Roman Oliver’s Journey Earthside**Background info: Roman was baby #7 and a boy after 5 girls.
I had a relatively easy pregnancy, alot less anxiety this time than the previous two. I seemed to have a strong bond with my little man right from the start, its like he knew he had to keep me reassured he was ok after previously suffering a loss at 19wks 5 days, so every time i felt the panic start to rise cos i hadn’t felt him move for awhile, he would kick within seconds of me wondering if he was ok. He did this right from early on when i first started feeling him move.
So we cruised through, going to OB appts 3 to 4 wkly this time instead of the 1 to 2 wkly of the 2 pregnancies before. I enjoyed it and time went quickly. At my 26 wk appt, my OB forgot to send me for the glucose test. I wasn’t bothered as i hadn’t had it in the 2 previous pregnancies, but when i went back for my 29wk appt, my OB asked me why i hadn’t reminded her and this time my negotiations to try and get out of the GTT got me nowhere. At 30 wks i had the 1 hr test and failed with my level being 10.2. Thinking about it, it now explained all those symptoms i had been getting and i became suspicious that i had gestational diabetes. 31 wk appt, my OB sent me for the 2hr GTT, which i also failed with my level being 10.5. I knew i had failed it though as during the test i had a headache, blurred vision and at one point suddenly got really nauseous out of nowhere. I went for a ctg the day after the gtt and the mw told me i had GD and got me straight in to the diabetic department, it was Wednesday, i was to go for my education session on Monday. I was diet controlled and tested for just over a week and at 34 wks it was obvious i needed insulin, so onto insulin i went 3 times a day. I remember having a mini panic attack when i went to give myself my first injection but surprisingly most of the time i didn’t feel it at all, even when lil man decided to have a big move around while the needle was in and then he kicked and kicked the needle out of my belly hahaha.
35 wks 5days, i had a severe reflux attack, i had had this happen in the previous pregnancy and i had ended up vomiting blood, so much blood that i needed a blood transfusion and to be in the special care unit. This reflux attack felt the same, it got me worried, and yep, sure enough, 2am i got up and violently vomited and there was blood in it again........oh crap, i thought, not again!! I decided to wait it out and see if it settled.........nope, 5am i was up vomiting blood again so i rang the hospital and they said i had to come in. I went in and they sorted me out, but then i started having strong contractions, so this coupled with me vomiting blood got me admitted overnight and all on the eve of my birthday.
36wks 3 days i asked my OB for a confirmed induction date. I was getting anxious about lil man being delivered safely and i knew i had to be induced because i was insulin dependant GDM. She booked me in for april 1st, in 2 wks i would meet my little man!!
37wks i had GD clinic where my OB and i discussed the induction. She was going to be away the next week so wouldn’t be there to deliver. She wouldn’t deliver him that week (37wks) while she was there because of GDM she was concerned his lungs needed that extra week to develop. Her next day on delivery ward was 5th april, did i want to wait till then she asked, then before i could answer said no you will be 39wks then and i don’t want u going to that gestation because of the GDM, he had to be born at 38wks she was adamant. After alot of discussion, the induction date was then brought forward to 30th March. My OB then did a stretch and sweep and told me my cervix was long and closed but they would be able to get through it to break my waters. I contracted every 10 mins or so for the rest of the day until about 7pm that night when they moved to 2 mins apart and strong for over an hour, i had a shower and layed down to see if they settled, which they did. I spent the rest of the week having intermittent contractions and losing my plug.
During these couple of weeks i had been talking to a friend of mine who is a mw and hubby and i have a very close bond with. We met her when we went in to have our angel (19wks 5days), she had then been on the delivery ward the day the next baby was born and she had actually been our mw and delivered the baby after that. She had since left and moved to doing homebirths but we were saying how it was wierd she wouldn’t be there for this birth and i said to her well theres no reason why you cant be there if you want to be. So it was decided that provided she didn’t have to deliver one of her homebirth ladies, she would be there as our doula/support person. I was over the moon!!
