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Finlay Birth Story

8th March 2014

5th March: Due date came and went with no sign of our impending arrival.

6th March: Visit to the midwife clinic for a sweep. Advised that cervix was 1cm but thinning. Bishops score of 6 which was ‘favourable’. Sweep performed and midwife said that if it was going to work it would within 48hours.

7th March: No progress and a feeling that the sweep had been unsuccessful

8th March

Midday: Friends are across from Sweden and come for tea and cake. Half an hour after they arrive I feel a trickle of liquid and wonder if I’ve lost a bit of bladder control. I stand up to go to the toilet and the trickle is swiftly followed by an almighty gush and loss of fluid. I assume this is the start of my waters breaking! I stand in the hall on the wooden floors as they continue to flow and my H tries moping them up with the smallest cloth known to man. The waters continue to come in gushes over the next few hours. We phone maternity assessment and are advised that they are v busy so we should wait at home for a few hours and go down after 3pm. We get rid of our guests and H and I get the nursery organised, bags fully packed, eat a big bowl of pasta for lunch and start to watch a film.

3.10pm: We leave for the hospital. Very mild contractions start while we are in the car en route. They are about 5-6 minutes apart and pain wise very manageable.

4pm:  We have a 20 minute wait in the maternity assessment unit before being seen. I am hooked up to the foetal monitor and we are left for about an hour. The mild contractions continue during this time but they are still very manageable.

5.30pm: We are seen by the consultant doctor who examines me. I’m advised that I’m 1cm dilated and my cervix is thinning so we are best staying at the hospital as it’s likely the baby will arrive at some point in the night or the next day. We had thought we’d be sent home so this is a surprise. The contractions start to get a bit stronger from this point and I am in a fair amount of discomfort. I use foot stamping to cope with each one as they come. The nurse asks if I’d like some pain relief and I’m given 2 co-codamol.

6.15/6.30: We are taken upstairs to ward 50 which is where women spend time in labour until they reach at least 4cm and can go to labour ward. The contractions are getting stronger so we try the TENS machine but can’t get it to work comfortably. I try ball bouncing but it’s soggy and low making it uncomfortable for me. The midwife suggests a bath and go off to run it. I am shivering and freezing cold during each contraction and roasting hot between them so H is having to cover me with a jumper and take it off again as the contractions come and go. We head to the bathroom but I can’t face getting in the bath due to my fluctuating temperature. I sit on the toilet (fully clothed!) with H sitting on a chair opposite me and rock my way through the escalating contractions. They are unbelievably painful by this point. Very quickly they become so strong that I feel the need to push! H goes to get the midwife who comes to get me and calmly tells me to walk through to the ward. I don’t think she believes there has been that much progress! I lie on the bed and am examined and swiftly am advised that I

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