Alexzander's very long birth story...
It all started on Friday March 18 when I was 40w 6d pregnant. I went to the Fetal Maternal Assessment unit to book in for an induction. I was 1cm dilated & the baby looked to be posterior. The date was set for induction on Wednesday March 23. As I was leaving the hospital at 1pm I was getting some minor back pains. I drove to the station to pick Aaron up & told him I think we might have our baby by the end of the weekend.
For the rest of the day I had annoying back pain. At about 6pm it got worse with contractions starting as well. I felt pain low in my stomach like period pains, but no actual muscles contractions like I had expected. Between 6.00 & midnight I paced the house, watched Legally Blonde, took hot showers & sat online chatting to Cailin while she helped time my very odd contractions - they seemed to last for 8mins at times.
At 12.30am I decided it was time to go to the hospital as the pain in my back & right hip was getting worse. I stayed in the delivery unit until about 2.30am with mum, dad & Aaron. The baby was monitored & so were my contractions in those 2 hours. An internal showed I was only 2cm dilated, but the back pain was shocking.
I was sent to the maternity ward for the rest of the night & told to go back down to delivery to be checked at 8am. Aaron stayed with me for a while, but was told to leave. I was given something for pain relief & told to get some sleep – it didn’t work. So I paced the Maternity Ward as I had paced the house. I was given something to help me sleep at about 5am but it didn’t do a thing either.
Breakfast at 7am, Aaron arrived at 9am & off we went to the Labour Ward. From 9am – 3pm is a bit of a blur of gas, pacing & hot showers. I had said all along that there was no way I would have an epidural, but by that point the pain in my back & hip was constant & I couldn’t stand it anymore. I was quite hysterical in the middle of a contraction when the anaesthetist came in to do it & he almost refused cos he thought I would move during the procedure as I was having a bad time just breathing though it. But I sat on the bed told everyone to be quiet & just concentrated on being as still as possible. I had a drip put in at the same time & my waters were broken.
The epidural now in at 3pm, 7cm dilated I was able to have some rest. It lasted about 2hrs & had to be topped up at 5pm. Sue, my midwife, had to leave at 7pm (her shift finished at 3pm, but she stayed as long as she was allowed) so she gave me an internal which showed I was at 9cm. She said she expected my baby to be here in the next hour – OMG was she wrong!
The epidural was then topped up at about 7.30pm. As soon as it started to wear off I was in agony. I felt like my back was going to break in half. At one point I told mum & Aaron that I didn’t want to see the baby, just get him out & take him away. I was using the gas in between epidural top ups & someone turned it right up which made me sick. I threw up on both mum & Aaron at one point.
At 10.30 I was in so much pain, I told them I wanted a c-section, but was refused saying that it wasn’t necessary at this point. The epidural was now lasting just over an hour & they were slow to organise it being topped up which meant I felt every bit of pain in my lower right back & right hip.
At 11.45pm the Dr came in & Aaron said to her that it was starting to wear off & within 15mins I would be in agony again. She said she’d be back in a minute. Off she goes & sure enough 15mins later I’m in agony & she waits a further 15mins before coming back in. We ask what’s happening & she said she spoke to the Dr who wanted to do the c-section. The midwife asked about the epidural, & she says “oh I have to ring the Dr to have it approved†The midwife asks why she hadn’t checked when she was on the phone just a minute ago – Drs response “Oh that was about another matterâ€.
So the decision was made that the epidural be topped up & I would be off to surgery. Beforehand though the other Dr had to check if they could get the baby out using the venthouse or forceps. She checked & nope there was no way that baby was coming out that way. This was about the 10th internal I had between 7.30pm & 12.30pm – all saying that I was only 9cm dilated.
It all happened pretty quick from there. My nail polish & jewellery were removed & my hair was put up into a cap. I was wheeled away to the operating room & given a disgusting drink to stop me from spewing during the operation. They made the first incision & then let Aaron come in to be with me.
Before long we heard a small whimper. Not big lusty scream that I had heard about, just a whimper! They said he was head out only, so crying before he was even out! Once his whole body was out Alexzander weed all over the place! He was taken to be checked & daddy cut his cord. Aaron carried him over to show me & all I could say was “he looks like Davo†– my brother!!
Aaron went with Alexzander to be cleaned up & weighed and whatever else while I was stitched up & taken to recovery. ½ an hour later I finally got to hold my baby boy for the first time.
So it all started at 1pm Friday March 18 & my little man finally arrived at 1.27am on Sunday March 20. All in all 36 hours of labour that failed to progress ending in an emergency c-section.
