Our beautifull baby daughter Rosemary was born at 2.17 am Thursday
13 th September 2007 by emergency C section.
One of the best and worst experiences of my life!
Monday i had an antinatal apointment for a sweep, i was 0cm dillated so the midwife wasnt very encouraging about it making a diference but it was worth a go. It was pretty painfull and i bled quite a lot. for the rest or the day i was having regular Braxtonhicks but much stronger than i was used to so i thought it might just have worked! By Tuesday the contractions were irregular but becoming more and more painfull. As the day went on they did get closer together (if still a little eratic) we decided to call the labour ward because the car wasnt running and i wanted to know how early they would let me in because we were going to have to rely on others for transport.
They agreed to regular contactions every 5 mins.
By about 11pm Tuesday my contractions were pretty regaular at 5mins and fairly painfull, i was pretty sure it wouldnt be long befor the pain was going to be a bit to much for me so we called the labour ward and they agreed for me to go in (reluctantly)
On ariving at the hospital i was assesed and was only 1cm dillated! The thought it was very early labour and reconed there wasnt much thay could do. They were quite keen for me to go home at this point but it's a good half hour drive to the hospital and having no transport we didnt want to risk relying on others. So i was given 2 paracetamol and put in a side room with Rick and left to it.
The contactions started picking up and by 1am Wed morning they were 3 mins apart and very painfull, i was starting to struggle with the pain so they agreed to put me on entonox and said they would check me in a few hours. Contractions stayed at 3 mins for the rest of the night and with the help of the entonox i thought i was doing pretty well!
They did another internal about 6am and i was gutted to be told i was 1 and a half cm dilated! The nurse tried stretching my cervix and got it to 2cm.
TBH i was pretty gutted i was knackered and hadnt achieved anything, some of the stronger contractions were too strong for the entenox and i couldnt see how i was going to cope later on.
When the midwives changed shifts at 7am the new senior MW came to me and explained that i wasnt in labour and was only feeling efacing pains! In her opinion the baby wasnt even engaged (even though at antinatal they said it was)and i would most likely not go into labour for day's.
Soooo....... they could justify keeping me in.
Bearing in mind i felt like i was being split in 2 every 3 minutes and Entenox wasnt helping with the pain i got a little panicky. Basicaly they were going to send me home with just paracetamol! And i wasnt to come back till i was further along.
I understood that i was only 2 cm dilated BUT contractions every 3mins and excrutiationg pain was just too much for me to handle and i didnt understand how i was to know when to come back in?? Wait till they were a minute apart???????
Any way the result was both sets of parents at the hospital and my OH screaming at the Midwives as i broke down in the corner on the room. I consider myself pretty tough, i used to break horses for a living, i've had a LOT of accidents and i've got a high pain threshold. I was hysterical at this point because the thought of not coping is pretty new to me.
The MW basically said there was no way i was in labour as the "definition" of a contraction is - "uterine activity which has a direct result on the cervix" and as i wasnt dilating - i wasnt having contractions - so wasnt in labour - so any pain i was feeling was irelevant.
After a lot of abuse off my family they agreed i could go to the antinatal ward for now, but they would not continue the entenox (only paracetmol) and as it wasnt visiting hours no one could stay with me. I agreed but at this point i wasnt in a fit state to make any decicions atall.
Any way i was moved and put into a room. it was now 8 am Wed and my OH wasnt alowed back till 12.
I spent the next 4 hours on my own, on my knees with my arms round a birthing ball sobbing my heart out with no pain relief and contactions coming at 2 and 3 mins apart. The only thin stoping me screaming was that there was someone nextdoor who had just been brought in with pre-eclamsia and she was pretty upset herself and i felt the need to try and not make it worse for her.
During this time i got looked in on a couple of times but recieved no care at all. 12 O'clock on the dot my OH walks in and hits the roof. He's shouting at the midwife to do something and his mum has gone to find the consultant in the antinatal clinic and demand something to be done!
