MSE Pregnancy Club XIII

skintchick

mollythewestie wrote: »

Jvic - Congratulations on the birth of Tomos (Fab name BTW!) I am looking forward to reading your birth story.

skinty - some ladies on here suggested using cheap shower curtains on the floor when having a home birth, maybe putting something a bit more comfy on top (ie the maternity mats)

EDIT: Your birth plan looks like it covers everything. I had a part where I put that I want to breastfeed ASAP after birth and would like breastfeeding support if I struggle with it.

I'm worried about that being slippery, which is why I thought maybe those incontinence sheets might do it? But possibly they won;t be absorbent enough?

SugarSpun

Wow skinty, you've thought of everything!

Mine goes:

English speaking is preferable at all times. I can cope with labour and German but not both at once.
Don't shave me, flush me out or cut me. At all.
Unless there's the need for a C section, and it has to be a serious need.
Do give me lots of drugs.
Intermittent monitoring so I can move around.
Don't let Daddy film anything.
Wait till cord stops pulsing before cutting it.

Edit: sorry jvic, you were on the page behind this one and I forgot to congratulate you. Congratulations!

Jvic28

Well here’s my story.
My waters broke on the morning of Monday 1st June when I rolled over in bed and I was due 26th June. This is my 1st baby so didn’t know what to expect, I’d heard people say that when their waters break it was just a trikkle but mine were a definate gush. As it turned out I had a hospital appointment that morning anyway just to check everything was Ok so we went along to the appointment and I told them there. By the time I got into the doctor, I’d gushed again and was soaked through. The doctor examined me and confirmed my waters had broken (no s**t sherlock). She also took my blood pressure and it was high (again, no surprise there as it had been a bit of a shock). So they referred me to a different hosital with a consultant led ward (as I was technically premature).
I arrived at UHW where they put me on the trace machine thingy (techincal term there) which showed there were no contractions (which there weren’t) but I was admitted overnight anyway for observation. They continued to take my blood pressure which had returned to normal.
On the Tuesday they were due to dishcarge me but wanted to send me for a scan first to check that there was sufficient fluid (I wondered how there could be as I had continued to gush ever since my waters first broke – my baby must have been peeing like a racehorse in there!) When I went down for the scan they noticed that he was footling breech. This was a bit of a surprise as everyone had always said his head was down all the way through the pregnancy (except for one midwife I saw on one occasion) Because of this they now wanted to keep me in and planned an elective section for Friday.
Here’s half of it anyway. I’m just writing up the rest but it’s so long I don’t want to bore you all.

mollythewestie

skinty - I think it was weezl and sami who suggested shower curtains, maybe ask them if they found it slippery. Perhaps some double sided sticky tape to stick some mats onto a shower curtain, so you don't slip, but it will protect the carpet, IYSWIM

skintchick

Jvic28 wrote: »

Well here’s my story.
My waters broke on the morning of Monday 1st June when I rolled over in bed and I was due 26th June. This is my 1st baby so didn’t know what to expect, I’d heard people say that when their waters break it was just a trikkle but mine were a definate gush. As it turned out I had a hospital appointment that morning anyway just to check everything was Ok so we went along to the appointment and I told them there. By the time I got into the doctor, I’d gushed again and was soaked through. The doctor examined me and confirmed my waters had broken (no s**t sherlock). She also took my blood pressure and it was high (again, no surprise there as it had been a bit of a shock). So they referred me to a different hosital with a consultant led ward (as I was technically premature).
I arrived at UHW where they put me on the trace machine thingy (techincal term there) which showed there were no contractions (which there weren’t) but I was admitted overnight anyway for observation. They continued to take my blood pressure which had returned to normal.
On the Tuesday they were due to dishcarge me but wanted to send me for a scan first to check that there was sufficient fluid (I wondered how there could be as I had continued to gush ever since my waters first broke – my baby must have been peeing like a racehorse in there!) When I went down for the scan they noticed that he was footling breech. This was a bit of a surprise as everyone had always said his head was down all the way through the pregnancy (except for one midwife I saw on one occasion) Because of this they now wanted to keep me in and planned an elective section for Friday.
Here’s half of it anyway. I’m just writing up the rest but it’s so long I don’t want to bore you all.

