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Birth Story! Induction
My daughter was due on 24th November 2009, my due date soon came and went and I was still fat and fed up! A week later on the 1st December my Midwife booked me in for a sweep which was slightly uncomfortable but certainly not painful, she also booked me in for an Induction the following week on the 8th December but was very hopeful I wouldn't need it as I was already 1cm dilated although my cervix wasn't completely favourable. Later that afternoon I had a small show which carried on for a few hours then nothing! My husband, Adam and I held out hope that something would happen within the next few days... However soon enough the 7th December had rolled round and we soon came round to the fact I would have to be induced tomorrow! This panicked me as I had heard horrible stories of Inductions taking days to work, extremely painful, more commonly ending in caesarean etc!
So at 9am the next day I called the hospital to check they were happy for me to come in and they said they were so we set off to the hospital (45 mins away) with bags packed! I cried as I left our home realising that the next time I returned we would have our baby girl! I was also scared about the day ahead and the unknown! I think when you spontaneously go into labour you don't have time to think about it but when you are in a car driving to the hospital in no pain whatsoever just feeling normal but knowing you are going to be in labour later that night it does really scare you!
Anyway we got to the hospital and we were taken onto the ward where they monitored me and baby on a machine which checked if I was contracting and checked the baby's heart rate - after an hour on this machine the midwife came back and was happy with everything so at about 11.30 they gave me the first pessary to get things moving (I was still only 1cm dilated at this point). They continued to monitor me on the machine for another hour and then we were told to have a walk around so off we went to the caf????, Adam had a bite to eat and we came back to the ward. At about 5pm they hooked me back up to the monitor to check things out before administering the second pessary - after an hour back on the machine the midwife came back and this time looked slightly concerned our baby's heart rate was dropping after each contraction (which is normal) but she was worried her heart rate was dropping too much and so had to get a Dr in for a second opinion - The Dr arrived gave us the all clear and said he was happy to administer the second pessary. So around 6.30ish I was given the second pessary this is where things kicked up a gear! The contractions started getting more intense and my back began aching I was given paracetamol and was told that by midnight I would hopefully be taken onto the delivery ward! By 11.30pm I was in agony my back was absolutely killing me I couldn't lie on the bed during a contraction as it hurt so much! I was now about 4cm dilated; however soon after I received the news that I could not be taken to delivery as they were too busy!!!
I was given an injection of Diamorphine which helped me to sleep (or knocked me out! Lol) but within 3 hours I was up in excruciating pain again! I asked the midwife if I could have more pain relief but I think I had to wait another hour or so before I was able to have more! When the second dose was administered it was not as effective as the first time but did take the edge off and made me sleepy!
Finally at 8am in the morning I was taken to delivery! I was examined and told baby was back to back! Great! She had been the right way for weeks! And I was still only 4cm dilated and completely drained the midwife asked Adam to get me some lucozade to try and give me some energy as I was in too much pain to eat. I was using gas and air for pain relief and I lost my plug at this point (I was amazed at how much of it there was) within about an hour of being monitored in delivery the midwife broke my waters to try and speed things along but by 1pm that day I was only 5cm and things were progressing slowly. The midwifes then swapped shift and I got a lovely midwife called Louise - I was given a drip to speed things up and more diamorphine for pain relief. The next bit is quite a blur I remember I felt the baby turn and the pressure off my back was unreal! The contractions then actually felt less painful purley because she was the right way! A Dr was called in to check the baby and blood was taken from the top of her head all was ok and by 3.40pm ish I was 10cm and ready to push! I had gone from 5cm to 10cm in 2 and a half hours so the drip really worked for me!
Suddenly I seemed to concentrate and things became really clear, I pushed best I could and within about 20 minutes at 4pm exactly on the 9th December my beautiful baby girl came into the world weighing a healthy 8lbs, 15 days late!
Adam cut the cord and she was wrapped up in a towel and given to me - she looked exactly like I imagined she was beautiful and its weird because as soon as I saw her I just knew I loved her and when I looked at her it was like I'd know her for ages!
We named her Grace Olivia Lesley Hughes (Lesley is after a family member)
We bought her home the following day about 4pm and she is doing brilliantly!
Sorry it's a bit long!!!
So at 9am the next day I called the hospital to check they were happy for me to come in and they said they were so we set off to the hospital (45 mins away) with bags packed! I cried as I left our home realising that the next time I returned we would have our baby girl! I was also scared about the day ahead and the unknown! I think when you spontaneously go into labour you don't have time to think about it but when you are in a car driving to the hospital in no pain whatsoever just feeling normal but knowing you are going to be in labour later that night it does really scare you!
Anyway we got to the hospital and we were taken onto the ward where they monitored me and baby on a machine which checked if I was contracting and checked the baby's heart rate - after an hour on this machine the midwife came back and was happy with everything so at about 11.30 they gave me the first pessary to get things moving (I was still only 1cm dilated at this point). They continued to monitor me on the machine for another hour and then we were told to have a walk around so off we went to the caf????, Adam had a bite to eat and we came back to the ward. At about 5pm they hooked me back up to the monitor to check things out before administering the second pessary - after an hour back on the machine the midwife came back and this time looked slightly concerned our baby's heart rate was dropping after each contraction (which is normal) but she was worried her heart rate was dropping too much and so had to get a Dr in for a second opinion - The Dr arrived gave us the all clear and said he was happy to administer the second pessary. So around 6.30ish I was given the second pessary this is where things kicked up a gear! The contractions started getting more intense and my back began aching I was given paracetamol and was told that by midnight I would hopefully be taken onto the delivery ward! By 11.30pm I was in agony my back was absolutely killing me I couldn't lie on the bed during a contraction as it hurt so much! I was now about 4cm dilated; however soon after I received the news that I could not be taken to delivery as they were too busy!!!
I was given an injection of Diamorphine which helped me to sleep (or knocked me out! Lol) but within 3 hours I was up in excruciating pain again! I asked the midwife if I could have more pain relief but I think I had to wait another hour or so before I was able to have more! When the second dose was administered it was not as effective as the first time but did take the edge off and made me sleepy!
Finally at 8am in the morning I was taken to delivery! I was examined and told baby was back to back! Great! She had been the right way for weeks! And I was still only 4cm dilated and completely drained the midwife asked Adam to get me some lucozade to try and give me some energy as I was in too much pain to eat. I was using gas and air for pain relief and I lost my plug at this point (I was amazed at how much of it there was) within about an hour of being monitored in delivery the midwife broke my waters to try and speed things along but by 1pm that day I was only 5cm and things were progressing slowly. The midwifes then swapped shift and I got a lovely midwife called Louise - I was given a drip to speed things up and more diamorphine for pain relief. The next bit is quite a blur I remember I felt the baby turn and the pressure off my back was unreal! The contractions then actually felt less painful purley because she was the right way! A Dr was called in to check the baby and blood was taken from the top of her head all was ok and by 3.40pm ish I was 10cm and ready to push! I had gone from 5cm to 10cm in 2 and a half hours so the drip really worked for me!
Suddenly I seemed to concentrate and things became really clear, I pushed best I could and within about 20 minutes at 4pm exactly on the 9th December my beautiful baby girl came into the world weighing a healthy 8lbs, 15 days late!
Adam cut the cord and she was wrapped up in a towel and given to me - she looked exactly like I imagined she was beautiful and its weird because as soon as I saw her I just knew I loved her and when I looked at her it was like I'd know her for ages!
We named her Grace Olivia Lesley Hughes (Lesley is after a family member)
We bought her home the following day about 4pm and she is doing brilliantly!
Sorry it's a bit long!!!
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