muppetmummy
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Logan was born on 25th April 2008 at 8.50am. Here are some pics, I'll add the birth story asap...its a bit long and I usually type one handed these days due to the boobie monster 
******update*****
Here's my birth story at last, sorry its a bit of a novel! I do tend to waffle. I wanted to get all the details in to keep for when logie bears older, I know from james' birth how the details get hazy over the years, and the brain blocks out all the bad bits
The night before labour started I felt as though I was coming down with a bad cold, my throat felt sore and my head felt funny. I had bad period pains before I went to bed that night so it took me ages to get to sleep. I didnt think it meant labour was on the way though as Id been having period pains and lower back ache on and off for weeks.
After a night of dreaming I was having contractions and semi waking up in pain, I was woken properly at 6.45am on Thursday 24th May with an unmistakable contraction. So I got out of bed and went downstairs to have breakfast and time them. I had several more contractions but they werent very regular or painful so I suspected that they were probably just painful Braxton Hicks, and so I told my other half to go to work as normal.
At around 7.10am I lost a large chunk of plug when I went to the loo, it was clear jelly streaked with pink and brown. I got in the shower and had some stronger contractions in there and started to wonder if it was the real thing. Once out I decided that I wasnt in a fit state to walk James to school so I abandoned getting him ready and started to time the contractions again. By this time I also had constant backache. I was feeling sick and noticed the contractions were worse when I moved around. I was getting to the point where the contractions were making me stop what I was doing and I was having to breathe through them. I could still talk through them though and knew there was much worse to come! They were still really irregular so I started to wonder again if it was a false alarm.
At 9.30am I decided to call the midwife for advice. I was expecting her to say that they were too irregular to be the real thing, and to keep timing them. I was shocked when she said to come in to be checked over. I phoned OH and told him to come home but not to get excited as it was probably a false alarm. Whilst I was waiting for him to arrive I got James dressed and noticed that the contractions were getting further apart! I started feeling angry at myself for phoning and thought Id made a mistake. I lost some more plug during this time, but I still expected the trip to the midwifery unit 20mins drive away to be a waste of time, so sure in fact that when OH got back from work I told him to sit down and have a coffee before leaving half hour later!
I arrived at the midwifery unit in Aboyne at sometime around 10.30-11am. The unit was really busy because there was a meeting going on with all the midwives in the team attending. I think I was the only patient though. A midwife called Suzanne saw me, and together with a student checked my blood pressure, listened to the babys heartbeat, checked the babys position etc. Logan was 4/5 engaged but the contractions had got further apart. They were at one every 20mins when I arrived there. The midwife monitored my contractions for a bit and said she felt 3 in 10mins, though I could not feel them myself. A urine specimen showed I had keytones in my wee so she suggested I go to the tearoom round the corner for something to eat, and then go for a walk and try and get some more contractions going. She said that this latent phase of labour could last a long time, but once established labour started it would be quite quick. She said shed examine me once Id got back from the walk and might be able to give me a sweep depending on the position of my cervix.
So we had lunch, during which I had a few more contractions 10mins apart that were quite sore, but easily manageable. I noticed when I went to the loo that Id lost more plug and it was a lot bloodier than before. Luckily it was a sunny day so we took James to the park across the road and I walked around trying to get things moving. My contractions were getting further apart again, going from 10mins, to 20mins, and then 40mins. At that point I thought everything had stopped. OH had called his parents who lived 10mins drive away and they said theyd meet us at the park; we wanted them around in case anything happened so that they could take James. We all went for a walk along the river (Aboyne is in quite a rural setting so it was a lovely place to go for a walk.) At one point we climbed over a broken stile and I got stuck on top of it when my flip flop and the leg of my jeans got stuck in a gorse bush! It did bring on a contraction, but it wasnt very nice having one on top of a stile! Somehow we took a wrong turning and ended up in a field full of cow poo with a herd of Aberdeen Angus blocking our path! We had to take a shortcut by cutting through the back garden of the police station! We went back to the tearoom for drinks and I had a couple of really painful contractions in the toilet that had me hanging onto the toilet door, I thought I was going to be stuck in there for a bit.
