MSE Pregnancy Club Birth Stories

tiamai_d

DD 06/08/09

After spending all my pregnancy adamant that I would be having a VBAC, I caved at 36 weeks when I was once again in hospital with abdominal pains, non-progressive contractions due to an irritated uterus and high blood pressure. My consultant came to see me and said it's time to think about getting this baby out but an induction is going to be tricky..(I had pregnancy induced hypertension and gestational diabetes) I told her I didn't care anymore about a VBAC so she smiled and said right then, lets get a section booked for next week and took time to talk to me about it, making sure it was what I wanted and that she hadn't made me feel railroaded into it.

The 6th August came and I got up at 5am to be in hospital for 7.30am and theatre for 8.30am.

I was fine until I lay down on the theatre bed then I started shaking! I was terrified! So bad that I couldn't speak, which was good because several times I tried to say 'I've changed my mind, can I go home now?!' :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: Took a while to get the catheter into my hand, I have a number of marks where they tried and even longer to get the spinal in correctly, it kept slipping to the left. I was on my side curled up shaking like a leaf and trying not to cry/scream, didn't hurt so much as I was just in a huge panic about it!

Finally I was all wired up and DH came in in his blue scrubs and sat at my left side. After all the checking that the spinal was working it was time for it to start. As I had an emergency section with DS2 it took longer to cut through the old scar and then the tugging and pulling started. The whole time I was fighting tears, it was horrible but I was trying to think that not long and it will be over. Then suddenly I felt her being lifted out and she cried instantly! I cried then. DS1 didn't cry and was ressusitated and with DS2 I was under a general so I had never experienced that feeling when your baby is out in the world and lets out their first wail. It was wonderful and worth everything. They held her up so I could see, a red skinny baby covered in vernix. She was born at 9.21am

Then lots of pulling as the placenta was coaxed out and I was checked internally for the missing minera and a possible cause of the abdominal pain. That lasted ages and was the worse bit, it felt like my stomach was being pulled. DH and everyone else up my end were having a laugh about something, no idea what about, I couldn't talk and was still shaking, I just wanted them to keep talking as I was trying my best to concentrate on that rather than the horrble feeling in my belly. DH was holding our baby girl and she was perfect. I kept thinking that we had been told to abort her and how perfect she was. So was crying like a baby. Still unable to talk though.

Finally it was over and I was moved onto a bed and taken to recovery. Had some tea and toast as the numbness wore off, kept being woken up though as my alarm kept going off, I have a slow pulse and the machine thought I was dead :rolleyes:

All in all the section was nowhere near as bad as thought it would be and I have no bad memories about it.

nancmat

What is VBAC?

keelykat

nancmat wrote: »

What is VBAC?

Vaginal birth after c-section.

pinkpig08

Vaginal Birth After Caesarean

Sami_Bee

keelykat wrote: »

Vaginal birth after c-section.

pinkpig08 wrote: »

Vaginal Birth After Caesarean

Jinx!

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skintchick

Bump for any new stories...

feelinggood_2

Thought I'd copy mine over from the Pregnancy Thread:

Right, my birth story! Long post alert.

Had a few trouble with blood pressure during pregnancy, was diagnosed with Pregnancy Induced Hypertension (PIH). Was put on medication and was being monitored, and was due for a normal delivery, no induction offered despite me being a bit fed up at the end!

On Tuesday 14th, I went to the Day Assessment Unit in the afternoon, for routine monitoring. Blood Pressure, bloods, urine and trace were all fine. That evening, I had a huge arc of bright, flashing lights. It lasted about 45 minutes, so I phoned Central Delivery Suite (CDS), who told me to come in and get checked. OH drove me to the hospital, and the lights stopped on the way. I phoned CDS from outside and said that it was alright now, but they said I really should come in anyway. I really didn't want to, felt like a waste of time, but I agreed and went in.

Got hooked up to the trace, urine and bloods were taken, and waited for the Doctor. It was only about an hour before she arrived, and she said they wanted to induce me. I was a bit emotional, didn't really understand why they wanted to induce. I said I wasn't sure, and I'd like to go home, and was told that I could refuse the induction, but they wouldn't recommend it, and they definitely would not want me to go home under any circumstances. I was taken to a nice suite, and had a chat with the Midwife and Doctor, who explained a bit more. I phoned OH and my Mum to talk about it, and agreed to go ahead with the induction. OH set off to bring my bags in!

