Well, I would apologise for not posting for so long, but in my defence I have been a little busy!! Before I start bombarding you with stories of my experience of motherhood, I thought I should probably tell you a bit about the birth. WARNING: for people who are a little squeamish, there may be some parts of this that contain too much information. You have been warned, if you won't like it - stop reading!! This is also an incredibly long post, but I want to include everything I can remember.
Let me take you back to 6.30am on Monday 21st June. I had 2 tiny pains (barely noticeable) about 20 mins apart. This was about the closest thing I had had to a contraction, so I got very excited. I also had a tiny spot of blood when I went to the toilet, so I was really hoping that this was a "show" and that things were moving at last! I didn't know what to tell Chris, in case it was all a false alarm, so I decided to have a bath to see if that made any difference. I waited 20 mins for the next pain and nothing happened but I decided to warn Chris, just in case I had to call him home from work early. He decided he would rather not go in, so he called work.
During the morning the pains started again, every 20 minutes, just like a mild period pain. I was supposed to be having a midwife appointment to see if I was any further dilated, but she said it sounded like I was in labour, so she wouldn't bother coming. She instructed me to call the labour suite when I was having one contraction every 5 minutes and wished me luck. By lunchtime the contractions were one every 10 mins, and although I would describe them as uncomfortable, they weren't particuarly painful.
At about 5pm, they stopped. I was gutted. Had this really all just been a practice run?? But then they were there again, about 5 mins apart and were quite a bit more painful. I called the labour suite, but the lady on the phone asked me to stay at home and have a paracetamol as " I sounded like I was coping quite well" Trust me to be too calm. I'll know to fake tears next time.
So I waited a little longer. By 8pm, I think it's safe to say I wasn't coping well any more! The pain was intense. I had to hold onto something during every contraction and kept feeling like a desperately needed to go to the toilet for a poo! (More on that lovely topic later!) I called the labour suite again, and they said I could go in if I wanted and they would assess me. We called the parents to warn them what was happening, and then -woosh! Just when I was on the phone to my dad, my waters broke!! Now that is a weird feeling! It was like I kept wetting myself over and over again! So then we had the fun task of trying to get me changed in between my contractions, before rushing to the hospital as quickly as we could.
At the hospital, the midwives didn't seem to understand the urgency of the situation. I was trying to explain that I had been 3-4cm dilated already, before contracting, but they didn't seem too worried. I was told to imagine I was floating on fluffy clouds during each contraction, and then they offered me codine and a warm bath! Not exactly helping when during each contraction I was keeled over on, feeling like I was going to throw up, go to the toilet and die at the same time. They said I couldn't have gas and air until I was 5cm but I was seriously hoping I was past that point as I couldn't have handled any more pain. When we insisted they examine me, I was (surprise, surprise!) 8cm dilated!
Suddenly everything started to happen. I was taken down to the delivery room and given gas and air - hoorah! I'm not entirely sure it worked as a pain killer, but the breathing did help distract me from the contractions. I realised at this point, that the urge to poo, was actually an urge to push! Before the birth, I'd been really worried about this stage - everything I had heard implied that this would be the most painful part. Burning, tearing etc. But, bizarrely, it wasn't that bad. I'm not suggesting it didn't hurt, but it was a productive pain. I had a job to do, so I just focussed on that. And suddenly, there was a baby on my chest. A little (very fragile) squiggly creature was placed on my chest and I couldn't quite believe I was finished. Chris came over to give us a cuddle. It was really surreal.
I won't bore you with too many details about the rest of the labour. Placenta, blah blah blah. Everything happened pretty much as planned. There was a little more excitement than expected when I almost fainted after the birth. It turned out the I had lost a lot more blood than anyone had realised and before I knew what was happening I was surrounded by medical staff and hooked up to two drips and heaven knows what else. By the time my parents and sisters arrived to see the baby, I was flat on my back, looking like a zombie. I must have been quite a fright!