We returned to the midwifery unit three and a half hours later at 3pm with my contractions still very irregular. The in-laws had taken James home with them. I was given an internal by the student under the supervision of the midwife Suzanne (who also double checked herself.) I was 3-5cm dilated, fully effaced, with a thin and stretchy cervix, so they gave me a sweep to try and speed things up. I stayed at the unit for another hour in case things started happening but when they failed to do so it was suggested we go to the in-laws for tea as it was closer to the unit than our house, and drop back into the unit to be examined at around 8.00pm.
At the in-laws house the contractions had started to get more painful so I put on my TENS machine and walked up and down the stairs for a bit. James followed me around asking if he could push the boost button! He was quite fascinated by the TENS machine, though I think he was a bit confused and upset about me being in pain. I had to eat tea sat on MILs exercise ball as it was too painful sitting on the hard chair.
We left James with the in-laws and got back to the unit around 8pm. I was still apparently not in established labour and the contractions were mild to moderate, coming every 10 minutes. I was still managing to cope with the pain quite easily with the TENS and breathing through them. The midwife (still Suzanne) said I could stay at the unit or go home until I had 2 or 3 contractions every 10mins. I decided as it might be hours until I was ready for the birth pool I might as well go home as it would be more relaxing and less boring there. The journey home wasnt very pleasant as I was still contracting every 10mins so had a couple of contractions in the car, but I felt relieved when Id arrived home at around 8.45pm. Within 5mins of getting there I had a massive clearout!!
By 9.30pm I was getting contractions 6mins apart but an hour later they were getting further apart again. I was starting to feel tired (too tired to keep moving around and trying to bring on more contractions) and would have loved to have had a nap, but I couldnt get comfy in any position. I passed time by updating the forum and timing the contractions using an online contraction calculator. Sometime around midnight OH decided to go to bed to try and get some sleep, it was pointless us both being awake and knackered. I went to bed with him and took the lap top so I could continue timing the contractions. I really fancied a bath at this point but was scared to take the tens machine off in case things became more painful without it, and also I might feel the pain more after getting out of the bath. I think it was around now that the contractions stopped for a bit but the horrendous lower backache remained (I later found out baby was trying to turn from LOA to ROA but was going the long way around and was back to back, the baby trying to turn was the cause of my long latent phase.) The next few hours were hell. Id had enough of being in labour at this point and wished I could go to sleep and start again the next day. The pain in my back was so bad I couldnt even sit down. I managed to prop myself up on the bed with pillows and nodded off like that for a few minutes, but was then woken up with a contraction whilst lying on my back and being unable to move or get up till the contraction was over. The pain was horrific and put me off trying to lie down again.
At 3am I was violently sick. The contractions were back worse than ever, 6-10 minutes in frequency, and I was starting to feel a bit delirious from pain and tiredness. I think the tiredness was making it a lot worse. I had got to the stage where if offered, I would have happily accepted an epidural. It wasnt an option though at the midwifery unit. I remember thinking that this was much worse than James labour and I didnt ever want to do this again! The only way I could get remotely comfy was to kneel on a pillow at the side of the bed. My birth ball felt too hard to sit on, but I was in too much pain to let any air out of it. I had a few more bloody shows around this time. This was definitely the worse part of my labour.
Sometime after 4am Id had enough. I was getting contractions 6 minutes apart, lasting one and a half minutes each, and the tens wasnt touching the pain, in fact the constant drumming on my back was getting annoying. I had continuous bad back pain and stomach cramps so there was no rest between contractions, just constant pain! I felt like I wasnt coping anymore so decided to call the midwife before the contractions started getting further apart again. We were told to go back to the unit, OH had to dress me because I was in too much pain to do it myself, I ended up leaving the house in my slippers! (which I had to wear home after giving birth!)
