My birth story

Posted by: sarahlou73 on: October 5, 2010

In: Other
Comment!

My labour started one week before my due date at 5am on Saturday 4th September. I woke up with period type pains and couldn’t get back to sleep because of them. I wasn’t sure whether it was the start then but as the day wore on and the pain got worse with regular intervals in between, I guessed I was in labour! At first I just breathed through the contractions. As they got stronger I put the TENS machine on & developed a contraction dance! By late afternoon they were 6-7 minutes apart and really quite painful. I rang triage and they said I could go in to be examined. I was absolutely gutted when the midwife said I was only 1-2cm dilated!! They said I could stay in and have a sleeping tablet or go home for a bit. In the end I decided to go back home. I paced & danced around some more then went in the bath. By midnight I really felt like I wanted some pain relief so we rang the hospital again and went back. I think it was around 1am. I had 2 contractions on the way and it only takes 10 minutes to get there! I was hopeful but when I was examined they said I was still only 2-3cm, I couldn’t believe it! The contractions were definitely much more painful and had been going on for nearly 24 hours! They said I could stay in this time and that they’d give me a sleeping tablet. I don’t think I really slept as it’s pretty hard when you’re having contractions!!

At 5.15am 24 hours after it started my waters broke. After that I met my new best friend - gas and air! The midwife said I should get in the bath & I wasn’t about to argue. I had a portable gas & air supply and was quite happy in that bath but had to get out as they needed to get me on antibiotics by drip for the strep B. Once I was rigged up to the drip I decided I was going to get on the bed on my knees. I was in a total zone by then & barely spoke. I remember hanging onto the back of the bed totally naked barr my bath towel that was draped over my back & just getting myself through the contractions. My Mum & Andy both thought I was gonna be an abusive screamer but I barely made a sound. Who would have thought it eh?!

At some point I was examined by a doctor and she discovered that my cervix was only wearing down on one side. She said it was because baby was in a funny position. That explained why I was taking so bloody long to dilate!!! It’s a bit of a blur as I was off my face on the gas & air but at some point I was told that baby was back to back. By about 3pm I was finally fully dilated but the doctor said as I’d been in labour so long my uterus was a bit tired & she wanted to put me on a drip to make my contractions stronger. She said that would be painful and so would my delivery because of baby’s position and basically said that after over 30 hours, I’d had enough. They more or less insisted that I had an epidural. I was proud that I’d done so much on gas and air alone and really had had enough so agreed to the epidural. I’d already had an anesthetic review earlier in the day because of my spina bifida occulta and luckily the same doc was around to do it for me. I was a bit scared because the contractions were coming thick and fast and there was a part in the procedure where you really can’t move. It was a race against time but he managed to get it safely in my spine & I waited for it to kick in. When it did I felt like a new woman! I was totally pain free which after 35 hours was amazing! The doc said she’d let me have a bit of a rest then we’d start me pushing. I felt like I needed a wee but couldn’t go so they catheterised me. I’d also ended up on a saline drip cuz I was so dehydrated.

So the doctor came back & the big push commenced! The midwife told me when I was having a contraction & I pushed with all I had. The drip to make my contractions stronger was turned up quite high but it didn’t help, my baby was stuck. The doctor told me that she was going to have to assist my delivery using forceps & if that didn’t work, I’d have to have a c section. After all those hours and effort I was gutted that it could potentially end in a section. The doctor assured me that she would do her best to get her out with the forceps but a lot of it would be down to me pushing as well. They told me we’d have to go down to theatre because I’d have to be prepped for the section in case the forceps failed. I was really chilled about it all but my Mum was well upset bless her. She rang my Sister to come and sit with her while we were in theatre and they were both crying. Andy got changed into some blues and off we went.

