LMenz
23-02-2007, 10:49 AM
Here's my birth story.... it's pretty long
It's been 7 days now since Jack's birth and I'm loving motherhood so far. He is so beautiful and already has his own little personality. He looks exactly like my DH, he even frowns the same way. It still feels surreal that he's finally arrived after such a long wait
Labour started on the 13th February, spontaniously, at 7 days overdue.
I lost my plug at 5am and contractions started an hour later. They ranged from 4-20 minutes apart and were quiet irregular. This went on for almost 2 days......I was unable to sleep as the contractions were intensly painful when I layed down. I roamed around the house, rocking back and fourth during a contraction.
After several trips to the hospital I was finally admitted at 6.00pm on the 14th at 5-6 cm dialated. I was so excited. My midwife was fantastic!! I can't praise her enough, she was so supportive and encouraging..........I felt like I was finally making some progress so it gave me the will to continue on without any pain relief. By 11.30pm I felt like I needed to push after being in the bath for a while. We went back to the delivery suite where I got ready to give it a try. By this stage I was having some gas which really helped with my breathing......After a few pushes I had a quick internal to discover I was only 7cm. I was so upset and disheartened.....all that work and I was still so far off.
They decided to break my waters to help speed things along.......once this was done the contractions came thick and hard. I continued to progress faster but my baby's head was still very high and not fully engaged.
This is where things got complicated. I'd reached about 8 - 9cms and was completely exhausted. It was about 1am on the 15th and I'd already been in labour for a day and a half. Bubs head was so big it wasn't disending quickly enough and he was getting a little distressed.
When the Ob came in and told me I was still several hours off before pushing, I finally made the (very hard) decision to have an epidural. I'd been adament about not wanting pethadine so an epi was the next step.......I felt really dissapointed in myself as I had made it so far with just gas but the exhaustion was too overpowering and all I could keep thinking was how will I ever push this baby out.
Once the epi was in, which was so easy and painless, not at all scary, I was able to doze a bit between contactions (so was my DH). The epidural did give me the shakes and the itches but apart from that it was heaven
I was checked again and had still failed to make any progress. I got hooked up to the syntocin drip and things moved a bit quicker from here. Bubs was attatched to the internal monitor and it was discovered his heart rate was dropping during each contraction......... It was horrible. DH and I could hear it drop every time and would then see the midwife run out to get the OB. I started to panic a bit and keep asking if the baby was ok.
Anyway after some talk about a c-section (scary) it was decided I could give pushing a try. Nearly two hours later and he was still only
3/4 of the way out. By this point his heart rate had dropped a lot and the OB was called in to make a decision.
Jack needed to come out quick.......his heart rate was down to 76 and I was freaking out big time. OB said we need to get him out now so I was hooked up in the stirrups and told he would be born with forceps. By this stage I didn't care what happened as long as our bub was safe. After an episiotomy and a few more contractions he was finally delivered at 5.24am on the 15th February. He wasn't breathing at first but started to on his own very quickly. The cord was also wrapped around his little neck so DH wasn't able to cut it.
Once he was safe on my belly all I felt was relief. DH and were both a bit stunned about what had just happened.
I was in total amazement that our son was finally here. He cried for ages and then started looking for my boob. His agpars were 8 and 9 which was great considering what he had been through.
After I was stitched up (over 20 minutes :eek: ) OB said I had an internal tear as well which he was surprised at seeing I'd had the episiotomy..I was still drugged from the epidural so completely unaware.
Even though his birth was a little traumatic and not exactly to plan I am still really happy with it. I don't regret having the epidural at all.... maybe next time I can do it without drugs (YES! there will be a next time, strangely enough)
My DH was so amazing. He was with me the whole time. He helped me with my breathing and lent me his poor fingers to crush.
We can't believe how much we already love our little boy and both feel our love and bond with each other is now stronger than ever. My heart just melts when I see my DH give Jack a kiss.
Weight: 8lb 2oz / 3.68kgs
Lenght: 50.5 cm
Head Circ: 36.5 cm
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u299/lmenz/IMG_0993.jpg
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u299/lmenz/IMG_1003.jpg
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u299/lmenz/IMG_1024.jpg
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u299/lmenz/IMG_1043.jpg
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u299/lmenz/IMG_1052.jpg
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u299/lmenz/IMG_1069.jpg
It's been 7 days now since Jack's birth and I'm loving motherhood so far. He is so beautiful and already has his own little personality. He looks exactly like my DH, he even frowns the same way. It still feels surreal that he's finally arrived after such a long wait
Labour started on the 13th February, spontaniously, at 7 days overdue.
