The very speedy arrival of Taurean's Singapore Stowaway! (VERY LONG!)
I’ll be honest, I don’t overly enjoy being pregnant but the end result makes all the nausea, the aches and the frequent loo trips worth it. With this pregnancy, my second pregnancy, morning sickness kicked in during week 5 and continued until around 15 weeks. As with DD1, I didn’t throw up but suffered from terrible 24/7 nausea and had to take Maxolon to help get me through this time.
My hips and back started giving me grief very early on, towards the end of the first trimester. I had an awful time with aches and pains during my pregnancy with DD1 so I wasn’t surprised I was feeling the same again but worried that it had started so early. I wondered how on earth I’d get through the pregnancy, especially as I had a very active toddler to look after too. Thankfully the pains didn’t get much worse and I managed to cope a lot better than I had when pregnant with DD1. I wasn’t able to exercise and everyday chores were difficult but I knew my limits and managed to avoid the physio the entire pregnancy!
I went into spontaneous labour with DD1 at 38+5 so, as much as I tried not to, I had that gestation as the end date in my head. I knew I was setting myself up for major disappointment if the baby hadn’t arrived by then but I just couldn’t imagine being pregnant any longer than that. I also had a feeling this baby would arrive a little earlier than expected.
Braxton Hicks started early (not long after my morning sickness stopped) and gradually intensified throughout the pregnancy. Pre labour pain kicked in close to 35 weeks. My body was doing its ‘thing’ and I was sculling raspberry leaf tea so I felt confident about an early arrival. I also booked in for ‘preparation for labour’ acupuncture session from 37 weeks. I had all my bases loaded! :thumbsup:
I had an appointment with my OB on Thursday 15 December, 38+1. A quick ultrasound and prod of my tummy revealed our baby was finally anterior and engaged so my OB asked if I’d like a stretch and sweep. I never thought I’d be so excited and eager to get an internal!! The internal was done and my OB said he thought things would happen soon as everything was very, very favourable. He also said it was his weekend off so if I was to go into labour, another OB (let’s call him Dr M) would be delivering our baby. I told him I would definitely be going into labour that weekend then as that’s what happened with DD1 - my OB was on his weekend off when she arrived and my current OB delivered her instead! It was Murphy’s Law, my actual OB would miss the delivery again. And the OB who was rostered on has an ‘interesting’ reputation. I knew that he was a bit crass, apparently had a terrible bedside manner, loved intervention and was an excellent surgeon. As much as I was ready to meet our baby, I would have been happy to cross my legs until Monday. LOL!
I had period type pain both Thursday and Friday night and on Saturday 17 December I noticed what looked like fertile cervical mucous in my knickers. I spoke to one of my best friends, a midwife, and she said it sounded like I was starting to lose my plug. I was thrilled! I continued to find more of the EWCM in my knickers throughout the day.
Sunday 18 December, I discovered a massive blob of EWCM in my knickers first thing in the morning. I was so excited I text a photo to my bestie! :rofl: She replied straight away saying she almost sprayed her breakfast across the table from laughing so hard but she was so pleased I was sharing something so special with her, especially as she was unable to be there with me as she lives interstate. She also said that yes, it was my plug. Yerhar!! :dance:
My parents came to visit and I decided we should all go for a walk. I noticed my body felt different and walking was no longer that difficult. I assumed that it was due to the baby being engaged. It felt so great to be out walking again.
During our walk we joked that the baby would arrive that day as my sister, who was going to be our labour support person again, and her DH were working at kite surfing workshop 30+ minutes drive from the hospital; my parents, who would be looking after DD1, were minding my sister’s kids so they’d have all three grandkids if I went into labour; my OB was rostered off; and it was my brother’s birthday. Yup, it was bound to happen!!
My parents left to look after my sisters kids and as DH was driving me nuts, I told him to get out of my hair and go to the shops. I put DD to bed and launched into the vacuuming. I was in our WIR when I felt that and heard that tell-tale ‘pop’ followed by the gush in my knickers – my waters had broken! It was 1.10pm.