We arrived back at the unit around 5am after a hellish journey. Contracting whilst strapped into a car is not comfy! A lovely midwife called Sue met us there, and she was fantastic! She gave me an internal which showed I was 6-8cm. I was also having the dreaded back to back labour! Logan had been in the correct position for weeks, then moved last minute!! She offered to break my waters to speed things up but I initially declined because it meant having to lie on my back till the next contraction (because the waters were so tight against babies head), and it was agony lying on my back, I just had to get off the bed. I was taken to the day room and given toast and peppermint tea for breakfast, unfortunately the first mouthful of toast made me throw up again. I was still in complete agony so Sue took off the tens (which made no difference to the pain), sat me on a birth ball and gave me a backrub which was amazing, I felt such relief from the back pain.
After some thought I decided I did want my waters broken after all, when I was in labour with James my waters had to be broken when I was ready to push as they wouldnt go on their own, I didnt want to risk the same thing happening again and having to get out of the pool. I was taken back to the bed, and luckily got a contraction as soon as I lay down. After a bit of confusion about whether my waters had already gone (because they were so tight Sue couldnt see them at first), they were broken and the water was clear.
The birthing pool was now filled. It had only taken half an hour because OH had pointed out it would be quicker to connect the hose to the shower. Normally they fill it using a bidet which takes one and a half hours! The midwives will be using OHs method from now on!
Getting into the birthing pool was absolute heaven! Instantly the continuous backache went away and I felt so calm and relaxed. I was worried it would be cold but it was lovely and warm. It was a birth pool in a box and the squidgy cushion seat felt extremely comfy to sit on. I felt myself going into myself, although Id been in labour for 24 hours without sleep I began to feel rested. I could still feel the contractions, and they hurt loads, but the constant pain was gone. I decided I needed gas and air as the contractions where getting very strong, I knew I must be almost fully dilated, I could feel it. I instinctively decided to kneel up at this point and lean on the side of the pool. The gas and air was making me feel drunk, and I didnt like it so I decided to do without. I wanted to have my wits about me at the pushing stage so I could feel when to push and when to pant. It must have been about 8am at this point as I remember the midwife (Sue) saying she was finishing her shift but would stay as it wouldnt be long. Another midwife arrived (Leslie, who I saw at most of my antenatal appointments) to take over from Sue, and Suzanne who I had seen the previous day was back to be the second midwife, so I had three midwives all to myself! I was in a dream like state at this point, I wasnt sure who was in the room with me, and really didnt care. I was aware of music playing in the background (Stings message in a bottle that OH was playing on the IPOD), but felt detatched from everything, I felt totally calm and at peace despite the pain. This must have been the effects of the gas and air.
After a while I became aware of the sensation of needing a poo, so I figured it was pushing time. This part felt like hours though it was only 10 minutes in reality. Logan was almost 3lb heavier than James and I really felt the difference! He was much, much harder to push out. I was aware of the fact I was doing a poo, and remember Sue saying shes have to use latex gloves to get it out because she couldnt find the sieve! I really couldnt care less that I was doing a poo naked in front of people though, I was totally in my own world, all I could think was that I was tired and I wanted the baby out so I could rest. I was making a horribly embarrassing doing a poo noise whilst pushing too! Sue kept telling me to close off my throat or Id get a sore throat (my throat was sore the next day too!). I was holding OHs hands and he said I really crushed them! I could feel Logan moving downwards and felt down and could feel his head. Sue asked me if I felt comfortable catching him myself, but I asked if she could help me, I was scared of drowning him! I felt myself tearing as he came out, though it didnt hurt anymore than the normal burning sensation. In fact the burning of him crowning didnt feel as bad as it did in the bed delivery I had with James. With my final push OH accidently let go of my hands and my face got dunked in the water!
When Logan came out at 8.50am he had the cord around his neck though I didnt realise at the time. (It got caught on his shoulder as he was making his final turn.) Sue unwrapped it and pushed him through my legs so I could catch him, and I lifted him out of the water. He didnt make a sound as I held him and I kept asking if he was ok! He was fine, apparently its common for babies born in water to be quiet as its less traumatic for them. OH cut the cord, though he struggled due to his dead arm and hand, and the midwife wearing gloves the same colour as the cord!
