Well here it is after 8 months, the VBAC story of Adrian David - Warning VERY LONG!!!
I haven`t known where to start this but thought it was about time I put Adrian`s birth story together.
This is the story of our darling miracle boy - Adrian David who is an only surviving twin, his twin brother/sister decided to go to heaven at 6 weeks into the pregnancy, this is also a very special VBAC story.
My due date of 27th July came and went, which didn`t surprise me at all, I knew our little boy would come when he was ready and also knew that the hospital were letting me go 2 weeks over before thinking about inducing me, which suited me fine.
On the 28th while out shopping I had an instinct to buy a fresh pineapple, I then devoured it over the next 2 days, I went to bed feeling very tired on Sunday 30th July, at 10pm I had lots of BH`s happening, I didn`t think much of it as I had been having regular BH`s for weeks but by 12am they had intensified and by 1am I was still awake with very srong BH`s coming every 10 minutes apart, I got very little sleep that night as the contractions were very strong and coming every 10 - 20 minutes throughout the night at 7am I told Mark what was going on and I think baby boy is thinking about coming soon. When I got up to use the toilet I also noticed I was loosing my mucous plug slowly.
Mark rang MIL to tell her what was happening as she was going to look after Matthew while I was in hospital but he told her to stay where she is and we`ll contact her if she needs to come, if we needed to rush off my Dad could look after Matthew till MIL got here but what a big mistake it was of forwarning her as she kept ringing throughout the day which did unsettle me, I did tell her that I was in prelabour and it could last hours or days, she just laughed it off when I mentioned days!!!!! I told her to PLEASE STAY where she is and we`ll let her know when we need her.
My prelabour lasted for days, I got very little sleep at night, I`m talking about 2 - 3 hours IF I was very lucky, my contractions kept coming every 5 - 40 minutes around the clock, during the day I had a very active 15 month old to contend with who wanted Mummy to carry him around and when he`s 13kg and I`m having regular contractions it made life very difficult at times. Although I was surviving on very little sleep I didn`t feel sleep deprived, I should have but I kept thinking once my baby is here I will get more sleep then what I`m getting now.
My 41 week appointment came around on Wednesday 2nd August, everything was fine but I don`t think at the time I stressed enough to them about the lack of sleep, thinking about it now I should have stressed that I couldn`t sleep with regular painful contractions, they may have been able to prescribe sleeping tablets for me even though I don`t like taking medication it would have been worth a try. Anyway I was told to come back on Tuesday 8th August at 2pm when I`ll be 41 weeks, 5 days, they`ll then consider what the next step would be, more likely breaking my waters at the end of the week when I`m 42 weeks. So home we go.
Prelabour continued at times they were coming every 3 minutes apart but would then slow down again but I was still getting a contraction at least every 40 minutes. Most of my contractions I had to stop and breath through.
On Friday 4th August my contractions seemed to be picking up and I wasn`t going anymore then 20 minutes without a contraction, it was our weekend to have the boys so we did our usual of picking Michael and Alister up then going shopping at Bi Lo, oh my goodness I was in agony, stopping every few minutes for a contraction, I barely remember our shopping trip except for the fact Michael and Alister were excited to know I was having contractions LOL I remember buying a pineapple and eating it that night and the next day.
MIL arrived on the Friday as she always comes to see Michael and Alister.
As I said I don`t remember much about the Friday afternoon, or night or much about the next day which was Saturday 5th August, I spent most of my time in the lounge room except for when it was time to make dinner, I remember I was in tears trying to cook dinner, look after Matthew at the same time and having very frequent strong contractions while Mark, the older boys and MIL were all watching TV.
I spoke to my doula on the Saturday night letting her know how I was feeling, her thoughts were that I was getting closer, she suggested that I have a warm bath and Mark to do some nipple stimutation, hmmm the way I wasn`t helped with preparing dinner for 6 people while in strong prelabour I wasn`t too much in the mood for nipple stimutation!!!!! So I took myself off to have a bath, oh that was lovely, I was then ready for bed but sleep was out of the question that night.
After hours upon hours of painfull contractions every 3 minutes, Mark decided that perhaps we better ring the hospital (time was about 3.30am), since neither of us could get any sleep and Mark said my contractions were lasting a good minute at times, I was very reluctant to ring the hospital but the minute I got out of bed, oh poor the contractions decided to quicken up pace, I then began to think I had left it too late!!!!
