30/3/2011 - The quick arrival of Little Miss Dragonfly
This is the complete story of our Little Miss Dragonfly's rather quick arrival (quick for me anyway, as I was in labour with DS for 41 & 1/2 hours from the moment I was induced to the the moment they cut him out of me) and a very successful VBAC!
It all starts 3 weeks and 2 days before she was actually born, and I had always had the 30th of March stuck in my head right from the beginning of the pregnancy even though her EDD was set for March 28th.
After 3 weeks of annoying and frustrating pre-labour, constant irregular contractions and one false alarm the friday before she was born, the day finally arrived where I had been booked in to have my waters broken - AROM (Artificial Rupture of the Membranes) - knowing full well and absolutely terrified that if things didn't go to to plan then I would need to have another emergency c-section which was my greatest fear during this pregnancy.
30/3 - 40wks 2d - We arrived at the hospital just before 7am and I was put on the CTG machine for some quick monitoring before being seen by the OB, had a few mild contractions on the monitor but nothing major.
The midwife and the student midwife dealing with me were ones I hadn't met previously, but we had a nice chat while the monitoring was being done and I was put at ease by their friendliness.
The OB came in and did a VE at 7:57am, and I was found to be 2cm dilated and 80% effaced, so the OB ruptured the membranes right on 8am and I went straight to 3cm dilated. I was allowed off the monitors for a bit so we went for a walk down to the cafeteria where a bought a couple of magazines to read and a custard tart (one of the very few sweet treats I could eat while having gestational diabete's that wouldn't put my blood sugar levels up too high). Had a few irregular contractions while walking around before coming back to the room at 8:15am.
Bub's position was checked and she was found to be only just classed as anterior, with her face pointed towards my left hip.
I also had the canula put in, though it took 2 attempts (the 1st attempt burst the vein and hit the nerve in my left wrist and I now have very little feeling in my left thumb and weakness in my left hand and wrist, pity that I'm left handed to boot).
I had to go on the CTG again, so we asked about using the wireless CTG monitoring as I was determined to have as active a labour as possible after the horrid experience I had with my son where I was strapped to the monitors the entire time with a strong epidural that meant I couldn't move off my back on the bed. The midwife went to find out where the wireless monitors were, but it turned out that another woman being induced was using them and the birthing suite that I had also requested to use as it contained a bath that I was wanting to use for pain management (the other lady didn't end up actually going into labour until that night and didn't give birth until the next day and had been assigned the midwife who had been dealing with me for my shared care during the pregnancy, so I felt rather cheated about it all when I found out just before I went home). So I had to use the portable monitors instead.
Around 9am the contractions started to come closer together and were more intense, and I was having trouble concentrating on reading my magazines which had been a good distraction up until that point, so the midwife got the beanbag out and sat it on the bed for me to lean on. Around the same time the monitors started having trouble picking up the contractions and bub's heartbeat, so there was a lot of fiddling going on mid-contraction trying to find the best position for the monitors.
Around 9:30am the contractions got a bit more intense and my legs and feet were getting quite sore, so the midwife got out the fit ball for me to sit on - what a relief it was to sit down and lean on the beanbag at the same time!
Around 10am the contractions suddenly started coming through my lower back so the midwives got me onto the bed and checked bub's position and she had turned to fully posterior. At this point I started to panic a bit as DS had been posterior as well and had become stuck against the lower part of my pelvic bone when I was pushing, and I was terrified that it would happen again and I would need another emergency c-section.
The contractions were coming between 3 and 4 minutes apart at this point and using heatbacks and massage while bouncing on the fit ball and leaning on the beanbag weren't giving me much relief anymore so I decided to hop into the shower.
The hot water being sprayed on my lower back was bliss as I leaned on hubby during each contraction, I felt more in control and was even able to make the odd joke and laugh at some of the things that hubby said.
Somewhere between 10:30 and 11am the contractions started coming one on top of the other and I was starting to lose it, the pain was gradually moving from my lower back down into the front of my pelvis and I started to get double peaks on every second contraction.
At 11:30 I lost it completely and could no longer breath through each contraction (I had previously mostly been moaning through them as it kept me focused on the moment) and struggled to breath between contractions as well as my chest was feeling so tight. I was crying and screaming as each contraction came, and it felt like I just wasn't getting a break between them. I started demanding an epidural and between screams said "I can't do this anymore! I just can't do this!" and nothing that anyone said could convince me otherwise (the midwives later told me that once I hit this point they had looked at each other in disbelief thinking that I couldn't have hit transition this quickly!) so they asked me if I wanted pethidine as I had that as a pain relief option in the notes, to which I screamed "YES!" as another double-peak contraction hit.
At 11:45 I was back on the bed they examined bub's position again and she was now fully anterior and was moving down into the pelvis, then a VE was done and I was 5cm dilated, so they gave me the pethidine, and checked my blood sugar levels, which were high so they started me on the dextrose(sp?) drip.
At 11:55 they gave me the gas (apparently it was only on low) and I was literaly floating in my own bubble during each contraction.
At 12:20 I suddenly had this huge urge mid-contraction to do a poo, and it took me another contraction in my gas-addled state to realise that I needed to push, so it took me 2 attempts to mumble mid-moan "I need to push!"
I don't think the midwives believed me, so when the urge came again with the next contraction I said it again a little bit more clearly as I hadn't sucked up as much gas.
They went to do another VE, but had to stop just before doing it as another contraction came and the urge was upon me once again, so they said if I had to push, give a little push. So I did. I vaguely remember the midwives saying "Yes, I think she's there, yes there's a bit of the head showing".
So I started pushing with each contraction, but because I was using the gas for the pain I was losing focus and her head would start to slip back up at the end of each contraction, so they turned it off and that's where things started moving too quickly for me to cope with. I was screaming through each contraction, although the midwives tried to get me to just breath through them it was just impossible for me the pain was that intense.
Finally they said that she was crowning and got me to reach down and feel her head, it was the most surreal thing I've ever experienced.
At 12:42, I made one really strong push and her head was out. They made me stop pushing as the cord was wrapped once around her neck, and then with the next push at 12:43 her body slipped out all at once. They lifted her up for me to see, and she was all blue and not breathing, and has a full head of jet black hair.
They suctioned her and got the oxygen onto her and let hubby cut the cord while I had the injection to deliver the placenta, and I was given the gas again while I delivered the placenta (which was HUGE according to hubby, he said it was so big that it was spilling out the sides of the kidney dish they put it in, and it was about 6-10cm thick).
Finally they handed our little girl to me and we had some of the most wonderful skin-on-skin cuddles!
I had no tears so didn't need any stitches, and the next day I felt well enough to go home, and Elise's blood sugar levels were all perfect so they let us go home a full day early.
Elise wasn't able to latch onto the breast though, so we have been combining using a nipple shield and EBM feeding, with an occasional top up of formula at night.
All in all I am very pleased with myself and how everything went, our family is now complete and I now KNOW that I can deliver a bub vaginally, I now KNOW that I CAN breastfeed, and I will take whatever happens regarding breast/EBM feeding from here on in as it comes without getting down and disapointed about it (as I did when DS couldn't latch on and when my supply dried up between 3 and 6 weeks after getting mastitis) if I have to stop for some reason.
I HAVE tried, I HAVE succeeded, and I KNOW that I can do it :)
Now for the Stats:
Apgars:
1 minute: 5
5 minutes: 10
Name: Elise Prudence Elizabeth Edgley
Weight: 3.650kg (8 pounds)
Length: 52cm
Head Circumference: 34cm
And a head full of black hair!
