Well it's all over and i've survived to tell the tale.
I woke up on Weds 25th at 7.30am and got up with my OH as usual, but i just didn't feel right. I told my OH that i felt strange and i was also ravenous like i hadn't eaten for days. Then at 11.00am i had what i thought was a BH but it felt slightly different to the ones i've had before-it was accompanied by a period type cramp-but i still thought it was just a BH. Then an hour later i had another one. My OH rang to check i was ok and when i told him he said to keep him informed as he thought it could be the start. An hour later i had another BH which i started to think was actually a contraction
The contractions then started coming at 45 min intervals and they were only lasting about 15-20 secs, by now my OH had rang a million times and had been told by his boss to go home. By the time he got home at 4.30pm the contractions were still coming around every 45 mins. We had something to eat and watched tv as normal.
By 10.30pm they were coming every 10 mins and lasting about 25 secs so i had a bath and took some paracetamols. We went to bed at 11pm but i could only stand 3 contractions before i had to go downstairs so i could move around. I made OH stay in bed while i went into the lounge and bouned on my ball or leant against the back of the sofa rotating my hips between contractions. Then when i had a contraction i powerwalked around the lounge. I'm suprised i didn't wear a hole in the carpet!! I started to have a show around 12am and also my waters were trickling.
By 4.30am my contractions were 7mins apart so i rang the birthing centre who said i sounded like i was coping well and to wait until they were 4 mins apart. By 5.45am they were 4-5 mins apart and i decided it was time to go to hospital. I was there by 6.30am, taken to my home from home room and was examind and told i was 6cm dilated and the head was really low down I thought great it going to be dead quick from here....wrong!!!
I had a student midwife who was amazing and a student medic who wanted to observe a labour and she was great too. I carried on with my powerwalking and didn't touch the gas and air until around 10.30am. I then had the urge to push around 11.00am. But i was pushing and pushing and nothing was happening so i had an internal and part of my cervix wasn't dilated so they had to push it back (ooowww!!!). Then my midwife went for lunch and another midwife took over for an hour. I was still pushing with no joy and the new midwife thought not all my waters had broken. So, i had another internal (!!!!!!) and a small amount of waters hadn't burst so she popped it and i continued pushing.
By now my student midwife was back and they said i was making progress but everytime i stopped pushing baby was slipping back inside. By now i was getting tired as had had no sleep since 7.30am the day before, so they decided i should go to triage and be put on a drip to make my contractions stronger and more effective. When i got there (i had to walk down a corridor and stop half way there to have a contraction
) they persuaded me to have an epidural and once i was on the drip i was told they would let me push for 30 mins before intervening.Oh in the meantime i had another internal to check how the head was lying!!
I was pushing and they were saying 'we can see the head it has brown hair' but after 30 mins and no baby the doctors had to step in and vontouse baby out at 4.47pm. They put baby straight on my tummy and said 'look at your baby' but i had covered my eyes and was saying 'i can't, i can't'. Then they said to OH 'tell mummy what sex baby is and he said 'IT'S A GIRL!' and started to cry. I just kept saying over and over 'IT'S A GIRL, IT'S A GIRL' (i had convinced myself over the last 9 months that i was having a boy). They then wiped her down and put her skin to skin and she looked right at me with these big dark blue eyes. I just feel in love and bonded with her straight away.
Then came the bad news i had had a third degree tear and had to go into surgery to be stitched up . To cut a very long strory short i had to stay in over night and was only allowed out on the friday if i opened my bowel which i managed to do after 25 mins sat on the loo and by 6.30 pm on friday i was home and was sipping champagne with 11 of my family members.
It was a long and tiring ordeal but Grace Summer was sooooo worth it.
Gemxx
I woke up on Weds 25th at 7.30am and got up with my OH as usual, but i just didn't feel right. I told my OH that i felt strange and i was also ravenous like i hadn't eaten for days. Then at 11.00am i had what i thought was a BH but it felt slightly different to the ones i've had before-it was accompanied by a period type cramp-but i still thought it was just a BH. Then an hour later i had another one. My OH rang to check i was ok and when i told him he said to keep him informed as he thought it could be the start. An hour later i had another BH which i started to think was actually a contraction
The contractions then started coming at 45 min intervals and they were only lasting about 15-20 secs, by now my OH had rang a million times and had been told by his boss to go home. By the time he got home at 4.30pm the contractions were still coming around every 45 mins. We had something to eat and watched tv as normal.
By 10.30pm they were coming every 10 mins and lasting about 25 secs so i had a bath and took some paracetamols. We went to bed at 11pm but i could only stand 3 contractions before i had to go downstairs so i could move around. I made OH stay in bed while i went into the lounge and bouned on my ball or leant against the back of the sofa rotating my hips between contractions. Then when i had a contraction i powerwalked around the lounge. I'm suprised i didn't wear a hole in the carpet!! I started to have a show around 12am and also my waters were trickling.
By 4.30am my contractions were 7mins apart so i rang the birthing centre who said i sounded like i was coping well and to wait until they were 4 mins apart. By 5.45am they were 4-5 mins apart and i decided it was time to go to hospital. I was there by 6.30am, taken to my home from home room and was examind and told i was 6cm dilated and the head was really low down
I thought great it going to be dead quick from here....wrong!!!I had a student midwife who was amazing and a student medic who wanted to observe a labour and she was great too. I carried on with my powerwalking and didn't touch the gas and air until around 10.30am. I then had the urge to push around 11.00am. But i was pushing and pushing and nothing was happening so i had an internal and part of my cervix wasn't dilated so they had to push it back (ooowww!!!). Then my midwife went for lunch and another midwife took over for an hour. I was still pushing with no joy and the new midwife thought not all my waters had broken. So, i had another internal (!!!!!!) and a small amount of waters hadn't burst so she popped it and i continued pushing.
By now my student midwife was back and they said i was making progress but everytime i stopped pushing baby was slipping back inside. By now i was getting tired as had had no sleep since 7.30am the day before, so they decided i should go to triage and be put on a drip to make my contractions stronger and more effective. When i got there (i had to walk down a corridor and stop half way there to have a contraction
) they persuaded me to have an epidural and once i was on the drip i was told they would let me push for 30 mins before intervening.Oh in the meantime i had another internal to check how the head was lying!!I was pushing and they were saying 'we can see the head it has brown hair' but after 30 mins and no baby the doctors had to step in and vontouse baby out at 4.47pm. They put baby straight on my tummy and said 'look at your baby' but i had covered my eyes and was saying 'i can't, i can't'. Then they said to OH 'tell mummy what sex baby is and he said 'IT'S A GIRL!' and started to cry. I just kept saying over and over 'IT'S A GIRL, IT'S A GIRL' (i had convinced myself over the last 9 months that i was having a boy). They then wiped her down and put her skin to skin and she looked right at me with these big dark blue eyes. I just feel in love and bonded with her straight away.
Then came the bad news i had had a third degree tear and had to go into surgery to be stitched up
. To cut a very long strory short i had to stay in over night and was only allowed out on the friday if i opened my bowel which i managed to do after 25 mins sat on the loo and by 6.30 pm on friday i was home and was sipping champagne with 11 of my family members.It was a long and tiring ordeal but Grace Summer was sooooo worth it.
Gemxx
