Shera
22-09-2008, 08:04 PM
Tuesday the 16th of September started off with a meltdown between DF & I, we resolved it thankfully before he left for work & I continued the day as per normal - the usual housework & preparing things for baby's expected arrival in early October.
DF arrived home from work at around 3pm & woke me from my nap on the couch - I'd fallen asleep listening to my hypnobirthing CD. I felt lightening sensation when I arose like the baby's head had engaged & at 4pm when I was bending down to collect the washing, I felt a gush of water run out of me. How embarrassing, I've wet myself I thought as baby's head had been pressing down uncomfortably on my bladder for about a week & now that it was engaged it made it worse. I laughed as I told DF that I thought I'd wet myself, but as I changed my underwear, more water leaked out & it certainly didn't smell like urine!
Over the next hour I continuously leaked small amounts of water & soaked 3 bath towels by 5:30. I called the hospital rather reluctantly as I had no signs of labour except for feeling hot & a few irregular tightenings. I was hesitant about going to hospital though because as a VBACer they would place time restrictions on my labour, but at the same time I did not want to risk an infection.
DF, DD & I finished preparing my hospital bags then DF insisted on taking some photos before we left as he had been meaning to take some full term belly shots but hadn't gotten around to it. At this point I started to get some surges so we left for the hospital.
Once we arrived at around 8pm, I DF decided to go to his Mum's place - 5 minutes away after realising that we could be waiting for hours. DD stayed with me & we were seen by a midwife & obstetrician at 9:45 pm - I had irregular weak surges while waiting but upon examination hadn't started dilating but as my waters had indeed broken but as labour had not been established there was a risk of infection so I started antibiotics at 11pm & prepared to spend the night in hospital. DF picked up DD & I said that I'd call them when labour became established.
I continued feeling surges irregularly until 2am when they became consistently 12-15 minutes apart. I continued my first stage of labour in a ward full of mums who had just given birth - very encouraging to get labour going when you hear newborns crying beside you!
I listened to my hypnobirthing affirmations & practised breathing through the surges which had increased in intensity & had started coming every 5-10minutes by 9am.
At 10am an obstetrician came in to examine me & said that considering I wanted a VBAC, if I was still labouring at 4pm then I would need to have my remaining waters broken to move things along. He also said that my DD & my DF could not come & be with me until visiting hours in this ward & they would only be able to join me when I was moved into the birth suite which he would not allow me to go to until I was contracting at 2- 3minutes apart. He was very rude about this & I could see that he was doubtful that I would even end up in the birth suite.
I definitely did not want to be examined by this man again & I desperately felt like I need my support person (DF) with me more than ever, so I made every effort to move around as much as possible until my surges jumped to 3-4minutes apart. I asked one of the midwives if I could please to be moved to the birthing suite at this point to be with my DF & DD & she organised it for me :thumbsup:
I arrived at the birth suite at 1:30pm with my surges still 3-4minutes apart but sometimes weakening/increasing in intensity & jumping all over the place to 2minutes apart to 7 minutes apart. My DF & DD arrived & I felt relieved to see them. I continued to breathe & listen to my hypnobirthing affirmations.
I honestly did not feel any pain with the surges just pressure & tightening & I still felt like I had heaps of energy left. The midwife examined me at 4pm - I didn't expect to be more than 4cm dilated (as this is where my last labour had stalled when I had an emergency csec) & I was 4.5cm dilated.
This was great as I felt that I had gone 0.5cm past my previous stalling point. The baby had also been showing that she was very content throughout this labour so I was very happy with how things were progressing.
The midwife had to consult the ob on duty on my progress which she thought was fine especially since I had no scar pain & baby was doing really well. So no artificial water breaking :)
The midwife went off duty at 3pm & another lovely midwife attended. She was so wonderfully supportive & encouraging even though my surges were all over the place on the monitor, she even had DF & I joking & laughing bewteen surges. At 5pm she checked dilation & I had progressed to 7cm which was great - I knew it wouldn't be long & had a feeling I'd be in transition very soon.
