and MARIUS makes 3!!!

[2SPUNKRATZ]

tuesday the 18th of april, my last antenatal appt with the midwife. seemed to be pretty standard but as i had been having contractions all day on the previous sunday that had stopped i was feeling very anxious to know if it did anything so i asked for a stretch and sweep. not the most comfortable feeling in the world but i was happy to be informed that my cervix was soft and 2 cm dilated already. the s&s was done and i left feeling more like something was actually happening soon. not much happened until wednesday night when around 11.30pm i started having slightly more regular period like pains. they continued but as it had happened previously i didnt want to get my hopes up. i called the hospital and they told me to come in when i felt i needed to. at 5am i woke DP who had only been asleep for an hour and told him we had to go to my sisters house so she could drive to the hospital. we got there around 5.30am and she was so excited. she timed some contractions for me and they were 5 minutes apart lasting 50-60secs each. it was decided, by me, we must go to the hospital NOW!!! lol.
my sis called my mum for her to meet us there. we got to the hospital hassle free around 6.30am. i was admitted and went straight up to the birth centre. i was introduced to the midwife who would later deliver me. her name was Jessica Anne. the same as mine. lol. we discussed what id been experiencing and jess gave me an internal at around 8am. i was 4cm dilated and stretchy. YAY! i tried laying on the bed, it hurt more, i tried lots of different things for about 2 hours and they all made contractions feel worse. so i got in the shower. oooohhhhhhh, the sheer relief. still painful, but now seemingly so much more bearable. i laboured in the shower for hours. but the pain relieving affect was beginning to wear off. then i heard the magical words i wanted to hear, Do you want to get in the bath?! ohhhhh yes. they ran the bath for me and DP and sis helped me climb in. oh it was joyous.
i laboured in the tub until birth. at around 2pm i started telling the midwife i needed to push. she told me to go with it for a little bit. so i did. when nothing came of it for about 30 mins she checked me and i was told i needed to hold off as i was only 8cm. i started to involuntary push so the midwife suggested i try a little gas to help stop myself. i sucked on gas for about 30 mins. it didnt stop me completely but it did stop me enough that i didnt do myslef any damage. at 3pm i was checked again and had just a lip of cervix that jess managed to push back around bubs head. i gave a little involuntary push and felt a pop, it was my water breaking. i was allowed to push. YAAAAY!!!!! i put the gas down and away i went. i was so scared, but kept telling myself, the harder you push the sooner it comes out and the sooner it stops hurting. so i pushed with all my might. my partner was almost in tears which he later told me it was cause he had never been so proud of me in our lives. i felt a stinging sensation and out popped our sons hair covered head. my sister asked me if she could look and i said yeh of course. i wondered where this relief was that i had been told you feel after the babys head comes out. it wasnt there for me and in a few minutes i was going to know why. i was told to give another push when i was ready. i felt the contraction and pushed so hard i thought my eyes were going to pop out of my head.i felt every last bit of my little heffa boy slide out of me. as i was leaning on the edge of the bath i flipped my leg over the umbilical cord and turned to a sitting position in the bath. my son was hadned to me. he was massive. i knew at that moment why i hadnt felt the relief. i was told it was time to deliver the placenta. so i asked for them to take my baby so i could as i couldnt lift my arms properly to lift him up. DP cut the cord and lifted him off of me. with one push i delivered the pplacenta and remember saying, wow, now that was a relief. i turned around to get out the bath, looked at my sister and said 'i dont feel so good', i looked down and thought, wow thats a lot of blood, looked back at my sister, my eyes rolled into the back of my head and i slumped in to the bath as it filled with blood. next thing i know im laying in the bath shaking, being shaked by several people while they called out to me, jessica jessica, wake up, can you hear me. i looked up and smiled, and said 'im hungry'. i remember the midwife saying, 'well thats a good sign'. then the doctors asked me ifi could get out the bath, with there help. i knelt up, and the next thing i remember, i was laying on the cold floor with heaps of doctors nursesa and midwives all fussing around me. i saw a pair of white boots and looked up at the man wearing them, he had the deepest blue eyes ever. i then looked over towards the window where i saw my DP sitting holding our little man. he was holding something up to his face and i then asked, is my baby ok. they told me he just needed a little oxygen but he was fine. i said i wanted to see him so DP brought him over and lent down with him so i could see him. with tears in my eyes i said 'i love him so much'. i had doctors jabbing needles into my arms and moving me about. my veins had collapsed and they had a lot of trouble getting a drip in. they finally did, then they asked me to get onto the bed. i knelt up and freaked out as blood gushed out of me again. i cried out, im bleeding im bleeding. they just hurried me onto the bed. i was rushed down to the labour ward where the man with the white boots and blue eyes came in. he was the head of obstetrics. he had a look at me and told me i had a very small tear and some grazing but nothing major. and then explained to me that because my baby was so big, and so was the placenta, that my uterus slacked and forgot to contract after he came out so therefore all the blood vessels stayed open and continued to bleed. i had bled 2 litres in under a minute, passed out twice and was now being told i had to have blood transfusion and i shocked the hell out of them all by asking, 'so does this mean i cant have my next baby in the birth centre?!' lol
i asked where my baby was and they said DP was bringing him down to me soon. i asked for my mum. they went and got her and my other sis who had both been in the waiting room when i delivered. they came in and i asked about my baby. my mum said 'no wonder you bled so much, your BIG BOY was 9lb 9oz.' i burst into tears. i asked how long ago i had him. i was so out of it for agers i didnt know what had gone on. they told me i delivered him at 3.48pm. i looked at the clock and started to cry. it had been over an hour. i missed my first hour with my baby. i was devastated. then DP came in with him. i didnt know what to do. i just had to lay there. they put him next to me and tried to get him on my boob but he wasnt interested. i thought, 'oh no, he doesnt know who i am' i lay looking at him for a few minutes and then they took him to give him his shots. it was a whole day before i was allowed to hold him without someone else in the room. i had 4 units of blood and spent the next 2 days unable to get out of bed as i couldt breath. they then realised they hadnt prescribed me iron tablets. i couldnt breath because my levels were so low that it couldnt carry the oxygen through my blood properly.
on the 25th i was sent home with strict instructions that i wasnt allowed to do anything except look after me and baby. i was told to take iron tablets twice a day.