Just jumping in to say I read yesterday that apparently the waters aren't a static thing - the body continues to make them so that's how you could have loads in there! Isn;t the body amazing?

Oh, and birth stories are NEVER boring.

aless02

didn't searching have a HB? she'll be able to tell what she used!

jillie1974

have you looked at weezl's posts bout hb as she had done lots and lots of research.

Jvic28

skintchick wrote: »

Just jumping in to say I read yesterday that apparently the waters aren't a static thing - the body continues to make them so that's how you could have loads in there! Isn;t the body amazing?

Oh, and birth stories are NEVER boring.

Amazing is one word for it, but after a few days of not being able to go anywhere as it's running all over the floor it bcame annoying.

Jvic28

Ok, here's the other half.


Other than being extremely bored and fed up with my waters gushing everywhere, everything was normal until Thursday morning. I started having small cramps in my stomache (as it’s my first I had no idea what to expect from contractions) I had a trace done (as usual) 1st thing in the morning which didn’t show any contractions but I continued to get the cramps (they weren’t regular though) I told the consultant on her rounds and she said it didn’t sound like contractions. By late afternoon they were every 10 minutes. I told the midwife who did another trace which again showed nothing.
As it’s a consultant led ward my boyfriend couldn’t stay past 9pm so I was left on my own for another night. I continued to get the pains which I was convinced were contractions as you don’t get trapped wind pains every 10 minutes like clockwork! By midnight the pain was becoming unbearable and was shooting round my back too. No poistions eased the pain and it was coming around every 7 minutes. The did yet another trace which again showed nothing but I had to put my foot down this time. This was not normal. They agreed to send me for an examination. They wheeled my to the delivery suite where they did another trace and at last they picked something up, by this time though the contractions werw about everything 2-3 minutes. The doctor examined me and said one word to the midwife "quickly". By this time it was very ealry hours of Friday morning and I was exactly 37 weeks so no longer classed as premature.
I was terrified my boyfriend wouldn’t make it in time. They called him and whilst he was making his way they put in my drip and explained the aneasthetic to me. The pain was awful and I prayed in between everyone that he would walk through the door. When he did, the relief was amazing. We rushed down to the operating room. Whilst my boyfriend got gowned up, they got me sitting on the bed. There were about 10 people in the room and it felt like they were all talking to me at once. The spinal was a nightmare. Having to be bent double during contractions and being told to relax your shoulders is so frustrating and virtually impossible but it was awesome once it started to take effect. The sensation was bizaar, lots of tugging and pulling but I couldn’t feel any pain or see anything. My boyfriend got up and had a look when they were bringing him out but was told to sit down as they don’t like an audience!
They took him straight over to the ressuss table (as is normal) but he was having trouble breathing. A couple of doctors spent some time with him and checked with me about my dates as they suspected he was more premature than thought. The doctor then explained to us that they were going to have to take Tomos to the neonatal ward and brought him over for us to see before they took him. As they did he started crying and all was Ok. He was allowed to stay with us. Baby Tomos, born 3.19am on Friday 5th June. 61l 5oz.
My experience of the ward after the birth was not great. I found it diffucult to cope with looking after the baby the 1st night after the section on my own on a ward with other women with newborns and again my boyfriend had to go home by 9pm. I also felt that no one really knew what was going on, I had to tell them what drugs I was taking on one occasion as my chart wasn’t there. As my waters broke a while before the birth we had to stay in hospital whilst Tomos had Antibiotics by IV so we were glad to be sent home by the following Tuesday. Since coming home we have had a midwife visit nearly every day and have had a lot of different midwifes. It had been noted by these midwifes that Tomos was jaundiced so I have been feeding him every oment possible to try flush him through and he is finally looking better. My wound also opened up whilst I was registering the birth which left me paniced.
All is Ok now and these things will be forgotten about. Especially when I take a look at my gorgous baby boy. I just want to kiss him all the time. He’s been worth every bit of pain and trouble and my boyfriend has made everything so much easier. He’s been a star and I couldn’t have got through the week in hospital without him.

aless02

jvic - thanks for posting that! So from what I gather, you had to have a c-section because he was breech - or were there other reasons? I was having trouble following why exactly you needed one.

Glad to hear baby Tomos is doing well now! I'm sure he's a lovely little baby .