Mia
22-09-2008, 09:18 AM
My due date (8 September) came and went with no signs of labour – no pains, no mucus, nothing. On Tuesday at 8 days overdue I saw an ob (my regular ob was away by then) who did a stretch and sweep. I’d never had one of those before and was nervous but it was no big deal. He said he could feel the bub’s head and I was 2-3cm dilated and that sometimes that brings on labour if things are ready. However he booked me in for induction on Friday (11 days overdue) so I had a deadline which I was disappointed about because I had hoped to go into labour naturally. DP and I went home, did a long walk in the afternoon, did some yoga/meditation/visualisation and even managed sex that night!
The next morning I woke up with tummy pain but didn’t think too much of it until I had peed and pooped and it was still there. By 7am I realised the pains were actually recurring at pretty regular intervals of about 4 minutes. DP had a breakfast with a friend booked so I encouraged him to go and just keep his phone on! He left at about 7.30am and I did breakfast for DS (2 yo) and pottered around. The pains kept on regularly and started to get worse so I wrote times down – every 4 minutes or so – then phoned DP and told him not to order a second coffee and put the telly on for DS. By now the contractions were making me moan a bit and close my eyes.
I still didn’t want to get everything going in case it was a false alarm but was getting really uncomfortable (and a bit nervous because DS was a fast labour) so DP came home. We tracked down our neighbour and waited for her to pick up DS so we could go to hospital. I think we got there at about 9.30am. I buried my face in my hands during contractions in the car and hobbled into maternity during a break.
A midwife named Dianne came and took me into a delivery suite. I handed her one of the copies of my birth plan on which I’d been timing contractions. One of the first things she did was draw the curtains so there was only natural, dim light that made me feel good straight away.
DP and I agreed later they really were incredibly non-interventionist which was wonderful and just what we wanted. There are lots of examples through the whole thing. One was that they asked about a CTG trace and I said I wasn’t interested and they immediately said that was cool but said (almost apologetically) that they might have to use the Doppler occasionally.
Eventually I slid onto the floor and leaned my forehead against the bed and Dianne got out a floor mat and some pillows and things and I moved over there and leaned over a stool for most of the rest of the labour. I had been assuming I’d labour in the shower or bath (like I did when DS was born) but I couldn’t bear to move any more than I had to, just wanted to hide away inside and breathe, and it would have taken more time to fill the bath than what we had. By now the contractions were really painful and frequent and I was moaning and vocalising through them, taking a sip of water each break. At one point I threw up vigorously into a dish. Dianne gently felt my tummy at intervals and said that they were really strong and that it wouldn’t be much longer. She used the Doppler a few times.
http://i440.photobucket.com/albums/qq126/richardj_bucket/labour2.jpg
I don’t know how they know just by looking at you, but eventually Dianne said that it was time for me to get my clothing off (I had done most of the labour fully dressed) and get up on the bed for delivery. I took the same position I had with DS, which was kneeling up over the backrest of the bed, and gripped the pillows and moaned and groaned with increasing intensity as there was now the unmistakeable stretching pain of full dilation and baby on the way. I was surprised at how much more vocal I was than during DS’s birth. It wasn’t yelling and screaming, but it was loud moaning that I could not stop coming. I blame all the emphasis on vocalising at my yoga classes!
My waters still had not broken and a quick internal check revealed they were bulging and straining. The other midwife Linda offered to give them a tweak and break them but we left them alone to break on their own. The midwives were just so quiet and respectful throughout. After a few more contractions the membranes were absolutely at bursting point, the pressure behind them was extraordinary – and then they burst and I heard Linda say “there they go”.
It took a couple of contractions each for bub’s head to crown, and for me to birth her head and shoulders and finally her whole body slithered out and was passed underneath me. I scooped her up in my arms and felt the most intense love and protective instinct, coupled with relief at the birth going so well and the searing pain being over. I hadn’t even got around to taking my bra off.
http://i440.photobucket.com/albums/qq126/richardj_bucket/firstmeeting.jpg
She was born at 11.07am, about 1.5 hours since arriving at the hospital and after about 4 hours of labour. The placenta came about 10 minutes later and we all admired how healthy and intact the membranes and placenta were. Last time it was discreetly whipped out of sight, but this time the midwife held it up and explained how it comes out inside out and showed what it looked like right way out and so forth.
http://i440.photobucket.com/albums/qq126/richardj_bucket/placenta.jpg
DP cut the cord when it had become empty and still and baby started her first breastfeed with great energy and open eyes. Later she was weighed: 3.98kgs, which was a big surprise as I felt this bub would be no more than 3.5kgs. I had a tiny tear and, after some debate about whether it needed it, one stitch from the obstetrician.
