Love is all you need
17-04-2008, 10:20 PM
Well my pregnancy wasn’t easy to say the least and I knew (or I thought) that my labour wouldn’t be any different, due to my health I was to be induced at 38 weeks and had the process explained to me several times and when it would happen, each of the doctors explained it differently, but I had gotten used to being told different things during pregnancy!
The appointment before my induction, the doctor went through everything and was like “okay we’ll go book in your date” ummmm DP and I looked at each other and just went “it’s actually already booked in for this Thursday”…when she went back through the notes she realized it was and then went through the process (well what I heard of the process)…I was to be in the hospital by 7am, they would then insert the gel (I was already 1cm dilated which I was happy about) and see how I go during the day and then if the labour wards were free (according to this doctor) I would have my waters broken at midday…which I was happy about because I wanted “boof” to be born on the Thursday initially, my mums birthday was the Wednesday and then my brothers 21st was that Friday so in the middle would’ve been great!
So Thursday rolls around, DP and I have all the bags packed and everything ready to go in the car, we walk into the MDAU at 7am thinking ‘great here we are, our lives are forever going to change’ I was placed on the CTG monitor and we found out that I was having regular “tightening” which were contractions that I just felt a minor twinge for but they were regular enough for the midwife to think something may have started initially…Well it was the biggest let down ever, we got in there and was told to go back home because there was no beds (which I was pleased that they weren’t going to let anything happen without a bed for me) but I was in tears and so disappointed and was then told that if I was going to be given the gel at 7am, the wouldn’t rupture my membranes until 7am that Friday. I initially felt cheated, I was told by the doctors that the baby would be born on the Thursday, if I knew the chance that bubs would’ve been another 24 hours away I would’ve seen to it to be induced on the Wednesday!
Anyway so we got told to come back at 1pm and the gel would be inserted, I had a major cry to DP on the way back to the car I was so disappointed I was so ready and prepared myself physically and mentally for it all to happen or to at least start to happen. I hadn’t been able to sleep at all the night before I think I had at max 2 hours sleep as I had major heart burn and couldn’t get comfortable and went through the whole night just feeling sick. When we went back at 1pm I was once again placed on CTG again and still having regular tightening to which I had no pain, just a dull back ache (I knew bubs was posterior already) they did an internal and I was 2cms dilated…which I was so excited about!!! They inserted the gel and I was monitored again for another hour before being sent up to the ward, I didn’t have any pain and from what the graph showed bubs was healthy and doing just fine…
So we got up to the ward and got everything sorted, I was to go back down to the labour ward at 7pm to check the progress of the gel and to insert more if need be…So DP and I spent the day just talking and preparing for life with bubs (and keeping various family members informed…)
4pm I started to get some tightening which I just thought were nothing special and had a dull back ache so had my wheat pack heated and had two panadine forte and I was fine, the pain was there but wasn’t bad….just tight…
7pm came around and we went down to the birthing suite and they hooked me straight up to the CTG machine again to check how bubs was doing, I had made my thoughts really clear to the midwife that I only wanted to be on the machine as much as needed and then would prefer to be up and active and use the shower if need be…I got on the machine and the contractions had started hard and fast and I was told that they (doctors and midwives) believed that the gel had brought on natural labour, to which DP and I were absolutely thrilled about because I wanted more than anything to go into labour naturally.
