The Birth of Phoebe Eleena (Might be a bit long)
I'll have to go back a little bit before the actual birth - like the decision to have another one lol.
Meara was only 19 months old when I felt the "urge" to have another. I fought with myself but I won :) On 2/6/10 I text DF and said "don't freak out, but I think I want another baby". There was no answer. I wasn't sure if he had his phone turned on or if I'd given him a heart attack lol. At 3.29pm , before he left work to come home, he replied, "****, just got your message". I had to laugh. By the time he got home he had already made the decision. He would love another baby. Getting to do the actual deed was another matter altogether lol. Kids in the bed is a bit of a dampener. We finally managed in August, but I thought we had missed our window. The next day Meara was in hospital with bronchiolitis and asthma. We were in for a week and over ovulation time. Never did I think we could have been pregnant from that one go.
AF time got closer and I craved onions. I was eating sausage sandwiches with extra onion, I even made french onion soup from scratch and I wasn't really that big a fan of onions. My curiosity got the better of me so I did a poas (10dpo). I could see a 2nd line but it was so faint that it could have been a trick of the eye and I had to turn the stick into the light to really see it. DF couldn't see it al all so I threw it out. I was a bit disappointed but shrugged it off as it was our 1st attempt and with all the things that had happened it would have been a miracle. i still couldn't quite shake the feeling that I was pregnant, so did another test the next day. The same thing happened. Another line so faint that it could have been a trick of the eye. I got DF to check it out and he could just see it this time but still thought it was wrong lol. I think I ended up doing about 10 POAS's all up :) Yep we had managed, on the 1st go, to catch that eggie and were now expecting again.
We got mixed reactions from family and friends. Some were really happy for us and some were like "are you going to stop now???" Those comments hurt. Oh well, weeks passed and I was booked in the hospital for midwifery care. Because I was attempting a VBAC the birthing centre was out :( At 29 weeks I was diagnosed with GD. There went my complication free labour. I had more scans done to check bubs and the placenta but both seemed fine.
At the clinics, I kept seeing a different midwife each time and to top it off they were in the process of learning a new computer system so my care got pushed behind that. At 36 weeks I got a midwife who put me first and was disgusted that nothing had been done for me. I still hadn't seen an OB yet let alone anyone who could tell me what was planned for my birth. I was just cruising along at this stage and was happy with the small amount of intervention.
At 371/2 weeks I saw the OB who told me that I would be induced at 39 weeks :o Yikes - only 1 1/2 weeks to go!!!! I got them to clarify for me though what date they would be using. My 12 weeks scan had put me 4 days ahead. So were they going to use that date or my date. He decided to use my date.
On Wednesday 27/4/11, I went to my next appointment. I was 38 1/2 weeks - 2 days to go. I saw a lovely registrar, Ruth, who gave me an internal and told me that I was already 1-2cm dilated but my cervix was still thick. She organised for me to come back in the next day to have the balloon catheter inserted to try to start the induction. I was told to phone the delivery suite at 10.30am to find out what time to come in. The next morning at 10am (couldn't wait lol) I phoned, only to be told that they were really busy and to phone back at 2pm. Phoned back at 2pm and was told to come in at 5pm. OMG it was really happening. I phoned DF and asked him to meet me at the hospital a bit early as I needed a hug.
We walked up to the delivery suite only to find that all the dr's were busy with emergency c/s's and were told to go and have some dinner and then come back at 7pm. Hmmmmm waiting again. I was getting impatient lol. We didn't actually get taken to a room and see the dr until 1am. The dr was lovely and he was very quick and gentle. He put the catheter in and then I was taken to another room so I could have a sleep (it was so funny trying to walk to the room with the catheter hanging down between my legs). DF went home at this stage but was going to come back in later in the morning.
After getting a few hours sleep I was taken to "my" room. This is the room I would stay in until I had the baby. While waiting for the dr to come back around, the catheter fell out by itself. Yay, things were moving on there own. The dr came in and told me that I had to have 2 drips in - bugger :( She tried to put one in the back of my hand but pushed it through the vein. OUCHIES. She ended up putting it in the side of the crook of my elbow. Damn it!!!! Now I couldn't bend my arm. She then tried to put the other one in the other hand and did the same thing :o That drip ended up in the same place as the other one. Now I couldn't bend either arm as it interfered with the cannulas. One drip was for the insulin (rotten GD) and the other ended up being for glucose and the pitocinin (sp?). When the cannulas were in and the monitor strapped on my belly, she went to break my waters. She thought that she hadn't done it and was going to use something else but I realised that it had worked when Niagra Falls started to erupt.