However at 7pm the ob on duty came in to examine me & said that my labour had now been going on for too long (17 hours) even though I hadn't experienced any difficulties & the baby's heartrate was perfect. She examined me again & said that I was still 7cm dilated & that I had 2 options - have an epidural to help my cervix relax & dilate faster (which I had till 8:30pm to dilate to 10cm) or an emergency c-sec now. Basically I realised that she was saying that I would need a to have another c-sec either now or in an hour.
I was absolutely devastated & even lost my hypnobirthing focus for a few minutes. I could see no good reason for another c-sec except that my cervix was taking longer than usual to dilate - everything else was fine. And as for an epidural - I had explicitly stated in my birth plan that this was not an option - I hadn't needed any pain relief - I wasn't even experiencing pain just tightenings & now I was being told that I had to choose between the 2 things which I had not wanted.
At this point, I admit I almost caved & chose the c-sec because I felt like my labour was no longer in my control. Thankfully DF calmed me down & advocated for me discussing my concerns with the ob & asking all the right questions (I am soooooooo proud of him). He calmed me down & said that I should at least try the epidural rather than have another emergency c-sec & even though it wasn't in the birth plan, that it was still giving me a chance to have my VBAC. I found out later that the midwife also advocated for me as the ob had asked her to try to encourage me to have the emergency c-sec.
I finally calmed down & made peace with my decision to have the epidural, which was administered by 7:40pm. By 8pm I was feeling the effects of the epidural which had been given at a very low dose as I had requested as I still wanted to feel my surges. The epidural only worked on my left side! I still had completely normal sensation on my right side & felt every surge mildly on my left but intensely on my right.
My surges slowed right down to 3-4minutes apart right on cue at 8:30 pm - I felt like pushing (breathing down in hypnobirthing) DF & the midwife were so excited & the midwife announced that I was indeed fully dilated with the baby almost ready to come down - she just needed to turn her head slightly. & Right on cue the ob came back to see that I was indeed 10cm dilated with bub almost ready to be born. She said that I should't push for 30minutes until she arrived back to ensure that baby's head was in the right position.
WTF - You've got to be kidding me - I said - even if bub decided to get in the right position I have to wait for her to come back??? After breathing through each surge with DF & the midwifes encouragement - trying to hold off baby at 8:50 I told the midwife I felt that baby's head was in the right position - she checked & said that it definitely was & to help baby to come out with each surge. I lay on my side with DF holding up my left leg & l breathed baby down (& admit to also pushing - which I shouldn't have done with hypnobirthing!) with each surge & it felt so good - immense relief & excitement that I would soon be cuddling my little baby.
The crowning of baby's head was so exciting - I knew that it would only be a matter of moments before I would meet baby - I expressed my excitement to DF between surges - DD & DF were so encouraging & just as excited as they kept announcing that baby's head was almost there.
The ob came back in the midst of this -sorry doc but my baby couldn't wait for you. She was happy that things had progressed smoothly & left the room for the midwife to finish.
My little girl finally emerged at 9:35pm- the midwife showed us all that she was a little girl before handing her to me, She was so tiny but chubbier than what I though a 37weeker would be! And such a calm little bub she gave a couple of cries before looking around. Her cord was clamped after it stopped pulsating by DF who then had to fight DD for a cuddle!
The placenta took about 10 minutes to come out without problems & I was examined to ensure that there was no damage - there wasn't & everything was intact just a slight bruising.
I was so ecstatic, I shared something so precious yet so natural with 2 of the most special people in my life & had my little baby the way my body intended (aside from the epidural). It was a long labour by medical standards but my body did everything it was supposed to do just not with textbook timing. I loved the experience of hypnobirthing & even though towards the end I found it difficult to breathe & focus, I would happily do it all over again.