Turns out the PIH developed into full blown pre-eclampsia, but according to the Registrar, they didn't know if it was the type 'that suddenly kills you without warning' or the 'slower' type. Luckily she didn't tell me that till after the birth!

Before bed, was given an internal exam, and was 1cm dilated. Doctor applied prostaglandin gel and I was sent to bed. Had another internal in the morning, was 3cm dilated and I asked for an epidural.

I'd been against an epidural before, mainly because I didn't want the extended hospital stay or to be stuck in bed, but I was on a drip anyway so thought I'd go for the least painful option.

Epidural was administered, according to the anesnatist, I have a very low pain threshold! It helped with the contractions for a while, but I needed a top up later on. Unfortunately, there wasn't total coverage, so I could feel one side, which hurt a lot!

I'm a bit confused about the timings of the rest of it, I didn't have a view of the clock from the bed.

All was progressing okay, contractions regular and the drip was doing its job. Unfortunately, baby took a dislike to it, so there was a lot of panicking, rolling me over and trying to get baby into a position he was happy with. I had two assigned midwifes for the whole labour due to the risk and various others popping in. There was almost always 3-4 people in the room. A clip was put on to monitor the baby, but he wasn't showing signs of improving. Spoke to the doctor, was examined and found to be 5cm dilated. The decided to prep me for a section. I had weird things on my legs because of my increased risk of clotting, and another drip set up. The anesnatist was called, but the main doctor decided to give me a little more time, as long as the baby didn't get any more in distress.

Had another internal, and was found to be 10cm. The midwife was very shocked, and asked if the other midwife could have a feel to confirm. I'd gone from 5cm to 10cm in less than an hour which they were surprised at! This meant I was allowed to try a vaginal delivery.

Pushing stage was as expected, lots of pain in one area, lots of panicking and a few huge anxiety attacks. Also completely overdid the gas and air and managed to pass out a couple of times between contractions. It was quite pressured because of the baby not being happy, and I had to get him out as quick as possible. Midwife told me if I didn't push more, she'd have to cut me. Managed to avoid that, but baby brought his hand up by his face when he came out, so ended up with a 2nd degree tear. Stitches aren't painful though, hasn't been any trouble. Can't really tell they are there.

Baby was passed straight to me and it was absolutely wonderful! He was born at 7:40pm weighing 7lb 7oz.

The labour was difficult, OH was brilliant but it was hard seeing him on the verge of tears. As he was a little bit more 'with it' than me, he was more worried. He said he thought he was going to lose both of us at one point.

As soon as I could support myself, I was taken for a shower, then to the Ward. I paid £100 for a private room with ensuite.

Was discharged 24 hours after the birth due to my history of mental health problems. They wanted me in for a minimum of three days, but felt that because of the anxiety, I'd be better at home.

Things haven't been that easy since the birth, he has pretty bad jaundice so I'm having to express in between feeds as he isn't latching on well. According to my Mum he is a very good baby. Its hard work but I love him so much its quite unbelieveable. I didn't realise what a hole there was before him, but now its hard to imagine life without him – he is so important.

Well, I think that about covers it!

Edit - not sure exactly what happened, but there was a problem with the catheter they put in when I had the epidural, and I didn't produce any urine for the whole time I was in labour. I swelled up even worse than before! Also had a reaction to one of the drips, so I had one hand that was atleast three times the size of the other. I think I'll take up the offer of talking through the birth with the doctor, I don't really know why it was so bad, or what went wrong, only that it was very high risk, very scary and meant there was sometimes 8+ people in the room, all looking at me.

Update at 4.5 months: The trauma of it is completely forgotten about, baby managed to start breastfeeding at 8.5 weeks old. I'd do it all again for my wonderful baby.

