Egall
15-08-2008, 02:26 PM
This post is long overdue, but when I was expecting my DS I read every birth story I could. I really wanted to know, what I was in for. So here's my own contribution.
William was due on Thursday, 27 September. A few months beforehand, I was looking at the calendar and decided that Saurday the 22nd would be the perfect day for him to come, and told him so, little thinking it would make any difference.
Well, at about 4.00am on Saturday the 22nd, I woke up feeling strange, but didn't know why. My husband was getting up for an early round of golf with his buddies and wondered if he should stay home.
"No, go," I said, "This is probably nothing, and this is most likely your last chance to play for a while!"
So, off he went, with instructions to me to call his mobile if I needed him to come home.
I think I dozed some more for a while and got up at around 6.00am to have some brekkie - I was really hungry! After that I pottered around, put on some washing etc. I still had a wierd feeling in my back that was developing into a kind of pain that came and went. I was beginning to wonder if maybe something was going on. :confused:
I went to the toilet at about 8.30 and had a show. Straight after that, contractions began. They weren't all that bad, but I knew then that something really was happening. I called DH. He said it was great timing because at least he'd go to finish his first 9 holes! :footinmouth: He came home straight away.
Contractions continued on and off, some were strong, most weren't all that bad though. I decided to call my mum. She wanted me to go to hospital straight away on the grounds that my sister had very quick labours. "No, they'll just tell me to go home," I said. "I have to wait until they are regular and at least 5 minutes apart."
They never really became all that regular though. Some were strong and others weren't. By about 11.30 though, there were more strong ones and they were mostly 5 mins apart. Mum had been calling fairly regularly to urge me to go to hospital ASAP! I called the hospital. But they said that they each had to last at least one minute! I hung around some more. DH took some very unglamorous photos of me! At about 12 I had a huge contraction that went for over 90 seconds. :eek:
"That's it, we're going," I said. "I called the hospital and told them I was coming in." I'm pretty sure they still thought I had ages to go though. It was a 30 minute drive there and the first part of the way was harrowing. I remember telling myself to relax . . . relax . . . RELAX!!! - through gritted teeth. I was really praying and then things kind of eased off. We got to the hospital and I walked in quite comfortably. The nurses must have thought I didn't have a clue! They took me into a labour room for monitoring, and said they were really busy, and so after hooking me up to a machine to measure the contractions and showing me how to use the gas, the midwife left and said she'd be back shortly to see how far along things were.
She must have thought it was a long way off, because she was gone for over 20 minutes. My DH would keep an eye on the machine and let me know when a contraction was coming so I could go for it with the gas. And go for it I did! It's a wonder I didn't hyperventilate, I was sucking that stuff down so hard, while grabbing DH's shirt in both fists. It seemed to help though. After about 20 minutes, I had a huge contraction and my body just started pushing all of its own accord.
"There's pushing happening here and it's got nothing to do with me," I told my DH. "I think you'd better find a midwife."
Off he went, and I was left there alone - the longest minute or so of my life! Eventually he came running back with two midwives in tow.
[When he left, he couldn't find anyone, except a janitor, who directed him to a tea room, where the midwives were having a cup of tea!! They really did think I was way off.]
The midwives, helped me take off my pants - yes, I was still fully dressed! I was thinking that I might need some more serious pain reliet, but they checked me and I was already 9 cms so it was too late for that. It was all on for young and old then.
This part is all a blur to me now, but they tried to get me to stop pushing, but it was kind of beyond my control. When I finally was allowed push, the midwives helped me control my breathing to push more effectively. When William crowned, the midwife asked if I wanted to to feel his head. I couldn't talk so just shook my head. I just wanted this birth over, no distractions! When he was born soon after, I was just so relieved that it was done.
They put him on my chest to hold him, but I could only hold him for a little while because I got the shakes quite badly. I had lost a lot of blood and went into a little bit of shock, so DH took off his shirt and held him for me.
I ended up needing stitches for 2nd degree tearing, which wasn't much fun. DH felt that if the nurses had checked me sooner, that some of the tearing may have been prevented. Who knows?? Anyway, at least I got over the stitches quite easily. Unfortunately, though, it was quite a while, at least an hour and a half, before I had a chance to try to feed William, and I wonder if that is why we had real problems establishing breastfeeding.
All in all though, I have no complaints. The whole birth thing was no walk in the park, but it wasn't that bad. At least it was all over pretty quickly - William was born an hour and a quarter after we arrived at the hospital! And on the exact day I requested!:yelclap:
Thanks for reading - and sorry that for such a short labour, I've managed to make such a long story of it.