i was so happy to bring our little man home. MARIUS CHARLES was born thursday the 20th of april at 3.48pm weighing 9lb 9oz, 51cm long with a head circumfrence of 35 cm.

And Marius makes 3.!

a few days later, i was re-admitted to hospital in agony. it turns out i have an infection in my uterus. i stayed in hospital for another 4 days having iv antibiotics 3 times a day. then sent home with a 7 day course of major oral antibiotics. i nave to go to the docs tomorow to make sure its cleared it up. and then i go for a follow up at the hospital on 8th june. i will find out then if the infection has done any permanent damage. it hasnt.

my son is now 17 days old and things are gradually getting better. my labour and birth was absolutely amazing and i would be happy to have another birth just as good. it is unfortunate about all that happened after i gave birth but it is all a part of my learning experience.

remember, it may not all be a bed of roses but it is definately worth every minute of pain, every second of tears and all the sleepless night you will endure.

i did have some other things happen during it all but it escapes my mind. which i think is all part of my mind dealing with the trauma.

take care all,
love jess

[angcaltam]

Thanks for sharing your birth story with us Jess. I'm sorry that you missed the first hour of your sons life, I know what that is like. Just remember to enjoy every minute that you can now because they grow up really fast.

I hope everything has cleared up and there is no permanent damage done.

[Mum&bubs]

Well done!!

[Mischief]

Jess, I'm so proud of you! You are an amazing woman!

Your story made me cry! XXOO

Luv,
Kat and Ollie

[Funkychicken]

CONGRATULATIONS!

What an amazing person you are to birth your baby. I loved reading your story. Please don't be concerned about that first hour. So much of our love is in our intent and your's was to have him there from the start. This was out of your control but your intent was borne from pure love. Your DP is a very blessed dad to have that time with your bub.

[brooke]

congratulations on your newest member of the family!

[sshellzp]

Wow thanks for sharing Jess, thats quite a story.
Shell.

[LittleBoysRock]

Congratulations!!! Welcome to Marius.

[HoopDeeDoo]

Wow what a scary experience. Glad to hear everything is going well, hope your infection clears up.

[Lisa C]

Wow Jess, what a story! Such a fanatastic birth! - Such a shame about the traumatic experiences afterwards! I have everything crossed for you that no permanent damage has been done.

L
xx