At about 7.45 pm things intensified way too quickly, I was having contractions 5 / 10 and OMG the pain I was in, I was breathing through it but I had learnt quickly that it helped me big time, I had major back pain and that was what was giving me the grief I wanted to be up and out of the bed I really did not want to be bed bound and monitored my whole entire labour, which the midwife told the doctors but they were saying I needed to be on the bed and couldn’t use the shower, the midwife was absolutely fantastic and let me go on the ball as I needed to be off my back, I got on the ball and started rocking and breathing through my contractions and it did help but at about 9pm they intensified once again and I was hooked up to the bloody monitor still, “boof” was going all over the shop on the monitor and it took them since 7pm to 10pm to get a decent trace of bubs heart so I was on the ball and getting really ****ed off that the doctors didn’t know what to do, at 8.30 they discussed breaking my waters, 9.30 they wanted to wait and see what happened and at 10pm they finally made the decision to just wait and see what happens as they were afraid of what would happen with my lupus if my waters were broken too soon and how my heart would react…BUT the doctors were insisting on getting an Epidural into me as they were worried about the effect my heart and lungs would have if I kept breathing through the pain and if it increased…I really did not want an Epidural I wanted a natural birth but after discussing it with the midwife who had been fantastic and supportive of all of my decisions I trusted her instinct, and she said I would then be okay and the back pain would go…15 mins later the anathesist came in and put the Epidural in, he was please at how easy it was and I informed him that after a lumbar puncture big needles in my back didn’t scare me. The effects of the Epidural were instant he did the ice test and I couldn’t feel a thing below my legs, my right leg had a tingling sensation but couldn’t feel hot or cold or pain…
Because I was being constantly monitored the midwife was in the room every 15 – 20 mins checking up on me and bubs, at about 11pm the bed was made up for DP and we were told to get some sleep, but we were both way too excited to get any sleep and also DP was worried about how my body would react with the Epidural and the constant pain I was having so we stayed up talking, chatting away till 2am, which is when the doctors came in and decided that because I was now 5cms dilated they would break my waters, which we were rapt about, so they broke my waters and I had a nice big show which was good, it was all clear no meconium and as I couldn’t feel anything the doctors left my body to its own devices to keep labouring and have the nice big contractions that were showing up on the machine, so once all was assured that everything was okay, DP got into bed and slept like a light…
Meanwhile I was chatting away to the midwife lol I swear she must have thought I was a looney I was just chatting along laugh about the fact I couldn’t control my farts and that if DP wasn’t really asleep he would’ve woken up to that lol….I could sometimes feel pressure down there no pain but just pressure and could sometimes feel something “dribbling” out which every time I told them had happened, there was more blood and show so they were impressed with my senses…
It then hit 5am and I got really really bad pains in my heart and chest, they were only starting so I knew that if I didn’t hit them on the head now with pain relief and my heat pack my heart would swell up more…they felt around my heart and lungs and could feel a little bit of swelling but they quickly got me panadine forte and my heat pack and after 30 mins the swelling had gone done which I was quite happy about, all the while DP was snoring in the fold out bed next to me!
The doctors came back in at 5.30am to find that the reason I had swelling was because I had dilated another 3cms so I was 8cms dilated I was so happy and excited but was told that I still had 2cms to go…..So I was told to get some rest because I would be pushing in the morning!!!
7am and I had woken up DP because the doctors were coming in to do another internal and would hopefully be able to push……so I woke up DP and said to him, they think this could be it and I could be pushing very very soon, to which he got up out of bed and was a little hazy to begin with but got with it very very quickly!
8am and the doctors finally turned up, DP was impressed at how calm and cool collected I was, as I said to DP I had the Epidural on I couldn’t feel a thing!!!!! I was enjoying it! I could feel pressure in my butt it was such a weird feeling like I needed to do a poo but I was surprised that I could feel that but no pain….So the doctors came in and did the internal….I was full dilated and “boof” was making a way into the world so I was told that I could start pushing when I wanted to!
