Isabella's Birth story
Isabella April was born on the 8th of May 2008.
In my third trimester I think I probably read nearly all of the birth stories on here & I really enjoyed it so I thought id write mine down too. Sorry about the length lol
After reading a lot of posts on BB I decided to take raspberry tea leaf tablets after hearing that they can help your body with labor & actually make it quicker. I started them at around 36weeks & had a pretty short labour - under 5 hours (ive been told that usually your first baby will be a long labor)
At my 39 week antenatal appointment all was looking well. All I had to do was wait. I made another appointment for the 8th May just in case I went overdue but I was conviced I wouldn?t need the appointment coz I didn?t think id go overdue. Well my due date (May 2nd) came and went with only Braxton Hicks contractions and nothing else. I began to get a little impatient. I just wanted it out of me, but at the same time I was extremely scared of what my body was going to have to do. I was 6 days overdue when I had my next antenatal appointment. There they found that I was already 2cm dialated and the midwife told me that at that point she could easily break my waters!! They then checked my blood pressure etc & found that it was a bit high & I had a bit of protein in my urine (my blood pressure had always been great til this point).
So off I was sent to the antenatal day clinic where I was monitored for a few hours before I was told that I was going to be induced that day, this is when the panic began. I begged them to let me go home to get my stuff & after a while they agreed but I had to be quick. I got back to the hospital at around 5 pm and they put me in the Birth Suite & did another v/e. They told me that my cervix wasn?t favourable at that point so they put the gel in and told me that they would induce me in the morning. About 10 minutes later I started to have horrible back pain which then moved to the front. We all thought it was Braxton Hicks but they checked me again and found I was 4cms !! Everything happened so quickly after that ? as soon as the doctor told me how far I was she broke my water and everything was well on its way. Up to this point I was made to stay on the bed as I was being monitored & they had me hooked up to the machine to keep an eye on bubs heartbeat etc. which I really hated because I just wanted to walk around & most of all get in the shower. After much argument with the midwife I was finally allowed to go for my shower & get unhooked from the machine.
By this stage, everything had intensified so much I was now screaming in the shower.
I had always said that I never wanted the gas when I had bub, I didn?t want to feel sick or loopy lol I thought that if I had anything I would have an epidural or maybe the pethedine. After I got out of the shower ? still screaming ? I decided I wanted pain relief ? NOW!! So the midwife arranged the epidural and for now I just had to deal with it til the anathesiest turned up. So we decided id try the pethedine, which for me did nothing at all.
Waiting for the anathesiest felt like forever but really I think it was about 45 minutes. Getting frustrated at everyone coz the ?Guy with my drugs? wasn?t here yet, I decided id get back in the shower to get away from everyone & to try help the pain. Things just got worse and by the time I got out of the shower I was beside myself with the pain. This is when the midwife stuck the gas in my face, by this point I didn?t care about feeling sick or loopy, I just wanted the pain to go away so I took it & suddenly I didn?t care about the epidural. I was still in a lot of pain but it wasn?t like before ? I felt like I could handle it now.
About 20 minutes late the anathesiest finally came. I remember saying to him ? I have been waiting so long for you!! And now I don?t need you anymore?. After that, the midwife did another v/e & found that I was already fully dialated!! I couldn?t believe it ? it was only about 9pm by this stage. The bad thing was I had underestimated how long the pushing would take - I was under the impression that id finished the hard stuff and that this would only take like 10 minutes ? boy was I wrong!! After laying flat on the bed for a while pushing, the midwife told me that id have to get up & squat or that this would take ages. After a few contractions & pushes squatting id had enough my legs were killing me from the squatting so after another argument with the midwife, I just layed back down. I didn?t care what she said ? I could not squat any more it just hurt too much. So we ended up compromising & I got on all fours on the mat on the floor cuddling a bean bag. I must have been pretty noisy because my dad & partner said that they could hear me from the waiting room which was a fair way from the room I was in.
The next part was pretty blurred (probly from all the gas), I just remember feeling the head coming down ? the burning that came with it ? and the fact that the midwife kept leaving the room & I kept yelling at her because I thought the baby was gonna come out any second now. After a good hour of pushing Isabella April was born at 10:10pm. She was 8 Pound 7 Ounces. I had a tear but that was all & looking back now I am so proud I didn?t have the epidural and so glad because if I had I wouldn?t have been able to get straight up and have a shower after. I had a great birth experience & I still feel kinda bad about how I was at some points with the midwife I had coz she really was great & she made things a lot easier for me.
Thanks for reading. Sorry this has been so long
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