Violet Saffrons speedy arrival
I was due to give birth around 20 Nov but had had a few concerns with blood pressure and my ob was concerned by week 38 as bub had not grown a lot in the last 3 weeks. At 38+3, 9 Nov my ob suggested an induction for the 11th but DH and I were not convinced it was all for medical reasons as she had mentioned induction quite frequently and we thought she may be trying to keep things on her schedule nice and organized. We asked if she thought it could wait for a week and she agreed it was not urgent just yet and that with some extra monitoring we could see what was happening in a week’s time. We never got that far though as on the 12th on viewing the ultrasound the ob said the placenta had calcified and we were given the instructions to go home and get my bags to go straight to the hospital…Dh and I were driving to the hospital saying “Um…not how we imagined it…Should we speed or something to make it seem real?” lol…
I had the first lot of gel at 5:30 and monitoring…then another lot at 12:30 am where the mw said I was 1cm…I had a few tightenings but nothing major up until that point. I asked the mw if there was a chance I could labour without the syntocin drip as I was scared of the force of the labour. She said it was possible in a first pregnancy but not really the norm….I had a sleeping pill as I was too excited/ nervous to sleep and didn’t wake up until 4am where I felt I needed to walk around the ward as the tightenings were a bit uncomfortable. The mws at the ward desk pretty much told me to go back to bed as I had a big day coming up and reluctantly went back, feeling a bit embarrassed because I felt I had overreacted. I was getting 2 contractions per lap around the ward. I went back to bed, may have slept on and off but jumped out of my skin at about 5am when I felt a definite pop inside me. No water came out but I felt a desire to do a poo. I went to the bathroom and didn’t move my bowels at all but started getting contractions on top of each other which was a bit scarey, but as I had been gently chided earlier didn’t want to overreact. DH got to stay in a recliner overnight and I eventually woke him to tell him I needed help. He called the mws who confirmed we could go to the labour ward when I was ready. Mw suggested a shower and I only had it because I was sure I was a long way off giving birth but wanted to freshen up before the big event. We thought we were in for a long one, as that is what everyone expects for their first labour….Dh was asking me what to take when I got out of the shower and by that stage I didn’t care but I grabbed my pillows and told him to grab my bag and couldn’t wait to get to the ward so I could get on with it. On the walk there I would lean over a sink or trolley to have a contraction and was getting a bit scared at the force of them. They just kept coming and coming…..
Once at the labour ward the mw said to me my ob was due there at 6:30 so she would wait until then for the internal as she was sure I wasn’t too far along. I felt otherwise and a couple of times asked dh why they wouldn’t look. In the end I think I demanded she did but she didn’t. The mw suggested I sit on the chair but once a contraction came I was out of it like a shot, the only way I was comfortable was to lean over the bed and rock side to side but it was getting hard to bear and I was saying “Call the man with the drugs, I want anything I can get” The gas was sickening and although I told the mw I hated it I continued to have it between my teeth and actually blew out on it rather than in as the concentration helped. Off to the side I heard the mw say to dh “I don’t think she is going to make it long enough to get drugs” and I said “I can hear you” to which she said “Well you are getting your wish not to use the syntocin” which did not cheer me up at that point lol…
My ob turned up at 7am, fashionably late and did an internal to which everyone seemed quite surprised that I was 4 cm…I was stoked and told them I could still have drugs so “GET THE MAN!” but a couple of minutes later felt the most urgent need to poo or push. I kept that to myself for a while as I thought it was too early but in a few minutes admitted I needed to push…My ob was surprised but said I had to get on the bed for that so was not happy as I couldn’t imagine how I could labour laying down but was happy she said I could push…I got up on the bed, had to learn to lean forward into it but got the hang of it with a few pushes. I felt a leaking of fluid but I’m not sure what it was and I was a bit embarrassed but that was soon replaced by a contraction. I was warned about the stinging feeling about to come so I knew she was crowning. Soon enough I heard “look at all that black hair” which I knew wasn’t about my lady bits lol and “give a big push next time and you will get the head out”, to which I pushed my best to have a massive sense of pain mixed with relief to feel her head come out. DH said he looked at her head crowning, up at me, and then back down and her head was out, back up at me and then the rest of her was out along with a gush of fluids. This was at 07:28. All I felt after was relief that it was pretty much over. The first thing I said when they gave her to me was “Is it still a girl?” as I had heard some stories about wrong u/s scans. To my relief there was no extra bits and Dh cut the cord. I’m sure I delivered the placenta naturally but honestly did not take much notice and once again it was quick as I had heard it can take up to 10 mins… I took a look at the placenta which was going to get tested and it was amazing to see, (take a look if you get the chance). I had a few superficial tears but nothing major so Im glad about that.
I can’t believe I had the strength to birth my baby even though I was quite willing to take the drugs. I have a new respect for mothers everywhere.
I had been trying to decide on Saffron or Violet as a first name but dh and I knew she would be Violet Saffron when we saw all that dark hair.
Stats:
Violet Saffron
Born 07:28 13 Nov 09
Weight 2780g
Length 46cm
Head circ 31.5cm
Apgars 9 and 9
Violet had low blood sugar so needed to go to special care nursery for 24 hours but never had a low reading after that.
She is amazing and I can’t believe she is ours. She has dh’s colouring so far and my eyes.
Thanks for reading my story ;)
