After finishing work officially on 5th March I decided I wanted a next restful couple of weeks at the caravan with Tim as Alex would be arriving shortly and he wouldn't have much attention once the baby arrived. Against DH wishes I went to Wales for the holidays and as I still had 5 weeks to go wasn't unduly worried. We had a nice couple of weeks and DH came down to us at the weekends. On the last day I cleared the van up and did a bit of cleaning and DH went for a pint. I said I was happy to drive back as I was feeling fine. We got home about 8pm and unloaded the car. I said to DH just leave all the washing on the kitchen floor and I'll do it tomorrow.
I went to bed feeling absolutely exhausted. I slept all night for the first time during the entire pregnancy, got up and felt this gush of water. I squealed as I thought I'd wet myself. DH went in to a complete panic. I hadn't packed a bag, the house was a tip, Tim was at school and hadn't made arrangements to collect him, we had no food in, what a nightmare!!
Once I'd calmed DH down we rang the hopsital who aked me to go in to be checked, bearing in mind that I was supposed to be having a c section. When I got there they confirmed my waters had broken (yes I knew that already) and said I could go home until things started to happen. If I hadn't gone in to labour by Wednesday they would induce me.
So we went home again. I went walking, cleaned the house, went shopping, fetched Mart's mom from the station, did a load of cooking and still no sign of any movement. On the Wednesday morining we went in and they gave me some gel. We waited four hours, still nothing. They then decided to hook me up to a drip. Every time they tried to turn the drip up, baby's heartbeat dropped so after three attempts they said if it happened again I would have to have a c section. I prayed I wouldn't have to have another section and next time they turned the drip up he was ok. So they kept cranking it up and finally the contractions started. Oh my god. I have had one normal labour and it was nothing like this. The contractions were so strong ad there was no let up between them. The gave me gas and air which was ok but after 3hours and 45 minutes of intense contractions they said I was only 3 cm dilated. I said i needed some pain relief and despite saying all along that I didn't want pethidine ( I didn't want an epidural either) there wasn't much alternative. I had the pethidine but during the bits I can remember, I was screaming that I needed to push. Midwife said I couldn't but after I wouldn't stop bawling at them, they examined me again and guess what....fully dilated. I started to push but the hearbeat kept dipping so the doctor went off to look for the ventouse. DH managed to get me to focus and two pushes later Alex arrived. Unfortunately as soon as they cut the cord he went completely 'flat'. They gave him an injection to stimulate his breathing and some oxygen and two minutes later he was fine. Apparently the pethidine if given too late in labour affects the baby. (I don't remember any of this as I had the bloody pethidine)
We went to the ward and two hours later my temprature shot up as I had an infection (common where waters break and labour doesn't start naturally apparently) I ended up staying in on IV antibiotics for three days but was so happy I didn't care!
After losing Christopher and having such a rough time with Tim, this labour was fantastic and having a nearly natural birth just made his arrival perfect. I was totally in love from day one and so wish I could have another now. For all you ladies who are TTC, or have conceived and are not sure or who have lost a baby and think you can't go through it again, be brave, I was horrified when I foulnd out I was pregnant again after a still birth at 40 weeks and a pregnancy ten years earlier but Alex is the light of my life. Every day is special because of him and his brother and I feel very, very blessed.
I went to bed feeling absolutely exhausted. I slept all night for the first time during the entire pregnancy, got up and felt this gush of water. I squealed as I thought I'd wet myself. DH went in to a complete panic. I hadn't packed a bag, the house was a tip, Tim was at school and hadn't made arrangements to collect him, we had no food in, what a nightmare!!
Once I'd calmed DH down we rang the hopsital who aked me to go in to be checked, bearing in mind that I was supposed to be having a c section. When I got there they confirmed my waters had broken (yes I knew that already) and said I could go home until things started to happen. If I hadn't gone in to labour by Wednesday they would induce me.
So we went home again. I went walking, cleaned the house, went shopping, fetched Mart's mom from the station, did a load of cooking and still no sign of any movement. On the Wednesday morining we went in and they gave me some gel. We waited four hours, still nothing. They then decided to hook me up to a drip. Every time they tried to turn the drip up, baby's heartbeat dropped so after three attempts they said if it happened again I would have to have a c section. I prayed I wouldn't have to have another section and next time they turned the drip up he was ok. So they kept cranking it up and finally the contractions started. Oh my god. I have had one normal labour and it was nothing like this. The contractions were so strong ad there was no let up between them. The gave me gas and air which was ok but after 3hours and 45 minutes of intense contractions they said I was only 3 cm dilated. I said i needed some pain relief and despite saying all along that I didn't want pethidine ( I didn't want an epidural either) there wasn't much alternative. I had the pethidine but during the bits I can remember, I was screaming that I needed to push. Midwife said I couldn't but after I wouldn't stop bawling at them, they examined me again and guess what....fully dilated. I started to push but the hearbeat kept dipping so the doctor went off to look for the ventouse. DH managed to get me to focus and two pushes later Alex arrived. Unfortunately as soon as they cut the cord he went completely 'flat'. They gave him an injection to stimulate his breathing and some oxygen and two minutes later he was fine. Apparently the pethidine if given too late in labour affects the baby. (I don't remember any of this as I had the bloody pethidine)
We went to the ward and two hours later my temprature shot up as I had an infection (common where waters break and labour doesn't start naturally apparently) I ended up staying in on IV antibiotics for three days but was so happy I didn't care!
After losing Christopher and having such a rough time with Tim, this labour was fantastic and having a nearly natural birth just made his arrival perfect. I was totally in love from day one and so wish I could have another now. For all you ladies who are TTC, or have conceived and are not sure or who have lost a baby and think you can't go through it again, be brave, I was horrified when I foulnd out I was pregnant again after a still birth at 40 weeks and a pregnancy ten years earlier but Alex is the light of my life. Every day is special because of him and his brother and I feel very, very blessed.