When I stood up I noticed the water in the pool had turned red, there was so much blood! I was convinced I had torn a labia or my clitoris off! I had visions of being transferred to Aberdeen hospital to be stitched up in theatre. I was given an injection in the thigh to help deliver the placenta and climbed out of the pool holding onto the clamped end of the cord. I was put in a wheelchair and taken to a bed to deliver the placenta. For some reason OH was holding Logan in a blanket and I remember feeling insanely jealous to the point I wanted to get out of bed and smack OH!! Logans face and feet were blue from having the cord wrapped around his neck, and around his eyes were red from the pressure, but the midwives assured me he was fine. He also had a cone head from being squeezed on his way out! Within half an hour he was looking more pink, and the bluish tinge had disappeared completely by the next day.
The placenta came out within 5 minutes and my bleeding was on the heavy side of normal. I hardly noticed delivering the placenta because I was too busy giving OH evils because he was holding Logan! Once the placenta was out I was examined to check the damage and luckily I only had a 1st degree tear to the back of my vagina which didnt need stitches. Logan was then given to me, and Suzanne helped me with breastfeeding. Logan didnt want to latch on at first. Suzanne said he might have a headache from having the cord around his neck, so he was put down for a rest while I nibbled on some toast. He latched on to my boob about 10 minutes later with no problems. Suzanne said I had the best placenta shed ever seen, and it had come away beautifully. James came in shortly afterwards to meet his little brother. We went home at 1pm the same day, and I spent the afternoon lying on my own bed with Logan.
Although this labour was a lot longer and more painful than my 12 hour labour with James it was a much nicer experience overall. I found I had a lot more attention giving birth in a midwifery unit where I was the only patient, and being able to come and go as I pleased meant I felt in control and was a lot more relaxed and confident, which meant I was able to cope with the pain much better. The water birth was amazing and I really recommend it, the water itself was a surprisingly effective painkiller. Im sure if it wasnt for the birthing pool Id of ended up begging to go to Aberdeen Hospital for an epidural! Although it was hard Id happily give birth again, looking back it was a fantastic labour experience.
******update*****
Here's my birth story at last, sorry its a bit of a novel! I do tend to waffle. I wanted to get all the details in to keep for when logie bears older, I know from james' birth how the details get hazy over the years, and the brain blocks out all the bad bits
The night before labour started I felt as though I was coming down with a bad cold, my throat felt sore and my head felt funny. I had bad period pains before I went to bed that night so it took me ages to get to sleep. I didnt think it meant labour was on the way though as Id been having period pains and lower back ache on and off for weeks.
After a night of dreaming I was having contractions and semi waking up in pain, I was woken properly at 6.45am on Thursday 24th May with an unmistakable contraction. So I got out of bed and went downstairs to have breakfast and time them. I had several more contractions but they werent very regular or painful so I suspected that they were probably just painful Braxton Hicks, and so I told my other half to go to work as normal.
At around 7.10am I lost a large chunk of plug when I went to the loo, it was clear jelly streaked with pink and brown. I got in the shower and had some stronger contractions in there and started to wonder if it was the real thing. Once out I decided that I wasnt in a fit state to walk James to school so I abandoned getting him ready and started to time the contractions again. By this time I also had constant backache. I was feeling sick and noticed the contractions were worse when I moved around. I was getting to the point where the contractions were making me stop what I was doing and I was having to breathe through them. I could still talk through them though and knew there was much worse to come! They were still really irregular so I started to wonder again if it was a false alarm.
At 9.30am I decided to call the midwife for advice. I was expecting her to say that they were too irregular to be the real thing, and to keep timing them. I was shocked when she said to come in to be checked over. I phoned OH and told him to come home but not to get excited as it was probably a false alarm. Whilst I was waiting for him to arrive I got James dressed and noticed that the contractions were getting further apart! I started feeling angry at myself for phoning and thought Id made a mistake. I lost some more plug during this time, but I still expected the trip to the midwifery unit 20mins drive away to be a waste of time, so sure in fact that when OH got back from work I told him to sit down and have a coffee before leaving half hour later!