The drip was started very slowly, on a very small amount. As I had had the C/S previously, they were worried about giving it to me full blast. I started on 6 and they doubled it every 1/2 hour up to 24 then they went to 36. At 36 bubs heartrate dropped. They watched it for a couple of minutes and it did it again. They got the dr who decided to turn the drip off and just monitor bubs for an hour. Cheeky sod was fine. They started it again, very slowly and everything was fine until they got to 36 again. Her heartrate dropped again. Once again they turned the drip off and waited for an hour. This happened another 2 times so you can imagine how over it I was :rolleyes: Strapped to the bed with the monitor and 2 drips going, not able to move around - was not how I wanted to give birth grrrrrr. Going to the toilet was a major event lol.
The dr finally decided to leave the drip on 24 (duh) and see how we progressd.
At about 5pm I had to phone the cord storage guy, Ben, to come up (he was coming from Sydney to Newcastle). He asked to speak to the midwife to make sure I was in proper labour, then asked her when the baby was going to be born. She told him "when it decides to" lol. during the hours waiting I was having contractions but not really painful ones. I was so scared I was going to need another c/s. Ben finally arrived at 7.30pm and came in to introduce himself. He looked like a hippy!!!! Dreadlocks, sandals, bright clothes - but he was lovely and very professional. He needed to take some blood from me and then realised how hard that was going to be. He couldn't get any from my hands so had to go the the crook of my elbows. Having the 2 drips in there made it harder but somehow he managed to get what he needed. He then left the room to wait until I had had the baby.
My midwives were great. I had another visit from the drs and Ruth was now on so YAY. I had another VE (about the 10th by now) and I was dilating but bubs was still up high. I think I was giving up. One of the midwives asked me if I wanted the gas. The pain was getting bad by then so I said "YES". I know the gas works for me. While I was waiting for them to set it up one the midwives said to me "ok, no holding back now. Get rid of that blockage in your head. You can birth this baby so do it!!" lol that was a bit of a kick in the butt, but it worked. I was on the gas for only a little while (minutes) when I felt bubs move down with a big thud. My moaning "aaaaah" went to a "aaaarrrggghhh" grunt. I had a midwife shift change just then to and they were not happy about it lol. The new midwife asked me "could I feel where bubs head was?" I grunted "right there" She came over and had a look and went "Oh you mean right theeeerre!" lol She quickly got the other midwife and by then I had pushed bubs head out. I was so in the zone, I even felt my tear when it happened. They got me to stop pushing so they could check the cord and with the next push she was out.
Because I was doing the cord blood storage they had to clamp and cut straight away. Ben came in and was doing what he needed to do but I wasn't paying much attention to him ;) I was watching the midwife with bubby. She was waving oxygen under her nose but then explained that because she was born so quickly she was a bit shocky. Bubby responded well so they brought her over to me and we had our 1st cuddle skin on skin.
But wait there's more lol
Once bubs was born they turned the drip off and my contractions stopped. I still hadn't birthed the placenta. The midwife was waiting for the next contraction so I could get it out and they weren't coming any more. All this time Ben was down the business end getting all the blood out of the cord with DF helping him. He finally finished and told us he got heaps, congrats to us both and then he left. The placenta finally came out on it's own and when it was examined we were told that the induction was just in time. The placenta was very ragged and was breaking down.
All in all, not the birth I envisaged or wanted, but I got my VBAC and my last princess - and princess she is lol being born at the exact time of the Royal Wedding.
Stats for Phoebe Eleena
1st stage - 40 minutes
2nd stage - 17 minutes
3rd stage - 17 minutes
Phoebe was born at 8.57pm on 29/4/11
apgars 6 @ 1min 9 @ 5min
Length 52cm
weight 3705grams or 8lb 2 1/2oz
head circ 35cm
If you got through all this you deserve a medal lol
