Verity2011
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Sorry this has taken a while; the first few weeks have been wonderful for us but so busy with families all over the country! Anyway here goes (from what I can remember!)
When I finally went into labour I was 41+2. Id had my show that Monday and a sweep on Wednesday, both of which had seemingly amounted to nothing. On Thursday evening I began getting trickling, which I thought might be my waters leaking so I popped in a pad and thought I would try and get some sleep. But I was feeling quite crampy and generally uncomfortable so sat on PF on my phone under the covers LOL! At midnight, the pains began getting worse and I started noticing a pattern of peaks so realising this might be it, I jumped in the shower to try and soothe them and let DH get a little more sleep before things kicked off properly. However they intensified very quickly, completely located in my back and thighs. DH times them for over an hour and they were already 4 every ten minutes lasting 60 seconds. We couldnt believe how fast it seemed to be progressing and promptly set off for the MLU.
The car journey has to be one of the most difficult points as there is very little to distract yourself from the pain, and I was already getting the urge to push. When we got to the MLU, I let the midwife know about my waters as well as the strong contractions and urge to push. I was hooked up to a monitor and given a VE. I was having regular strong contractions but was only 1cm (I had already been 1cm at my last midwife appointment!). I was absolutely distraught at this point. Apparently the strong regular contractions and intense pain were because cub was back to back (the first time he had been in this position during the whole pregnancy!) and very low down already. The midwife then told me that she didnt think my waters had gone after all so I should go home and have a bath and try and sleep if I can. I felt dreadful and DH was going to insist on us staying but I felt so disappointed that I just said we should go home anyway.
At home, the pains only got worse and aside from making me a bit pruny, the bath did nothing to help. DH tried counter pressure on my back as well but that didnt help either and I was beginning to lose it a bit especially as the urge to push became stronger and stronger. Eventually I told DH my body was pushing and I thought I was pooing myself and he insisted we had to head back to the hospital. The natal hypnotherapy really managed to help me get back on top of the contractions in the car although I knew my body was still trying to push and there was literally nothing I could do to stop it, by this point I had decided that an epidural really seemed like a good idea! When we got to the MLU the midwife did another VE and discovered 1. That my waters probably had started to go as there was a lot more leaking now 2. That I was now 4cm
but 3. My cervix was very badly swollen from the involuntary early urge to push due to positioning. Thankfully cubs head wasnt swollen, but she told me that I needed to have an epidural to stop my body from pushing as this would be the only way to get the swelling down and allow me to have a vaginal birth.
I have never seen hospital staff move so quickly and within a minute I had been given gas and air (thoroughly underrated!) to help with the pushing, bundled into a wheelchair and transferred upstairs to the labour ward, and an anaesthetist had begun prepping me for the epidural!
It took half an hour to kick in and during this time, DH was absolutely amazing at getting me through the contractions. But as soon as the epidural started, it was absolutely amazing! I regained control of myself and even my midwives in the labour ward kept commenting that theyd never seen such a smiley and happy woman in labour! I seriously cannot praise the epidural enough and even though it was necessary for my situation it did make my entire birth actually an enjoyable experience. From this point on we constantly had one experienced midwife and a student midwife one to one with us. They were amazing at relaxing DH, watching the monitors and having a good old chinwag throughout.
After an hour or two (times are pretty sketchy for me) I was given another VE and while my cervix was beginning to go down, I hadnt dilated past 4cm While they began hooking me up to an induction drip to intensify the contractions, cub started showing signs of distress. At this point the room filled up with everyone staring at the heart monitor. They finally decided to turn me to my left and started the drip but throughout DH and I were being told "we'll review your situation in 30 minutes" and "your baby will be born one way or the other" - read: C-section becoming a serious option!
But cub picked up and I continued to enjoy the whole process but when they did the next exam I was still only 6cm so the drip was turned up and once again we were told they would review us. At this point, neither DH nor I were bothered about how he got here, as long as cub got to us safely. The next two hours were continuous worries about how cub was handling the labor and my contractions starting and stopping with the epidural.
