.

[FONT=&quot]And I’m still waiting for if I have another baby to find out what established labour with contractions feels like…as I never felt one single one that time… [/FONT]

Sami_Bee

shelvis wrote: »

Hi guys!!

Just popped by to let you know that Arthur Michael was born on Sunday 9th August 2008. He is lovely and his big brother loves him to pieces!



I was taken in at 8pm on Friday 7th and had my first lot of gel. Nothing. I was given a second set of gel on saturday morning at 6am. Nothing. I was given my thurd lot of gel at 4pm on saturday. I started with mini contractions! Hurrah!! I did everything to get things moving - yomping round the hospital and having aromatherapy bath. They were 2.5 mins apart and lasting about 1 minute when i laid down at 11:30pm to try to get an hours rest. I took 2 co-codamol and passed out. I woke up 5am and everything had stopped. No dialation and my cervix was so posterior that they had to get a doctor with small hands and long fingers to come and look at me as the midwifes could barely reach it!!

They werent sure what to do with me so the doctor said we will try a 4th lot of gel. This went in about 10am. Again nothing. No contractions or anything. They made the decision at 4pm to take me to labour suite to try and break my waters if there was any dialation at all. So off i went and they said i was less than 2cm dialated but they managed to break my waters. This was 5pm.

Contractions came in thick and fast so off i went on my yomp round the hospital grounds. They had to have me back every so often to put me on the monitor though. By 8:30pm the contractions were REALLY bad so they gave me the gas and air. I was sitting on the monitor at 9pm as babies heart kept escalating when there was a shift change. Mean midwife came on. Basically said 'we havent got all day so get off the table and go for another walk round'. I said look i think things are really moving now she said nonsense get up. I insisted she examine me and she then basically had a small feel inside and said I was only 4cm. It wasn't very thorough and given the pain i had been in on previous exams becuse of the position of my cervix i knew she hadn't done a proper exam.

But who am I to argue they know best right......so off i went and i made it just outside hospital door when the contractions were so bad (over a min and half long and every 2.5 mins) that i bent double hanging onto husband. The midwives off the ward were just clocking off and one walked past me and said 'what are you doing out here you need to be in the labour suite' so i said i had been sent outside and she said 'nonsense' and hurried me into a wheelchair and pushed me into the labour suite. I saw her and the mean midwife have 'words' outside my room. When mrs meanie came in she was nice as pie....this was about 10pm. I said i needed some pain relief if i truly was only 4cm and this was going to go on much longer so she gave me some pethadine and let me kneel on the bed beside the gas and air pipe. I kept telling her that something wasn't right for 4cm and that baby was bearing down and she was all 'no it isn't' and in the end I shouted 'it feels like i am going to do a massive poo i know what it feels like baby is coming' and then just like that my body pushed. She kept telling me to stop but i coudlnt as its involuntary. She finally gave me a proper exam and i was 9.5cm!!!! But my neck of the womb was in the way so she had to move it while i pushed.

I did 3 pushes to crown the head, 3 more to get head out and 3 more to get baby out! All in less than 20 minutes. My placenta took longer to come out in the end! And Arthur Michael was born and he is perfect. I am annoyed though as he has a ridge round his head which is obviously where the baby was bearing down and my neck of the womb was in the way - if the stupid midwife had listened to me in the first place when I KNEW baby was coming then it woudn't have happened. It better all even out when his skull forms properly or i will hunt her down and she will have her own ridge round her skull. Arthur weighted in at 8lb and 0.5oz and was just under 2 weeks early in the end so am eternally grateful he was as he could have been a right whopper!!

Added to this even tohugh it was quick i have no tears or stitches or anything so all in all I am chuffed even with Mrs Mean Midwife and the fact I was in hosptial for 2 days twiddling my thumbs. We came out of the hospital about 1pm on Monday so hurrah they didn't keep us in for anything! We are enjoying our time with new baby and my 19mth son keeps trying to cuddle and kiss him. I am very happy - if a little tearful all the time. But it's happy tears so its all good

Oh and OUCH the afterpains are NOT fun. Nobody warned me about these and that they get worse with sucessive pregnancies! I didn't get them first time so they knocked me for six!!

Hope everyone is well I will try and go back and read the thread through to see how everyone is doing. If next person to update EDD could add me to birth list I would be grateful. I would have done it on here but i waffled on for ages and the post is already too long!!

xx

taken from preg club