The birth of William Eric
This is the story of the birth of my first child. William Eric on the 7th June at 1.10pm. He weighed 9pounds 6ounces and was 55cm long and 35cm head circumference.
So my waters broke at 11.50pm, after i got up for some milk for heartburn, felt like i weed myself a little so went to toilet and had some watery pink/red fluid on my panty liner, so called hospital. no big gush or anything, babies head must have been blocking it as they had to release the waters in the labour to help it progress. whilst on phone to hospital started having contractions. within that hour they were every 6-7mins. was uncomfortable so went and took a bath and some panadeine. which relaxed me a little. tried to sleep afterwards but pain started coming every 5mins, not much worse than the tightenings but started going longer. by 6.30am they were going for 60-90secs every 5mins. so called hospital saying i was going to come in as pain was getting really uncomfortable. they told me to come in after 7 when the new shift started.
so i had a shower, finished packing my bags and had breakfast then headed in. had a couple of contractions on the way. by the time they hooked me up to ctg my contractions had become irregular again, and were 6-10mins apart but lasting for a good deal of time which they said was good because it meant my uterus was giving it a good go each time. so they werent worried about imminent labour as they werent regular or often enough. so the midwife offered an internal to see where we were at, which i agreed to so that i would know how i was going.
So during the internal, the midwife has gone where is the cervix, i cant find it. oh wait a minute, oh my gosh. it is really thin and you are this far dilated. im like yeh how much is that. she said 7cm. she said my body had done a good job. so maybe the raspberry leaf and dates did something afterall. they were really surprised with how i was coping at this stage. they checked again when i felt the need to poo. i had 1-2cm left to dilate. and i felt pressure down low and contractions were becoming more painful. i started using the gas at this point.
my contractions werent becoming more regular, she did another internal and i still had the 1cm to go, so she started draining the amniotic fluid and then attempted to move the last 1cm with her hand. i can say now this was very painful. and the gas didnt help that much. in fact it made me feel like fainting. that cm did not want to budge. so i went to the toilet and opened my bowels and they said it is a good position to be in if i felt comfortable on the toilet. but didnt feel like it at this point.
DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE AFRAID OF LABOURING
later about 11am i started to become the irrational person they talk about, i started to feel like i couldnt do it. the midwives were worried coz my contractions werent advancing. so they put me on a oxytocin to increase the frequency of contractions. which i was like no i dont really want that as it will make the pain come more frequently and i cant deal with it currently. so i was still on the gas which made me feel crap. and theyre telling me to breath through the contractions which i am having trouble with saying i cant do this. and they keep saying not much longer. but then i end up going to sit on the toilet as it actually makes them more bearable as i couldnt find a comfortable position and my knees were starting to hurt from being on them til this point.
the one cranky thing i did say was "when you tell me to breath through the contractions it makes me want to slap you in the face."
it got then to the point i couldnt sit anymore so went back to the bed. i couldnt use the gas anymore as it made it harder to breath and made me feel worse (fainting and nauseous). then when the pressure got really hard i couldnt stay on my knees any longer so layed down on my side. i know they say labouring on your back is harder, but i was just getting exhausted and my knees really hurt. so the contractions were coming more regularly. i started to feel the need to push. and by about 1250 the midwife did another internal and said that i was now ready and that i could start pushing. so then the pushing stage started and went for about 15mins. they kept telling to push harder and longer during the contractions, and aim to get 3 big pushes in which i did. and i can say it actually helped with the pain of contractions. and i was pushing with all my might, i wanted it to be over and have the baby out. and they kept saying hes close we can see his head. then when he started crowning they asked if i wanted to feel, i said no i just want to get it out. so a few more contractions later and some big pushes and out came his head. which led to a burning pain and i shouted out (which my husband said was the only time i yelled), and i tore though i couldnt feel it as such just a burning sensation. then they said stop pushing and they checked to make sure the cord wasnt around his head and got his shoulders lined up. and i yelled i cant anymore i need to push and they said ok and then out came his shoulders with a couple more pushes. and then like they say the rest is history, and it felt like a slippery fish. and he was born and i was literally exhausted and in dire need of a shower.
TMI alert. I also did the embarrassing thing in labour and pooed but honestly i really didnt care, all i cared about was getting the labour over and done with. i didnt care who saw what.
so i had cuddles with him but he didnt immediately take to boob. then i took a little while to deliver the placenta after the drug was administered. but it all came out in one piece, which i had to push out as it was quite large. then i just cuddled him for about what felt like half an hour while they checked it over and notified the dr re my tear and the labour. then they took him away to measure him and the dr came to stitch me up. which i must say she did a great job. the needle stung a bit but then the suturing was fine. i got a 2nd degree tear, which wasnt as bad as i thought. i was scared to use my bowels the first time, but didnt actually have any issues. and just used warm water the first couple of days when doing a wee. but after the suturing the dr did an internal whilst pushing hard on my belly to remove clots. which was really painful. and i was taking the gas for this and the poor midwife ended up with a more squished finger than my dh got throughout the whole labour. then i got to have my shower which was a god send, and i was surprised with how tired i was. i had well and truly given my body a good working out. after the shower william had his first feed.
and though labour is quite an ordeal, i would definately say it was all worth it. just to look over his perfect face, hands etc. i have this love for someone that cant be surpassed.
and dh was a beaming dad too. and he saw a lot throughout the labour but said it was messy but he watched as i was pushing and i believe he enjoyed being able to be a part of this miracle.