Glamazon

Copied from the Pregnancy Thread

NESSQUIC Birth Story

nessquic80 wrote: »

Morning all, well here goes my BS, contractions start about 7am on the 26th, didnt really think anything of it cus they were about 15 20 mins apart and very irregular, managed to cope through the day, at 3.30 i really wanted to go in, rang oh to get home now, rang sil to come get ds, got to hospital at 16.50 and contractions were 5mins, in only thing that made me cope with the contractions was to walk, so i was pacing the corrider, the sister came to me and said is this your 1st or 2nd i told her 2nd and she took me straight to delivery room, on examination i was 3cm dilated, i cried cus all that pain for that length of time i said well i want an epidural, pacing the delivery room my waters brokes then i needed a massive bob!!! the midwife told me to get on the bed this babay is coming, got on the bed examined me and at 17.10 i was fully dilated,the rest is pushing, in 6 mins he was out and born at 5.24, but when they shouted prep theatre marconium i !!!! myself, they started talking medical terms which to any jo bloggs is fine but i understood every word, baby needed resusing and eventually he came round but his apgar was 6 after 10 mins hence why he is now in SBCU, but he is doing well, dont know what is wrong until they get the blood results back this afternoon, but he is definatly picking up.
Hope that was ok for you, it feels so werid him not being home but he is being well cared for and we live 2 mins away so that is good too, will try and get a piccy on.....

astonsmummy

Birth story.
Well as some of you know I’d been having pains and niggles for a few weeks.
Sat 11th April, woke up and had a bit of nookie with OH, a short while after began having pretty uncomfortable tightening but nothing to write home about.
Went to Cinema with Aston which was really uncomfortable and tightening were painful(ish).
Spent most of Saturday lying down and relaxing as I just didn’t feel right.
Went to bed around 10pm after attempting to eat a Chinese curry lol
Sun 12th April, woke up at approx 4.30am with a very sore belly, rushed to the toilet to discover it wasn’t actually the ‘trots’ and I also had a massive show.
Pains were coming every 10 mins so thought it was just the dreaded Braxton hicks again but decided to keep timing them, they began to get a bit more painful and I started thinking ‘’maybe this is it’’ but was still second guessing myself, and thought that if they get more painful and more frequent then it’s labour.
Stayed awake lying in bed and kept getting up for a wee for the next hour and a half, contractions started getting 8 mins apart then 6 mins and by 6.40am I knew I was in labour for sure, that 6.40am contraction was so strong and painful that I immediately phoned my Mum and started crying down the phone.
So I proceeded to wake up OH who just turned over, called the labour ward and they said that it definitely sounded like labour! To get myself sorted out and get DS looked after and then come down to be assessed.
So I got a bath, OH got up and started getting ready, phoned our friend to come over and watch Aston so my mum could get Nan up and sorted before coming over.
I sat in the bath contracting and crying (did a lot of that actually!) then got out and got ready to set off for the hospital, not before phoning Mum and telling her ‘’I don’t want to do this now’’
Arrived at the hospital at about 7.30am, had about 3 contractions while walking from car to delivery suite, went in and was immediately sent to a labour room and assigned my MW Sarah, she was absolutely lovely, couldn’t of asked for a nicer MW to be there.
Was examined at 7.45am and told I was 4cm dilated and my waters were bulging.
At 8.30am the Doctor came in to examine me again and have a chat and as he was walking out of the room my waters broke, oh and they told me Ryan was lying back to back which probably explained the severe back pain I was experiencing, but I still wanted to go with a VBAC.
Had some gas and air (OMG that stuff is wicked!) Pethadine and after a few hours I couldn’t handle the back pain so asked for an epidural which was given to me really quickly (unlike the 3 hour wait I had last time!)
And must of dosed off for a couple of hours.
By 1pm, I woke up and was examined again, I wasn’t really progressing so they decided to give me the hormone drip to try and speed things up, 2 hours later I had progressed 2cm to 6cm dilated, so they upped the drip again, but my contractions started to go a bit haywire so they stopped it.
Somewhere in-between all that I threw up for some reason, just felt really sick, so poor Dan was having to hold the cardboard things that look like a hat while I was clearing my guts!
So 2 hours after that they examined me again and I hadn’t progressed at all, and was still 6cm dilated.
And that coupled with the CTG which was slightly abnormal they decided to give me a section.
So they took me down, got me all set up, spinal block etc, then they asked me to drink this nasty drink to settle my stomach, not that there was anything to settle, anyway that was a terrible idea, within 20 seconds I needed to be sick, and as I was paralysed, they had to turn the bed to the side, Dan had to hold the hat thingy’s again (while replacing them at lightening speed as it was all the water I had drunk during labour coming out) while I cleared me guts once again!
I felt so awful I thought I was going to die.
Then they got on with the surgery and my gorgeous Ryan was dragged out into the world at 6.26pm on 12th April 2009, weighing a healthy 8lb and with a head of hair that Elvis would have been proud of!
They lifted him up and the screen down and I immediately asked Dan ‘’what colour is he’’ Dan replied ‘’blue’’ he then went over to where they sort bubs out then bought him back to me all clothed up, and we just looked at each other and had a little cry.

tylerlewis

Hi, I thought I'd share my story after reading some of yours on here it makes me see that it wasn't just my labour that was awful.

