Bonnie Glen

[Tanya]

On the 13th of December I was happy to confirm that I was pregnant with my fourth child. After a miscarriage in May when I was 8 weeks 2 days pregnant (I was due on the 9th of Dec, only days before I found out I was pregnant again), then trying to conceive for another 7 months after that I was finally pregnant again. Our estimated due date was the 24th of August 2007.

On Saturday the 19th of August I went to bed and had a bit of trouble sleeping I think I was having a contraction, a few minutes later I felt a little 'squelch'. I knew what had happened, even though it was tiny. I checked the clock, it was about 11:30pm, I then went to the toilet to see if there was any evidence and once I sat down, GUSH!! It was such a weird feeling.

I told Wato, my partner that my waters had broken and he looked so shocked. I don?t think he was expecting any action until after my due date. I had invited him mum, Glenys to bub?s birth, both Wato and his brother, Luke were adopted so she had never had the privilege to experience a birth before. So Wato called his parents to let them know things were happening while I went and got cleaned up, they had just gone to bed and they would make there way over soon, I told Wato to tell them that they didn?t have to come right away, but they wanted to. They live 30 minutes away in another town and thought it would be easier to set up here for the night just in case. I then told Wato to call the Birth suite to let them know what was going on. That was a silly idea because they were asking questions he had no idea how to answer so I had to take the call anyway. The midwife was asking questions like the colour of the fluid lost, contractions, due date and she also told me the amount of time they allow me to go with ruptured membranes and no baby. She said they would give me 18hrs and then I would have to go on antibiotics, after 3 days I would have to be induced. I had no worries about this, I was pretty confident I could get things going if I needed to. I also rang my eldest daughter, Alecia who was staying at a friends place who lived out of town. I warned her before she left about being away and me going into labour, she just laughed at me. Isn?t it ironic! Wato?s parents would pick her up on their way over.

After making all the necessary phone calls I decided I would try and get a bit more rest, I told Wato I was off to bed, he was so excited that things are happening he was shaking, so I don?t think he was going to get any rest. I put on a pad and went back to bed knowing full well I would have trouble sleeping.

I couldn?t sleep and kept thinking about labour and things I hadn?t done in preparation. The only contractions I had were at 12:10, 12:23 and one last one at 12:46. I stayed in bed for about an hour but constant leaking was keeping me awake, eventually I got up again and started doing some washing because I knew I would need some more clothes.

It was 1:13am when Wato?s parents arrived with Alecia. Everyone was a little excited so we sat up talking for a while. After a hot Milo I went back to bed to attempt to get the rest I knew I would need.

The daylight hours came around and there was still no movement from bub, I was very tired and tried a few times to lay down and rest but with no success. My sister took Emily and Violet, they youngest two home with her just in case things started later and she suggested that I call the birth suite to let them know what was going on. So I called them at about 5:30 pm and they wanted me to come in as soon as I could for a check up. Wato and I went in and I was put on the foetal monitor and had other observations done. The midwife told me that I would need to have a speculum done by the doctor to ensure that it was my waters and she also wanted to take a look at the pad I was wearing. After being checked by the doctor he gave me a prescription for some antibiotics to prevent any infection and gave me two capsules to take overnight because I would not be able to find anywhere open this time of day on a Sunday to get my prescription filled.

We said goodbye to the midwife at about 7:00 and after walking down the stairs (the lift was broken) to go home I had a contraction and knew that bub would be here soon. I had a couple more contractions during dinner, they were still very irregular and not very painful. I tried to keep track of my contractions using a contraction monitor on the web while trying to decide if I wanted to have a bath. I didn?t want to hop into the bath too soon and slow things down. I waited until I thought things were progressing nicely before running a warm bath, that was after 10pm, but even then the contractions were irregular. I was in the bath for a good half an hour before I heard Wato tell Alecia to go to bed because it would be a while before anything happened, I knew that wouldn?t be the case so I called Alecia into the bathroom and told her to get a pen and piece of paper to keep track of the contractions for me because they were becoming quite painful. After about half an hour the contractions were painful enough for me to think things could progress quickly from then on. So I got out of the bath and called the birth suite, things were still pretty irregular, and I think the midwife thought I would still have quite a ways to go. I knew my contractions were irregular from laying down in the bath. She also asked about the antibiotics, which I hadn?t taken yet, so as soon as I got off the phone took one.

It was after midnight and I was really tired and wanted to go to sleep but my contractions were getting very strong, but I tried to lay on the couch. Glenys made herself a cup f coffee and Alecia and Wato were watching a dance on the television. Every contraction I tried to put my mind somewhere else. I tried to concentrate on something calming. There was a lady on the television in a red dress dancing, I thought I would think about her dancing during the contractions, but her swirling in my thoughts with the pain of the contraction made me dizzy and feeling sick.

