The Story of Tori Rose

My waters broke at 10:30 on Thursday night (22nd); we had only just gone to bed so neither DH or I had had any sleep yet. Got up and showered and made my way into the hospital. Went into the Assessment unit and was hooked up to the CTG to check things out. Everything was great; contractions hadn’t really started yet so we basically had to wait it out. About 1:30 my contractions started- they started @ 3 mins apart lasting a minute and continued like that for the entire Labour, similar to how contractions would have been if I was on the drip.

We stayed in the Assessment unit which wasn’t really very comfortable, just a chair thing, no proper bed- it is just a curtained off section. Tried to rest but wasn’t really very conducive to rest. At 3:30 they did an internal and I was 2cms Dilated- so I hopped in the shower and the midwife organised for me to be moved through to the birthing suite.

Went into the Birthing suite just before 5 and hopped straight into the bath, which really did nothing to help the contractions at all, by this time they hurt a lot- and were still coming 3 mins apart, so I was exhausted. Jumped out of the bath about 6 and went back to the delivery room, by this stage I was exhausted and quite upset because I was in so much pain. Eventually decided to have a shot of morphine after another internal showed I was only 3cms dilated. This didn’t do much for the pain but calmed me down enough to rest leaning on a beanbag on the bed for a while.

There was a shift change at 7 am and when the midwife came in to check on me I was still trying to rest- DH had managed to rest for a while as well. When se asked me how I was the first thing I said to her was, it hurts and I want an Epidural. She told me that was fine, and that she would organise it, but it would take some time to set up and there were a few things she needed to do first. Once I knew the epidural was coming I was much calmer and able to get up and move around during my contractions a bit.

The anaesthetist came down just after 8 to talk to me, and then he had a few things to do before he put the epidural in. He came back just before 9 and put the Epi in. I was quite surprised that it didn’t hurt like I expected it to; it was hard because I had at least 2 contractions while he was putting it in and I had to stay sitting very very still. Once it was in the relief was almost instant, I could feel the contractions but not the pain- it was BLISS.

I had a walking Epi, which was great as I was still able to get up and move around. The midwife did another internal just before 10 and I was now 7cms dilated so she told DH and I to get up and walk laps around the ward to try and get the baby to move down, she told us to walk for about half an hour and then rest up- Which we did.

I then rested from about 10:30 to 12:00- getting some much needed sleep, DH managed to get some rest as well. By this stage I was really peaceful and calm and was looking forward to the arrival of my baby. At 12 the Ob. stopped by and asked the midwife to do another internal to see whether or not I was still dilating otherwise they wanted me on the drip. When she did the internal I was fully dilated and ready to go.

It was decided to let me rest for another hour so I had the energy to push the baby out, this was a great time, and just the knowledge that our little one would be soon with us was great.

1 o’clock came and it was time to start pushing, I was hooked back up to the monitor to check bub’s heart rate and it was found that she had a heart rate of 190bpm, which was a worry- so it was basically all action. I was told that the baby needed to be out quickly so I needed to push my hardest. I started pushing @ 1:15pm-, which was hard because my contractions had seemed to become further apart. I pushed until just after 2pm when they start saying the baby needed to come out now, and someone went off to get some forceps- I decided I was having none of that and became really determined to get her out. Finally the Dr. gave me an Episiotomy and in the next push the head was delivered followed swiftly by the rest of my gorgeous little girl.

I lost about 950mls of blood after the birth and they had to sew me up really quickly- was quite lucky not to need a blood transfusion. Tori was born with a raised temperature which made dr’s suspect she had an infection, and she was started on antibiotics- poor little thing had 4 needles a day while we were in hospital, but her blood test came back negative.
All in all it was a really peaceful experience, the staff that I dealt with were great, and the outcome is a gorgeous little girl.

good to hear you had such a positive experience Ali :) I knew you could do it ! Once again , congratulations - thanks for sharing your story

I love a happy ending! Well done Ali.

Ali, thanks for sharing your story with us. Congratulations on the safe arrival of little Tori :)

Congratulations on the arrival of little Tori! Thank you for sharing your story :)

Wow, what a long labor, you handled it so well.. You sound so calm throughout... Sorry Tori had to have antibiotics but glad she is well now.. can't wait to join you!

CONGRATS on the safe arrival of your daughter!!

Im glad you didnt need a transfusion!! :)

You must be so proud! She is so alert and gorgeous! She doesnt look new born at all! :applause:

Well done Ali! Thank you so much for sharing. :)

Thanks for sharing you story Ali and congratulations

Congratulations again on the birth of Tori Rose, such a pretty name.
Hard to see your baby getting needles i know but great she did not have any infections.
Well Done Ali!