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Birth Story - Arrival of Archie William **pic added**

Hello everyone !!

Well, here it goes (this is gonna take me a while, holding Archie with other arm)

Went into hospital on Monday morning to be induced due to having OC, all the normal stuff to begin with, obs etc, and i was put on heart monitor to keep an eye on Archies heartbeat.

First lot of gel was administered at 10am, luckily i was 2cm dialated and my cervix was very favourable as mw could feel the top of his head.

By 10.30, after some toast and a cuppa tea, my contractions started, me and OH went for a walk round to get contractions going, they were coming 5-6 mins apart, little painful so i tried a tens machine, which had no effect at all.

Just after lunch, and a lot of waiting around, i had a show. Mw then put me on heart monitor for a further hr or so to monitor Archies heartbeat. After 2pm, its rather blurry, as by then, my contractions were 3-4 mins apart, and getting knee buckling-ly painful!!!

At 4pm, mw came back for my 2nd examination, by this time i was 4cm dialated, and our charming son had had a poo!! Mw advised that a 2nd lot of gel was not needed, and because Archie had soiled, they needed to take some blood, test it for clotting and get me on a drip to speed things up. My contractions were 2-3 mins apart by now, and because gas and air makes me sick, i'd managed to go without pain relief up until now. My tests came back, and they were fine, so mw advised that they would give me an epidural before being hooked up to the drip as it would excellerate my labour to an extent that pain the pain would be hard to deal with.

At 5pm, the anaethnasist came and gave me an epidural, i had to use G&A as my contractions were so painful that i couldnt keep still enough for her to get the needle in. While this was happening, my OH popped out to let everyone know how we were getting on, as he doesnt like needles or seein me in pain!! Once done, i was hooked up to the drip and within 20 mins, i had noticed the increase in the intensity of contractions, Unfortunately, it took a while for the epidural to take effect, and i had to have 2 further top ups as it hadnt reached the nerves in my left hand side.

I was now bed ridden until after i'd given birth as i wasnt allowed to walk round as Archie had to be closely monitored, and had to lie on my left hand side for the epidural to reach the nerves.

I dont remember a great deal from 6pm ish, until 9pm when my OH called our mw in as i was ready to start pushing, sorry if TMI, but its similar to being really constipated!!!

I was pushing for the first 10mins lay on my left hand side, to no avail!, My cruel mw (bless her she was brilliant really) made me roll over on to my back, sit up, and literally folded the bed up until my chin was on the top of my bump, and my legs were in stirrups with my knees in my face. After 20 more minutes of pushing (thank god the epidural was fully effective by now) our beautiful son was born and popped on my chest, i have never felt such an overwhelming feeling of love and emotion for anything ever as i did for Archie as he writhed and cried on my chest. My OH cut the cord and was so fab and suppotive, i couldnt have asked for anything more from him.

Meanwhile, my OH was dancing around the room, hugging and kissing the two mw's, nurses and paediatrician, thanking them all, and telling me how great i'd been, and how happy i'd made him. He then proceeded to dance down the corridor to go and inform our families of the good news, shouting to anyone who would listen that he was a daddy.

Archie was then cleaned up and we had a good cuddle, and waited for daddy to return. My OH came back and took Archie off my chest and had his first cuddles while the mw delivered the placenta and cleaned me up.

My OH left at 11pm to go home and get some sleep, and i was transferred up to the ward for some well deserved rest!! Archie had his first feed and drifted gently off to sleep. As i'd had an epidural, my mw helped me to get changed and cleaned up, and i was wheeled upstairs in a chair, needleess to say i was very wobbly on my feet. I hobbled in to bed, and lay there watchin my son sleep for what felt like hours!!

At 3am, i gave Archie another feed, and had to be helped up as i'd still got jelly legs!!

My OH came back at 11am on Tuesday morning with the biggest smile on his face, but he looked exhausted bless him.

My bloods were tested again, and i was discharged at 6pm on Tuesday evening, as my consultant was happy that my OC was calming down, finally!!

We took a steady drive home and the 3 of us cuddled up on the sofa and me and my OH just lay there smiling in silence at our beautiful son.

Our first night home was a bit of a nightmare, as Archie wasnt latching on to my breast properly, as he kept curling his lips and putting his tongue in the top of his mouth, he fed every 30 mins between 10pm and 5am, but we kept at it.

Hes now 3 days old, feeding perfectly and an absolute joy !!!

He has a small amount of jaundice on his face and upper body, but nothing to worry about. We are going to register his birth tomorrow, and seeing all my family at the weekend,

He's done so well, and made me the proudest mum ever!!


[Modified by: EmilyB on 27 December 2008 11:54:14 ]

Replies

  • Oh yea, forgot this bit...Archie weighed 6lb 13oz, and was born at 37+4
  • aw bless, what a lovely birth story! I did have a chuckle at your oh dancing about the room and shouting that he was a Daddy :lol:

    Congratulations on little Archie and glad he is feeding well now, x
  • That was a really lovely birth story - thank you for posting! Congratulations to you and Daddy and Archie.
  • I smiled when i read how happy and proud your OH was. Congratulations to you both.
  • Well DOne emily!! You did sooo well to be induced at 37 weeks! Congratulations, it must be the best christmas present in the world! now the itching may give you a break - you deserve it!! have a lovely christmas xxx
  • Many congrats!! Fascinating story and thanks for sharing.
    Could anyone tell me what's OC though?
    Have a lovely holiday with Archie and oh xxx
  • hello everyone !!

    thanks for your posts and well wishes!!

    We are both doing really well, altho night shifts are difficult, hes getting throught 11oz a night at the moment. hes a proper guzzle guts!!!

    had to stop breastfeeding him as he's damaged my boobs and they were bleeding the other night, long story but we rushed him to a&e thinkin he was bleeding or something as he kept sicking up blood! MW is keepin an eye on us both and she says he is doing fantastically, only losing 2oz when he was weighed on saturday. im expressing milk by hand (god what long hard work!) as a pump is still a bit painful, so hes getting all the goodness that he would be getting being breastfed.

    i'll try to get a pic on here as soon as i can, getting a moment to myself is impossible at the moment !

    right, 4pm feed!!

    take care
    image
  • hope this works !! ive changed my profile pic...heres our lovelly boy
  • here you go ladies ... coo away !!!!!

    hes so scrumptuous !!!

    http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v1893/206/14/781585706/s781585706_5231567_1071.jpg

  • aww he's so cute congratulations
    x x x
  • Little Archie (love the name!) is so gorgeous - congratulations! xx
  • thanks ladies!

    i could just spend hours watchin him sleep, hes so scrumptuous !!!!!

    hes started smiling already, hes only 13 days old!! melts my heart, bless him
  • thanks queen bee

    yes its settled down quite well now, got to have some bloods done tomorrow and post natal check up too

    hes being so good, hes goin about 3 hours through the night between feeds, cant believe hes 2 weeks old tomorrow !! its gone so fast !

    had to stop breastfeeding last weekend, he was feeding so often that hes damaged all the blood vessels in my nips, and he was coughin up blood, scared the sh*t out of us, but midwife said to give it a couple of days to heal and try again or express milk, so hes on part expressed and part aptamil now. hes so greedy, he chokes on his milk he drinks it so fast, then grizzles if i dont giv it back to him quick enough, bless him,

    hows ur pg going?
  • gorgeous little boy, congrats
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