I had 31 hours to go....I was booked for an induction first thing Thursday morning. I was 40+6. And I officially gave up on Tuesday night with those 31 hours to go - I had tried every natural induction method I could think of since 36 weeks and was buggered - I said to DH when we went to bed 'my body has failed me....I just have to live with the fact that I'll probably never go into labour naturally and get over it - at least I can have a relaxing day tomorrow (Wed 28th Oct) and go for the induction Thursday'. (yes, I was feeling hormonal and melodramatic by that stage ) It seems I should have just given up long ago and let my body do its thing. My last two bubs were induced at 40+10 & 40+13 and were painful experiences with complications and I had been desperate to go naturally this time and be more in control.
I woke up at 6:30am after having 3.5 hours sleep. I was really uncomfortable and having steady contractions 7 mins apart. Now, this didn't phase me at all....for the 3 weeks prior I had been up and down to the hospital at all different times, because I was having strong labour contractions - anywhere down to 5 mins apart - and then they'd stop. And my blood pressure was going up from like 110/60 to 150/100 and then down again in a matter of hours. I was on daily monitoring and had a few false alarms. So when they were coming at 7 mins I just breathed through them as usual and went about nesting. Then they went to 5 mins...again, not that unusual. More resting. Had a bath, read half a book. Got to 11:30am and I said to DH "Take me to the darn hospital...again. I'm sure we'll be home again in an hour, but I need them to check me over in case my blood pressure is up". So we trooped up to the hospital, taking our time and stopping at the shops on the way....got there about 2pm. They put me on a monitor, checked my obs...then did an examination and found I was 8cm dilated. So it seems my body had finally figured out what to do...
Anyway, by about 4pm the midwife said the baby would be here by 6 or no later than 7. (I had asked if they thought I'd be done by midnight, cause I was exhausted and wanted to sleep LOL) I was amazed at the massive difference between natural labour and induced labour...I told Michael that this was the easiest thing I'd ever done, painful but NOTHING compared to my last two experiences and definitely do-able. Well little miss smarty pants that I am should not have spoken too soon....they checked me at 6pm to see how far dialated I was and found I was the same and not only that, but he had turned around somehow and was now posterior. His heart rate was dropping dangerously low with each contraction and he had pooed an awful lot in there...they started to get worried. He wasn't progressing any further down and had gotten stuck. They told me that they would have to give me an epidural with a view to have a fairly quick c-section straight after, but that if by some miracle things changed and he could be delivered posterior with no further risk to his life, that they would at least let me try. I was feeling pretty defeated....it was completely against everything I'd hoped for. Suddenly I was in excruciating pain with my back because of the posterior position (I had a major car accident 2.5 years ago and my back is already pretty sore down there), contractions were less than a minute apart, his heart monitor was going off and I had to get Michael to physically restrain me because I couldn't stay absolutely still by myself while they put the needle in my back and kept involuntarily moving. They finally got it in and had started off with a tiny dose just to relax my body while they went off to get the drugs to numb me for the c-section. I could still use/feel my legs, pain was just as bad etc, but I had more sensation on one side than the other - they said before they put in the big dose I should try and equal it out by lying on my side.
I was pretty calm through all this, still not making any noise or talking if I could get away with no response. I had made myself quickly come to terms with the fact I would be having a c-section and that I would have to have company when doing my Christmas shopping cause I wouldn't be able to drive myself. Things you think about, huh. So I laid on my side...after all this I was exhausted after only 3.5 hours sleep, and I drifted off for like 30 seconds, only to get woken up with a contraction. This contraction felt different. It happened twice more before I opened my eyes and said to DH "I NEED TO DO A POO" which shocked him cause I hadn't said much for ages and he knew that feeling like pooing = baby's head...or a big mess with unwanted poo. Either way he wasn't taking any chances and ran out of the room to get the midwife.
Next minute there are a few midwives are running in, along with an obstetrician and a resuscitation cart and paediatrician. She is telling me to slow down, which of course is practically impossible. So I rolled back on my back and she takes a look...his head is right there. She checks and it turns out that me lying on my side, combined with the relaxing effect the drugs had on my body, allowed him to flip back over again and he's no longer posterior. So she tells me to go for it and a few pushes later he slides out on the table. That was at 9:44pm, so all that took a little while.
He was a little blue and not as responsive as they obviously like, initially, but they put him on the resus-cart and he was good as new again in a few mins. I had a few minor tears - only 2nd stage tears, so really not too bad and I had a really good ob stitch me up with very little pain, so that was all fine. I only lost about 400mL of blood max which really was my biggest fear the whole pregnancy after losing nearly 2L last time and nearly losing my life in the process. And I have had no swelling on my hoo-har, no major on-going bleeding and very little pain in comparison to the other two births. Bonus!
Jediah John was 9lb 9.5oz (4350g), 56cm long with a 36cm head circ. A big boy!! By day 4 he had lost 250g (still below that 10% mark), but then started steadily gaining - by day 6 he had gained 120g and by day 8 he was sitting back on his birth weight. We are so happy that he's thriving! And I am thrilled that in the end, although there were a few hiccups along the way, I got the birth experience I so badly wanted.
One thing they did note, tho, after bub was out, is that he is a miracle baby....not only was the cord around his neck and around his body twice as well, but it had a major figure-8 knot in it...which can often lead to stillbirth in bubs. So we are feeling relieved and very blessed to have such a perfect, albeit BIG, bubba!
Awww what a great great birth story!!
Congratulations!!
My first was induced, and i agree - what a hellish experience!
I'm so glad you got your natural labour, i'm hoping to share a similar story very soon!
xx
Oooh, I had been wondering how you'd gotten on!
Sorry for the scare... that must have been very difficult. I can't imagine what it would feel like to have bubs whisked away onto the resus table...
But WOOHOO! @ going naturally Well done - sounds like you were so calm and handled everything beautifully. Congratulations on a great birth and on a lovely, big miracle bubba.
Oh well done!!! back labour is the worst pain ever... you did an excelllent job of getting him out, I am so glad he is doing so well now after a scary start.
Congrats.
My rollercoaster birth with #3...
) It seems I should have just given up long ago and let my body do its thing. My last two bubs were induced at 40+10 & 40+13 and were painful experiences with complications and I had been desperate to go naturally this time and be more in control.
So it seems my body had finally figured out what to do...
Things you think about, huh. So I laid on my side...after all this I was exhausted after only 3.5 hours sleep, and I drifted off for like 30 seconds, only to get woken up with a contraction. This contraction felt different. It happened twice more before I opened my eyes and said to DH "I NEED TO DO A POO" which shocked him cause I hadn't said much for ages and he knew that feeling like pooing = baby's head...or a big mess with unwanted poo. Either way he wasn't taking any chances and ran out of the room to get the midwife.
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