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The adventures of Barnaby Thunderpants!
Well, firstly I reckon it's going to take weeks for me to get through my labour story as Barney is now 3 days old, my hormones are all over the place and I can't even think about making a cuppa without crying about it! But I shall endevour to get through his birth story quickly for you!
13 days overdue we went into hospital to be induced which, quite honestly, I was scared about. As it turns out it was fine. They gave me a pessary (pill) into my cervix and sent me off to the ward to see if anything happened, with a warning that it might not and that I might have to have another 2 attempts over 24 hrs. As it turns out an hour later my contractions arrived with no warning, no build up, just full on long irregular contractions. After 6 hours of my tens machine, examinations, using my ball, and swearing a lot, we finally went down to have my waters broken.
And what a delight that is! Poor OH was trailing round after me mopping the floor for about an hour! Lovely!
To cut a long story short I managed mainly on the gas and air which was very effective for me and my tens machine for a long while. Eventually it was decided that things weren't progressing fast enough and I was given a drip to speed things up. I was sad about this as I knew it meant an end to moving around and the labour I'd wanted, but as I couldn't have the water birth I'd been planning it was all out the window anyway. The gas and air made me sick and also made me cry a lot but I wouldn't have been without it!
16 hours of labour later and the panic began when Barnaby was getting very distressed with every contraction and his heart rate was dropping. On top of which, his head had gotten swollen and so had my cervix so it was making a hard job impossible. Suddenly all the lights were on, the room filled with people, and samples of blood were being taken from his head to see what was wrong. It was quickly decided that he needed to come out via emergency c-section. The epidural was fine - it didn't hurt to have it at all and finally at 2.24 Barney was hauled into the world! As I has been dreading this happening I expected to be quite traumatised by it all but I found my biggest feeling was just relief that he was out and doing ok. I also didn't get the overwhelming 'Mummy' feelings that I was expecting at the moment of delivery, these started kicking in in the recovery room afterwards and have increased a thousand fold every time I have looked at him since!
My other half assures me that I have forgotten the very worst bits of the labour which I am grateful for, I know it was very traumatic and touch & go in some places. I also know that I couldn't have got through any of it without him - he was the best possible person to be with and I would never have swapped places with him for love nor money - nature has made me forget the terrible bits and the gas and air helped to numb the hard bits but for him to have to experience everything, with the fear that anything could go wrong and the potential of losing a partner and/or a baby must have been horrific.
As it turns out we are thoroughly enjoying having our new baby boy at home with us even though we are sleep deprived, covered in baby vomit, have endless amounts of washing and dealing with explosive nappies, we wouldn't change a second of it!
Barnaby seems to be settling in well - except for terrible wind, hence the new name Barney Thunderpants, bless him! I am of course as biased as the next person but he's the most gorgeously beautiful baby I've ever seen and I still can't believe he's mine! I am convinced the midwife will show up on Sunday and demand we hand him back to the hospital!
My advice to anyone who asks about labour - have a rough idea what you might like/not like to happen but stay flexible. Anything can happen when you are there and when you have to make those split second decisions you will know what's right for you and your baby. Enjoy your labour as much as you can and know that sitting here reading this, you cannot begin to imagine the emotions of having your own baby til it actually happens, however it happens! It truly is a miracle!
Right, thanks for reading my emotional ramblings, I am off to empty my boobs into my son yet again!
xxxxxxx
13 days overdue we went into hospital to be induced which, quite honestly, I was scared about. As it turns out it was fine. They gave me a pessary (pill) into my cervix and sent me off to the ward to see if anything happened, with a warning that it might not and that I might have to have another 2 attempts over 24 hrs. As it turns out an hour later my contractions arrived with no warning, no build up, just full on long irregular contractions. After 6 hours of my tens machine, examinations, using my ball, and swearing a lot, we finally went down to have my waters broken.
And what a delight that is! Poor OH was trailing round after me mopping the floor for about an hour! Lovely!
To cut a long story short I managed mainly on the gas and air which was very effective for me and my tens machine for a long while. Eventually it was decided that things weren't progressing fast enough and I was given a drip to speed things up. I was sad about this as I knew it meant an end to moving around and the labour I'd wanted, but as I couldn't have the water birth I'd been planning it was all out the window anyway. The gas and air made me sick and also made me cry a lot but I wouldn't have been without it!
16 hours of labour later and the panic began when Barnaby was getting very distressed with every contraction and his heart rate was dropping. On top of which, his head had gotten swollen and so had my cervix so it was making a hard job impossible. Suddenly all the lights were on, the room filled with people, and samples of blood were being taken from his head to see what was wrong. It was quickly decided that he needed to come out via emergency c-section. The epidural was fine - it didn't hurt to have it at all and finally at 2.24 Barney was hauled into the world! As I has been dreading this happening I expected to be quite traumatised by it all but I found my biggest feeling was just relief that he was out and doing ok. I also didn't get the overwhelming 'Mummy' feelings that I was expecting at the moment of delivery, these started kicking in in the recovery room afterwards and have increased a thousand fold every time I have looked at him since!
My other half assures me that I have forgotten the very worst bits of the labour which I am grateful for, I know it was very traumatic and touch & go in some places. I also know that I couldn't have got through any of it without him - he was the best possible person to be with and I would never have swapped places with him for love nor money - nature has made me forget the terrible bits and the gas and air helped to numb the hard bits but for him to have to experience everything, with the fear that anything could go wrong and the potential of losing a partner and/or a baby must have been horrific.
As it turns out we are thoroughly enjoying having our new baby boy at home with us even though we are sleep deprived, covered in baby vomit, have endless amounts of washing and dealing with explosive nappies, we wouldn't change a second of it!
Barnaby seems to be settling in well - except for terrible wind, hence the new name Barney Thunderpants, bless him! I am of course as biased as the next person but he's the most gorgeously beautiful baby I've ever seen and I still can't believe he's mine! I am convinced the midwife will show up on Sunday and demand we hand him back to the hospital!
My advice to anyone who asks about labour - have a rough idea what you might like/not like to happen but stay flexible. Anything can happen when you are there and when you have to make those split second decisions you will know what's right for you and your baby. Enjoy your labour as much as you can and know that sitting here reading this, you cannot begin to imagine the emotions of having your own baby til it actually happens, however it happens! It truly is a miracle!
Right, thanks for reading my emotional ramblings, I am off to empty my boobs into my son yet again!
xxxxxxx
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Replies
Well done
Hannah
Well done you and lovely to hear you so happy!
Gill x
Hope you and your oh and baby have a happy family life.
Congratulations
xxx
It really helps if you have a supportive husband/partner - it makes everything seem much easier. Mine was great after my section, I hardly did a thing for the 2 weeks he was on paternity leave for.
Anyway, take care and enjoy just staring at him!!
xx
You are so right, I really dont think you can prepare for every eventuality when the time comes, just better to go with things and not have your heart set on anything, as it can change very quickly!
Glad to know you are recovering well, and little Barnaby is doing well too.
Sarah and Emily (4wks today) xxx
Sarah x