I arrived at the midwifery unit in Aboyne at sometime around 10.30-11am. The unit was really busy because there was a meeting going on with all the midwives in the team attending. I think I was the only patient though. A midwife called Suzanne saw me, and together with a student checked my blood pressure, listened to the babys heartbeat, checked the babys position etc. Logan was 4/5 engaged but the contractions had got further apart. They were at one every 20mins when I arrived there. The midwife monitored my contractions for a bit and said she felt 3 in 10mins, though I could not feel them myself. A urine specimen showed I had keytones in my wee so she suggested I go to the tearoom round the corner for something to eat, and then go for a walk and try and get some more contractions going. She said that this latent phase of labour could last a long time, but once established labour started it would be quite quick. She said shed examine me once Id got back from the walk and might be able to give me a sweep depending on the position of my cervix.
So we had lunch, during which I had a few more contractions 10mins apart that were quite sore, but easily manageable. I noticed when I went to the loo that Id lost more plug and it was a lot bloodier than before. Luckily it was a sunny day so we took James to the park across the road and I walked around trying to get things moving. My contractions were getting further apart again, going from 10mins, to 20mins, and then 40mins. At that point I thought everything had stopped. OH had called his parents who lived 10mins drive away and they said theyd meet us at the park; we wanted them around in case anything happened so that they could take James. We all went for a walk along the river (Aboyne is in quite a rural setting so it was a lovely place to go for a walk.) At one point we climbed over a broken stile and I got stuck on top of it when my flip flop and the leg of my jeans got stuck in a gorse bush! It did bring on a contraction, but it wasnt very nice having one on top of a stile! Somehow we took a wrong turning and ended up in a field full of cow poo with a herd of Aberdeen Angus blocking our path! We had to take a shortcut by cutting through the back garden of the police station! We went back to the tearoom for drinks and I had a couple of really painful contractions in the toilet that had me hanging onto the toilet door, I thought I was going to be stuck in there for a bit.
We returned to the midwifery unit three and a half hours later at 3pm with my contractions still very irregular. The in-laws had taken James home with them. I was given an internal by the student under the supervision of the midwife Suzanne (who also double checked herself.) I was 3-5cm dilated, fully effaced, with a thin and stretchy cervix, so they gave me a sweep to try and speed things up. I stayed at the unit for another hour in case things started happening but when they failed to do so it was suggested we go to the in-laws for tea as it was closer to the unit than our house, and drop back into the unit to be examined at around 8.00pm.
At the in-laws house the contractions had started to get more painful so I put on my TENS machine and walked up and down the stairs for a bit. James followed me around asking if he could push the boost button! He was quite fascinated by the TENS machine, though I think he was a bit confused and upset about me being in pain. I had to eat tea sat on MILs exercise ball as it was too painful sitting on the hard chair.
We left James with the in-laws and got back to the unit around 8pm. I was still apparently not in established labour and the contractions were mild to moderate, coming every 10 minutes. I was still managing to cope with the pain quite easily with the TENS and breathing through them. The midwife (still Suzanne) said I could stay at the unit or go home until I had 2 or 3 contractions every 10mins. I decided as it might be hours until I was ready for the birth pool I might as well go home as it would be more relaxing and less boring there. The journey home wasnt very pleasant as I was still contracting every 10mins so had a couple of contractions in the car, but I felt relieved when Id arrived home at around 8.45pm. Within 5mins of getting there I had a massive clearout!!