So with the assistance of the midwife I was told when to push however I could feel the tension building up the top of my uterus and in my butt so I had some inkling as to when to push…the midwife was how impressed at a first time mum with an Epidural completely up how I could push properly, I don’t know for some reason I just managed to get the right spot, for the first half an hour while I pushed DP was game enough to have a look and could see the top of “boofs” head and could see the head of hair, so he was getting really really excited and was great support telling me I could do this and that our baby was going to be here soon…I got more excited with each push that bubs was going to be here so soon!!! I was left to my own devices until 9am when the doctors came in to see how I was doing, I was told I probably had another hour of pushing and would be back again in 30 mins and I was lucky enough to have the ONE fantastic doctor I had throughout my pregnancy who had listened to me so I felt really good and comfortable…it was weird pushing sensation especially because I could feel my right leg so while I had my left leg in the stirrups I had my right leg on DPs chest to help me get some force in way to push…
It got to 9.30 and was told I would need an assisted delivery as “boofs” head was too big and was worried about the pressure on my body, the OB tried the vacuum but unfortunately they didn’t get it right so they had to change to baby forceps….with the last couple of pushes I was told that I would need an Episiotomy, the OB was aware that I really didn’t want one unless necessary and after being able to try to push her out, he looked up and said “it’s either a 3rd degree tear or an Episiotomy which I promise will only be minimal” his advice through out the pregnancy had not gone astray so I chose to trust his judgment, I didn’t feel him cut me and from what I have seen in recovery now it really was quite small…I was just way too tight
Once I was cut Boof was born in one push, mind you just before the push I had thrown up all the Gatorade content I had in my stomach that I had been sipping on (never drinking purple Gatorade again!!!!) But one push and we heard her cry (the midwives and doctors though she was a boy, even when I was pushing the told me he’ll be here soon!!!)
So Evelyn Grace was born at 9:52am, 8lbs 4oz (3750g) 50cms long and head circ of 36.5cm, assisted delivery with baby forceps and a head of hair!!!! She was put onto my chest straight away and DP and I looked at each other and shared a big kiss and I got lots of forehead kisses and we both looked at our little beautiful princess and couldn’t believe how perfect she is…DP was incredibly proud of how I did and how my body was… Evelyn’s Apgars was 9 at 1min and then 10 at 5mins!!!
Even though my birth went how I really didn’t want it to (being stuck on the bed and monitored) however I managed to have her vaginally and I felt really proud of that and I was so happy with how it all turned out!!!! Evelyn fed on the boob pretty much straight away, and while I had a little break down and teary because I was so tired about 3 hrs after she was born (I was so scared of failing her in life and just not being able to look after her properly) I was so much in love!!!! So she was born on her uncles 21st but he loves her so much and they will always have that special bond!!!
I will never forget the moment she was born and we had our own little family!!!!
:bee:Evelyn Grace:bee:
28th March 2008 at 9:52am
8lb 4oz
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=35737&l=738c7&id=690158059
The appointment before my induction, the doctor went through everything and was like “okay we’ll go book in your date” ummmm DP and I looked at each other and just went “it’s actually already booked in for this Thursday”…when she went back through the notes she realized it was and then went through the process (well what I heard of the process)…I was to be in the hospital by 7am, they would then insert the gel (I was already 1cm dilated which I was happy about) and see how I go during the day and then if the labour wards were free (according to this doctor) I would have my waters broken at midday…which I was happy about because I wanted “boof” to be born on the Thursday initially, my mums birthday was the Wednesday and then my brothers 21st was that Friday so in the middle would’ve been great!
So Thursday rolls around, DP and I have all the bags packed and everything ready to go in the car, we walk into the MDAU at 7am thinking ‘great here we are, our lives are forever going to change’ I was placed on the CTG monitor and we found out that I was having regular “tightening” which were contractions that I just felt a minor twinge for but they were regular enough for the midwife to think something may have started initially…Well it was the biggest let down ever, we got in there and was told to go back home because there was no beds (which I was pleased that they weren’t going to let anything happen without a bed for me) but I was in tears and so disappointed and was then told that if I was going to be given the gel at 7am, the wouldn’t rupture my membranes until 7am that Friday. I initially felt cheated, I was told by the doctors that the baby would be born on the Thursday, if I knew the chance that bubs would’ve been another 24 hours away I would’ve seen to it to be induced on the Wednesday!