38wks 1 day, 30th March i woke up at 6:40am like normal to get our daughter on the bus for school. I noticed i was getting these strange cramps i never had before. They weren’t contractions, just cramps/stretching in my cervix and bowel area. At 7:20am i rang the delivery ward and said i was due for induction that morning, they said come in at 9:00am. I also sms Laura to say 9am was the time to be at the hospital, she quickly sms back saying she had been called as back up to a homebirth but would be there soon, this didn’t panic me, i knew she would get there on time and she did. We pottered around getting the others ready for school and left for the hospital at 8:40am getting there about 9:20am. About 9:40am we got shown to our birth suite, birth suite #1, it was one of the nicer, big birth suites the hospital has. 10am, our mw came in and introduced herself as Laura, hubby and i had a bit of a giggle as our doula’s name was also Laura, so we were to have 2 Laura’s. It turned out that both Laura’s knew each other well too so that was good. She asked us if we wanted Laura to deliver (doula Laura is a qualified mw but being our friend was there as our doula, not an independant mw) and we said it would be nice if she could but whatever happened and whoever caught baby at the time was ok with us either way, i did say though that i would like to have delayed cord clamping if at all possible, she went off to ask the mw in charge on delivery suite if it was ok if the other Laura was to deliver the baby and if we were allowed to have delayed cord clamping. Both were approved, but the DCC was on the condition that baby was ok at birth and that i wasn’t losing too much blood as being a grand multip (had more than 5 babies) i had a higher risk of increased bleeding after delivery. We agreed to this, whatever was safe to do at the time. 10:30am, enter 2 OB’s, one was some nice eye candy called Winston, i did consider changing baby’s name to Winston but hubby wouldn’t have a bar of it and i didn’t reallyyyyyy like it, just liked looking at Winston hahaha. The other OB attempted to put in a canula, but couldn’t get it in as my veins were still battered and bruised from 2 wks prior when i had the stomach bleed. So he handed that over to Winston and left. Winston got it in first time, then he had a feel of my belly and told Laura she could start the induction and left. 11am doula Laura rang up and asked where we were at and said she would be there at 12 noon, that was fine we told her and that we would see her soon. Mw Laura asked if we wanted to wait till Laura got there before starting the induction in case i went fast. I had this enormous calmness about me and i just knew Laura would get there in time so we told mw Laura to go ahead and start.
Laura did an examination and it was a bit uncomfortable with those crampy feelings i had. She tried and tried to break my waters and as with #6, i had extremely tough membranes again, so i told her last time they had to use the little finger thing with the metal bit on the end, she agreed that would be the best thing to use again but that she would get the OB to come back in to do it because she was concerned baby was up too high and the cord would pop through my cervix once my waters were broken. Enter Winston again, he came in and asked if i wanted a break and i said “No, just get it done”, so he did, i felt my waters go and said “Oh there they go”, he said “Oh you felt them before me, that doesn’t happen often.” This next bit would have to be the most hilarious part of my labour/birth process. So im laying there as hes letting my waters out and making sure babys head comes down against my cervix firmly and no cord pops through, and i feel my waters hit my feet and start seeping under them. Winston was sitting against one of my feet and im having this little conversation in my head thinking “Should i tell him hes going to get wet soon if he doesn’t move?.......................NAH!! I want to see his reaction!!” hahaha very cheeky i know. Within seconds of me having this conversation with myself i head mw Laura yell out “Winston!! You’re getting wet!! He looked down, then finished what he was doing, casually stood up, looks at his pants and goes “Oh, so i am”, then casually walked over to the bin, took off his gloves, washed his hands, made some comment about it not being the first time its happened and its no big deal, he will just go and change his scrubs. Then he walks towards the door and as hes going, looks directly at me with a cheeky grin on his face and says “At least i can say i didn’t make the wet patch for once”....................OH MY GOODNESS!! I was gobsmacked, it was hilarious but at the same time i was thinking “Did he really just say that!!” So i recovered from that hahaha and it had been documented that my waters had been broken at 11:15am, about 11:30am, hubby said to me “what time do you think he will be born? I think 12:30pm”. I looked at the clock and said “No way am i having this baby in 1 hr’s time, 4pm will be fine with me thanks”. Shouldnt have said that!!
