Samsgirl
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Well, here it is
at last
.the birth story of Hannah Lily, 23rd Feb 2012 at 03:58am
.
Its taken a lot for me to sit down and write this and it will be frank and to the point and so if you are still to go through labour and dont want to be upset, then dont read on. However, I do believe that what happened to me is very, very, very rare!! And not everyone will have as much go wrong with them..ha ha I have definitely taken a Traumatic one for the team!!!...anyway it will be a long one too
It all started on Tuesday 21st Feb. We had been to see the consultant in the morning and had a growth scan. They told me that baby was weighing just under 9lb and I was 38+3..The consultant told me I had 3 options, either let me go natural and see what happened after a week, be induced that day or be booked in for a c section. He told me he could see no reason why I should need a c section and so this option was ruled out (hindsight is a great thing!). I was not keen on being induced and so it was decided that they would just leave me for a week and see if I went into labour myself .well .I got home and 2 hours later I wiped after going to the loo and there was a bit of blood. I guessed things were kicking off! Of course I did the obligatory shouting of hubby for him to come and stare into my knickers and stare at the toilet roll with me!!! I did not have any pains at this stage, just the usual Braxton Hicks and a bit of back ache By 6pm there had been continuous green snot type type with a hint of pink every time I wiped and I was starting to get what I can describe as mild period pains, but I didnt feel in enough pain for it to be the real thing. I rang labour ward anyway because of the small amount of blood and after describing to them the snot stuff and blood etc, they agreed I was starting and to put a pad on and ring them back in an hour so I did and explained the pink snot had continued. She said I could go in to be checked but if I was happy to stay at home, to just ring them if contractions started getting close together or my waters went..
We went to bed at 11:30 thinking not much would happen, had we known I would have gone to bed at 6pm! My mate who has 4 children text me at 11:30 and said and I quote nothing will happen tonight if contractions not kicked off, so get some sleep hmmmmm ..well..at 12am I was woken by the mother of all contractions!!! I woke Sam up purely with the intake of breath! Then that was it I kid you not they started coming every 2 minutes and lasting a minute right from the get go! I remember thinking this isnt how they said it would start at ante natal and then also swearing under my breath that it was the f**king Raspberry Leaf Teas fault! .I got a bath and tried just breathing through the contractions .ooo they were sore ..I wasnt happy in the bath and so got out and was kneeling on the floor leaning on the sofa and timing them with the ipod app I have ..i was shocked how quick they were coming and then I was sick with the pain and I thought right enough is enough I better ring labour ward. I remember trying to talk to her, Sam did ring in but they wanted to talk to me, Im guessing to ascertain how much pain I was in .well I couldnt get my words out and I heard her say to someone yep, shes def in labour. So I got my clothes on .which was like something off a comedy sketch..as you all know its hard enough when heavily pregnant, but when having contractions its just stupid. Managed to get in the car, not the normal way but a bit like a dog on all fours on the back seat but as we only had a 2 min drive, I didnt care and if a policeman had dared to stop us he would have regretted it!
Anyway, Im waffling finally got onto bed and I was examined ..only 1cm dilated..i cried and thought they were going to send me home, but the midwife could see how close my contractions were and said baby was very low and fully effaced and so they kept me in. I went to 4 cm quite quickly with the help of gas and air and diamorphine (which by the way made me itch like a crazy woman, but its good stuff!). I could have kissed her when she told me that now I was 4cm I could have my epidural. I will say she for the midwife but it wasnt the same one I saw 4 shift changes during my 36 hour established labour!! Getting the epi was a doddle to be honest..I was worried about this bit but its fine. So if anyone thinking of having one but worried about the needle etc .i felt nothing, honestly! All was going swimmingly and textbook until I hit 6cm where it all went pete tong. By this time, It all gets a bit hazy here, but I think I had been in established labour contracting every 2 mins for about 24 hours I was exhausted and I got stuck at 6cm ..for hours and hours .they stuck me on the drip to get contractions going again cos they had stopped. My epidural was starting to wear off and they couldnt get hold of the anaesthetist because he was attending an emergency I remember them telling me if I didnt start contracting 4 times in 10 mins within the next hour it would be a c section. By this point, I was praying for a section and looking back I wish I had just pushed for one, but I was out of it and you listen to the professionals dont you. I will move on a few hours here and at midnight on the 23rd I managed to finally get to 9cm after contractions seemed to start again. At this point I was really feeling each contraction which worried me cos I knew epi had well and truly worn off and still no nice man available to come and top me up .The urge to push at this point was unreal and they told me even though I was now at 10cm I had to wait an hour and see if baby would come down birth canal a bit. How I didnt push I have no idea they also told me baby was back to back which is why the contractions had been so full on so quick and why I was suffering
Finally they said I could push, but my contractions had stopped but she was already coming down and so I kind of had to start pushing without the help of any contractions! I heard someone mention forceps and I panicked .told them I needed an epi top up or a spinal of they were going to use forceps cos I could feel everything. The panic was made worse when they went to put a catheter in me for about the 10th time during labour and I felt everything .i had not felt the others ..they also examined me and I felt that too and I remember thinking shit this isnt good! they promised me they would not do anything with instruments until I had some more pain relief well they couldnt get hold of the nice man with the good stuff again and then baby started to get distressed, my temperature went up to 38 degrees, my pulse was off the scale and my blood pressure at crazy levels and so they had to get the baby out all I can remember is a lot of people down my bottom end, my legs being put in stirrups and some little doctor bloke with his hand right up me in a vet style attaching ventouse to my little one .after 3 failed attempts at that it was forceps time. All this time baby was almost crowing and the pain was something I will never forget and it was at this point I started to scream with pain and really panic. The forceps were put in and they basically had to literally pull little one out of me cos my contractions had just stopped completely I did push with all my might but my might had deserted me by this point. Finally she was placed on me, looking very battered and bruised and traumatised she wasnt the only one! She was quickly taken off me and about 10 people started rushing round me and trying to get fluids into me etc I learned later this was because I was bleeding ..a lot!!!
