2 births - only 8hrs labour

[Kim]

The onset of my labours was quite different, however I felt the births were quite similar – with the only difference being the way I coped with each.
The day before I was due with my first child my waters broke at 3am and then…nothing, not a single twinge. On the advice of the midwives I had a shower and some breakfast and then made my way to the hospital at around 5am and was examined in the birthing centre. As I was experiencing no pain and was not dilating, I was transferred to the maternity ward to wait it out. My support team – my husband, sister and mother-in-law were sent home until ward visiting hours began.
After numerous walks up and down the halls I had my first contraction at 8.30am and they just kept coming - I thought I would die from the pain! This was not what I expected – where were the uncomfortable twinges and the long breaks between contractions? By 9am I was crying and begging to be examined – the doctor informed me I was 4cm dilated and they were sending me back to the birthing unit. At 9.30am I was back in the birthing unit waiting for my support team and begging for drugs – the midwife examined me again and I was 6cm dilated – not bad for an hour of contractions! At least the constant pain meant that I was progressing quite quickly. After a shot of pethadine and some gas I was able to cope a little better with the pain and by 10.30am I was fully dilated and ready to push. After 2 hours of pushing and an episiotomy I was very relieved to be holding my beautiful daughter Madeline – 8pds 4oz and 48cm (she’s since compensated for her short beginnings!).
My first labour was definitely not what I expected – I was primed for at least 8-16hrs, beginning with uncomfortable, short contractions but what I got was 2 hours of long, intense contractions with very short breaks – but I can’t really complain about a 4 hour labour! My only complications were a large haemorrhage post delivery and some quite bad tearing requiring far too many stitches! All in all – I was surprised at how well it went – just as well, 8 months later I was pregnant again.

The due date for my 2nd child came and went and I was beginning to feel a little anxious – I was all set to be matron of honour for my best friends wedding 14 days after my due date and I needed to get this baby out! Each day past the due date I felt more and more stressed – would I make it out of hospital in time?, would I be feeling well enough to be in the bridal party? and with my husband as the best man, what were we going to do with this tiny little baby?! By the time I was 7 days overdue I was desperate. At my clinic checkup I was advised that I was 5cm dilated (whoo hoo – I hadn’t felt a thing!), but the hospital was so busy that they couldn’t fit me in to be induced until I was 14 days overdue. This was the last day they felt it was safe to leave the baby inside and, the day before the wedding… As luck would have it, it was Easter and my checks were to be done daily in the birthing centre – surely I could convince them I needed to be induced ASAP! After much hinting and some desperate pleading for induction I was examined and sent home with a cheery “see you for your check-up tomorrow”….
Thankfully, my baby had other ideas and at 5pm that evening I started to feel “funny”, but as my waters hadn’t broken and I wasn’t even really uncomfortable I was unsure if this was it. The midwives asked me to come in for a check-up and by 7.30pm that evening I started feeling quite uncomfortable – although I still worried it wasn’t the real thing and they would send me home! I sent my husband out for food as we hadn’t had dinner and my sister and mother-in-law helped me into the bath – it was bliss. As with my first labour I started to have very hard contractions with little down time, but the bath was great for easing the pain. We even did the crosswords in That’s Life while I was in the bath – me calling out the answers between contractions.
By 10pm I felt that I needed something more than just the bath so my husband went to get the midwife while I was helped out of the bath. Bad timing – it was shift changeover. By the time the midwives had completed their handover and they came to examine me I was told it was too late for drugs and to have a few sucks of the gas while they got me ready to push! While I wasn’t excited to push – I really don’t like pushing…I was excited to see what it was – we had decided to not find out the sex the second time around. Just after 11pm I was holding my beautiful baby boy Michael – 8pds 14oz and 52cm. I again had little complain about with this delivery – just over 4 hours and I only required a couple of stitches. I was both happy to see my little (or big!) boy arrive safe and sound and relieved he’d made it in time for me to be in the bridal party – now my biggest problem was fitting into the dress!
While both my labours were quite similar, intense and very short, I think that I coped a lot better the second time around. I knew what to expect and I remembered to breathe this time. I felt more in control of my pain because of my breathing and, the bath was fantastic. Both children are growing at an unbelievable rate – Madeline will be 2 next month and Michael was 6months yesterday – and they were most definitely worth every second of pain.

Kim (27)
DH (28)
Madeline 3.11.02
Michael 10.04.04