I still can’t believe how calm I was about it all. I guess I just wanted my baby by whatever means & knew that getting in a state wasn’t going to change anything. There were so many people in theatre I couldn’t believe it. They were all lovely to me. I think my midwife was there too (I’d been in so long I was on my 3rd!) My epidural was turned into a full spinal block & I was hooked up to monitors & even got to put on the lovely support stockings ICS (in case of a section lol) The doctor explained that she was going to have to cut me to get the forceps in better. I obviously didn’t feel a thing. When she was positioning the forceps it seemed to take forever & I’m so glad I couldn’t feel that!! Finally the doc was all set & they turned the drip to make my contractions stronger up to the highest setting and we waited. My uterus was so tired the gap between contractions had got longer! When I finally had one the midwife told me to push & even though I was absolutely knackered and had no idea whether I was doing it right, I pushed with everything I had. I think I pushed 3 times and then heard the doc say that baby was coming out and I needed to pant. Then the moment we’d been waiting for all this time happened, my baby was born at 6.10pm on Sunday September 5th weighing 7lb 10oz. The ‘It’s a…’ moment was even more amazing than I could have imagined. I couldn’t believe it when the doc said we had a little girl. I was convinced it would be a boy. Andy hugged & kissed me & we both cried as we waited for her to be checked over and then cried some more when they put her on me. I looked down at our little girl Jessica May and felt such a rush of love it was overwhelming.

I was a bit gutted that I didn’t get my skin to skin with her straight away but I was rigged up to all sorts and had to be stitched up. Daddy sat in the room next door with her while I was sorted out. The doc also had to drag my placenta out as my uterus was that tired, it couldn’t push it out. I remember the midwife walking past with it in a bag and saying ‘It’s no wonder she came a bit early, your placenta was getting old’ I asked her whether it had stopped working and she said ‘Not quite but it was definitely past it’s best’ I had to have yet another drip because I was high risk for heavy bleeding because they’d removed it that way & because my uterus was so soft.

It seemed to take forever to do my stitches and I even asked at one point whether it was because I was butchered lol. At that point one of the many people in the room leaned over and whispered ‘If I was going to have anyone stitch me up it would be her’ I took that to mean that she was taking so long because she was doing a good job! After what seemed like an age, I was finally taken back to my room with my little girl. Andy had rang his Mum & Dad and said he couldn’t tell them for crying which made me cry again lol. He then went & told my Mum and Sis who were beside themselves by this point. My Mum came in to meet her Grandaughter and I managed to persuade the staff to let my Sis in aswell. I just kept staring at my girl unable to believe she was here. She had loads of dark brown hair. Her face was a bit marked from the forceps but not too bad thankfully. Here’s some pics:

I felt like I’d run 20 marathons & not eaten for a week! The lovely midwife went & got me a sandwich & a cup of tea. They also gave me a bed bath because I couldn’t walk so couldn’t have a proper bath. By this time I really didn’t care what they did to me! After I’d been stitched up I remember I was still lay there with my legs in stirrups and my foof on display but I wasn’t bothered. The midwife covered me up and said ‘Lets give you some dignity back’ I said ‘You mean you do get it back?!’ It’s so true that you leave it at the door & pick it up again on the way out!!!

It’s funny that the two things I worried about the most weren’t an issue in the end. I didn’t poo when I pushed & I couldn’t feel a thing when Jessica crowned lol.

I think having a baby has changed me in many ways and one of them is that I’m less embarrassed about my body & getting it out!! I was so fearful of what would happen to my body & expected the worst but the reality wasn’t all that bad. Yes I have stretch marks but they’re not half as bad as I thought they would be. I’m writing this 4 weeks after I gave birth & I’ve lost nearly all the weight I put on. I actually feel better about myself than I have done in years which is strange as I’m far from what I want to be. I think andy’s helped with this. All through my pregnancy he’s told me I’m gorgeous & been really appreciative of my new body. My friends helped too as they kept telling me I looked lovely and that I’d hardly put on weight. Now I’ve given birth I’m getting told I look really well all the time and it means a lot and makes me feel good.

So that’s my birth story. My next post will be all about my first month as a Mummy

)