A lot of planning went into getting pregnant this time. after two boys we did all we could to sway for a girl knowing this was going to be our last bub. of course we would have been over the moon with another boy but we both felt a little girl would have finished off our little family perfectly. we fell pregnant first month again a few weeks after we got back from our honeymoon which was amazing but because i was so busy with the boys, work and studying i often forgot i was even pregnant.
this pregnancy was so different to the boys, which i tried not to dwell on because i didnt want to get my hopes up that this bub was indeed a girl but it was hard. come 20 weeks we went to our scan and saw a gorgeous healthy bub... with its legs crossed!! we had a 3D scan a few weeks later and again bub wasnt cooperating but they were almost certain it was a girl. i was happy with that and went ahead and spent way to much money on adorable pink things!
we started seeing the midwives at around 22 weeks where we discussed my previous labours and birth, which were 1 hour 45 minutes and 2 hours 26 minutes both from the first niggle to giving birth and we live an hour away from our hospital so i had major anxiety when it came to going into labour because i was so scared i would end up giving birth on the side of the road or in the back of an ambulance. the midwife said that if all is going well she couldnt see why i couldnt be induced at 38-39 weeks. i never thought id be so relieved at someone telling me i would be induced but the peace of mind was amazing.
then at my visits from about 35 weeks we would see a different midwife each time and each of them would tell me something different! it was starting to do my head in. one would say 'yes, an induction is fine' then the next week another would suggest a caesarian and i would say i didnt want one so they'd say they'd see how i was going next visit and go from there, then the next visit they'd say we'll do an internal and depending on what was happening they'd leave it or book the induction, then id get there and they would have changed their minds again! it was starting to feel like they were just telling me what i wanted to hear just to shut me up and then not actually following through with anything!
at 37 weeks i was told again to wait another week for a VE, then i said i had had reduced fetal movements so they hooked me up to the ctg to make sure everything was ok. whilst on the ctg i started having regular contractions 2-3 minutes apart, they werent painful to begin with but because they were regular i was sent up to delivery suite for further monitoring. the cx got much stronger over the next few hours but a VE revealed i wasnt dilated so i was given panedene forte which made the pains stop. given my history the dr said i had a bed on the ward if i wanted to stay just in case but i just wanted to go home to my boys
come my appointment at 38 weeks i was being given the same bull s*** speach about calling an ambulance or having lots of towels in the car. my anxiety was through the roof because i had DS2 at 38+5 and knew this bub was going to make her way soon and all of a sudden i found myself bawling my eyes out to the midwife. she soon changed her tune and went and got a doctor to talk to me. the doctor was happy to do a VE so that we could make a plan. the VE revealed i was 3cm dilated and cervix was soft. i got a bishop score of 8 so he said we had 3 options, 1. wait it out 2. have the csection or 3. be induced. i went for the induction and was told that obviously because it wasnt life threatening then it may still be a few days. that was fine with me. so he gets on the phone to administration and was told to be back at 5am THE NEXT DAY! say what?!
we went home, told my mum we wouldnt be there when they woke up in the morning and then spent the rest of the night having an awesome chill out as a family of four!
we woke at 5am and called the delivery suite to ask if we were right to come in which they said was fine. it was so surreal driving down there with DH. we stopped for food along the way and talked as if nothing out of the ordinary was about to happen. just another day. we got to the hospital just after 6am and i walked into the delivery suite an announced i was here to have a baby! we were taken straight to a room and given time to settle in. at 7am a senior midwife came in and did another VE just to make sure all was good, no change from yesterday, she then went ahead and broke my waters. we were then given an hour to walk around and see if labour would kickstart by itself. we came back at 8.15am and i was having a few pains and some pressure in my bum. We went back to the room and i ate some breakfast and did some take 5 puzzles with DH while i was hooked up to the synto and started on the lowest dose. the midwife said bub was posterior, which explained the pressure in my bum, but she was confident that she would turn at the last minute.
Nothing significant happened over the next hour and a half except the synto being upped. i was getting tightenings but they were no more than the BHs i had been getting for 20 odd weeks. my midwife said that i would have this baby before lunch but. i thought she was crazy because it was now 9.30am and i still wasnt in labour ( i had assumed that because i was being induced the labour would take longer)
at 9.45am DH got a call from my best friend saying she had arrived and was in the carpark (she was coming to take photos for us) so DH went down to get her. in the few minutes he was gone i had about 3 contractions that definitely had more bite and about 10 minutes after she arrived i found i was having to close my eyes and concentrate through them. we had the radio on and singing along to the songs was helping me get through the contractions so we were all having a sing along the midwife came back and she could tell straight away that things had changed, she offered me the gas which i happily accepted, not for pain relief, as it does nothing for me, but i find it helps me to remember to breathe instead of tense up and hold my breath
i think i only had about 10 contractions and then i started feeling the urge to push. the midwife was walking around getting her things set up and she said that there was still a small lip of cervix so to try hold off pushing!! yeah right lady!! between contractions she was explaining how i could lay on my side to try and reduce tearing (i had a 3B and a 3A degree tear with the boys that required me to go to theatre after birth)
so im pushing away and the midwife asked DH to lay the bed down so i could get on my side, as he did i felt bub go down. i will never forget that feeling, i was like me sitting up was keeping her from coming down and then when i was laid back she was just gonna slide out. after one contraction on my side i was screaming that i didnt want to be on my side any more and i wanted to move back. i didnt get the chance, before i knew it bub was crowning and i just had to stay there. i remember as i was crowning i threw the gas away and held DHs hand instead and at one point i went to bite it! ooops. he pulled it away very quickly and i laughed to myself and said 'dont bite his hand, hes trying to help' lol
i was coached on breathing her out with the next contraction and she was placed on my tummy, for some reason the umbilical cord for all my kids has been to short for them to come all the way to my chest, so the cord was clamped and cut by DH and she was bought up to my chest and covered up! i yelled that i had to check what it was just in case and i announced 'shes IS a girl'
after a little exercising of her lungs she went straight for the boob and has pretty much been there ever since
Emelia Alice was born at 11am on the dot!
labour was a mere 75 minutes!
placenta came soon after
i did have a mild bleed, but it stopped just before there was anything to worry about
and i only had a 2nd degree tear that was stitched up then and there!
we ended up having to stay over night because she swallowed fluid on the way out so she had a bit of a rattle that they wanted to watch but she had a small chuck that night and it went away so we went home the next day
im so in love with my little princess, and her two big brothers just adore her. the perfect way to finish off our family
the fast birth of our little girl
the midwife came back and she could tell straight away that things had changed, she offered me the gas which i happily accepted, not for pain relief, as it does nothing for me, but i find it helps me to remember to breathe instead of tense up and hold my breath
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