At some point a bottle of entenox apeared so it must have worked. They did another internal and thank the lord! i was 3 cm dillated which they decided meant i was in labour and i was taken to a delivery suit. From this point the staff were absolute angels. They managed to calm me down and make me comfortable and for the first time in over 12 hours give me the suport i needed to get through the contactions.
Unfortunatly over the next 12 hours i only dilated to 6cm, the pain got increasingly worse and i ended up having pethadine which barely touched the painand then a epidural as in the few seconds between contactions i was falling asleep (and falling over) for some reason i couldnt lie down or even sit with my feet up (too painfull)
The epidural i've got to admit was bliss! My first pain free moment in 24 hours and i could finally get into bed and shut my eyes for a short time.
Unfortunatly the epidural kept on wearing off too fast and they were topping it up pretty often.
My latest MW on shift expressed some concerns about the size of the baby and the size of me, i was checked again and was still 6cm dillated and all of a sudden i was being offered the option of a section. Its not some thing i would have chosen to do but i was pretty out of it by now and they were advising quite strongly. So i agreed.
My Oh stayed at my head while in theater and looked absolutly terrified.
It turns out the baby had been back to back, had turned funny and had her shoulders stuck in my pelvis, they had some difficulty pulling her out.
At 2.17 am Thursday Rosemary Grace Knox was born weighing 9lb 1oz. 55 cm long and with a head 12 cm in diameter.
They had to give her a little oxygen to start her off but those first crys were the most amazing thing we had ever heard. Rick got to hold her first and held her close to my head so i could see.
She was worth every moment.
Some of the staff i can not praise enough for their support but i cant forget that i was nearly sent home while IN LABOUR with the baby stuck in my pelvis. I dont know whether i'm more upset over the risk to my and the baby's life or the level of indiference that was displayed by some members of staff. it turns out they had 9 women in "active labour" that night, so they didnt have time for me.
I still want little Rosemary to have a brother or sister though!
13 th September 2007 by emergency C section.
One of the best and worst experiences of my life!
Monday i had an antinatal apointment for a sweep, i was 0cm dillated so the midwife wasnt very encouraging about it making a diference but it was worth a go. It was pretty painfull and i bled quite a lot. for the rest or the day i was having regular Braxtonhicks but much stronger than i was used to so i thought it might just have worked! By Tuesday the contractions were irregular but becoming more and more painfull. As the day went on they did get closer together (if still a little eratic) we decided to call the labour ward because the car wasnt running and i wanted to know how early they would let me in because we were going to have to rely on others for transport.
They agreed to regular contactions every 5 mins.
By about 11pm Tuesday my contractions were pretty regaular at 5mins and fairly painfull, i was pretty sure it wouldnt be long befor the pain was going to be a bit to much for me so we called the labour ward and they agreed for me to go in (reluctantly)
On ariving at the hospital i was assesed and was only 1cm dillated! The thought it was very early labour and reconed there wasnt much thay could do. They were quite keen for me to go home at this point but it's a good half hour drive to the hospital and having no transport we didnt want to risk relying on others. So i was given 2 paracetamol and put in a side room with Rick and left to it.
The contactions started picking up and by 1am Wed morning they were 3 mins apart and very painfull, i was starting to struggle with the pain so they agreed to put me on entonox and said they would check me in a few hours. Contractions stayed at 3 mins for the rest of the night and with the help of the entonox i thought i was doing pretty well!
They did another internal about 6am and i was gutted to be told i was 1 and a half cm dilated! The nurse tried stretching my cervix and got it to 2cm.
TBH i was pretty gutted i was knackered and hadnt achieved anything, some of the stronger contractions were too strong for the entenox and i couldnt see how i was going to cope later on.
When the midwives changed shifts at 7am the new senior MW came to me and explained that i wasnt in labour and was only feeling efacing pains! In her opinion the baby wasnt even engaged (even though at antinatal they said it was)and i would most likely not go into labour for day's.