It was only about 45 minutes after I had called the midwife that I wanted to go to the hospital, so we packed up and left. When we go there was another expectant couple there for the same thing we were. We asked at emergency to be let through to go to the delivery suite and made our way up, we rang the bell at the door and waited. It wasn?t long before a midwife came down the corridor with two baby trolleys, she was expecting the other couple but not me, not sure why not. She showed us to our rooms where I was introduced to my midwife, Sharon who seem lovely. She wanted to know what was going on and it seemed that my contractions were now not only very painful but coming every minute.

During I wanted a cold washer on the back of my neck, afterwards I wanted ice cold water to drink. I got Glenys to work the camera, she looked a bit panicked at having to take charge of something so important, but with a little bit of instruction she did well. Most of the contractions I had Wato to lean on and either Alecia or Glenys to rub my lower back.

I was asked if I minded if a medical student sat in on my birth, I had no problem with that and was introduced to Adam (I think that was his name). I was asked about any significant blood loss with my other births, and after telling them that I had had a bleed in third stage with my last two, Adam was put in charge of putting an IV into my hand, I could tell he was nervous, but I didn?t mind, the pain of an IV was noting compared to the contractions.

I felt on the verge of needing to push for what felt like hours, it felt like I needed to go to the toilet, but thought I better not go just in case I push the baby out. It seemed like there was something holding baby back, Sharon asked me if I wanted her to check how I my cervix was progressing, to which I decline. Wato and I kept looking at the clock and guessing how much longer and by this point it felt like one long constant excruciating contraction. I kept saying how tired I was and telling baby to hurry up.

We were left on our own for a while and suddenly a wave of nausea washed over me and I felt the need to vomit. I quickly made my way over to the basin and Sharon thrust a bowl in front of me, I don?t think she wanted me to vomit in the basin. It felt like I was going to vomit forever, and every time my stomach contracted I was scared I would push the baby out! Thankfully that didn?t happen! Sharon asked if I wanted anything for the nausea, but I felt it was subsiding.

I made my way back to the bed when I had a feel of what bub was doing and it felt different to my last to babies, like there was something over the baby?s head. Soon after this Sharon came in with a huge suringe of antibiotics and shoved that up my IV... it was HUGE!!

Not long after 2 am I felt the urge to push, I was still standing by the bed and the midwife who showed us to our room, Mary was here now telling me to part my legs a bit more and get me into a better position for her to access bub. I was trying to avoid stiches so I tried to let bub descend by herself but the urge was overwhelming and I pushed and did a bit of a poo, I was really embarrassed and kept apologizing. I could feel her crowning and knew that my chances of avoiding stitches was zero! Sharon was urging me to take it easy telling me to let the baby to come and not to push. I felt the baby?s head come out, it was excruciating!! Mary was behind me and told me to wait so she could check for any cord, sure enough the cord was wrapped around the baby?s neck. Mary kept urging me not to push while she go the cord from around her neck, it felt like it was going to take forever and the need to push nearly overcame me, it took all my will power to avoid it. As soon as Mary gave the all clear I pushed my baby out with a great deal of relief.

I looked at Alecia who had tears in her eyes and asked her if the baby was a girl. Wato and I knew she was a girl, but didn?t tell anyone else. They passed her to me and I was shocked to see blonde hair, she was the cutest little thing. I was so happy!! The midwives got me to lay on the bed where I attempted to unbutton my nighty, but Mary didn?t bother to wait. I did want to try a breast crawl, but I didn?t get a chance.

Mary kept checking if the cord had stopped pulsating while I cuddled my little girl and when it did finish Wato cut the cord. Sharon asked if I wanted some syntocin to which I agreed, and very soon the placenta was expelled. Soon afterwards Wato took the baby so she could be weight and dressed.

My perineum was checked and their faces read that it did not look good. Mary washed the area and realised it wasn?t too bad, I had sustained a 2nd degree tear. She went on to numb and clean the area before stitching me up. I couldn?t believe how rough she was. She informed Adam of everything she was doing and I heard him ask something about my cervix being normal. It wasn?t until my domiciliary nurse visit that I learned that I had a prolapsed cervix. It had gotten caught over bub?s head while she descended, That is what I could feel over bub?s head when I check and this is why I felt my second stage was a little prolonged.

Not long after I had given birth I could hear the lady who came in about the same time as us screaming!! GET IT OUT! GET IT OUT!! Not long after that I heard her bub crying? poor woman, I knew only too well what she was going through!!

I couldn?t believe how small bub was, at 7lb 7oz (3390g) she nearly a whole pound smaller than my last baby, who was 8lb 4oz (3750g). She was perfect!

I fed her both breast while falling asleep in the recliner and then I was lead off to the ward to where I would spend the next few days and ponder a name for our newest princess.