nicoleE
01-11-2007, 17:55
Well its been 2 weeks now and Ive finally got a chance to write my Birth Story.
Due on Thursday October 11th I was scheduled to be induced on Monday night October 15th (would have given birth on Tuesday the 16th)... however this little one had other ideas! As it turned out our Obstetrician Dr Neil Tamlin had the weekend off which meant his partner Dr Chris Hughes would deliver the baby.
It all started on Saturday October 13th at around 5pm, I started getting lower back/pelvis pain that seemed to come and go. I started timing them and they seemed to be coming anywhere from 14 to 7 minutes apart. By around 8pm they seemed to be a little closer together anywhere from 7 to 5 minutes apart and were now being felt a little stronger and at times in the front low down as well as in my back.
At around 9pm I rang the hospital who told me it did sound like the start of labour and to stay home until the pain became a little too unbearable to be home. At this news my DH decided if we were going to be having a baby soon he would get some shut eye and go to bed! I stayed up for a while pottering around on the internet, packing the few last minute things into my hospital bags and had a shower around 10pm. Around 11:30 I got into bed and laid down and tried to sleep, I think I might have for a short time, that was until I was woken up at midnight with very bad pains. After about half an hour of them I woke DH up and told him it was time. We rang the hospital again to let them know we were on our way.
Im not actually sure what time we got to the hospital by the time we got into the car and travelled there but when we got there I was taken to a labour room and waited a short while as they had called in an extra Midwife (Barb) to be with me until the morning shift started. She was with us all the time which was great, she checked me at around 2am and I was 4cm dilated. I think I decided on the way to the hospital that I wanted an epidural! The contractions were so painful I couldn’t imagine having to feel them for hours and hours before the pushing stage! I got an epidural at around 3am and the anaesthesiast who gave it to me was great and so was the epidural! I loved it as it totally took away the contraction pain yet I could still not only move my legs around but I could get up out of bed to go to the toilet etc. My legs just felt like they were slightly numb and in that stage where you are about to get pins and needles. At around 6am I was checked again but unfortunately was still only 4cm dilated, I had gone nowhere in 4 hours and was very dissapointed. They thought it could have been due to my waters not having broken yet but apparently they seemed about to break, the bag was bulging through the cervix. Barb broke them with her fingers and said it was very easy to break. We were now hoping that would bring on some progress. I was told that the normal rate is about a centimetre an hour so I was not expecting to be holding our baby until after lunch. By 9am Barb had changed shifts with Janine who was our next Midwife and the Ob had just arrived ready to check me again. DH had gone home briefly at this point to refresh and feed our 2 cats. The Ob checked and said to me “Umm... how far away is ‘home’?” I was fully dialated! Luckily DH was in the car park about to come in anyway. I went to the toilet and ended up sitting there for a while, I was feeling a little off and felt better to just sit and rest a bit, I think DH was a bit worried I was going to have the baby on the toilet! Apparently her head could have been a little lower anyway so this probably also helped that a bit.
I soon started pushing (was probably just after 10am) which meant they liked the epidural to not be topped up again so I could feel when to push and where to push, this was fine at first but after a while it got too painful and I just couldn’t concentrate and push through it. The pressure feeling was unbelievable, I wasn’t expecting that! I begged them to top it up which they did although warned me I might have trouble pushing however I didn’t, I could still feel the contractions but not the pressure feeling (like I needed to do a huge poo!) which was the worst bit. I continued pushing but after an hour and 15 minutes she just wasn’t coming, her head was right there but just wouldn’t budge! The epidural had worn off quite a bit again however they wouldn’t top it up this time as she would be out by the time it really took effect. However I was still numb in the sense of skin sensation it was just the contractions and the intense pressure pain I could feel.