At about 5 my pulse suddenly rocketed and my temperature rose to 40 degrees. The midwives were amazing and paged the registrar to take some blood cultures while they hurriedly hooked me up to antibiotics and paracetamol. It turned out that my waters had in fact broken earlier on Thursday and by doing a VE and then sending me home to take a bath at the beginning of labor the first midwife had opened cub and I up to an infection.
When that was finally under control, I was given another VE at 6.30 and I was finally 10cm! They then told me they were going to leave me another hour for the contractions to build up and then I could start pushing! DH and I were in disbelief!!!!! During this hour I tried to nap, as I knew the hard part would start when I needed to do the pushing especially as I could not feel anything from the waist down. At 7.40, my midwives got me in position on my left-hand side and allowed me to start pushing. This was the worst part about the epidural, as I really could not feel if I was doing it right at all. Cub was already very low down and ready to be born but my positioning was stopping the pushes from being effective so I was moved onto my back. But cub didnt like this and his heart rate dropped to 40. The emergency button was pushed and DH and the student midwife were pushed to one side while the room filled up with surgeons, pediatricians and resuscitation units! Out of the entire labor this was the only bit that really scared me. The surgeon we had was amazing and explained he was going to start with trying to use the ventuose. I was then being told that I really needed to get my baby out and my pushes were being counted down by a very white faced DH. Unfortunately my contractions had completely stopped so my midwife had to manually force them (which meant I ached for days after but wow was it worth it!). 3 minutes later, my sons head was born and his shoulder followed shortly after!
He was placed on my chest gurgling away and DH cut the cord before the pediatrician checked cub over. He was then placed back on my chest for his first feed!
In the end Ariel was born at 20.08 on 17th February 2012 weighing a very healthy 9lbs 7oz! We were kept in hospital for 5 days in the end which was horrible but during that time cub and I fell more in love with each other, established great breastfeeding and he even gained 100g in his first 5 days and has steadily gained more since. Were both so happy healthy and loving every day!
Well done if you managed to get to the end of this massive saga and thank all of you PF ladies so much for all your love and support! Massive hugs and kisses from Ariel and I xxxxx
When I finally went into labour I was 41+2. Id had my show that Monday and a sweep on Wednesday, both of which had seemingly amounted to nothing. On Thursday evening I began getting trickling, which I thought might be my waters leaking so I popped in a pad and thought I would try and get some sleep. But I was feeling quite crampy and generally uncomfortable so sat on PF on my phone under the covers LOL! At midnight, the pains began getting worse and I started noticing a pattern of peaks so realising this might be it, I jumped in the shower to try and soothe them and let DH get a little more sleep before things kicked off properly. However they intensified very quickly, completely located in my back and thighs. DH times them for over an hour and they were already 4 every ten minutes lasting 60 seconds. We couldnt believe how fast it seemed to be progressing and promptly set off for the MLU.
The car journey has to be one of the most difficult points as there is very little to distract yourself from the pain, and I was already getting the urge to push. When we got to the MLU, I let the midwife know about my waters as well as the strong contractions and urge to push. I was hooked up to a monitor and given a VE. I was having regular strong contractions but was only 1cm (I had already been 1cm at my last midwife appointment!). I was absolutely distraught at this point. Apparently the strong regular contractions and intense pain were because cub was back to back (the first time he had been in this position during the whole pregnancy!) and very low down already. The midwife then told me that she didnt think my waters had gone after all so I should go home and have a bath and try and sleep if I can. I felt dreadful and DH was going to insist on us staying but I felt so disappointed that I just said we should go home anyway.