Soooo....... they could justify keeping me in.
Bearing in mind i felt like i was being split in 2 every 3 minutes and Entenox wasnt helping with the pain i got a little panicky. Basicaly they were going to send me home with just paracetamol! And i wasnt to come back till i was further along.
I understood that i was only 2 cm dilated BUT contractions every 3mins and excrutiationg pain was just too much for me to handle and i didnt understand how i was to know when to come back in?? Wait till they were a minute apart???????
Any way the result was both sets of parents at the hospital and my OH screaming at the Midwives as i broke down in the corner on the room. I consider myself pretty tough, i used to break horses for a living, i've had a LOT of accidents and i've got a high pain threshold. I was hysterical at this point because the thought of not coping is pretty new to me.
The MW basically said there was no way i was in labour as the "definition" of a contraction is - "uterine activity which has a direct result on the cervix" and as i wasnt dilating - i wasnt having contractions - so wasnt in labour - so any pain i was feeling was irelevant.
After a lot of abuse off my family they agreed i could go to the antinatal ward for now, but they would not continue the entenox (only paracetmol) and as it wasnt visiting hours no one could stay with me. I agreed but at this point i wasnt in a fit state to make any decicions atall.
Any way i was moved and put into a room. it was now 8 am Wed and my OH wasnt alowed back till 12.
I spent the next 4 hours on my own, on my knees with my arms round a birthing ball sobbing my heart out with no pain relief and contactions coming at 2 and 3 mins apart. The only thin stoping me screaming was that there was someone nextdoor who had just been brought in with pre-eclamsia and she was pretty upset herself and i felt the need to try and not make it worse for her.
During this time i got looked in on a couple of times but recieved no care at all. 12 O'clock on the dot my OH walks in and hits the roof. He's shouting at the midwife to do something and his mum has gone to find the consultant in the antinatal clinic and demand something to be done!
At some point a bottle of entenox apeared so it must have worked. They did another internal and thank the lord! i was 3 cm dillated which they decided meant i was in labour and i was taken to a delivery suit. From this point the staff were absolute angels. They managed to calm me down and make me comfortable and for the first time in over 12 hours give me the suport i needed to get through the contactions.
Unfortunatly over the next 12 hours i only dilated to 6cm, the pain got increasingly worse and i ended up having pethadine which barely touched the painand then a epidural as in the few seconds between contactions i was falling asleep (and falling over) for some reason i couldnt lie down or even sit with my feet up (too painfull)
The epidural i've got to admit was bliss! My first pain free moment in 24 hours and i could finally get into bed and shut my eyes for a short time.
Unfortunatly the epidural kept on wearing off too fast and they were topping it up pretty often.
My latest MW on shift expressed some concerns about the size of the baby and the size of me, i was checked again and was still 6cm dillated and all of a sudden i was being offered the option of a section. Its not some thing i would have chosen to do but i was pretty out of it by now and they were advising quite strongly. So i agreed.
My Oh stayed at my head while in theater and looked absolutly terrified.
It turns out the baby had been back to back, had turned funny and had her shoulders stuck in my pelvis, they had some difficulty pulling her out.
At 2.17 am Thursday Rosemary Grace Knox was born weighing 9lb 1oz. 55 cm long and with a head 12 cm in diameter.
They had to give her a little oxygen to start her off but those first crys were the most amazing thing we had ever heard. Rick got to hold her first and held her close to my head so i could see.
She was worth every moment.
Some of the staff i can not praise enough for their support but i cant forget that i was nearly sent home while IN LABOUR with the baby stuck in my pelvis. I dont know whether i'm more upset over the risk to my and the baby's life or the level of indiference that was displayed by some members of staff. it turns out they had 9 women in "active labour" that night, so they didnt have time for me.
I still want little Rosemary to have a brother or sister though!
and welcome Rosemary 
