It all started Thursday, 9th December, 2004, when I went to the hospital for my appointment. I was 5 days overdue. I ended up being admitted at about 3:30pm because my blood pressure had risen to 130/90. I had 2 CTG scans done, both with very good results, Lily heart rate was normal. At about 6pm, my blood pressure had risen to 140/90, an hour later it was 150/90. Doctors kept an eye on it until the morning.

On Friday morning my blood pressure was 150/95, so the doctor who admitted me came to speak to me about inducing me. At about 10am I had the first lot of Prostaglandin gels put in, had a CTG scan then I was sent back to the maternity ward. I had a few niggling pains, but nothing major.

At 4pm I had the second lot of Prostaglandin gels put in and another CTG scan. Bubs seemed to be doing really well. I started getting mild contractions around 5pm. I tried to sleep, but I couldn’t. My blood pressure was checked again, it had risen to 158/96 but bubs was still doing well. My waters broke naturally at about 11pm, they kept leaking forever (or so it felt!) It felt like I had a swimming pool in there!

After taking some sleeping tablets, I fell asleep for a few hours on a chair because that was the only place I could stay comfortable. If I lied down then the contractions seemed to be more intense. I woke up at about 6am Saturday morning. At 9am I was taken to the delivery suite and given the Syntocinon drip (which hurt like hell!) I was put on the CTG scan for an hour, until the midwife was happy with the consistency of my contractions.

Lily’s birth

Real labour and contractions started around 10am. The contractions were getting a bit intense so I had a hot shower, which felt so great! At about 11am the contractions were about 1-2mins apart, they were getting a bit too much for me, so I had a bit of the gas. That took the edge off a bit, but was making me sick so I stopped for a few minutes.

Contractions were getting way to intense by about 12pm, so while sucking on the gas again, the midwife gave me a shot of Pethidine, not that it made a difference at all! I think I actually fainted from either the pain or the gas, because there is a part that is just blank. In about 45mins I dilated from 5-6cm to 10cm.

I was pushing for a good 1 1/2 hours, but I just couldn’t get her out. Her head was stuck under my pubic bone. So the doctor was called in and gave me 3 options. Try the vacuum extraction, forceps or c-section. So I opted for vacuum extraction first. Her head had partly come out, but then her shoulders got stuck (shoulder dystocia), so the doctor had to put his hands up there and grab her arms to pull her out. At the time, that was the worst pain I had ever felt, but as soon as I heard her cry I just forgot about it.

She was put onto my stomach and I remember asking why she wasn’t crying, the midwife said she was in shock, so they took her and gave her a bit of oxygen and then she started crying, I felt so happy then. I then got to give her a cuddle, Jacob gave her a kiss then she was taken to the special care unit so both of us could have a rest. There was no time for an episiotomy so I had second degree tears, which all up gave me about 15 to 20 stitches.

I later found out by the doctor who delivered Lily, that it had become an emergency and I had to get her out then and there, otherwise we could have died because they might not of been able to get her out at all. My doctor also said that it was the hardest delivery he’s ever had to make and he was surprised I did it without an Epidural!

At about 7pm I got to see her. I tried breastfeeding, numerous times, but she never took. So I ended up giving her formula, because when I tried to express, nothing came out! I would have preferred to breastfeed but in the end I’d rather have a feeding bub.

She was born on Saturday, 11th December, 2004, one week overdue, at 3:16pm. She weighed in at 9lb 7oz or 4290g, was 50cms long and had a head circumference of 35cms. Her Apgar score was 3, 8 and 9.

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