I raced to the ensuite to stand on the tiled floor and phoned DH, my parents, my sister and the hospital. I told the midwife to expect me around 2pm as I wanted to have a quick shower and felt safe doing so as contractions hadn’t started as yet.
DH raced home and was horrified to see me in the shower! I explained that contractions hadn’t started so I wanted a quick shower while we waited for mum then we’d leave. He quickly finished packing my bag and got some old towels for the car. Mum arrived and took a few happy snaps of us before we left. It all felt far too relaxed and I wondered when things would ramp up.
We had recently moved so our hospital was now a 20 minute drive away. We were grateful it was a Sunday afternoon as the freeway wasn’t busy at all, something that had been worrying us leading up to my due date. Quick labours run in my family so that concerned us and the plan was to either call for a police escort or an ambulance if I’d gone into labour during peak hour. There was no need to worry though, it was quiet on the roads and a relaxed drive as I only experienced two small contractions.
Right on schedule, we ‘checked into the maternity ward at 2pm and we were taken straight to the birth suite where we met our midwife Jackie. They have five labour rooms at our hossi and four were empty so we were given a choice! We picked the same room we had for DD1’s birth hoping it would bring us good luck.
Jackie wanted to check on bubs and monitor me for a while to see where we were at. I recalled monitoring being pure hell when I was in labour with DD1 but as my contractions were few and far between, I happily lay on the bed and wondered again when things would really start. While Jackie was feeling my tummy, I expressed my concerns about labouring with another posterior baby and told her I was hoping for a drug free birth but would prefer an epidural as soon as possible if the baby was posterior. DD1’s birth was extremely painful and full on and I didn’t want to experience that again. I also expressed my concerns about the OB (Dr M) rostered on and Jackie shared my concerns but said she’d do everything she could to help avoid any unnecessary intervention. I felt safe in her hands.
After a bit of prodding of my tummy and a quick internal, Jackie informed us I was 2cm dilated and she was pretty certain the baby was posterior. Bummer. I decided to give it a go for a while but told her that I was pretty keen for an epi and to find out roughly how long I’d be waiting if I decided to go ahead. I had mild, constant back pain but my contractions were still very random and mild and only two decent ones were recorded in the 20-30 minutes of monitoring. As soon as I was off the bed the back pain increased and I started to worry about another posterior labour. We chatted to Jackie for a while and I just rocked and swayed hoping I could move the baby into a better position.
Around 3.15pm Jackie decided to phone Dr M and let him know where we were at. She returned to my room at 3.30pm to inform me that he was happy for us to ‘go it alone’ for a while (yay!) but he wanted to start the synto at 5pm to induce me. :wtf: He wanted to induce me??? No bloody way! Jackie agreed it was ridiculous and ordered me to head outside ASAP, via the stairs (lol!), and get moving as much as possible. We had to get the contractions going! So off we went, at 3.45pm, down the stairs and BINGO!, my first major contraction hit right at the bottom of the stairs at the ground floor. I had another decent one before we got to the hospital entrance (about 20 meters away) and my third hit as we walked outside. Things were finally happening!
We wandered around the hospital grounds and my sister took photos and video footage and we laughed that we’d end up with hours and hours of footage – boy were we wrong. Contractions were getting quite painful and were only a couple of minutes apart. I started to feel a bit ill and like I needed to poo. I knew I had to get back to the birth suite and quick smart. DH and my sister suggested we walk for a bit longer but I demanded we get back upstairs and that we take the lift. There was no way I could take the stairs back up. They knew I meant business when I couldn’t talk through a massive contraction in the lift and I started to get that ‘look’ about me. That primal look of a labouring woman.
