My Birth Story (also in DIA)

So my story starts on Sunday 18th April (6 days overdue) and I went to bed with some real period pains (that I was quite excited about!). I went to the loo about 1.30am and started losing my plug. Obviously, couldn't go back to sleep so stayed up the rest of the night losing a little more and having waves of period pains (nothing that I could really time though). Hubby got up about 6 and we decided he wouldn't go to work. By this time the plug seemed to have stopped but I was getting a watery, pink discharge. I phoned the Day Assessment Unit and they asked me to go in and be checked as I was Strep B positive.

So off we went, with all our gear, but fully expecting to be sent home. Much to my amazement, when I was examined they said my waters had gone (knowing what I know now, I am not convinced this was the case but more of that later!). Because of the Strep B they decided to induce me. My cervix was closed so they inserted the first pessary at 11am. The wait until 6pm (when they would examine me next) was agonising and we spent the day walking the grounds, watching TV and bouncing on the ball (well me anyway!).

6pm they examine me and I am 1cm dilated! I was devasted! 1cm?! I was getting fairly frequent, regular contractions as well so was really hoping for more. Anyway, they wanted to crank things up again so we were transferred up to Labour Ward (where for some reason I was sick quite a lot - think it was the fear of having to listen to a woman screaming in the room opposite!). Anyway, we get comfy and hubby gets a radio set up and our midwife comes on shift along with a student. They tell us we are the only couple they are looking after so we have them all to ourselves. I was so pleased - one of my big fears was being left alone quite a lot.

They hooked me up to a syntocin drip at about 10pm and, quite quickly, the contractions intensified. I had brought stress balls with me (read about them in a Birth Skills book!). WTF?! These came nowhere near occupying my mind from the pain so I started on Gas & Air. This was fab but still was not sufficient. So then comes the pethidine jab and...nothing. It didn't work! 2am comes and I have my next examination. Surely I have progressed! Hell no! 2cm. Also, while she was up there she noticed my waters needed breaking so with her crochet hook thing breaks them and then needs to hold the baby back so that the waters can flow (and boy did they flow!). My hubby's shoes were drenched and I was lying in a huge puddle. The pain was agonising and I was beside myself. There was also maconium in there but the mw did not seem too concerned at this. The combination of the drip (which was systematically being turned up) and the waters being broken meant that I asked very swiftly for an epidural. The midwife said she would ask the anesthetist but it was unlikely that, at 2cm dilated, he would give me one. I have thought about it a lot and I thought my pain threshold was pretty good but I just don't know how / why I ended up in such agony at such an early stage.

The anesthetist came in to talk to me and clearly took pity on me (maybe because it was now nearly 24 hrs since I was induced) and agreed! Boy, did I love him! It still took about an hour though to get it all sorted out and it was finally adminsitered at about 5am. The relief was instant. Definitely the best decision I made. The drip was cranked up to the max and I was left until 6am for my body to do it's thing. 6 am and I was still only 2cm. New midwife came on shift and examined me at 10am where I was finally 5cm - seemed like we had progress! I was really hoping though that I'd either progressed loads or not at all. I was actually hoping they would do a section at this point, I had no idea how I would have the energy to push if I did progress to second stage. I was so, so tired. The consultant decided a decision would be made at my 2pm examination so I was left for another 4 hours with my hubby and my mum, I was very relaxed because of the epidural and the baby's heartbeat remained strong and stable so all seemed good. 2pm they examined me and they found I was 8cm BUT they could not feel her head AND there was lots of fresh maconium. Some of you might remember that there was quite a bit of confusion over my baby's position and I remain convinced that she wasn't quite in the right place but that it wasn't picked up / acted upon.

The consultant informed me that he recommended an emergency c section due to failure to progress. I had already been on the drip for 2 hrs longer than the recommended time limit. Even though it was an em section it was all dealt with very calmly but extremely quickly. I thought I'd need to wait an hour or two but the consent form was whipped out, the anesthetist came in and I was taken straight to theatre.

After being prepped, it was literally 2-3 mins and then I felt them tugging (quite aggressively - could feel my hips lifting from side to side!) and then THE weirdest feeling as I felt the whole weight of her being lifted out of me and then...a cry! The best sound I have ever heard in my life! Despite her busy 30 hours or so she scored an AGPAR of 10 after 1 min so was obviously oblivious to everything that had been happening.

I do wonder whether my waters had actually gone when I was initially examined as I suspect my body was nowhere near ready for labour. Regardless, we were very pleased with how we were dealt with at the hospital - everyone was fab and we finally got to meet our little Matilda.

K x