Anyway so we got told to come back at 1pm and the gel would be inserted, I had a major cry to DP on the way back to the car I was so disappointed I was so ready and prepared myself physically and mentally for it all to happen or to at least start to happen. I hadn’t been able to sleep at all the night before I think I had at max 2 hours sleep as I had major heart burn and couldn’t get comfortable and went through the whole night just feeling sick. When we went back at 1pm I was once again placed on CTG again and still having regular tightening to which I had no pain, just a dull back ache (I knew bubs was posterior already) they did an internal and I was 2cms dilated…which I was so excited about!!! They inserted the gel and I was monitored again for another hour before being sent up to the ward, I didn’t have any pain and from what the graph showed bubs was healthy and doing just fine…
So we got up to the ward and got everything sorted, I was to go back down to the labour ward at 7pm to check the progress of the gel and to insert more if need be…So DP and I spent the day just talking and preparing for life with bubs (and keeping various family members informed…)
4pm I started to get some tightening which I just thought were nothing special and had a dull back ache so had my wheat pack heated and had two panadine forte and I was fine, the pain was there but wasn’t bad….just tight…
7pm came around and we went down to the birthing suite and they hooked me straight up to the CTG machine again to check how bubs was doing, I had made my thoughts really clear to the midwife that I only wanted to be on the machine as much as needed and then would prefer to be up and active and use the shower if need be…I got on the machine and the contractions had started hard and fast and I was told that they (doctors and midwives) believed that the gel had brought on natural labour, to which DP and I were absolutely thrilled about because I wanted more than anything to go into labour naturally.
At about 7.45 pm things intensified way too quickly, I was having contractions 5 / 10 and OMG the pain I was in, I was breathing through it but I had learnt quickly that it helped me big time, I had major back pain and that was what was giving me the grief I wanted to be up and out of the bed I really did not want to be bed bound and monitored my whole entire labour, which the midwife told the doctors but they were saying I needed to be on the bed and couldn’t use the shower, the midwife was absolutely fantastic and let me go on the ball as I needed to be off my back, I got on the ball and started rocking and breathing through my contractions and it did help but at about 9pm they intensified once again and I was hooked up to the bloody monitor still, “boof” was going all over the shop on the monitor and it took them since 7pm to 10pm to get a decent trace of bubs heart so I was on the ball and getting really ****ed off that the doctors didn’t know what to do, at 8.30 they discussed breaking my waters, 9.30 they wanted to wait and see what happened and at 10pm they finally made the decision to just wait and see what happens as they were afraid of what would happen with my lupus if my waters were broken too soon and how my heart would react…BUT the doctors were insisting on getting an Epidural into me as they were worried about the effect my heart and lungs would have if I kept breathing through the pain and if it increased…I really did not want an Epidural I wanted a natural birth but after discussing it with the midwife who had been fantastic and supportive of all of my decisions I trusted her instinct, and she said I would then be okay and the back pain would go…15 mins later the anathesist came in and put the Epidural in, he was please at how easy it was and I informed him that after a lumbar puncture big needles in my back didn’t scare me. The effects of the Epidural were instant he did the ice test and I couldn’t feel a thing below my legs, my right leg had a tingling sensation but couldn’t feel hot or cold or pain…
Because I was being constantly monitored the midwife was in the room every 15 – 20 mins checking up on me and bubs, at about 11pm the bed was made up for DP and we were told to get some sleep, but we were both way too excited to get any sleep and also DP was worried about how my body would react with the Epidural and the constant pain I was having so we stayed up talking, chatting away till 2am, which is when the doctors came in and decided that because I was now 5cms dilated they would break my waters, which we were rapt about, so they broke my waters and I had a nice big show which was good, it was all clear no meconium and as I couldn’t feel anything the doctors left my body to its own devices to keep labouring and have the nice big contractions that were showing up on the machine, so once all was assured that everything was okay, DP got into bed and slept like a light…
Meanwhile I was chatting away to the midwife lol I swear she must have thought I was a looney I was just chatting along laugh about the fact I couldn’t control my farts and that if DP wasn’t really asleep he would’ve woken up to that lol….I could sometimes feel pressure down there no pain but just pressure and could sometimes feel something “dribbling” out which every time I told them had happened, there was more blood and show so they were impressed with my senses…
It then hit 5am and I got really really bad pains in my heart and chest, they were only starting so I knew that if I didn’t hit them on the head now with pain relief and my heat pack my heart would swell up more…they felt around my heart and lungs and could feel a little bit of swelling but they quickly got me panadine forte and my heat pack and after 30 mins the swelling had gone done which I was quite happy about, all the while DP was snoring in the fold out bed next to me!