The Ob suggested to try the ‘ventouse’ suction device so that was put in position (even glader I was numb down there at this point!) however upon the next contraction with me pushing and the Ob pulling it flew right off her head. Next option was forceps. To be honest I wasn’t fussed how she came out at this point I just wanted her out and I wanted her healthy. Everything was setup for the forcep delivery, the end of the bed came off and the Ob had a stool he sat on and my legs were put in stirrups. I really was oblivious to what was going on down there actually, I didn’t notice him putting the forceps in place or anything (again grateful for that epidural!). With the next contraction I was instructed to push again, something I was again having trouble doing from the awful pressure pain, the next thing I know (its odd how some things are just a blur to me) is I felt a huge pressure in my pelvis which was him pulling her head out, I say him pulling her out because Im sure I wasn’t much help with my pitiful pushing by this stage! I really didn’t think of this kind of pain, Im assuming it was her head (and then body) stretching out the pelvis bones, it was horrible but it only lasted a short time and I have to say they are spot on when they say as soon as the baby is out you forget it all... I certainly did. Next thing I knew I had my daughter Alexis Cate on my chest, Dh had cut the cord but I was oblivious to it, it seemed like she was put straight on me. I remember thinking how small she looked, it was so surreal, a moment i will never forget. She screamed and screamed, she certainly had good lungs! While she was on me they suctioned out her nose and mouth and rubbed her down a little and put a towel over her. I just held her and stared at her. It felt like ages but it probably wasn’t. After DH had cut the cord he picked up the camera and started taking photos, poor little bub wasn’t too happy with all the flashes! As it felt like I was hogging her I asked DH if he wanted a hold. So the Midwife took her and cleaned her up a little, put her tags on etc and Dh got his hold. While that was all going on I asked the Ob (who was still fiddling around ‘down there’!) if the placenta had been delivered yet, he said yes and asked if I wanted to see it... umm... no thanks I said. He said he just had to stitch me up, apparently he had to give me an episiotomy, I had no clue (and yet again, soooo glad of that epidural! Ha, ha!)
Once I was all stitched up I got to breastfeed her which was within the hour of her being born. She did really well and latched on straight away and sucked away, even the Midwife was impressed.
I soon got up to have a shower and then DH bathed Alexis in the labour room. We then moved into my room in the maternity ward.
All up I loved my birth experience. Although I felt excruciating pain at times it didn’t last long and the majority of it was taken away by the epidural. Im happy with my birth experience and in the end my daughter and I are both healthy which is the main thing. Valentine
~
Name: Alexis Cate
Born: Sunday 14th October 2007 at 11:38am
Weight: 7lb 15oz
Length: 50cm
Head Circ: 36cm
Apgar: 9 at 1 minute then 10 at 5 minutes
Labour time recorded as: 1st stage 9hrs 15mins, 2nd stage 1hr 23mins
~
Due on Thursday October 11th I was scheduled to be induced on Monday night October 15th (would have given birth on Tuesday the 16th)... however this little one had other ideas! As it turned out our Obstetrician Dr Neil Tamlin had the weekend off which meant his partner Dr Chris Hughes would deliver the baby.
It all started on Saturday October 13th at around 5pm, I started getting lower back/pelvis pain that seemed to come and go. I started timing them and they seemed to be coming anywhere from 14 to 7 minutes apart. By around 8pm they seemed to be a little closer together anywhere from 7 to 5 minutes apart and were now being felt a little stronger and at times in the front low down as well as in my back.
At around 9pm I rang the hospital who told me it did sound like the start of labour and to stay home until the pain became a little too unbearable to be home. At this news my DH decided if we were going to be having a baby soon he would get some shut eye and go to bed! I stayed up for a while pottering around on the internet, packing the few last minute things into my hospital bags and had a shower around 10pm. Around 11:30 I got into bed and laid down and tried to sleep, I think I might have for a short time, that was until I was woken up at midnight with very bad pains. After about half an hour of them I woke DH up and told him it was time. We rang the hospital again to let them know we were on our way.
Im not actually sure what time we got to the hospital by the time we got into the car and travelled there but when we got there I was taken to a labour room and waited a short while as they had called in an extra Midwife (Barb) to be with me until the morning shift started. She was with us all the time which was great, she checked me at around 2am and I was 4cm dilated. I think I decided on the way to the hospital that I wanted an epidural! The contractions were so painful I couldn’t imagine having to feel them for hours and hours before the pushing stage! I got an epidural at around 3am and the anaesthesiast who gave it to me was great and so was the epidural! I loved it as it totally took away the contraction pain yet I could still not only move my legs around but I could get up out of bed to go to the toilet etc. My legs just felt like they were slightly numb and in that stage where you are about to get pins and needles. At around 6am I was checked again but unfortunately was still only 4cm dilated, I had gone nowhere in 4 hours and was very dissapointed. They thought it could have been due to my waters not having broken yet but apparently they seemed about to break, the bag was bulging through the cervix. Barb broke them with her fingers and said it was very easy to break. We were now hoping that would bring on some progress. I was told that the normal rate is about a centimetre an hour so I was not expecting to be holding our baby until after lunch. By 9am Barb had changed shifts with Janine who was our next Midwife and the Ob had just arrived ready to check me again. DH had gone home briefly at this point to refresh and feed our 2 cats. The Ob checked and said to me “Umm... how far away is ‘home’?” I was fully dialated! Luckily DH was in the car park about to come in anyway. I went to the toilet and ended up sitting there for a while, I was feeling a little off and felt better to just sit and rest a bit, I think DH was a bit worried I was going to have the baby on the toilet! Apparently her head could have been a little lower anyway so this probably also helped that a bit.