William was due on Thursday, 27 September. A few months beforehand, I was looking at the calendar and decided that Saurday the 22nd would be the perfect day for him to come, and told him so, little thinking it would make any difference.
Well, at about 4.00am on Saturday the 22nd, I woke up feeling strange, but didn't know why. My husband was getting up for an early round of golf with his buddies and wondered if he should stay home.
"No, go," I said, "This is probably nothing, and this is most likely your last chance to play for a while!"
So, off he went, with instructions to me to call his mobile if I needed him to come home.
I think I dozed some more for a while and got up at around 6.00am to have some brekkie - I was really hungry! After that I pottered around, put on some washing etc. I still had a wierd feeling in my back that was developing into a kind of pain that came and went. I was beginning to wonder if maybe something was going on. :confused:
I went to the toilet at about 8.30 and had a show. Straight after that, contractions began. They weren't all that bad, but I knew then that something really was happening. I called DH. He said it was great timing because at least he'd go to finish his first 9 holes! :footinmouth: He came home straight away.
Contractions continued on and off, some were strong, most weren't all that bad though. I decided to call my mum. She wanted me to go to hospital straight away on the grounds that my sister had very quick labours. "No, they'll just tell me to go home," I said. "I have to wait until they are regular and at least 5 minutes apart."
They never really became all that regular though. Some were strong and others weren't. By about 11.30 though, there were more strong ones and they were mostly 5 mins apart. Mum had been calling fairly regularly to urge me to go to hospital ASAP! I called the hospital. But they said that they each had to last at least one minute! I hung around some more. DH took some very unglamorous photos of me! At about 12 I had a huge contraction that went for over 90 seconds. :eek:
"That's it, we're going," I said. "I called the hospital and told them I was coming in." I'm pretty sure they still thought I had ages to go though. It was a 30 minute drive there and the first part of the way was harrowing. I remember telling myself to relax . . . relax . . . RELAX!!! - through gritted teeth. I was really praying and then things kind of eased off. We got to the hospital and I walked in quite comfortably. The nurses must have thought I didn't have a clue! They took me into a labour room for monitoring, and said they were really busy, and so after hooking me up to a machine to measure the contractions and showing me how to use the gas, the midwife left and said she'd be back shortly to see how far along things were.
She must have thought it was a long way off, because she was gone for over 20 minutes. My DH would keep an eye on the machine and let me know when a contraction was coming so I could go for it with the gas. And go for it I did! It's a wonder I didn't hyperventilate, I was sucking that stuff down so hard, while grabbing DH's shirt in both fists. It seemed to help though. After about 20 minutes, I had a huge contraction and my body just started pushing all of its own accord.
"There's pushing happening here and it's got nothing to do with me," I told my DH. "I think you'd better find a midwife."
Off he went, and I was left there alone - the longest minute or so of my life! Eventually he came running back with two midwives in tow.
[When he left, he couldn't find anyone, except a janitor, who directed him to a tea room, where the midwives were having a cup of tea!! They really did think I was way off.]
The midwives, helped me take off my pants - yes, I was still fully dressed! I was thinking that I might need some more serious pain reliet, but they checked me and I was already 9 cms so it was too late for that. It was all on for young and old then.
This part is all a blur to me now, but they tried to get me to stop pushing, but it was kind of beyond my control. When I finally was allowed push, the midwives helped me control my breathing to push more effectively. When William crowned, the midwife asked if I wanted to to feel his head. I couldn't talk so just shook my head. I just wanted this birth over, no distractions! When he was born soon after, I was just so relieved that it was done.
They put him on my chest to hold him, but I could only hold him for a little while because I got the shakes quite badly. I had lost a lot of blood and went into a little bit of shock, so DH took off his shirt and held him for me.
I ended up needing stitches for 2nd degree tearing, which wasn't much fun. DH felt that if the nurses had checked me sooner, that some of the tearing may have been prevented. Who knows?? Anyway, at least I got over the stitches quite easily. Unfortunately, though, it was quite a while, at least an hour and a half, before I had a chance to try to feed William, and I wonder if that is why we had real problems establishing breastfeeding.
All in all though, I have no complaints. The whole birth thing was no walk in the park, but it wasn't that bad. At least it was all over pretty quickly - William was born an hour and a quarter after we arrived at the hospital! And on the exact day I requested!:yelclap:
Thanks for reading - and sorry that for such a short labour, I've managed to make such a long story of it.