3.55pm we returned to the birth suite and were immediately greeted by Jackie who was a little surprised to see us back already (we’d only been gone 10 minutes) but took one look at me and knew that things were happening - and fast. I told her I needed to poo and she quickly popped a container in the loo as she was worried I was about to deliver. The only thing I delivered was a huge poo (lol!) while I struggled through a massive contraction. I wondered how the hell I’d get off the loo and knew I needed an epidural quick smart. There was no way I was going to get through hours of that pain. Once again, little did I know our baby was well on its way.
I stumbled out of the loo and demanded an epidural – NOW! I could hardly get the words out as another massive contraction hit. Jackie raced off to call the anaesthetist and DH and my sister helped me onto the fit-ball. I had closed my eyes at the loo door and didn’t open them again until I started pushing. I had gone into my zone and DH and my sister knew that things were well underway.
The anaesthetist appeared within minutes and told me it was either now or a 2 hour wait for an epi as he was about to go into surgery. Between contractions I gasped that I wanted it NOW! It was just after 4pm.
As I was prepped for the epi, I felt waves of nausea come and go and loads of pressure in my groin and bum. I was unable to speak anyway but I desperately wanted pain relief so I didn’t tell anyone that our baby was not far away.
Dr M randomly decided to drop in and see how I was going as he had a feeling that I would progress quickly. He wasn’t wrong!! As soon as he saw me he said ‘Wow, this baby will be here in 15 minutes!’ I was too spaced out to speak or even acknowledge what he’d said but I figured I must have been in labour for quite some time by then if I only had 15 minutes to go. I had lost all concept of time, it was only 4.20pm.
Dr M did an internal as soon as the epi was in and it hurt like hell! I couldn’t understand why I could feel so much given I’d had the epi. Either it wasn’t working or it was still kicking in but I was nearing transition anyway. Dr M declared I was 6cm dilated and then quickly changed his mind to 7cm. He told me I would be pushing in no time and to listen carefully to his instructions to avoid tearing, especially when the baby was crowning. I couldn’t believe I would be pushing soon, it was all happening so fast!
At 4.30pm I was fully dilated and ready to push. Yes, I dilated 4cm in 5 minutes. It was intense! Dr M told me to swear and curse as much as I liked and to put all my energy into my bum. He told me he'd swear and curse with me! :lol: I screamed and moaned like a wild animal and swore like a trooper too. I could feel everything despite having the epi. Clearly it didn’t have enough time to take effect!!
After my second huge push Dr M told me to wait and pant while the baby crowned. OMG, that pain, the ring of fire. Far out. I’m so thrilled I now understand that pain but I’m not sure I ever want to experience it again!! The relief when the head was out was unbelievable. Dr M announced he thought it would be a girl as it just looked like one. It was sunny side up so yes, posterior. One more push and our baby flew out! I had felt it all, I’d birthed our second child and it was announced we had another daughter! We were thrilled, especially me as I’d secretly hoped for another little girl. It was 4.35pm. :o
I delivered the placenta with the next couple of pushes and Dr M announced I hadn’t torn or grazed at all. I couldn’t believe it! I only had a small graze with DD1 too so I was thrilled to come out of it unscathed again.
DD2 took to the breast straight away and fed beautifully. She was weighed and measured after we’d finished feeding and I finally got to talk to Jackie about the birth. For some reason I thought I’d laboured for 1.5 hours but no, she informed me it was only 37 minutes. OMG. Any wonder it was a bit intense! I was shocked and so glad that contractions didn’t kick in until we were at the hospital because it would have been a freeway or carpark birth otherwise! I think we’ll be camping out at the hospital when we go back for number 3!
So our stats were:
- 18 December 2011 - Waters broke 1.10pm. Active labour started approx 3.48pm. DD2 born 4.35pm
- Active labour 37 minutes (although I would say 47 minutes as I was having contractions while we were outside for 10 minutes on our own)
- DD2’s weight: 3398
- DD2’s length: 51cm
- DD2’s HC: 35cm
And yes, the epi did kick in, not long after I delivered the placenta. LOL! I guess no one, me included, honestly thought our baby would arrive quite that fast!
