The time is slowly approaching for us the have our second baby, DH and I have been reminiscing about our first grand experience, and apart from some notes, I thought I have never written it down and thought I might.
All started about 4am on the 29th April 2008, my contractions were ten minutes apart and continued through the day gradually getting closer, I busied myself with last minute preparations, and a bit of cleaning. The pain was tolerable, just like period pain, I would just flow down on lean forward on a bench for each one. Around 3 DH and I decided to start going to slow walks up and down the street, they were about 5 minutes apart, and I had been told walking was one of the best things to do.
By 4.30pm they were 3 minutes apart. These were getting very strong and were in my belly and back, I also had a show and started to vomit a bit with each one so the hospital said that I was well into labour and to come up. But upon arriving was told I was only 1cm and they sent me home (with panadol and a sleeping tablet might I add, which promptly come back up the next time I vomited).
By 6pm my contractions started going insane, they were 1 1/2 minutes apart and 1 1/2 minute long, then 30 seconds apart with 1 1/2 minute long, then back to 1 1/2 apart and so on. The pain was unbelievably horrible and literally crippling me so I couldnt move and was all the pain was in my back, I no longer felt the contractions in my belly. The pain is hard to describe, it was like someone was getting a branding iron and burning it into my back. Obviously freakin out I rang the hospital back and they told me to come back immediately. Again I was only 2 cm, and they offered me pethadine and gas which I quickly attached myself to. The contractions I was told were doing something called coupling, which is intense because you get two contractions on top of each other, generally they come with a bigger break after each set, but mine were only a minute and half.
By 8pm I was asking for an epidural but told I couldnt have one until I was 4cms, and they would do another internal around midnight to check. I spent the next four hours bouncing from standing to all fours, we tried having a shower but I couldnt sit still for long. I just about sucked the life out of the gas bottle and resided to being on all fours or laying on my side with it permanetly in my mouth.
Just after 12 they did another internal and I had just gone 4cms. They called for the anesthetist but I was told she would be about half an hour or more but luckily she arrived around 12.30am. She had the worst time trying to get the epidural done, she numbed the area and I was sitting waiting for sometime to be done, I got a contraction and arched backwards, the poor woman just about had a heartattack because she had semi placed a needle in my back, she started yelling at the midwife wanting to know why no one had told her they were that close together and why I was requiring and epi done, they informed her that I was only 4cms. It took her over 40 minutes to put the needles into my spine because I am apparently very difficult to do. She said that I am fit and my muscles and stuff around the spine were toned and difficult to navigate. I had asked for the epi to be low so I could move my own legs and feel a little of the contractions, the mw set it up the dose perfectly, I could also top up if I wanted. I was also put on a oxytocin drip to try and increase the force of each contraction to try dilate me faster. Eventually it got done and within another 20 minutes the relief was bliss, my waters were broken and I passed out just about and dozed for about two hours. DH and Nana also had a sleep.
At about 4am, we had another scare with bub. My mw noticed that
bub was not responding to each contraction like they would normally, their heart rates should respond during contractions and ours was just putting along, not low or high though. The turned down the oxytocin to see if it was to much for bubs and attached monitors directly to bub and monitored for half an hour. Nothing changed so the head OB was called in, he decided to to a scalp test on bub. They took a scraping off the head and put it in a machine for testing. It was to see what bubs oxygen levels and some other things were like. All the levels were fine and it turns out that our little cherub was probably just having a sleep. They turned the oxytocin back up.
About 6am another internal was done and I was about 7cm, my mw was getting upset because she had to end her shift by 8am at the latest and she wanted to meet the little one that had been causing all the drama. It was about 6.45am when I said to her that it felt different down there, like I needed to do numbers 2's, she had a quick look and with a bit of a shock, says well thats because you are now fully dilated. She also told me that bub hadnt decended at all and was still around 4/5 above brim and was posterior and she was going to have a discussion with the head ob. She came back and told me that we were going to give pushing a go. I remember looking around and wondering why there was so many people in my room, I felt like a zoo animal. There was DH, mum, my mw and her trainee, the head ob, a paed, and a couple of other nurses.
I could slightly feel the contractions, which had actaully settled back into a normal rhythm by now, and she would let me know when to push. I started around 7pm, and by 7.28am on the 30th April 2008, I gave birth to our beautiful little girl, Amelia Marie 7lb 9oz (3420gm), 50cm long.
It wasnt for months after the birth that my mum and DH started to tell me things that happened that I was to busy to notice. I had been actually been put on standby for a c-section because they had classed the labour as dysfunctional, due to DD being posterior, having severe coupling contractions and DD not engaging at all. They were concerned that the labour may stop progressing completely, I would become to exhausted and if I made it to being fully dilated that I would not be able to push DD out. Mum had overheard discussions outside a few times with the head Ob on the situation and how close I was coming to being sent off. Luckily neither the staff, DH or mum had told me any of this because I have always been scared of surgery and they didnt want to stress me out any more. When it came time to push, the discussion the mw had with the ob was over whether or not to let me. He wanted her to let me try and see how I went, if there was no progressing within an hour, he would come and consider the c-section again, we were to be both closely monitored for distress, apparently bub not being engaged and posterior makes for a long second stage, especially with an epi. I was told only 10% of women in my situation are able to go naturally.
A few weeks ago I was getting really nervous and distressed about going through labour again, but discussing it with my ob, partner and mum has really helped, I understand the chances of it being the same are so much lower, for a long time I was upset that I hadnt been able to do it properly and drug free. And now I have come to the conclusion that I can do it and my body is capable of handling so much and I am proud of what I achieved. And soon DD with have a sibling to play with.
Wow - this is almost exactly like my labour with DS - I had strong contractions for 12 hours and only 4cm dilated, then epidural and another 12 hours!! DS was posterior and not engaged. I also was almost given a CS, but was taken to theatre for a forceps delivery (so that if it didn't work I would be already in place for a CS). It was also so drawn and and traumatic for me but such a relief in the end. You will be fine the second time around, anything has to be easier. I am telling myself the same thing too Good luck.
wow what a birth! I cant wait to read you next birth story! Im sure it will be a whole lot better. Congratulations on doing so well, you shoulld be SO proud.
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Reminiscing about our Grand Adventure
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