I lost my plug at 5am and contractions started an hour later. They ranged from 4-20 minutes apart and were quiet irregular. This went on for almost 2 days......I was unable to sleep as the contractions were intensly painful when I layed down. I roamed around the house, rocking back and fourth during a contraction.
After several trips to the hospital I was finally admitted at 6.00pm on the 14th at 5-6 cm dialated. I was so excited. My midwife was fantastic!! I can't praise her enough, she was so supportive and encouraging..........I felt like I was finally making some progress so it gave me the will to continue on without any pain relief. By 11.30pm I felt like I needed to push after being in the bath for a while. We went back to the delivery suite where I got ready to give it a try. By this stage I was having some gas which really helped with my breathing......After a few pushes I had a quick internal to discover I was only 7cm. I was so upset and disheartened.....all that work and I was still so far off.
They decided to break my waters to help speed things along.......once this was done the contractions came thick and hard. I continued to progress faster but my baby's head was still very high and not fully engaged.
This is where things got complicated. I'd reached about 8 - 9cms and was completely exhausted. It was about 1am on the 15th and I'd already been in labour for a day and a half. Bubs head was so big it wasn't disending quickly enough and he was getting a little distressed.
When the Ob came in and told me I was still several hours off before pushing, I finally made the (very hard) decision to have an epidural. I'd been adament about not wanting pethadine so an epi was the next step.......I felt really dissapointed in myself as I had made it so far with just gas but the exhaustion was too overpowering and all I could keep thinking was how will I ever push this baby out.
Once the epi was in, which was so easy and painless, not at all scary, I was able to doze a bit between contactions (so was my DH). The epidural did give me the shakes and the itches but apart from that it was heaven
I was checked again and had still failed to make any progress. I got hooked up to the syntocin drip and things moved a bit quicker from here. Bubs was attatched to the internal monitor and it was discovered his heart rate was dropping during each contraction......... It was horrible. DH and I could hear it drop every time and would then see the midwife run out to get the OB. I started to panic a bit and keep asking if the baby was ok.
Anyway after some talk about a c-section (scary) it was decided I could give pushing a try. Nearly two hours later and he was still only
3/4 of the way out. By this point his heart rate had dropped a lot and the OB was called in to make a decision.
Jack needed to come out quick.......his heart rate was down to 76 and I was freaking out big time. OB said we need to get him out now so I was hooked up in the stirrups and told he would be born with forceps. By this stage I didn't care what happened as long as our bub was safe. After an episiotomy and a few more contractions he was finally delivered at 5.24am on the 15th February. He wasn't breathing at first but started to on his own very quickly. The cord was also wrapped around his little neck so DH wasn't able to cut it.
Once he was safe on my belly all I felt was relief. DH and were both a bit stunned about what had just happened.
I was in total amazement that our son was finally here. He cried for ages and then started looking for my boob. His agpars were 8 and 9 which was great considering what he had been through.
After I was stitched up (over 20 minutes :eek: ) OB said I had an internal tear as well which he was surprised at seeing I'd had the episiotomy..I was still drugged from the epidural so completely unaware.
Even though his birth was a little traumatic and not exactly to plan I am still really happy with it. I don't regret having the epidural at all.... maybe next time I can do it without drugs (YES! there will be a next time, strangely enough)
My DH was so amazing. He was with me the whole time. He helped me with my breathing and lent me his poor fingers to crush.
We can't believe how much we already love our little boy and both feel our love and bond with each other is now stronger than ever. My heart just melts when I see my DH give Jack a kiss.
Weight: 8lb 2oz / 3.68kgs
Lenght: 50.5 cm
Head Circ: 36.5 cm
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u299/lmenz/IMG_0993.jpg
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u299/lmenz/IMG_1003.jpg
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u299/lmenz/IMG_1024.jpg
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u299/lmenz/IMG_1043.jpg
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u299/lmenz/IMG_1052.jpg
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u299/lmenz/IMG_1069.jpg