By 9.30pm I was getting contractions 6mins apart but an hour later they were getting further apart again. I was starting to feel tired (too tired to keep moving around and trying to bring on more contractions) and would have loved to have had a nap, but I couldnt get comfy in any position. I passed time by updating the forum and timing the contractions using an online contraction calculator. Sometime around midnight OH decided to go to bed to try and get some sleep, it was pointless us both being awake and knackered. I went to bed with him and took the lap top so I could continue timing the contractions. I really fancied a bath at this point but was scared to take the tens machine off in case things became more painful without it, and also I might feel the pain more after getting out of the bath. I think it was around now that the contractions stopped for a bit but the horrendous lower backache remained (I later found out baby was trying to turn from LOA to ROA but was going the long way around and was back to back, the baby trying to turn was the cause of my long latent phase.) The next few hours were hell. Id had enough of being in labour at this point and wished I could go to sleep and start again the next day. The pain in my back was so bad I couldnt even sit down. I managed to prop myself up on the bed with pillows and nodded off like that for a few minutes, but was then woken up with a contraction whilst lying on my back and being unable to move or get up till the contraction was over. The pain was horrific and put me off trying to lie down again.
At 3am I was violently sick. The contractions were back worse than ever, 6-10 minutes in frequency, and I was starting to feel a bit delirious from pain and tiredness. I think the tiredness was making it a lot worse. I had got to the stage where if offered, I would have happily accepted an epidural. It wasnt an option though at the midwifery unit. I remember thinking that this was much worse than James labour and I didnt ever want to do this again! The only way I could get remotely comfy was to kneel on a pillow at the side of the bed. My birth ball felt too hard to sit on, but I was in too much pain to let any air out of it. I had a few more bloody shows around this time. This was definitely the worse part of my labour.
Sometime after 4am Id had enough. I was getting contractions 6 minutes apart, lasting one and a half minutes each, and the tens wasnt touching the pain, in fact the constant drumming on my back was getting annoying. I had continuous bad back pain and stomach cramps so there was no rest between contractions, just constant pain! I felt like I wasnt coping anymore so decided to call the midwife before the contractions started getting further apart again. We were told to go back to the unit, OH had to dress me because I was in too much pain to do it myself, I ended up leaving the house in my slippers! (which I had to wear home after giving birth!)
We arrived back at the unit around 5am after a hellish journey. Contracting whilst strapped into a car is not comfy! A lovely midwife called Sue met us there, and she was fantastic! She gave me an internal which showed I was 6-8cm. I was also having the dreaded back to back labour! Logan had been in the correct position for weeks, then moved last minute!! She offered to break my waters to speed things up but I initially declined because it meant having to lie on my back till the next contraction (because the waters were so tight against babies head), and it was agony lying on my back, I just had to get off the bed. I was taken to the day room and given toast and peppermint tea for breakfast, unfortunately the first mouthful of toast made me throw up again. I was still in complete agony so Sue took off the tens (which made no difference to the pain), sat me on a birth ball and gave me a backrub which was amazing, I felt such relief from the back pain.
After some thought I decided I did want my waters broken after all, when I was in labour with James my waters had to be broken when I was ready to push as they wouldnt go on their own, I didnt want to risk the same thing happening again and having to get out of the pool. I was taken back to the bed, and luckily got a contraction as soon as I lay down. After a bit of confusion about whether my waters had already gone (because they were so tight Sue couldnt see them at first), they were broken and the water was clear.
The birthing pool was now filled. It had only taken half an hour because OH had pointed out it would be quicker to connect the hose to the shower. Normally they fill it using a bidet which takes one and a half hours! The midwives will be using OHs method from now on!
Getting into the birthing pool was absolute heaven! Instantly the continuous backache went away and I felt so calm and relaxed. I was worried it would be cold but it was lovely and warm. It was a birth pool in a box and the squidgy cushion seat felt extremely comfy to sit on. I felt myself going into myself, although Id been in labour for 24 hours without sleep I began to feel rested. I could still feel the contractions, and they hurt loads, but the constant pain was gone. I decided I needed gas and air as the contractions where getting very strong, I knew I must be almost fully dilated, I could feel it. I instinctively decided to kneel up at this point and lean on the side of the pool. The gas and air was making me feel drunk, and I didnt like it so I decided to do without. I wanted to have my wits about me at the pushing stage so I could feel when to push and when to pant. It must have been about 8am at this point as I remember the midwife (Sue) saying she was finishing her shift but would stay as it wouldnt be long. Another midwife arrived (Leslie, who I saw at most of my antenatal appointments) to take over from Sue, and Suzanne who I had seen the previous day was back to be the second midwife, so I had three midwives all to myself! I was in a dream like state at this point, I wasnt sure who was in the room with me, and really didnt care. I was aware of music playing in the background (Stings message in a bottle that OH was playing on the IPOD), but felt detatched from everything, I felt totally calm and at peace despite the pain. This must have been the effects of the gas and air.