The stitching was actually the only involvement the obstetrician had in the birth. We’re pretty sure he wasn’t there when the baby actually came out. I liked that it happened that way because I had sort of hoped leading up to the birth that it would happen with just me, DP and a midwife in the room. And he was supportive of my philosophy, saying that he saw himself as "the ambulance" - there if you need it but otherwise in the background. So happy it worked out that way!
We were left to have quiet time together as a family and I expected a similar recovery to DS’s birth but when they came to help me into the shower and some clothes I started a pattern of bleeding and passing out. I had to be helped back to the bed twice and huge blood clots were pumped out of me by applying pressure to the uterus. DP said they shot out of me and landed on the bed like something from a comedy sci-fi movie. My uterus just kept puffing up into my abdominal cavity instead of shrinking down like it was supposed to.
After an hour or two of this and still in the delivery suite, it was decided I needed a syntocin drip to keep the uterus contracting. This was misery, not only because it meant staying in bed for several hours, but because the contraction pains came back just when I thought it was all over. They put in some fluids and a catheter too, to keep the bladder from taking up space in my lower tummy. I didn’t leave the delivery suite until 7.30pm that night and was wheeled to my room on a hospital bed - not how I expected to travel. So the whole first afternoon and night was spent on my back with my left arm tubed up, rolling to the side to breastfeed and eating and drinking very little in case surgery was needed.
But the next morning things were looking good so they unplugged me and I got out of bed and started doing things by myself. I was a little more wiped out than I would normally have been because of the blood loss etc, but after that my recovery accelerated rapidly and I loved the rest of the time in hospital. I have a bit more rehab ahead of me as I am prone to really loose ligaments – bad SPD, bad abdominal separation etc – but I am truly blessed to have had two healthy pregnancies, two natural births and two happy babies.
If you managed to read this far, I hope you enjoyed my story. I can almost guarantee I've read yours!
We have named her Cameo Scarlett and our family is complete :)
http://i440.photobucket.com/albums/qq126/richardj_bucket/onbed.jpg
The next morning I woke up with tummy pain but didn’t think too much of it until I had peed and pooped and it was still there. By 7am I realised the pains were actually recurring at pretty regular intervals of about 4 minutes. DP had a breakfast with a friend booked so I encouraged him to go and just keep his phone on! He left at about 7.30am and I did breakfast for DS (2 yo) and pottered around. The pains kept on regularly and started to get worse so I wrote times down – every 4 minutes or so – then phoned DP and told him not to order a second coffee and put the telly on for DS. By now the contractions were making me moan a bit and close my eyes.
I still didn’t want to get everything going in case it was a false alarm but was getting really uncomfortable (and a bit nervous because DS was a fast labour) so DP came home. We tracked down our neighbour and waited for her to pick up DS so we could go to hospital. I think we got there at about 9.30am. I buried my face in my hands during contractions in the car and hobbled into maternity during a break.
A midwife named Dianne came and took me into a delivery suite. I handed her one of the copies of my birth plan on which I’d been timing contractions. One of the first things she did was draw the curtains so there was only natural, dim light that made me feel good straight away.
DP and I agreed later they really were incredibly non-interventionist which was wonderful and just what we wanted. There are lots of examples through the whole thing. One was that they asked about a CTG trace and I said I wasn’t interested and they immediately said that was cool but said (almost apologetically) that they might have to use the Doppler occasionally.