Oh, and I love being able to walk around with no pain, drive a car & do pretty much everything I would normally do within a few hours of having her too ;)
photos & name coming soon...
DF arrived home from work at around 3pm & woke me from my nap on the couch - I'd fallen asleep listening to my hypnobirthing CD. I felt lightening sensation when I arose like the baby's head had engaged & at 4pm when I was bending down to collect the washing, I felt a gush of water run out of me. How embarrassing, I've wet myself I thought as baby's head had been pressing down uncomfortably on my bladder for about a week & now that it was engaged it made it worse. I laughed as I told DF that I thought I'd wet myself, but as I changed my underwear, more water leaked out & it certainly didn't smell like urine!
Over the next hour I continuously leaked small amounts of water & soaked 3 bath towels by 5:30. I called the hospital rather reluctantly as I had no signs of labour except for feeling hot & a few irregular tightenings. I was hesitant about going to hospital though because as a VBACer they would place time restrictions on my labour, but at the same time I did not want to risk an infection.
DF, DD & I finished preparing my hospital bags then DF insisted on taking some photos before we left as he had been meaning to take some full term belly shots but hadn't gotten around to it. At this point I started to get some surges so we left for the hospital.
Once we arrived at around 8pm, I DF decided to go to his Mum's place - 5 minutes away after realising that we could be waiting for hours. DD stayed with me & we were seen by a midwife & obstetrician at 9:45 pm - I had irregular weak surges while waiting but upon examination hadn't started dilating but as my waters had indeed broken but as labour had not been established there was a risk of infection so I started antibiotics at 11pm & prepared to spend the night in hospital. DF picked up DD & I said that I'd call them when labour became established.
I continued feeling surges irregularly until 2am when they became consistently 12-15 minutes apart. I continued my first stage of labour in a ward full of mums who had just given birth - very encouraging to get labour going when you hear newborns crying beside you!
I listened to my hypnobirthing affirmations & practised breathing through the surges which had increased in intensity & had started coming every 5-10minutes by 9am.
At 10am an obstetrician came in to examine me & said that considering I wanted a VBAC, if I was still labouring at 4pm then I would need to have my remaining waters broken to move things along. He also said that my DD & my DF could not come & be with me until visiting hours in this ward & they would only be able to join me when I was moved into the birth suite which he would not allow me to go to until I was contracting at 2- 3minutes apart. He was very rude about this & I could see that he was doubtful that I would even end up in the birth suite.
I definitely did not want to be examined by this man again & I desperately felt like I need my support person (DF) with me more than ever, so I made every effort to move around as much as possible until my surges jumped to 3-4minutes apart. I asked one of the midwives if I could please to be moved to the birthing suite at this point to be with my DF & DD & she organised it for me :thumbsup:
I arrived at the birth suite at 1:30pm with my surges still 3-4minutes apart but sometimes weakening/increasing in intensity & jumping all over the place to 2minutes apart to 7 minutes apart. My DF & DD arrived & I felt relieved to see them. I continued to breathe & listen to my hypnobirthing affirmations.
I honestly did not feel any pain with the surges just pressure & tightening & I still felt like I had heaps of energy left. The midwife examined me at 4pm - I didn't expect to be more than 4cm dilated (as this is where my last labour had stalled when I had an emergency csec) & I was 4.5cm dilated.
This was great as I felt that I had gone 0.5cm past my previous stalling point. The baby had also been showing that she was very content throughout this labour so I was very happy with how things were progressing.
The midwife had to consult the ob on duty on my progress which she thought was fine especially since I had no scar pain & baby was doing really well. So no artificial water breaking :)
The midwife went off duty at 3pm & another lovely midwife attended. She was so wonderfully supportive & encouraging even though my surges were all over the place on the monitor, she even had DF & I joking & laughing bewteen surges. At 5pm she checked dilation & I had progressed to 7cm which was great - I knew it wouldn't be long & had a feeling I'd be in transition very soon.
