Ill try to be as brief as possible!
My waters broke on Wed 5th Dec. I went into hospital to be checked over but was sent home to return on Fri at 2pm if not gone into labour sooner. So 2 days were spent nervously waiting, trying to get organised, and constantly trickling, yuck! After a horrid labour and delivery with DD I really wanted this to be as natural as possible.
Fri 2pm came and was induced at 6pm. The drip and monitor made moving around difficult, so was just on the bed. By 11pm I was in agony. Gas and air was not helping at all. I was over contracting and the drip had to be turned down and eventually off. Eventually they realised the baby was in a posterior position - the dreaded back to back. I was so relieved there was a reason for my pain and I wasnt just being pathetic! Epidural was fab, when it worked. Needed 20 minute top ups and another big dose at about 5am. After an hour of pushing they said he wasnt progressing at all and was stuck at 1. I was wheeled through for an emergency caesarean at 11am.
I felt awful, really sick, had violent shivers, headache etc. He was born at 11.53am and DH held him while sitting by my head. I didnt feel well and couldnt even look at him, which made me feel really guilty. They were taken out after a while and I drifted in and out of sleep/consciousness. I was icy cold and they put a hot air blanket over me! At about 2.30pm I was taken into recovery where the doctors explained what happened.
The labour was impossible because of his position and size. For the ceaserean he had rotated to a transverse position which made delivering the shoulders difficult and during that process there were a lot of tears and blood loss. I lost over 2 litres of blood and needed a blood transfusion of 3 units in the afternoon. That was why I felt so ill.
And now for the news that he weighed in at a whopping 11lbs, 2.5oz !!!!
The next day and a half were not too bad until he developed jaundice and needed 2.5 days of phototherapy. Thankfully he stayed in my room with me with a UV light over his cot and a lid put over the top of it, and a visor over his head. He hated it. He was so big he thrashed around banging the sides and knocking the lid off. I couldnt get him out to comfort him. Feeding him was made difficult because he had to have so much fluids to prevent dehydrating and I was still only producing colostrums, so I had to give him formula. I didnt want to give him a bottle because I wanted to breastfeed so we cup fed him the formula. He also had to spend time at the breast to learn how to do that which he didnt really want because he was getting the formula. All this was with the pressure to get him back under the UV light asap so I was pretty stressed and spent most of the time crying.
Now he is home things are settling down a bit. Joe is feeding well albeit constantly! Sleep is just not happening. I dont feel consciously deprived although physically it must be taking its toll. Im pretty strong and appear to be recovering from the ceaserean and blood loss really well.
Emotionally I am a wreck. I feel so raw still about everything that happened in hospital. I really wanted a natural birth and although I understand why it all happened, and the doctors were excellent, I feel so traumatised. Im constantly on the brink of tears. I feel totally powerless. I feel my life came to a grinding halt and I cant get it back. I cant drive, I cant finish getting ready for Christmas, cant connect with DD again, cant take away her pain and anguish of seeing us go through a difficult time and me being away for 8 nights, cant find time to see/text/phone/email people. I just cant stop crying.
I feel better for having got a lot off my chest! Hopefully it wont be too long before I find time to come back with questions about feeding, sleeping, hormones, etc.
Good luck for all those about to give birth. Make the most of the end of your pregnancy and look forward to holding your beautiful baby in your arms. Despite feeling so low, I adore Joe so much, my heart melts every time I look at him. I miss him snuggling into me even when he is asleep in the moses basket next to me! That makes me cry too!
Congratulations to all of you who have recently given birth. And I hope you get some sleep tonight!
Thanks for listening! I hope I havent bored/scared you!
Ladybird xx
My waters broke on Wed 5th Dec. I went into hospital to be checked over but was sent home to return on Fri at 2pm if not gone into labour sooner. So 2 days were spent nervously waiting, trying to get organised, and constantly trickling, yuck! After a horrid labour and delivery with DD I really wanted this to be as natural as possible.
Fri 2pm came and was induced at 6pm. The drip and monitor made moving around difficult, so was just on the bed. By 11pm I was in agony. Gas and air was not helping at all. I was over contracting and the drip had to be turned down and eventually off. Eventually they realised the baby was in a posterior position - the dreaded back to back. I was so relieved there was a reason for my pain and I wasnt just being pathetic! Epidural was fab, when it worked. Needed 20 minute top ups and another big dose at about 5am. After an hour of pushing they said he wasnt progressing at all and was stuck at 1. I was wheeled through for an emergency caesarean at 11am.
I felt awful, really sick, had violent shivers, headache etc. He was born at 11.53am and DH held him while sitting by my head. I didnt feel well and couldnt even look at him, which made me feel really guilty. They were taken out after a while and I drifted in and out of sleep/consciousness. I was icy cold and they put a hot air blanket over me! At about 2.30pm I was taken into recovery where the doctors explained what happened.
The labour was impossible because of his position and size. For the ceaserean he had rotated to a transverse position which made delivering the shoulders difficult and during that process there were a lot of tears and blood loss. I lost over 2 litres of blood and needed a blood transfusion of 3 units in the afternoon. That was why I felt so ill.
And now for the news that he weighed in at a whopping 11lbs, 2.5oz !!!!
The next day and a half were not too bad until he developed jaundice and needed 2.5 days of phototherapy. Thankfully he stayed in my room with me with a UV light over his cot and a lid put over the top of it, and a visor over his head. He hated it. He was so big he thrashed around banging the sides and knocking the lid off. I couldnt get him out to comfort him. Feeding him was made difficult because he had to have so much fluids to prevent dehydrating and I was still only producing colostrums, so I had to give him formula. I didnt want to give him a bottle because I wanted to breastfeed so we cup fed him the formula. He also had to spend time at the breast to learn how to do that which he didnt really want because he was getting the formula. All this was with the pressure to get him back under the UV light asap so I was pretty stressed and spent most of the time crying.
Now he is home things are settling down a bit. Joe is feeding well albeit constantly! Sleep is just not happening. I dont feel consciously deprived although physically it must be taking its toll. Im pretty strong and appear to be recovering from the ceaserean and blood loss really well.
Emotionally I am a wreck. I feel so raw still about everything that happened in hospital. I really wanted a natural birth and although I understand why it all happened, and the doctors were excellent, I feel so traumatised. Im constantly on the brink of tears. I feel totally powerless. I feel my life came to a grinding halt and I cant get it back. I cant drive, I cant finish getting ready for Christmas, cant connect with DD again, cant take away her pain and anguish of seeing us go through a difficult time and me being away for 8 nights, cant find time to see/text/phone/email people. I just cant stop crying.
I feel better for having got a lot off my chest! Hopefully it wont be too long before I find time to come back with questions about feeding, sleeping, hormones, etc.
Good luck for all those about to give birth. Make the most of the end of your pregnancy and look forward to holding your beautiful baby in your arms. Despite feeling so low, I adore Joe so much, my heart melts every time I look at him. I miss him snuggling into me even when he is asleep in the moses basket next to me! That makes me cry too!
Congratulations to all of you who have recently given birth. And I hope you get some sleep tonight!
Thanks for listening! I hope I havent bored/scared you!
Ladybird xx
and well done you.. what a fab weight!!!