My recovery has been very slow and I am still nowhere near right. I needed 3 blood transfusions, turns out my placenta had traces of strep b and this has caused my episiotomy to not heal and my stitches to burst, comedy piles to make matters worse .followed later by infected wound and needing an injection every night for 7 days ..oh and severe swelling in my ankles and feet which meant that I couldnt walk .along with the horrendous piles and very sore bits!! I was so sore I actually allowed pain killers to be inserted up my bum 3 days in a row cos they were AMAZING!!
On top of all this my little princess needed to be admitted to special care because of the trauma and the risk of strep b infection and the fact my waters broke more than 24 hours before delivery and her poor little battered head. She couldnt control her blood sugar or sodium levels. It was the most awful week of my life ..she was on IV antibiotics and a constant formula drip feed. We could only hold her when the staff allowed us and she was like a little pin cushion .she has crap veins like her mum so every time they needed to put a canular into her, it was very traumatic for her bless her
But we are now home and she is doing well and is now a happy and healthy little baby
I have already been advised by midwives to have a c section next time..if there is a next time. I think there will be ..
Sorry for the length of this but I needed to write it all down and sorry of it has scared anyone .
Oh she weighed 8lb 4 so not the 9lb they thought .just a good job I didnt go overdue or even full term cos she was big enough!!
xx
Its taken a lot for me to sit down and write this and it will be frank and to the point and so if you are still to go through labour and dont want to be upset, then dont read on. However, I do believe that what happened to me is very, very, very rare!! And not everyone will have as much go wrong with them..ha ha I have definitely taken a Traumatic one for the team!!!...anyway it will be a long one too
It all started on Tuesday 21st Feb. We had been to see the consultant in the morning and had a growth scan. They told me that baby was weighing just under 9lb and I was 38+3..The consultant told me I had 3 options, either let me go natural and see what happened after a week, be induced that day or be booked in for a c section. He told me he could see no reason why I should need a c section and so this option was ruled out (hindsight is a great thing!). I was not keen on being induced and so it was decided that they would just leave me for a week and see if I went into labour myself .well .I got home and 2 hours later I wiped after going to the loo and there was a bit of blood. I guessed things were kicking off! Of course I did the obligatory shouting of hubby for him to come and stare into my knickers and stare at the toilet roll with me!!! I did not have any pains at this stage, just the usual Braxton Hicks and a bit of back ache By 6pm there had been continuous green snot type type with a hint of pink every time I wiped and I was starting to get what I can describe as mild period pains, but I didnt feel in enough pain for it to be the real thing. I rang labour ward anyway because of the small amount of blood and after describing to them the snot stuff and blood etc, they agreed I was starting and to put a pad on and ring them back in an hour so I did and explained the pink snot had continued. She said I could go in to be checked but if I was happy to stay at home, to just ring them if contractions started getting close together or my waters went..
We went to bed at 11:30 thinking not much would happen, had we known I would have gone to bed at 6pm! My mate who has 4 children text me at 11:30 and said and I quote nothing will happen tonight if contractions not kicked off, so get some sleep hmmmmm ..well..at 12am I was woken by the mother of all contractions!!! I woke Sam up purely with the intake of breath! Then that was it I kid you not they started coming every 2 minutes and lasting a minute right from the get go! I remember thinking this isnt how they said it would start at ante natal and then also swearing under my breath that it was the f**king Raspberry Leaf Teas fault! .I got a bath and tried just breathing through the contractions .ooo they were sore ..I wasnt happy in the bath and so got out and was kneeling on the floor leaning on the sofa and timing them with the ipod app I have ..i was shocked how quick they were coming and then I was sick with the pain and I thought right enough is enough I better ring labour ward. I remember trying to talk to her, Sam did ring in but they wanted to talk to me, Im guessing to ascertain how much pain I was in .well I couldnt get my words out and I heard her say to someone yep, shes def in labour. So I got my clothes on .which was like something off a comedy sketch..as you all know its hard enough when heavily pregnant, but when having contractions its just stupid. Managed to get in the car, not the normal way but a bit like a dog on all fours on the back seat but as we only had a 2 min drive, I didnt care and if a policeman had dared to stop us he would have regretted it!