The hospital was rang and they said to come on it, oh I also rang my doula to let her know and she was going to meet us at the hospital, it was about 5.30am when we arrived at the hospital and as I thought would happen my contractions eased off with the 1 hour car trip. We were met by one of our very own BB Midwifes, she did all the usual checks (not internal) and my urine came back that I was dehydrated (sorry forgot the word they use) so I was told to drink or have a drip put in place, the last thing I wanted was a cranula and IV fluids.. After trying to progress this labour by walking, doula rubbing my back, being upright, the new midwife decided to do an internal (approx 11.30am), I was only 3cms dilated, I tried not to let the diappointment show and kept my mind on the job of getting this baby out into the big wide world, so lots more walking and contractions were still coming every 3 - 5 minutes and good strong ones where I had to stop and breath through them every time. By early afternoon the Midwife came in and mentioned that the Dr on duty is talking about sending me down to the Postnatal Ward overnight and how do I feel about that, I protested and said I`d perfer to go home, so out she went, she shortly came back in to say she`d have to do an internal before deciding what to do with me so another Midwife and my 2nd internal show I was now 1 - 2cms dilated, you can imagine how I now felt, all this work and I was going backwards!!!!! The Midwife said she`d get the Dr in to check it herself since I was 3cms earlier in the day, so in came the Dr and internal #3 showed I was certainly 2cms dilated, nearly 3cms but still a long way to go, the Dr said she`d like to keep me in overnight and give me some sleeping pills to sleep since I haven`t slept for days due to the painfull contractions, I was very hesitant then they said Mark could stay too as he was also exhausted from no sleep, so in the end we decided to stay in the Post natal ward overnight to get some sleep, my Doula went home and asked us to keep in contact.
At just before 9pm I was given two Panadeine Forte and a couple of sleeping tablets, would you believe they only worked for 2.5 hours and I was awake from 11.30am but I did get the most sleep I had for over a week even if it was only for 2.5 hours, Mark managed to sleep which was good, the tablets had slowled my progress down as overnight contractions were coming only every 10 minutes but by early morning they had picked up again and were coming about every 5 minutes. I mentioned to Mark that I felt like my bowels needed to open, he said I shpuld mention it to the Midwife so I did, the reply I got was oh it`s just the baby`s head, as I said to Mark I know it`s not the baby, I know I need to go to the toilet. Next thing in comes a young Dr to insert a canula, I asked her why am I getting a cranula, she commented that I`ll be going back to the delivery room shortly and all labouring women have one just in case, I was far from impressed especially since it took her 3 attempts to try and put it into the vein and all were unsuccessful (Mark said he could see her hand shaking, he knew she had no idea what she was doing) so she informed me that I have dreadful veins and she`d need to get an experienced Dr in to put the cranula in, every other Dr has told me my veins are great!!!! So after a lot of effort the cranula was put in place, a Midwife then came and took us upstairs to the delivery room, we were still very unsure as to why as I hadn`t progressed any further then the night before, this all happened just before lunch time.
So here we were in the delivery room once again and it was the same room as the day before wondering what is going to happen next, I still kept complaining that my bowels needed to open but NO ONE would listen except for Mark, I felt like I was talking to a brick wall!!!!!! Midwife came in and said she`ll do an internal, so here I am with my 4th internal and I was still only 2cms dilated plus she said she could feel my bowel and it was empty, she said she`ll go and get the Dr but they are talking about sending me home, or a c/s or rupture my membranes Tuesday morning at 6am!!!!! So here I am feeling like a total failure, my body has been contacting for days on end, I`m exhausted, I feel like my bowels want to open and my baby isn`t in a hurry to arrive but I`m stuck in a Hospital waiting and waiting for something to happen. I`m still complaining to Mark that I really feel like my bowels need to open and I`m sure it`s not baby boy`s head, within 10 minutes of the midwife leaving I opened my bowels, so much for an empty bowel and it was just baby`s head!!!! Within 5 minutes my contractions went into full steam ahead, it was just amazing how quickly they picked up speed and I just knew what my body wanted, if only someone had listened to me. I remember looking at the clock and it was about 3.10pm.
About 10 minutes later in walks the Dr, I will never forget the look on her face and her asking "Oh what`s happened here, I was going to send you home, what do you think of that?" At this stage I was unable to hold any conversations at all during my contractions and I was clinging onto Mark so hard, when it ended I mumbled "There is no way I could make it to the car like this!!" She said okay then we`ll be looking at either a c/s or we`ll rupture your membranes tomorrow morning at 6am, then she said I`ll come back in 30 minutes to find out what you have decided on. Okay then here I thought I was in strong labour and she`s talking about other methods to get this baby out, I was far from impressed and neither was Mark.