Because I had to stay in the delivery suite for monitoring, Chris was able to stay with us all night, which was lovely. And that was my birth story. Nobody really believes me, but I really didn't mind it and would recommend a natural birth to anyone. I had planned to have every form of pain relief known to man, but there wasn't time and it was perfectly manageable. I thought I had got off easy - little did I know, things would only get harder...
Let me take you back to 6.30am on Monday 21st June. I had 2 tiny pains (barely noticeable) about 20 mins apart. This was about the closest thing I had had to a contraction, so I got very excited. I also had a tiny spot of blood when I went to the toilet, so I was really hoping that this was a "show" and that things were moving at last! I didn't know what to tell Chris, in case it was all a false alarm, so I decided to have a bath to see if that made any difference. I waited 20 mins for the next pain and nothing happened but I decided to warn Chris, just in case I had to call him home from work early. He decided he would rather not go in, so he called work.
During the morning the pains started again, every 20 minutes, just like a mild period pain. I was supposed to be having a midwife appointment to see if I was any further dilated, but she said it sounded like I was in labour, so she wouldn't bother coming. She instructed me to call the labour suite when I was having one contraction every 5 minutes and wished me luck. By lunchtime the contractions were one every 10 mins, and although I would describe them as uncomfortable, they weren't particuarly painful.
At about 5pm, they stopped. I was gutted. Had this really all just been a practice run?? But then they were there again, about 5 mins apart and were quite a bit more painful. I called the labour suite, but the lady on the phone asked me to stay at home and have a paracetamol as " I sounded like I was coping quite well" Trust me to be too calm. I'll know to fake tears next time.
So I waited a little longer. By 8pm, I think it's safe to say I wasn't coping well any more! The pain was intense. I had to hold onto something during every contraction and kept feeling like a desperately needed to go to the toilet for a poo! (More on that lovely topic later!) I called the labour suite again, and they said I could go in if I wanted and they would assess me. We called the parents to warn them what was happening, and then -woosh! Just when I was on the phone to my dad, my waters broke!! Now that is a weird feeling! It was like I kept wetting myself over and over again! So then we had the fun task of trying to get me changed in between my contractions, before rushing to the hospital as quickly as we could.
At the hospital, the midwives didn't seem to understand the urgency of the situation. I was trying to explain that I had been 3-4cm dilated already, before contracting, but they didn't seem too worried. I was told to imagine I was floating on fluffy clouds during each contraction, and then they offered me codine and a warm bath! Not exactly helping when during each contraction I was keeled over on, feeling like I was going to throw up, go to the toilet and die at the same time. They said I couldn't have gas and air until I was 5cm but I was seriously hoping I was past that point as I couldn't have handled any more pain. When we insisted they examine me, I was (surprise, surprise!) 8cm dilated!
Suddenly everything started to happen. I was taken down to the delivery room and given gas and air - hoorah! I'm not entirely sure it worked as a pain killer, but the breathing did help distract me from the contractions. I realised at this point, that the urge to poo, was actually an urge to push! Before the birth, I'd been really worried about this stage - everything I had heard implied that this would be the most painful part. Burning, tearing etc. But, bizarrely, it wasn't that bad. I'm not suggesting it didn't hurt, but it was a productive pain. I had a job to do, so I just focussed on that. And suddenly, there was a baby on my chest. A little (very fragile) squiggly creature was placed on my chest and I couldn't quite believe I was finished. Chris came over to give us a cuddle. It was really surreal.
I won't bore you with too many details about the rest of the labour. Placenta, blah blah blah. Everything happened pretty much as planned. There was a little more excitement than expected when I almost fainted after the birth. It turned out the I had lost a lot more blood than anyone had realised and before I knew what was happening I was surrounded by medical staff and hooked up to two drips and heaven knows what else. By the time my parents and sisters arrived to see the baby, I was flat on my back, looking like a zombie. I must have been quite a fright!
Because I had to stay in the delivery suite for monitoring, Chris was able to stay with us all night, which was lovely. And that was my birth story. Nobody really believes me, but I really didn't mind it and would recommend a natural birth to anyone. I had planned to have every form of pain relief known to man, but there wasn't time and it was perfectly manageable. I thought I had got off easy - little did I know, things would only get harder...
