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Late BA and BS
Hi all,
Just got 5 min to actually sit and write our birth story.
Holly Anne finally arrived 2 weeks late on 14th January at 3:57am.
Having finally given in on ever giving birth me and dh took up my mum's offer of babysitting ds and went out for a meal to our favourite Italian restaurant. After pogging out in royal fashion on bruschetta, lasagne and hot chocolate pudding (and 2 full caffeinated cokes - wild) we headed home for around half 9.
At 10pm I had a contraction but didn't really think anything of it as had had loads of twinges that had gone nowhere and had, quite frankly, got a bit fed up of them. Well, 10 minutes later I had another and by 11pm they were 5 min apart and quite hurty hurty.
By midnight we were at the birth centre as they were now 4 min apart, very hurty and I wasn't ending up in an ambulance if I could help it.
On examination I was still only 2-3cm but they were quiet so said we could stay in for monitoring if we liked (we live 35-40 min away from the hospital and didn't fancy being that far away). Anyway, at 2am I had progressed a cm and it was looking like a long night but still they let us stay and advised us to get some rest. To help me with that I was given 2 paracetamol. After about 3 contractions I asked if I could have a bath to help with the pain as I wasn't ready for drugs or the birhting pool.
The bath was in the next room so I sent dh back to get some sleep rather than sit on a toilet watching me not sleep. Well, I must've slept a bit in the bath as I had a strange dream about dh working for an F1 team but I soon got to tired of the mega pain I was in and decided enough was enough we were off on the transfer to the labour ward 15 min away for an epidural.
I couldn't reach the cord pull so went for the screaming and wall banging approach to attention grabbing
- it took 3 of these contractions for the midwives to come and ask me if I felt like pushing. It was about 3:20am and I said 'well, yeah, but it's not coming yet is it we've got ages!' Well, they got me to the original room to have a look at progress and was told that baby was coming 
. No time for running the birthing pool, no time for drugs, no time for gas and air. Seven or eight pushes later with me lying on the bed on my right hand side with my left leg on the windowsill and Holly burst into the world. Waters went just as she came out apparently.
My bump had been a proper 'boys' bump - all at the front - so when they held her up I was really confused and just remember thinking 'it's missing'!!
Well she's 2 weeks old now and we're still battling with breastfeeding though it's tough with ds running round especially as she takes over an hour to eat as she'll generally only latch for 5 min at a time before nodding off - makes leaving the house super hard work and night feeds are marathon endeavours usually ending in tears all round. She has to go on formula anyway when I return to work so we're just gonna go as long as my nerves can take then swap over.
Just got 5 min to actually sit and write our birth story.
Holly Anne finally arrived 2 weeks late on 14th January at 3:57am.
Having finally given in on ever giving birth me and dh took up my mum's offer of babysitting ds and went out for a meal to our favourite Italian restaurant. After pogging out in royal fashion on bruschetta, lasagne and hot chocolate pudding (and 2 full caffeinated cokes - wild) we headed home for around half 9.
At 10pm I had a contraction but didn't really think anything of it as had had loads of twinges that had gone nowhere and had, quite frankly, got a bit fed up of them. Well, 10 minutes later I had another and by 11pm they were 5 min apart and quite hurty hurty.
By midnight we were at the birth centre as they were now 4 min apart, very hurty and I wasn't ending up in an ambulance if I could help it.
On examination I was still only 2-3cm but they were quiet so said we could stay in for monitoring if we liked (we live 35-40 min away from the hospital and didn't fancy being that far away). Anyway, at 2am I had progressed a cm and it was looking like a long night but still they let us stay and advised us to get some rest. To help me with that I was given 2 paracetamol. After about 3 contractions I asked if I could have a bath to help with the pain as I wasn't ready for drugs or the birhting pool.
The bath was in the next room so I sent dh back to get some sleep rather than sit on a toilet watching me not sleep. Well, I must've slept a bit in the bath as I had a strange dream about dh working for an F1 team but I soon got to tired of the mega pain I was in and decided enough was enough we were off on the transfer to the labour ward 15 min away for an epidural.
I couldn't reach the cord pull so went for the screaming and wall banging approach to attention grabbing
- it took 3 of these contractions for the midwives to come and ask me if I felt like pushing. It was about 3:20am and I said 'well, yeah, but it's not coming yet is it we've got ages!' Well, they got me to the original room to have a look at progress and was told that baby was coming . No time for running the birthing pool, no time for drugs, no time for gas and air. Seven or eight pushes later with me lying on the bed on my right hand side with my left leg on the windowsill and Holly burst into the world. Waters went just as she came out apparently.My bump had been a proper 'boys' bump - all at the front - so when they held her up I was really confused and just remember thinking 'it's missing'!!
Well she's 2 weeks old now and we're still battling with breastfeeding though it's tough with ds running round especially as she takes over an hour to eat as she'll generally only latch for 5 min at a time before nodding off - makes leaving the house super hard work and night feeds are marathon endeavours usually ending in tears all round. She has to go on formula anyway when I return to work so we're just gonna go as long as my nerves can take then swap over.
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Replies
Lovely birth story - well done you for getting through with no drugs!!
You made me giggle when you said "it's missing" - congratulations on the birth of your little girl.
Welcome to the world Holly Anne xxx
Sorry to hear you are having a tough time with the bf - are you getting any support from the hospital or a health visitor? Im sure you've tried it but just in case, stroking Holly's cheek or underneath her feet may help to arouse her when she nods off. During the night feeds, have you tried lying down on your side with her while you feed? Ive started doing this with Lili the past few nights and I nod off with her but wake at the end of the feed (you can set an alarm if needed). It makes the time pass quicker, you are more relaxed so she will feed better as your milk will flow more efficiently, and you won't be sat there watching the clock as you will be getting some much needed rest instead.
At the end of the day though you need to do what is best for both of you. So if you feel you cant bf her any longer, dont feel guilty for switching to formula.
xx
Thank you for your lovely comments. We try everything to wake her up! She is just a snacker. You can blow on her face, change her nappy, strip her off, turn the lights on, tickle her ribs/feet/chin - everything. So you think she asleep and you put her down and 10 minutes later she's crying for more. It's very frustrating.
I bottlefed my 1st from day 2 and I find it so much less stressful. I think the main reasons I have for persevering are that there is no preparation involved and the whole 'breast is best' campaign that makes me feel like I'm doing a bad thing by switching to formula - even though I have a very healthy happy 20 month old running about the house as I type (even if he is covering the curtains with cream cheese as his dad looks on).
If there was a danger of her staying on for her whole feed I would be more than happy for her to stay on but she's on and off and on and off the whole time. The hospital were great and we have a really good support system here but I'm just not sure it's for us.