Miss Ella arrives

Saturday morning started with contractions at 5am. They were strong enough to keep me awake and get me into the shower. I had been having contractions all week that went away so i thought these would do the same.

They were irregular but strong. The shower felt good on my back so i stayed there and tried to wash my hair thinking they would probably fade away by the time i finished.

In the few next hours that followed i tried going back to bed, walking and eating. I had a big soup for breakfast as the contractions were getting more regular at 10min intervals. Had a chat to the midwives who said that it sounds like things were happening but it could be anything from 1-24hrs from needing to go into the hospital.

By 9am, i knew things were progressing quickly but chose to labor at home for as long as possible rather than in the hospital ward.

When we arrived at the hospital we discovered i was 4cm dilated. I was panting and puffing with the best of them, moving between the balance ball, and the up against the bed. Our birth plan which we passed to our midwife stated we wanted to have a "natural birth" experience which she helped work towards.

For the rest of the day i tried the shower, and the bath with the gas. Feeling like i was moving into the transition phase, i suddenly felt the urge to push. After a few hours of pushing with back to back contractions i was starting to hallucinate. I told Andrew to call the mid-wife as i felt for certain something was wrong with Ella. When she arrive she told me i was sucking in too much gas and that i had to let it go. But i wouldn't let her pull it out of my mouth as contractions were coming one on top of the other. Finally after laboring for over 12 hours "naturally", I said i wanted an epidural.

10mins later i was lying on a bed, hooked up to the heart rate monitor and capable of talking again. Feeling exhausted they encouraged the both of us to try and get a some sleep. I think i got 30mins before i woke up to hear Ella's heart rate drop suddenly. I called the mid-wife who said it was quite "normal". But she kept a keen eye on it. And i didn't sleep from that point on.

The next 5 hours brought more issues - fever, continued heart rate drops. Suddenly we were seeing more of the registrar, less of the midwife. Of course this concerned me but i tried to stay calm. I was still only 9cm dilated (but not evenly). By 4 am they wanted to get her out and suggested a forceps delivery. I remember at one stage during this process the doctor pulling, me pushing and the bed moving across the floor...!

So at 5.30am Ella arrived (along with a large episiotomy and a displaced tailbone - ouchy). After a quick blood transfusion and some great hospital care we're now home with our beautiful daughter.

Ouch on the displaced tailbone!
LOL at the bed moving across the floor!
I know how hard it is to give up the gas once you get the hang of it, well done & congratulations on the birth of Ella, thanks for sharing your story!

Hehehehe, your blogspot is so funny! Hope for your sake Ella never asks for a pony...miserable creatures that they are!
Well done, hope she grows up with your sense of humour :)

Awwww wat an experience! Thanks for sharing!

Oooh I feel for you withthe tail bone!! - I was booked in for a C section coz i had broken my tail bone early on in pregnancy and it wouldn't have moved out the way.
Hope tailbone feels alright now

Its still sore. The physio says it will take a few months to recover so... soft cushions for now...

:)

Oh you poor thing - I hated when i got larger in pregnancy and i had to push myself up out of the chair - it was agony. hope it gets better soon - I was told by the doctor it takes 2 years for a tail bone to fully heal because it is constantly getting used!

Those pics are great! Congrats on the birth of little Ella.

Thank you fro sharing your story with us. OUCH on the tail bone too hun.

What a fantastic blog you have. I love Ella's pics and of course the comments made it that much more ammusing. Fingers crossed Ella looses her back hair ;)