My son was born on 15th June 2004.

I was actually due to be induced on the 15th after being overdue but DS came on his own albeit with a few complications.

On my 8th day of being overdue at around 3pm my waters broke, although at the time I wasnt sure that they had, as it wasnt the big gush of water that most people get, it was just a constant trickling so went and sat on the toilet. At the time I was still living at home so shouted to my mum that I thought my waters had broke. My mum rang the hospital but as it was early they said stay at home for now, have a bath and ring back later. The contractions came on very quickly and I was having 1 every 10 mins although they wasnt very painful to start with.

At around 10pm I was having contractions every 5 mins and they was getting stronger. We rang the hospital back and they wanted me to go in so they could examine me but being a sunday night, being 30mins from the hospital and the fact my dad had just come home from the pub, we had
no transport so they had to send out an ambulance. The ambulance arrived about 20 mins later and took me to hospital. As i was still trickling water I'd had to put some pads in my pants which the nurse examined after being taken to the post natal ward. She told me my baby had pooed inside me and needed to transfer me to the labour ward so they could examine me further. I was getting scared at this point as I know thats not good news. This was about midnight.

I was taken to the high dependancy labour ward and hooked upto a heart monitor. Also after being in labour for 9 hours now I was told I hadnt even started to dilate!!! So they put me on a drip to speed things along.
I kept being checked on every couple of hours but still nothing was happening apart from my contractions were now 3 every 10 mins and lasting for about 2 mins. I was in so much pain. They then put me in the bath to help with the ease the pain and gave me some pethadean, which gave me the weirdest feeling. When I wasnt having a contraction I was asleep, but as soon as 1 came on I woke up with a start, had to squeeze my mums hand then went back to sleep.

At about 7am they tried to examine me again but said my bowels was full and I had to empty them but I couldnt go so they squirted warm water up my bum to make me go!! You really do have to lose all inhabitions when you're in labour!!

I had now dilated to 3cm and I really couldnt take the pain anymore so asked for an epidural. The docter tried to put the line in, but i had so much pressure going on that I couldnt sit down so they had to give me a spinal block 1st. It was the best decision as I finally got some proper sleep and couldnt feel a thing. Again I was being checked on every few hours. I even had to ask the midwifes to move my legs cos I couldnt moved them myself.

Eventually at 10pm and after being in labour for 31 hours I was told I was now fully dilated and I could start pushing but I had no desire to. The midwife was watching the heart monitor and telling when to do it but I was getting nowhere. After 2 hours of trying to push, baby was still not moving and his heart rate was going down, so a decison was made to move me into theatre for help. I had to sign something to say they could do a c section if they had to.

All of a sudden there was a panic and about 10 people appeared and started doing things to me. Giving me more drugs, attaching blood pressure monitor, getting baby stuff ready etc. I was scared now!

The docter tried to get baby out with a suction cap 1st but she couldnt attach it properly and ended up splattering everyone with my blood as it came off. So I had to have forceps after being completely cut from front to back. At long last at 0.10am tuesday morning Tyler was born. He didnt cry straight away but after the cord was removed from his neck he was fine and weighed in at a healthy 8lbs 12ozs.

As I was cut so badly I then had to be stitched up for an hour and took 100 stitches. I spent another 4 days in hospital. After having the spinal block it took a few days to get the life back into my legs so had to have a cathetor fitted. It was the most traumatic experiance in my life but 5 years later I'm hoping that I can have another baby but without the drama. What I found out after the birth was that I was never gonna push Tyler out on my own as he lying in a funny position and I really should have had a c section as soon as I got to hospital.:eek:

Its funny how even after 5 years I still remeber every little bit of it.
Hope I havent put anyone off!