Laura comes over and says if i stand up she will change the sheets for me. Stuff that i thought, i want a shower, so i asked if i could and she said Yes!! Ive never been allowed in the shower in previous labours so this was awesome. I had to be monitored for 20 mins but i was still able to go have a shower because i had the portable monitor in my room. I got in the shower........BLISS!! And contractions......they started off mild but were at 2 mins straight away from me standing up after having my waters broken. I loved the shower so much i asked if i could stay in there, Laura said yes and i could have the monitor off now too..........even better!! So i stayed in the shower directing the hot water at my lower belly, still wearing my gorgeous HOTmilk bra. At some point while i was in the shower i heard someone come into the room and Laura said 3cm stretching to 6cm but not staying there. I looked at hubby and said “she cant be talking about me surely”, i asked the OB days later and she was talking about me, so i think those cramps i was getting were labour and i would have had baby that day anyway. 11:50am, Laura asks me to get out of the shower for 5 mins so she could do my ob’s and i could get straight back in. So we did this and Laura noticed i was having strong regular contractions and decided i was in established labour. I got back in the shower and doula Laura arrived. She came in, had a little chat, then went back into the delivery suite as it was crowded in the bathroom. 12:10pm i suddenly got agitated and found the shower to hot and very firmly said “I have to get out NOW”. Laura and Laura heard me say this and thought “Oooohh”. In my mind, i had had enough of 2 min contractions and decided i needed a rest so in my head i was getting out to go and lay down because laying down was going to slow down my contractions..........wasnt it? Its funny the irrational things you think and do when you hit transition (and every time, i don’t realise im in transition till i think back days later). I got out, dried myself and put a gown on.........why i don’t know, i should have just stayed as i was. I walked across the room to the bed, then mw Laura said she wanted me back on the monitor, so i walked around the bed to the other side and doula Laura put the monitor on me. I felt nauseous and said so, so they got out a sick bag for me and put it on the bed, i needed to lay down now, so walked back around the bed to get on it, got to the end and had a contraction so i put my hands on the bed, dropped my head down and breathed through it. When it finished i looked up at doula Laura, who was opposite me on the other side of the bed and said “I’ve had enough now”. Doula Laura knows me well and said “When you say that to me, you aren’t far off having a baby”. Another contraction, breathe, breathe, breathe and there is urgency in my breathing this time. Look at doula Laura again, she says “Enjoy these last few contractions”, i said “What do you mean?” but she doesn’t answer me. Doula Laura then shows hubby how to apply lower back pressure............BLISS!! Back around the other side of the bed again doula Laura tells me to circle my hips and does it to show me, i completely ignore her and go through another contraction.........ohhhh im sweating, whenever i start sweating like this im not far off giving birth. Yet im still oblivious to the fact im so close. Another contraction (they must have been 1 minute apart at this point), doula Laura says to circle my pelvis again, this time i listen, far out it hurts, then i felt something “drop” into place, i yell out this primal yell (never ever done that before) and doula Laura says “lets just have a look to see whats going on”, mw Laura also comes running when i yell. Im still standing up at the end of the bed, doula Laura says “heads on view” and mw Laura holds up my gown so they can see. Next contraction, i start pushing. Doula Laura instructs hubby to hold babys head as he comes out. Head is out. Next contraction i push and push, he gets halfway out and i feel the contraction stop, i cant stay like that though and push again, doula Laura says to slow it down but i cant...............and hes out!! Relief and a big mess on the floor. Can i open my eyes now? I hear doula Laura say 12:30pm. Are you kidding me? Its only 12:30pm? And hubby got the birth time exact!! Slowly i open my eyes and doula Laura passes my baby back through my legs to me and helps me to sit down. Im a bit shell shocked at this point. Im still at 5 mins ago, racing to catch up with what just happened. I look at my baby, hes just perfect!! Is he still a boy? Yes!! Hes so pink and alert its amazing. The Laura’s check the cord, its already stopped pulsating, so hubby cuts it. I ask why hes so pink an alert compared to my others, doula Laura says, “thats the delayed cord clamping”. I get an injection in my leg and they try to hook up the cyntocin to prevent any bleeding, but my canula has tissued, so they just leave me. It takes half an hour for my placenta to come away. While this is happening im soaking up my new baby, i decide he is definitely a Roman and he is just perfect. I then get up and have a shower. The whole atmosphere is so calm and happy and relaxed. While im in the shower, doula Laura and hubby hold baby, he doesn’t once get put on the baby warmer bed at any point. I get dressed in normal clothes and back into bed for our first breastfeed. He feeds for an hour.
We check out the placenta and chat to whoever is around, its a special place to be. So much more relaxed than we have ever had before. I notice the ctg trace, my entire labour shows only about 20 to 30 intense and close together contractions!! The mw’s go in search of scales to weigh him but there are none on the delivery ward so he is weighed when we get to the main ward. Mw Laura is in awe of what she has just witnessed, she says in all her 4 yrs of being a mw, she has never witnessed a birth like that where its progressed so fast and been so hands off. I am stoked to realise ive achieved a home birth in the hospital.
Stats:
Roman Oliver
Born 30th March 2011
12:30pm
3200gm (7p 1)
49cm
1st stage labour 40mins
2nd stage labour 2 mins
42mins total labour.
So in short, Roman Oliver was born with me standing up at the end of the bed (ah the power of gravity) after a 42 minute drug free labour with delayed cord clamping. All of which i highly recommend, except the 42 minute labour bit, thats a bit much and full on. People always think you are lucky to have such a fast labour but its very taxing on your body and hard to process mentally as well. I much prefer a slower build up.