I soon started pushing (was probably just after 10am) which meant they liked the epidural to not be topped up again so I could feel when to push and where to push, this was fine at first but after a while it got too painful and I just couldn’t concentrate and push through it. The pressure feeling was unbelievable, I wasn’t expecting that! I begged them to top it up which they did although warned me I might have trouble pushing however I didn’t, I could still feel the contractions but not the pressure feeling (like I needed to do a huge poo!) which was the worst bit. I continued pushing but after an hour and 15 minutes she just wasn’t coming, her head was right there but just wouldn’t budge! The epidural had worn off quite a bit again however they wouldn’t top it up this time as she would be out by the time it really took effect. However I was still numb in the sense of skin sensation it was just the contractions and the intense pressure pain I could feel.
The Ob suggested to try the ‘ventouse’ suction device so that was put in position (even glader I was numb down there at this point!) however upon the next contraction with me pushing and the Ob pulling it flew right off her head. Next option was forceps. To be honest I wasn’t fussed how she came out at this point I just wanted her out and I wanted her healthy. Everything was setup for the forcep delivery, the end of the bed came off and the Ob had a stool he sat on and my legs were put in stirrups. I really was oblivious to what was going on down there actually, I didn’t notice him putting the forceps in place or anything (again grateful for that epidural!). With the next contraction I was instructed to push again, something I was again having trouble doing from the awful pressure pain, the next thing I know (its odd how some things are just a blur to me) is I felt a huge pressure in my pelvis which was him pulling her head out, I say him pulling her out because Im sure I wasn’t much help with my pitiful pushing by this stage! I really didn’t think of this kind of pain, Im assuming it was her head (and then body) stretching out the pelvis bones, it was horrible but it only lasted a short time and I have to say they are spot on when they say as soon as the baby is out you forget it all... I certainly did. Next thing I knew I had my daughter Alexis Cate on my chest, Dh had cut the cord but I was oblivious to it, it seemed like she was put straight on me. I remember thinking how small she looked, it was so surreal, a moment i will never forget. She screamed and screamed, she certainly had good lungs! While she was on me they suctioned out her nose and mouth and rubbed her down a little and put a towel over her. I just held her and stared at her. It felt like ages but it probably wasn’t. After DH had cut the cord he picked up the camera and started taking photos, poor little bub wasn’t too happy with all the flashes! As it felt like I was hogging her I asked DH if he wanted a hold. So the Midwife took her and cleaned her up a little, put her tags on etc and Dh got his hold. While that was all going on I asked the Ob (who was still fiddling around ‘down there’!) if the placenta had been delivered yet, he said yes and asked if I wanted to see it... umm... no thanks I said. He said he just had to stitch me up, apparently he had to give me an episiotomy, I had no clue (and yet again, soooo glad of that epidural! Ha, ha!)
Once I was all stitched up I got to breastfeed her which was within the hour of her being born. She did really well and latched on straight away and sucked away, even the Midwife was impressed.
I soon got up to have a shower and then DH bathed Alexis in the labour room. We then moved into my room in the maternity ward.
All up I loved my birth experience. Although I felt excruciating pain at times it didn’t last long and the majority of it was taken away by the epidural. Im happy with my birth experience and in the end my daughter and I are both healthy which is the main thing. Valentine
~
Name: Alexis Cate
Born: Sunday 14th October 2007 at 11:38am
Weight: 7lb 15oz
Length: 50cm
Head Circ: 36cm
Apgar: 9 at 1 minute then 10 at 5 minutes
Labour time recorded as: 1st stage 9hrs 15mins, 2nd stage 1hr 23mins
~