Maybe3
22-08-2006, 16:44
Well I am actually going back to 2004 and my first birth for this de- brief, it has only been since the birth of my second child that I have been able to deal with most of the aspects of Campbell’s birth and move on.
I was due on Sunday 4th April 2004, the day before my first wedding anniversary! My due date came and went and I had an obs appointment on the Monday morning. While going to the toilet on the Monday morning I noticed a blood streaked show and in my naivety got very excited as I thought this would be the start of my labour.
I went to the Obs appointment and promptly announced to him that I would be seeing him later that day to have my baby - he just laughed and said not likely!!!! Oh how right he was!
I went about my day as usual and around 7pm started feeling some contractions. We monitored them through the night and by 3am, they were consistently 5 mins apart so we rang the hospital and spoke to the midwives, who said I could come in if I wanted to be monitored etc. I was feeling pretty happy thinking if these are what contractions are, then I will be OK! We went to the hospital and once we got there the contractions become very irregular and eventually stopped, I was sent home at 7am Tuesday morning with some sleeping tablets. I slept for 4 hours……..
Tuesday night I started feeling contractions again, and the were coming every 5 mins again. A girlfriend came over to walk around the block with me to try and get things moving. I think I walked around the block 50 million times that night, and by 2am the contractions were still coming 5 mins apart. We spoke to the hospital, who again said come in if I wanted to be monitored or something for the pain. Again as soon as we got to the hospital the contractions became irregular and not much was happening. I was eventually sent home 5pm Wednesday afternoon.
Wednesday night at 11pm my contractions came back with the force of a freight train, all of a sudden I realised that even though my previous contractions had been regular, they had no where near the intensity of these contractions. I tried everything I could at home, heat packs on my back, hot shower, rocking my hips. Everytime I had a contraction in the shower my husband kept telling me to be quiet as we lived in a townhouse and our bathroom wall is against our neighbours bathroom wall and by this stage it was 2am!
At 3am we made for the 3rd and final humiliating time the trip to the hosptial, and I just hoped that this would be the read deal, if not I was in trouble. Although the car ride to the hospital was only 5 mins away the jolts over the tram tracks was excruciating. My contractions were coming so hard and so close together I was barely able to catch my breathe in between them.
After being admitted to the delivery suite, I tried the gas, I tried a hot bath, but all that was working was standing and rocking my hips. I was starting to get really tired and it was about this stage that I really started to lose concept of time etc.
At 7am my Obs arrived to break my waters and I was 3cm dilated. I had been in real labour for 8 hours and was only 3cm! I was so deflated. After my waters broke my contractions ramped up even more, and now I was really struggling to catch my breathe between them, then at about 10.30am I was feeling the need to push. The midwife did an internal and I was still only 4cm dilated and no where near ready to push, but I couldn’t help it my body was just wanting to push of it’s own accord. In my hazy state I could still remember my sister telling me that she ended up having an Em caeser as she was pushing before her cervix was dilated and swelled her cervix and the babies head, ending up with the C/S, so I asked for more pain relief. I was given a shot of pethidine , but it didn’t do anything to stop the pushing sensation so I asked for an epidural.
The epidural was administered at 11am and it was some time after this that the drip was put in as my labour had slowed down again once I was lying down. Although I couldn’t feel the contractions, I hated the feeling of being restrained to the bed and unable to move my legs. By about 2.30pm I was starting to go through transition and my midwife was getting quite concerned about my lack of urine output (via the catheter) and my blood pressure was starting to rise every time I had to push.
Although I was still unable to feel majority of the contractions, I was starting to get enough sensation to feel when I needed to push. After pushing for over 2 hours and getting nowhere, my Obs was called to deliver my son. They were starting to get very concerned about my BP and by this stage I was begging for a C/S just to have the nightmare over.
As soon as my Obs arrived he explained to me that they need to get the baby out for my BP and he would need to do a forceps delivery. I can categorically say that the epidural was not working by this stage, as I felt the most horrific bone grating pain as my son was delivered. (Sorry if TMI) I cannot describe it any other way! My Obs then went on to stitch me up (I still to this day do not know how many stitches I had, I must ask my Obs again) and I felt the entire thing, but as he thought I had an epidural, he did not give me any further pain relief whilst stitching.
It is really at this point that I struggle, because my body went into shock, and although I now know that that is fairly normal, I did not know at the time that this can happen. Once my Obs delivered the placenta and stitched me up, I really do not remember anything until our first visitors came about 1 ½ later. I do not remember my Obs leaving and the midwife I had while I was delivering was fantastic, but they were so flat out she had to go to theatre to assist with an Emergency C/S straight after.
I had been off and on in labour for over 72 hours with just 4 hours sleep. By this stage I was delusional!
The things I struggle with:
I should have read up more on birth. I did the standard huff n puff classes and read the stock standard books, thinking I was sufficiently informed, but I wasn’t
I had an epidural, which was the one thing I really did not want to have, and felt that there may have been an alternative way to stop the pushing sensation
The first 1 and ½ hours of my sons life, which I cannot remember. I have struggled to bond with my son from the start, and I think to a certain extent I blamed him for my negative birth experience.:gloomy:
I wish I was just overall more aware, and was told more by the midwives as far as where I was up to and what my options were.
That essentially my son had to be pulled from my body rather than me being able to push him out.
I still have questions as to what position he was born .
The things I was happy with:
My Obs took a minimal intervention route until really required, resulting in a vaginal delivery, which other Obs may have done a C/S.
I learnt first hand the negative effects of an Epidural to give me the added stamina in subsequent births to refrain from having an epidural
I have become much more assertive in relation to labour and the role the midwives and Obs play in it, empowering me to communicate my needs much more effectively.
I had a beautiful and personally satisfying birth with my second son, thanks to the lessons I learnt from this labour.