The doctors came back in at 5.30am to find that the reason I had swelling was because I had dilated another 3cms so I was 8cms dilated I was so happy and excited but was told that I still had 2cms to go…..So I was told to get some rest because I would be pushing in the morning!!!
7am and I had woken up DP because the doctors were coming in to do another internal and would hopefully be able to push……so I woke up DP and said to him, they think this could be it and I could be pushing very very soon, to which he got up out of bed and was a little hazy to begin with but got with it very very quickly!
8am and the doctors finally turned up, DP was impressed at how calm and cool collected I was, as I said to DP I had the Epidural on I couldn’t feel a thing!!!!! I was enjoying it! I could feel pressure in my butt it was such a weird feeling like I needed to do a poo but I was surprised that I could feel that but no pain….So the doctors came in and did the internal….I was full dilated and “boof” was making a way into the world so I was told that I could start pushing when I wanted to!
So with the assistance of the midwife I was told when to push however I could feel the tension building up the top of my uterus and in my butt so I had some inkling as to when to push…the midwife was how impressed at a first time mum with an Epidural completely up how I could push properly, I don’t know for some reason I just managed to get the right spot, for the first half an hour while I pushed DP was game enough to have a look and could see the top of “boofs” head and could see the head of hair, so he was getting really really excited and was great support telling me I could do this and that our baby was going to be here soon…I got more excited with each push that bubs was going to be here so soon!!! I was left to my own devices until 9am when the doctors came in to see how I was doing, I was told I probably had another hour of pushing and would be back again in 30 mins and I was lucky enough to have the ONE fantastic doctor I had throughout my pregnancy who had listened to me so I felt really good and comfortable…it was weird pushing sensation especially because I could feel my right leg so while I had my left leg in the stirrups I had my right leg on DPs chest to help me get some force in way to push…
It got to 9.30 and was told I would need an assisted delivery as “boofs” head was too big and was worried about the pressure on my body, the OB tried the vacuum but unfortunately they didn’t get it right so they had to change to baby forceps….with the last couple of pushes I was told that I would need an Episiotomy, the OB was aware that I really didn’t want one unless necessary and after being able to try to push her out, he looked up and said “it’s either a 3rd degree tear or an Episiotomy which I promise will only be minimal” his advice through out the pregnancy had not gone astray so I chose to trust his judgment, I didn’t feel him cut me and from what I have seen in recovery now it really was quite small…I was just way too tight
Once I was cut Boof was born in one push, mind you just before the push I had thrown up all the Gatorade content I had in my stomach that I had been sipping on (never drinking purple Gatorade again!!!!) But one push and we heard her cry (the midwives and doctors though she was a boy, even when I was pushing the told me he’ll be here soon!!!)
So Evelyn Grace was born at 9:52am, 8lbs 4oz (3750g) 50cms long and head circ of 36.5cm, assisted delivery with baby forceps and a head of hair!!!! She was put onto my chest straight away and DP and I looked at each other and shared a big kiss and I got lots of forehead kisses and we both looked at our little beautiful princess and couldn’t believe how perfect she is…DP was incredibly proud of how I did and how my body was… Evelyn’s Apgars was 9 at 1min and then 10 at 5mins!!!
Even though my birth went how I really didn’t want it to (being stuck on the bed and monitored) however I managed to have her vaginally and I felt really proud of that and I was so happy with how it all turned out!!!! Evelyn fed on the boob pretty much straight away, and while I had a little break down and teary because I was so tired about 3 hrs after she was born (I was so scared of failing her in life and just not being able to look after her properly) I was so much in love!!!! So she was born on her uncles 21st but he loves her so much and they will always have that special bond!!!
I will never forget the moment she was born and we had our own little family!!!!
:bee:Evelyn Grace:bee:
28th March 2008 at 9:52am
8lb 4oz
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=35737&l=738c7&id=690158059