At home, the pains only got worse and aside from making me a bit pruny, the bath did nothing to help. DH tried counter pressure on my back as well but that didnt help either and I was beginning to lose it a bit especially as the urge to push became stronger and stronger. Eventually I told DH my body was pushing and I thought I was pooing myself and he insisted we had to head back to the hospital. The natal hypnotherapy really managed to help me get back on top of the contractions in the car although I knew my body was still trying to push and there was literally nothing I could do to stop it, by this point I had decided that an epidural really seemed like a good idea! When we got to the MLU the midwife did another VE and discovered 1. That my waters probably had started to go as there was a lot more leaking now 2. That I was now 4cm
but 3. My cervix was very badly swollen from the involuntary early urge to push due to positioning. Thankfully cubs head wasnt swollen, but she told me that I needed to have an epidural to stop my body from pushing as this would be the only way to get the swelling down and allow me to have a vaginal birth. I have never seen hospital staff move so quickly and within a minute I had been given gas and air (thoroughly underrated!) to help with the pushing, bundled into a wheelchair and transferred upstairs to the labour ward, and an anaesthetist had begun prepping me for the epidural!
It took half an hour to kick in and during this time, DH was absolutely amazing at getting me through the contractions. But as soon as the epidural started, it was absolutely amazing! I regained control of myself and even my midwives in the labour ward kept commenting that theyd never seen such a smiley and happy woman in labour! I seriously cannot praise the epidural enough and even though it was necessary for my situation it did make my entire birth actually an enjoyable experience. From this point on we constantly had one experienced midwife and a student midwife one to one with us. They were amazing at relaxing DH, watching the monitors and having a good old chinwag throughout.
After an hour or two (times are pretty sketchy for me) I was given another VE and while my cervix was beginning to go down, I hadnt dilated past 4cm While they began hooking me up to an induction drip to intensify the contractions, cub started showing signs of distress. At this point the room filled up with everyone staring at the heart monitor. They finally decided to turn me to my left and started the drip but throughout DH and I were being told "we'll review your situation in 30 minutes" and "your baby will be born one way or the other" - read: C-section becoming a serious option!
But cub picked up and I continued to enjoy the whole process but when they did the next exam I was still only 6cm so the drip was turned up and once again we were told they would review us. At this point, neither DH nor I were bothered about how he got here, as long as cub got to us safely. The next two hours were continuous worries about how cub was handling the labor and my contractions starting and stopping with the epidural.
At about 5 my pulse suddenly rocketed and my temperature rose to 40 degrees. The midwives were amazing and paged the registrar to take some blood cultures while they hurriedly hooked me up to antibiotics and paracetamol. It turned out that my waters had in fact broken earlier on Thursday and by doing a VE and then sending me home to take a bath at the beginning of labor the first midwife had opened cub and I up to an infection.
When that was finally under control, I was given another VE at 6.30 and I was finally 10cm!
They then told me they were going to leave me another hour for the contractions to build up and then I could start pushing! DH and I were in disbelief!!!!! During this hour I tried to nap, as I knew the hard part would start when I needed to do the pushing especially as I could not feel anything from the waist down. At 7.40, my midwives got me in position on my left-hand side and allowed me to start pushing. This was the worst part about the epidural, as I really could not feel if I was doing it right at all. Cub was already very low down and ready to be born but my positioning was stopping the pushes from being effective so I was moved onto my back. But cub didnt like this and his heart rate dropped to 40. The emergency button was pushed and DH and the student midwife were pushed to one side while the room filled up with surgeons, pediatricians and resuscitation units! Out of the entire labor this was the only bit that really scared me. The surgeon we had was amazing and explained he was going to start with trying to use the ventuose. I was then being told that I really needed to get my baby out and my pushes were being counted down by a very white faced DH. Unfortunately my contractions had completely stopped so my midwife had to manually force them (which meant I ached for days after but wow was it worth it!). 3 minutes later, my sons head was born and his shoulder followed shortly after!He was placed on my chest gurgling away and DH cut the cord before the pediatrician checked cub over. He was then placed back on my chest for his first feed!
In the end Ariel was born at 20.08 on 17th February 2012 weighing a very healthy 9lbs 7oz! We were kept in hospital for 5 days in the end which was horrible but during that time cub and I fell more in love with each other, established great breastfeeding and he even gained 100g in his first 5 days and has steadily gained more since. Were both so happy healthy and loving every day!
Well done if you managed to get to the end of this massive saga and thank all of you PF ladies so much for all your love and support! Massive hugs and kisses from Ariel and I xxxxx
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