I look forward to any comments re my birth experience.
Thanks for reading if you got this far!
I was due on Sunday 4th April 2004, the day before my first wedding anniversary! My due date came and went and I had an obs appointment on the Monday morning. While going to the toilet on the Monday morning I noticed a blood streaked show and in my naivety got very excited as I thought this would be the start of my labour.
I went to the Obs appointment and promptly announced to him that I would be seeing him later that day to have my baby - he just laughed and said not likely!!!! Oh how right he was!
I went about my day as usual and around 7pm started feeling some contractions. We monitored them through the night and by 3am, they were consistently 5 mins apart so we rang the hospital and spoke to the midwives, who said I could come in if I wanted to be monitored etc. I was feeling pretty happy thinking if these are what contractions are, then I will be OK! We went to the hospital and once we got there the contractions become very irregular and eventually stopped, I was sent home at 7am Tuesday morning with some sleeping tablets. I slept for 4 hours……..
Tuesday night I started feeling contractions again, and the were coming every 5 mins again. A girlfriend came over to walk around the block with me to try and get things moving. I think I walked around the block 50 million times that night, and by 2am the contractions were still coming 5 mins apart. We spoke to the hospital, who again said come in if I wanted to be monitored or something for the pain. Again as soon as we got to the hospital the contractions became irregular and not much was happening. I was eventually sent home 5pm Wednesday afternoon.
Wednesday night at 11pm my contractions came back with the force of a freight train, all of a sudden I realised that even though my previous contractions had been regular, they had no where near the intensity of these contractions. I tried everything I could at home, heat packs on my back, hot shower, rocking my hips. Everytime I had a contraction in the shower my husband kept telling me to be quiet as we lived in a townhouse and our bathroom wall is against our neighbours bathroom wall and by this stage it was 2am!
At 3am we made for the 3rd and final humiliating time the trip to the hosptial, and I just hoped that this would be the read deal, if not I was in trouble. Although the car ride to the hospital was only 5 mins away the jolts over the tram tracks was excruciating. My contractions were coming so hard and so close together I was barely able to catch my breathe in between them.
After being admitted to the delivery suite, I tried the gas, I tried a hot bath, but all that was working was standing and rocking my hips. I was starting to get really tired and it was about this stage that I really started to lose concept of time etc.
At 7am my Obs arrived to break my waters and I was 3cm dilated. I had been in real labour for 8 hours and was only 3cm! I was so deflated. After my waters broke my contractions ramped up even more, and now I was really struggling to catch my breathe between them, then at about 10.30am I was feeling the need to push. The midwife did an internal and I was still only 4cm dilated and no where near ready to push, but I couldn’t help it my body was just wanting to push of it’s own accord. In my hazy state I could still remember my sister telling me that she ended up having an Em caeser as she was pushing before her cervix was dilated and swelled her cervix and the babies head, ending up with the C/S, so I asked for more pain relief. I was given a shot of pethidine , but it didn’t do anything to stop the pushing sensation so I asked for an epidural.
The epidural was administered at 11am and it was some time after this that the drip was put in as my labour had slowed down again once I was lying down. Although I couldn’t feel the contractions, I hated the feeling of being restrained to the bed and unable to move my legs. By about 2.30pm I was starting to go through transition and my midwife was getting quite concerned about my lack of urine output (via the catheter) and my blood pressure was starting to rise every time I had to push.
Although I was still unable to feel majority of the contractions, I was starting to get enough sensation to feel when I needed to push. After pushing for over 2 hours and getting nowhere, my Obs was called to deliver my son. They were starting to get very concerned about my BP and by this stage I was begging for a C/S just to have the nightmare over.
As soon as my Obs arrived he explained to me that they need to get the baby out for my BP and he would need to do a forceps delivery. I can categorically say that the epidural was not working by this stage, as I felt the most horrific bone grating pain as my son was delivered. (Sorry if TMI) I cannot describe it any other way! My Obs then went on to stitch me up (I still to this day do not know how many stitches I had, I must ask my Obs again) and I felt the entire thing, but as he thought I had an epidural, he did not give me any further pain relief whilst stitching.
It is really at this point that I struggle, because my body went into shock, and although I now know that that is fairly normal, I did not know at the time that this can happen. Once my Obs delivered the placenta and stitched me up, I really do not remember anything until our first visitors came about 1 ½ later. I do not remember my Obs leaving and the midwife I had while I was delivering was fantastic, but they were so flat out she had to go to theatre to assist with an Emergency C/S straight after.
I had been off and on in labour for over 72 hours with just 4 hours sleep. By this stage I was delusional!
The things I struggle with:
I should have read up more on birth. I did the standard huff n puff classes and read the stock standard books, thinking I was sufficiently informed, but I wasn’t
I had an epidural, which was the one thing I really did not want to have, and felt that there may have been an alternative way to stop the pushing sensation
The first 1 and ½ hours of my sons life, which I cannot remember. I have struggled to bond with my son from the start, and I think to a certain extent I blamed him for my negative birth experience.:gloomy:
I wish I was just overall more aware, and was told more by the midwives as far as where I was up to and what my options were.
That essentially my son had to be pulled from my body rather than me being able to push him out.
I still have questions as to what position he was born .
The things I was happy with:
My Obs took a minimal intervention route until really required, resulting in a vaginal delivery, which other Obs may have done a C/S.
I learnt first hand the negative effects of an Epidural to give me the added stamina in subsequent births to refrain from having an epidural
I have become much more assertive in relation to labour and the role the midwives and Obs play in it, empowering me to communicate my needs much more effectively.
I had a beautiful and personally satisfying birth with my second son, thanks to the lessons I learnt from this labour.
I look forward to any comments re my birth experience.
Thanks for reading if you got this far!