We finally get to meet Peanut
I'd had a long and complicated pregnancy, but it finally was at an end, and we’d soon be meeting our little Peanut.
At 41 weeks, I went to hospital for monitoring, and 3 days later, on Wednesday 12th May I was induced just after lunchtime. First step was the prostaglandin gel. So goop goes in and we waited. And waited. And waited. I started reading my new book, my Xmas pressie from Mum.
That evening the doctor came back to check on me.
Nothing much was happening, just a few contractions, but nothing regular and strong.
“We’ll give it to the morning, and then break your waters”
So I sent DH home and prepare for bed.
Then the contractions get stronger and stronger. Hot showers just aren’t doing it anymore.
I rang for the midwife and Bruce arrived. He offered me drugs, and I declined. Then he suggested the TENS machine. Id heard of it, but wasn’t keen, however at that stage heat packs/ showers weren’t helping much. My back was killing me!
So on goes the machine and I start at a moderate level, increasing the strength as my contractions progressed.
I tried to rest.
9 hours after I was induced, I was busting for the loo. I climb out of bed and have a little gush.
I rang for a nurse and she checks my pad, and says “oh that’s nothing; it’s not your waters breaking”
So back into bed.
A few more minutes and I’m back on the loo. As I went to sit down, I felt a ‘thing’ coming out of me.
I panicked that it was the baby being born (while thinking, “Wow labour was easy!” and reached down to feel a large sack of something.
This had to be my membrane sac.
Bruce arrives again and the look on his face was priceless.
“Can you walk down to the delivery suites?”
I grabbed my phone and called DH from the corridor. It had been 12 hours by this stage.
I waddled into the delivery suite and climbed onto the bed. Bruce rushed into the office and called my med student. “If you hurry, you’ll see the birth” I heard him say.
No way was DH missing this, so I decide not to push or anything till he arrived.
By now the TENS machine was at full blast, and my back was still killing me with each contraction.
“I want some drugs!” I begged
“No time” I was told “this baby will be here any second”
That was promising!
Moving around the room I paced then ended up kneeling on the bed, and bearing down with each contraction. Peanut still wasn’t in the best position for birth.
“I want the bath”
So Andi the med student, runs the bath for me, and DH helps me in.
The water was absolute heaven. The contractions were still strong but bearable in the water.
DH keeps feeding me water, I think I drank 5 or so liters during the labour, I was just so thirsty!
The water was going cool and the sun was coming up. Id now been in active labour for 6 hours, and it was 18 hours after being induced.
The urge to push was unbearable, so I was pushing with each contraction. The warm water was absolute heaven.
Then the doctor arrived.
“Out you get”
“But I don’t want to!” (I was a little surprised how petulant I sounded) but I end up climbing out of the tub.
Back onto the bed. There was a brief examination and I was told that Peanut would arrive any second now.
DH was feeding me water and wiping me down with a cold flannel, I was just so hot, it was amazing!
With each contraction, I watched my breathing and tried to push as much as I could.
Katrina the midwife talked me through each contraction, telling me to push the pain away. By this stage I was in (what I thought was) unbearable pain. I asked for drugs again, and was again told that there was no time, as the baby was nearly here.
The contractions became closer and stronger, and then reached a plateau.
After 3 hours of pushing my team told me that the baby was in distress. Peanut was crooked, and the cord was likely caught, so things had to be sped up a bit. The whole labour I had reached each phase quickly and suddenly, and then didn’t progress for ages.
I had found my ‘zone’ and was in a weird meditative state, where there was only the contractions and Katrina’s voice guiding me through each push. I was so exhausted, I didn’t think I could push again, yet somehow I managed.
The end of the bed was removed, and I was so excited, the baby was closer to arriving. This gave me a second wind.
“We are going to use the vacuum.” The doctor explained.
I said “yes” about all I could manage.
By this stage I was in so much pain and exhausted from 21 hours of labour, I just wanted the baby to arrive. They were down there sorting thing out when Doc tells me that he has to cut me, as the baby needs to be here quickly. Again I consented.
The anesthetic was cold, but I didn’t feel the cut.
The vacuum was attached, and I had to try and get 3 pushes from each contraction. I pushed, he pulled. After a few contractions, nothing was happening. They started discussing an emergency cesarean. The baby was now having real problems, and it was too late for a cesarean, Peanut was coming now, any way necessary.
5 pulls on the vacuum, and many pushes from me, and DH looked down to see our child being born. I expected the stinging, but apparently tore badly as well, both externally and internally.
All slippery and squirmy our child is paced on my chest and screams at the world for the first time.
DH cut the umbilical cord.
Amazingly I didn’t cry (I thought Id be bawling with the emotions) having our first cuddle.
Next thing I know the doctor is pushing on my stomach
“We have to get the placenta out” (from this point on, I don’t remember much)
I was hemorrhaging badly, and they needed me to birth the placenta.
At some stage, a syncotocin drip goes in, to make my uterus contract.
I was distracted by our lovely baby and lovely cuddles.
“Boy or girl?” asks a nurse
We hadn’t checked so I lifted the blanket and laughed “It’s a girl!” we had both been convinced that Peanut was a boy!
“What do we name her?”
And Elizabeth Linley Rose was christened on my chest, covered in the blood of life.
Basking in the glow and love with my family, I was so amazingly happy.
Then I started to shake. Stark naked I was sweating from the heat, but my body thought it was I cold.
“Ow!” I complained as they still fought to deliver the placenta.
“One more push!” so I did
As I delivered the placenta, I felt a terrible pain, worse than the entire labour.
Still shaking, my eyes went dark. “I feel dizzy”
They took our little girl and checked her over, as I drifted in and out of consciousness.
The room filled with people, although I wasn’t aware of this at that stage. (This was the resuscitation team, as I was failing very quickly)
My placenta had adhered to my uterus wall and pulled my uterus out as I delivered it.
(As I had been carrying twins, and lost one, there were two placentas fused into one HUGE one, and then stuck to my uterus wall. The second placental lobe is probably the reason Lizzie hadn’t been ready to be born; it was still sending the wrong hormones through my body. The medical team had never seen a placenta like that, so Andy was especially fortunate to have an ‘interesting’ birth during her residency. They asked me if I wanted to keep the placenta, or have a good look at it, we declined. We had seen it sitting on a trolley, overflowing from its container, it was bigger than Lizzie!)
Quickly my uterus was pushed back inside me, once the placenta was cut away. Stitching followed.
Still hemorrhaging and in shock I lay there unaware of my surrounds.
Someone comes and starts cleaning up the blood. I look at the floor/bed/medical team, and there is blood everywhere. It was like a B grade slasher film; I was also covered in blood, and eventually had a bed-bath to clean up a bit.
Over the next day, I lay there, in and out of consciousness, looking over at DH, holding our daughter and dozing in the chair next to the bed. Various tubes and wires were running in and out of me, my blood pressure was dangerously low, and I was alternating between chills and fever, and they were monitoring me constantly (I read my chart later on)
At some stage the first of my blood transfusions began, (I had 5 total over the fortnight) and I began to feel a bit better.
Someone offered me a cuppa, and it’s amazing how good the Milo tasted!
Food came at some point. I wasn’t hungry, but saw the look on DH’s face and managed to eat a bite of salad.
Finally, I was able to go back to my room. Moving to the wheelchair was harder than running a marathon. It was nice to be in a soft bed, as my hips were killing me from the hard bed in the delivery suite, (The bed is firm, so that they can do CPR more easily)
DH pushed our daughter into our room and we all slept, for the first time as a complete family.