After a while I became aware of the sensation of needing a poo, so I figured it was pushing time. This part felt like hours though it was only 10 minutes in reality. Logan was almost 3lb heavier than James and I really felt the difference! He was much, much harder to push out. I was aware of the fact I was doing a poo, and remember Sue saying shes have to use latex gloves to get it out because she couldnt find the sieve! I really couldnt care less that I was doing a poo naked in front of people though, I was totally in my own world, all I could think was that I was tired and I wanted the baby out so I could rest. I was making a horribly embarrassing doing a poo noise whilst pushing too! Sue kept telling me to close off my throat or Id get a sore throat (my throat was sore the next day too!). I was holding OHs hands and he said I really crushed them! I could feel Logan moving downwards and felt down and could feel his head. Sue asked me if I felt comfortable catching him myself, but I asked if she could help me, I was scared of drowning him! I felt myself tearing as he came out, though it didnt hurt anymore than the normal burning sensation. In fact the burning of him crowning didnt feel as bad as it did in the bed delivery I had with James. With my final push OH accidently let go of my hands and my face got dunked in the water!
When Logan came out at 8.50am he had the cord around his neck though I didnt realise at the time. (It got caught on his shoulder as he was making his final turn.) Sue unwrapped it and pushed him through my legs so I could catch him, and I lifted him out of the water. He didnt make a sound as I held him and I kept asking if he was ok! He was fine, apparently its common for babies born in water to be quiet as its less traumatic for them. OH cut the cord, though he struggled due to his dead arm and hand, and the midwife wearing gloves the same colour as the cord!
When I stood up I noticed the water in the pool had turned red, there was so much blood! I was convinced I had torn a labia or my clitoris off! I had visions of being transferred to Aberdeen hospital to be stitched up in theatre. I was given an injection in the thigh to help deliver the placenta and climbed out of the pool holding onto the clamped end of the cord. I was put in a wheelchair and taken to a bed to deliver the placenta. For some reason OH was holding Logan in a blanket and I remember feeling insanely jealous to the point I wanted to get out of bed and smack OH!! Logans face and feet were blue from having the cord wrapped around his neck, and around his eyes were red from the pressure, but the midwives assured me he was fine. He also had a cone head from being squeezed on his way out! Within half an hour he was looking more pink, and the bluish tinge had disappeared completely by the next day.
The placenta came out within 5 minutes and my bleeding was on the heavy side of normal. I hardly noticed delivering the placenta because I was too busy giving OH evils because he was holding Logan! Once the placenta was out I was examined to check the damage and luckily I only had a 1st degree tear to the back of my vagina which didnt need stitches. Logan was then given to me, and Suzanne helped me with breastfeeding. Logan didnt want to latch on at first. Suzanne said he might have a headache from having the cord around his neck, so he was put down for a rest while I nibbled on some toast. He latched on to my boob about 10 minutes later with no problems. Suzanne said I had the best placenta shed ever seen, and it had come away beautifully. James came in shortly afterwards to meet his little brother. We went home at 1pm the same day, and I spent the afternoon lying on my own bed with Logan.
Although this labour was a lot longer and more painful than my 12 hour labour with James it was a much nicer experience overall. I found I had a lot more attention giving birth in a midwifery unit where I was the only patient, and being able to come and go as I pleased meant I felt in control and was a lot more relaxed and confident, which meant I was able to cope with the pain much better. The water birth was amazing and I really recommend it, the water itself was a surprisingly effective painkiller. Im sure if it wasnt for the birthing pool Id of ended up begging to go to Aberdeen Hospital for an epidural! Although it was hard Id happily give birth again, looking back it was a fantastic labour experience.
