The birth story of Holly Jade

[Lillynix]

I suppose it's about time I posted my birth story, even though it is 13months late. It's rather long winded though, so if you manage to get through it all, then thankyou for taking the time to read

It all started with my 37week checkup with the hospital ob. I thought everything was going well, he did a scan to check on bubs and the placenta, all was fine! Then he checked my blood pressure, hrmm it was a little high, can't remember exactly but somwhere around 150+/90+ (I think at least) asked me about swelling, yep had that in my hands, legs and feet, however no headaches or diziness. He wanted me to come back in a week to have it all check again.

38weeks comes and back to the hospital I go, BP still quite high, still have swelling, bubs and placenta still okay. So I get sent off to PAC (Pregnancy Assesment Centre) for monitoring. Urine test done, blood test done and a CTG strapped to my belly while I lay on the bed. 4hours pass and i'm finally allowed to go home after urine and bloods come back fine. No pre-eclampsia, and monitor showed bubs was fine and dandy, but I am asked to come back in 3 days to do it all over again. I am giving a huge container in which to do a 24hour urine collection, I oblige and go on my way.

3days later and i'm back in PAC, BP still high, still no sign of pre-eclampsia, bubs still fine. Registrar comes in to talk to me about the possibility of induction, telling me that as my BP isn't getting any lower and because i'm now considered 'at term' it would probably be best for me and bubs to be induced so my BP would return to normal and to ensure the healthy and safety of bubs. They do an internal to check my cervix to see what kind of induction process they would be looking at.

Cervix favourable, already 2cm dialated, they decide best form of induction would be Syntocinon followed by ARM. I was the informed of the process however I was not informed of the risks. I was not told that my labour would potentially be more painful due to the synthetic hormones, I was not told that being induced could increase the chances of c-section and I was not told there would be constant monitoring that would render my body useless as I lay flat on my back.

4.5 hours later I was allowed to leave and had agreed to an induction, this is now the beginning of the end. I was due back at the hospital 3 days later.

38w6d I arrived at the Hospital at 7:30am 24th Aug but as maternity were busy I was made to sit in PAC for 3 hours just waiting. The longest 3 hours of my life. My husband had awoke that morning with a horrid head cold, so he was feeling miserable and I was feeling nervous.

I finally made it into the Delivery Suite around 11am where they TRIED twice to insert a canula and failed both times, so they got the anethesist to come in and have a go...another two goes later he FINALLY managed to get it in. Then there was another blood test to be done, as perusual, it took quite a few goes to get blood from me. Then came the breaking of my waters, which surprisingly, was easy to do, I was expecting the worst. It took the Doctor all of 1mins fidling during the internal and then I felt warm fluid trickling out. I was then put on the Syntocinon drip at a low level. After about 4.5hours of nothing happening on the Syntocinon and it being increased to almost maximum, they decided to do another internal and try and rupture my waters again...

4:30pm Another internal, this time they used the 'hook' rather than a glove with what appeared to be velcro on the end. As soon as my waters broke again I felt more warm fluid and then BAM the contractions hit IMMEDIATLEY, before the Ob had even removed her hand from me, and were extremely intense because I already had so much of the Syntocinon running through my body, which they admitted was probably too high. The contractions were the worst pain I have ever experienced in my life, they came hard and fast with NO break inbetween, it was a case of constant excrutiating pain that came in waves, it would hit extremely strong and hard then ever so slightly decrease then come back just as strong if not stronger than before and hit both my lower abdomen and my lower back, it was simply horrible.

I was subjected to constant monitoring with the CTG, and despite my best efforts for them to 'let me off' so I could move and walk around, my requests were denied. The only times they would 'let me off' was so I could goto the toilet. So at one stage I locked myself in the toilet for around 20mins and that, I had to say, was THE best part of my labour, sitting on the toilet, slightly leaning had decreased the pain I was suffering immensly, it was so comfortable I would of have been happy to stay there, but alas, they removed me and sent me back to bed.

The pain in my back become so unbearable that I simply could not stand it any longer, so despite being dead set against having an epidural due to lack of movement, I figured what the hell, they already have me on my back, might as well do it pain free. So I decided to have that epidural about 5hours (it may have been longer) into my labour which I wasn't expecting to have, but the pain just hit me too fast and too strong, there was no build up. But the epidural was a challenge in itself.

They hit a blood vessel in my back while inserting it, so I bled EVERYWHERE, it turns out, they had put it in too low and slightly off centre, so it was only working on my left side. Thankfully the anethisist came back which a very large, very strong dose of something that made everything okay and work properly. Then I was in heaven, no pain, it was great. Or so I thought at the time, it was my second biggest mistake after agreeing to the induction. I was still confined to the bed obviously because of the epidural, but I was feeling more comfortable than before, but they were having trouble getting a ready with the CTG as it kept dropping out, so they decided to put a monitor onto bubs head to monitor her heartbeat and then a catheter was inserted.

I finally made it to 10cms dilated and was told it was time to push around 5am, I still had no feeling because of the epidural and as I couldn't feel the contractions the midwife just told me when to push. I pushed as hard as I could and was told I was doing an excellent job but still after 2hours nothing had changed, bub wasn't going anywhere. I was told she was posterior, brow presentation and had her head on a slight angle. So they decided around 7:15am it would be best to do an emergency c-section as there was very little chance of bubs moving any further, I was told she had gotten herself stuck in my pelvis.

I wasn't told a great deal about the c-section, except that it was in mine and bubs best interest as she wasn't going to come out vaginally and she was too high up for forceps or ventouse.

By this stage the epidural had worn off some and I was getting excrutiating back pain just like I was at the beginning. My husband and I were prepped, I signed the consent form and headed down to theatre, they topped up my epidural and were thinking it was all good. But no, the epidural failed...again, it had numbed my legs and my back, but I could still feel EVERYTHING in my abdomen. So, I was told it would be a general anesthetic for me and that my husband had to leave the theatre.

Holly Jade was born at 7:37am 25th August 2006 via emergency c-section weighing 8lb1oz (3.67kgs), length 47cms, head circumfrence 35cms.

I finally got to meet my little baby girl about 9:30am when I was taken to my room and there was my husband sitting there holding our little baby girl, she was just so perfect (and still is)! Unfortunately there were complications with me during surgery, I lost about a litre of blood and my uterus wasn't contracting properly and I almost lost my life. So my time in hospital was full of BP monitoring, blood tests and on the Sunday night I had a blood transfusion, all this while trying to be a mum, look after myself after being sliced open and learn how to breastfeed properly!

So there you have it. My birth story. It was such a horrendous experience that I never, ever wish to endure again. They failed to inform me of all the risks involved with the interventions I was agreeing to, which I feel is wrong. Sure I could have taken it upon myself to research these things myself, but I was so overwhelmed by it all that the thought never crossed my mind. Besides, why should I have to do my own research, I should be able to trust the people who are there to look after me, but I guess I was wrong. Unwanted and unnecessary medical intervetion lead to a c-section which I now know could have been avoided and only happened due to the intervention that took place.

[tooshypanda]

Thanks for sharing I am glad you were okay.. and good luck freebirthing in January

[Hokey Pokey]

You brave woman! That was quite an ordeal
I wish you all the best if you choose a vbac next time, feel free to pm me I had one in April this year!

[Kizmet]

Thank you so much for sharing your story

[~*clairesmum*~]

that was a good birth story, even thoughit wasnt wat u expected n good luk on he free birth

[pinkevie]

wow that was an amazing birth story - thanks for sharing. I wouldn't have known about any of those things.

I hope everything goes well for your next one!!