However at 7pm the ob on duty came in to examine me & said that my labour had now been going on for too long (17 hours) even though I hadn't experienced any difficulties & the baby's heartrate was perfect. She examined me again & said that I was still 7cm dilated & that I had 2 options - have an epidural to help my cervix relax & dilate faster (which I had till 8:30pm to dilate to 10cm) or an emergency c-sec now. Basically I realised that she was saying that I would need a to have another c-sec either now or in an hour.
I was absolutely devastated & even lost my hypnobirthing focus for a few minutes. I could see no good reason for another c-sec except that my cervix was taking longer than usual to dilate - everything else was fine. And as for an epidural - I had explicitly stated in my birth plan that this was not an option - I hadn't needed any pain relief - I wasn't even experiencing pain just tightenings & now I was being told that I had to choose between the 2 things which I had not wanted.
At this point, I admit I almost caved & chose the c-sec because I felt like my labour was no longer in my control. Thankfully DF calmed me down & advocated for me discussing my concerns with the ob & asking all the right questions (I am soooooooo proud of him). He calmed me down & said that I should at least try the epidural rather than have another emergency c-sec & even though it wasn't in the birth plan, that it was still giving me a chance to have my VBAC. I found out later that the midwife also advocated for me as the ob had asked her to try to encourage me to have the emergency c-sec.
I finally calmed down & made peace with my decision to have the epidural, which was administered by 7:40pm. By 8pm I was feeling the effects of the epidural which had been given at a very low dose as I had requested as I still wanted to feel my surges. The epidural only worked on my left side! I still had completely normal sensation on my right side & felt every surge mildly on my left but intensely on my right.
My surges slowed right down to 3-4minutes apart right on cue at 8:30 pm - I felt like pushing (breathing down in hypnobirthing) DF & the midwife were so excited & the midwife announced that I was indeed fully dilated with the baby almost ready to come down - she just needed to turn her head slightly. & Right on cue the ob came back to see that I was indeed 10cm dilated with bub almost ready to be born. She said that I should't push for 30minutes until she arrived back to ensure that baby's head was in the right position.
WTF - You've got to be kidding me - I said - even if bub decided to get in the right position I have to wait for her to come back??? After breathing through each surge with DF & the midwifes encouragement - trying to hold off baby at 8:50 I told the midwife I felt that baby's head was in the right position - she checked & said that it definitely was & to help baby to come out with each surge. I lay on my side with DF holding up my left leg & l breathed baby down (& admit to also pushing - which I shouldn't have done with hypnobirthing!) with each surge & it felt so good - immense relief & excitement that I would soon be cuddling my little baby.
The crowning of baby's head was so exciting - I knew that it would only be a matter of moments before I would meet baby - I expressed my excitement to DF between surges - DD & DF were so encouraging & just as excited as they kept announcing that baby's head was almost there.
The ob came back in the midst of this -sorry doc but my baby couldn't wait for you. She was happy that things had progressed smoothly & left the room for the midwife to finish.
My little girl finally emerged at 9:35pm- the midwife showed us all that she was a little girl before handing her to me, She was so tiny but chubbier than what I though a 37weeker would be! And such a calm little bub she gave a couple of cries before looking around. Her cord was clamped after it stopped pulsating by DF who then had to fight DD for a cuddle!
The placenta took about 10 minutes to come out without problems & I was examined to ensure that there was no damage - there wasn't & everything was intact just a slight bruising.
I was so ecstatic, I shared something so precious yet so natural with 2 of the most special people in my life & had my little baby the way my body intended (aside from the epidural). It was a long labour by medical standards but my body did everything it was supposed to do just not with textbook timing. I loved the experience of hypnobirthing & even though towards the end I found it difficult to breathe & focus, I would happily do it all over again.
Oh, and I love being able to walk around with no pain, drive a car & do pretty much everything I would normally do within a few hours of having her too ;)
photos & name coming soon...