Eventually I slid onto the floor and leaned my forehead against the bed and Dianne got out a floor mat and some pillows and things and I moved over there and leaned over a stool for most of the rest of the labour. I had been assuming I’d labour in the shower or bath (like I did when DS was born) but I couldn’t bear to move any more than I had to, just wanted to hide away inside and breathe, and it would have taken more time to fill the bath than what we had. By now the contractions were really painful and frequent and I was moaning and vocalising through them, taking a sip of water each break. At one point I threw up vigorously into a dish. Dianne gently felt my tummy at intervals and said that they were really strong and that it wouldn’t be much longer. She used the Doppler a few times.
http://i440.photobucket.com/albums/qq126/richardj_bucket/labour2.jpg
I don’t know how they know just by looking at you, but eventually Dianne said that it was time for me to get my clothing off (I had done most of the labour fully dressed) and get up on the bed for delivery. I took the same position I had with DS, which was kneeling up over the backrest of the bed, and gripped the pillows and moaned and groaned with increasing intensity as there was now the unmistakeable stretching pain of full dilation and baby on the way. I was surprised at how much more vocal I was than during DS’s birth. It wasn’t yelling and screaming, but it was loud moaning that I could not stop coming. I blame all the emphasis on vocalising at my yoga classes!
My waters still had not broken and a quick internal check revealed they were bulging and straining. The other midwife Linda offered to give them a tweak and break them but we left them alone to break on their own. The midwives were just so quiet and respectful throughout. After a few more contractions the membranes were absolutely at bursting point, the pressure behind them was extraordinary – and then they burst and I heard Linda say “there they go”.
It took a couple of contractions each for bub’s head to crown, and for me to birth her head and shoulders and finally her whole body slithered out and was passed underneath me. I scooped her up in my arms and felt the most intense love and protective instinct, coupled with relief at the birth going so well and the searing pain being over. I hadn’t even got around to taking my bra off.
http://i440.photobucket.com/albums/qq126/richardj_bucket/firstmeeting.jpg
She was born at 11.07am, about 1.5 hours since arriving at the hospital and after about 4 hours of labour. The placenta came about 10 minutes later and we all admired how healthy and intact the membranes and placenta were. Last time it was discreetly whipped out of sight, but this time the midwife held it up and explained how it comes out inside out and showed what it looked like right way out and so forth.
http://i440.photobucket.com/albums/qq126/richardj_bucket/placenta.jpg
DP cut the cord when it had become empty and still and baby started her first breastfeed with great energy and open eyes. Later she was weighed: 3.98kgs, which was a big surprise as I felt this bub would be no more than 3.5kgs. I had a tiny tear and, after some debate about whether it needed it, one stitch from the obstetrician.
The stitching was actually the only involvement the obstetrician had in the birth. We’re pretty sure he wasn’t there when the baby actually came out. I liked that it happened that way because I had sort of hoped leading up to the birth that it would happen with just me, DP and a midwife in the room. And he was supportive of my philosophy, saying that he saw himself as "the ambulance" - there if you need it but otherwise in the background. So happy it worked out that way!
We were left to have quiet time together as a family and I expected a similar recovery to DS’s birth but when they came to help me into the shower and some clothes I started a pattern of bleeding and passing out. I had to be helped back to the bed twice and huge blood clots were pumped out of me by applying pressure to the uterus. DP said they shot out of me and landed on the bed like something from a comedy sci-fi movie. My uterus just kept puffing up into my abdominal cavity instead of shrinking down like it was supposed to.
After an hour or two of this and still in the delivery suite, it was decided I needed a syntocin drip to keep the uterus contracting. This was misery, not only because it meant staying in bed for several hours, but because the contraction pains came back just when I thought it was all over. They put in some fluids and a catheter too, to keep the bladder from taking up space in my lower tummy. I didn’t leave the delivery suite until 7.30pm that night and was wheeled to my room on a hospital bed - not how I expected to travel. So the whole first afternoon and night was spent on my back with my left arm tubed up, rolling to the side to breastfeed and eating and drinking very little in case surgery was needed.
But the next morning things were looking good so they unplugged me and I got out of bed and started doing things by myself. I was a little more wiped out than I would normally have been because of the blood loss etc, but after that my recovery accelerated rapidly and I loved the rest of the time in hospital. I have a bit more rehab ahead of me as I am prone to really loose ligaments – bad SPD, bad abdominal separation etc – but I am truly blessed to have had two healthy pregnancies, two natural births and two happy babies.
If you managed to read this far, I hope you enjoyed my story. I can almost guarantee I've read yours!
We have named her Cameo Scarlett and our family is complete :)
http://i440.photobucket.com/albums/qq126/richardj_bucket/onbed.jpg