Anyway, Im waffling finally got onto bed and I was examined ..only 1cm dilated..i cried and thought they were going to send me home, but the midwife could see how close my contractions were and said baby was very low and fully effaced and so they kept me in. I went to 4 cm quite quickly with the help of gas and air and diamorphine (which by the way made me itch like a crazy woman, but its good stuff!). I could have kissed her when she told me that now I was 4cm I could have my epidural. I will say she for the midwife but it wasnt the same one I saw 4 shift changes during my 36 hour established labour!! Getting the epi was a doddle to be honest..I was worried about this bit but its fine. So if anyone thinking of having one but worried about the needle etc .i felt nothing, honestly! All was going swimmingly and textbook until I hit 6cm where it all went pete tong. By this time, It all gets a bit hazy here, but I think I had been in established labour contracting every 2 mins for about 24 hours I was exhausted and I got stuck at 6cm ..for hours and hours .they stuck me on the drip to get contractions going again cos they had stopped. My epidural was starting to wear off and they couldnt get hold of the anaesthetist because he was attending an emergency I remember them telling me if I didnt start contracting 4 times in 10 mins within the next hour it would be a c section. By this point, I was praying for a section and looking back I wish I had just pushed for one, but I was out of it and you listen to the professionals dont you. I will move on a few hours here and at midnight on the 23rd I managed to finally get to 9cm after contractions seemed to start again. At this point I was really feeling each contraction which worried me cos I knew epi had well and truly worn off and still no nice man available to come and top me up .The urge to push at this point was unreal and they told me even though I was now at 10cm I had to wait an hour and see if baby would come down birth canal a bit. How I didnt push I have no idea they also told me baby was back to back which is why the contractions had been so full on so quick and why I was suffering
Finally they said I could push, but my contractions had stopped but she was already coming down and so I kind of had to start pushing without the help of any contractions! I heard someone mention forceps and I panicked .told them I needed an epi top up or a spinal of they were going to use forceps cos I could feel everything. The panic was made worse when they went to put a catheter in me for about the 10th time during labour and I felt everything .i had not felt the others ..they also examined me and I felt that too and I remember thinking shit this isnt good! they promised me they would not do anything with instruments until I had some more pain relief well they couldnt get hold of the nice man with the good stuff again and then baby started to get distressed, my temperature went up to 38 degrees, my pulse was off the scale and my blood pressure at crazy levels and so they had to get the baby out all I can remember is a lot of people down my bottom end, my legs being put in stirrups and some little doctor bloke with his hand right up me in a vet style attaching ventouse to my little one .after 3 failed attempts at that it was forceps time. All this time baby was almost crowing and the pain was something I will never forget and it was at this point I started to scream with pain and really panic. The forceps were put in and they basically had to literally pull little one out of me cos my contractions had just stopped completely I did push with all my might but my might had deserted me by this point. Finally she was placed on me, looking very battered and bruised and traumatised she wasnt the only one! She was quickly taken off me and about 10 people started rushing round me and trying to get fluids into me etc I learned later this was because I was bleeding ..a lot!!!
My recovery has been very slow and I am still nowhere near right. I needed 3 blood transfusions, turns out my placenta had traces of strep b and this has caused my episiotomy to not heal and my stitches to burst, comedy piles to make matters worse .followed later by infected wound and needing an injection every night for 7 days ..oh and severe swelling in my ankles and feet which meant that I couldnt walk .along with the horrendous piles and very sore bits!! I was so sore I actually allowed pain killers to be inserted up my bum 3 days in a row cos they were AMAZING!!
On top of all this my little princess needed to be admitted to special care because of the trauma and the risk of strep b infection and the fact my waters broke more than 24 hours before delivery and her poor little battered head. She couldnt control her blood sugar or sodium levels. It was the most awful week of my life ..she was on IV antibiotics and a constant formula drip feed. We could only hold her when the staff allowed us and she was like a little pin cushion .she has crap veins like her mum so every time they needed to put a canular into her, it was very traumatic for her bless her
But we are now home and she is doing well and is now a happy and healthy little baby
I have already been advised by midwives to have a c section next time..if there is a next time. I think there will be ..
Sorry for the length of this but I needed to write it all down and sorry of it has scared anyone .
Oh she weighed 8lb 4 so not the 9lb they thought .just a good job I didnt go overdue or even full term cos she was big enough!!
xx
you did so well xxxx