In walks a lovely Midwife, unfortunately I have forgotten her name but she was so warm and caring, just what I needed, she asked if I`d like to go to a room with a bath "Oh yes please" so we pack up and go to the room next door, the bath was ran and I hoped in. Oh I`d forgotten to say the foetal machine was on and off me the whole time which was really annoying me but this Midwife said we can just keep an eye on the baby with the doppler we don`t need you strapped to the machine and if you want you can even birth in the bath, oh yay she`s my kind of midwife!!!! Does this mean she thinks I`m progressing to established labour, oh I hope so!!! I got into the bath at 4pm.
The bath was so blissful, it really helped the contractions move along and dull the pain I was, it was so relaxing, I remember the Midwife asking Mark what does he do for a living and once again I heard the story of his Dairy Life (he`d told a number of midwifes his story when asked), I chuckled at myself here I am naked in a bath having full on contractions and I have my darling husband on the left hand side of me and the lovely midwife on the right hand side of me talking about the Dairy and birthing cows LOL Mark was a wonderful help with me getting in and out of the bath to go to the loo, he just took all my weight and lifted me out of the bath and oh I knew when I was out my goodness the contractions were entirely different. I remember being really worried that Mark hadn`t eaten all day, so when she asked Mark if he`d like something to eat I said he hasn`t eaten all day, next thing a banquet came in (if you can call public hospital food a banquet). It must have been about 8pm when I said to Mark wasn`t the Dr meant to come back and find out what we had decided to do, it had totally slipped my mind till this stage, so when the Midwife came in we asked her, she said that she had told the Dr she wanted to get me into the bath as she thought that would progress my labour which it has so she said she will not be coming back.
In walks the change over of Midwife, it was 10.30pm by now and I was still in the bath I had lost a clot during this time, about the size of a 50 cent piece and I was getting lovely strong regular contractions, for some reason I didn`t like this MIdwife from the minute she walked in, it could have been the fact that she wasn`t impressed that I was in the bath and that I needed to be strapped to the machine to monitor baby boy. This new Midwife said I`d have to get out of the bath at 11pm as she`d need to do an internal and monitor the baby on the machine as she said I think your a lot further on then I`m told you are and she feels the baby will be arriving tonight, OMG reality hit and I began to get nervous LOL
So 11pm rolled around and I had to get out for my 5th internal and yay it showed I was now 4 cms dilated and in established labour, what a relief this baby is on his way. The Foetal monitor was really annoying me, all I wanted to do was get back into that bath for some relief, I remember looking over at the bath wishing I was in it, the Midwife asked if I was comfortable, no I wasn`t I want back in the bath, she told me the monitor has to be on for 30 minutes then I could have a little break but I have to be on the monitor quite a bit now as I`m in established labour. So after the 30 minutes I was allowed back into the bath, this time it was only for a short time of about 2 hours, it could have been less until I was told I had to go back on the monitor, so here I was again on the monitor and the time seemed to be fkying by even if I didn`t feel like it (I remember my Doula saying time will stand still while in labour, well it certainly was for me), this time out of water my contractions were much much closer together and the most painfull they had been but I never thought about pain relief at all even when the Midwife kept asking me if I wanted anything. I remember at one stage her saying to Mark she hasn`t read my birth plan WTF all the other MIdwifes had read it and commented on it when they first walked in the door, yet here this one had been with me for 3 hours and still HAD NOT read it, no wonder she was throwing pain relief down my throat as I had written clearly that I`ll ask for it if I required it.
It must have been about 1/1.30am Mark and I decided we better ring my Doula as labour is progressing and I felt like I was getting closer and closer myself. Mark eventually rang my Doula at 2am. The MIdwife did another internal, so this was #6 and yay I was 9cms dilated, I remember thinking OMG that was quick, she said the only thing she feels was holding me back was the membranes so she asked if I`d like her to break them, I was very unsure about this so I sat on it and thought about it for about 2 hours then eventually agreed as I was getting quite tired by this stage, as she broke them in walks my Doula. At some point I got up off the bed and onto the birthing stoll, OMG the pain in the thighs was awful so I was quickly off that stool (I have a strong suspicion that my bladder let go at this point although no one has said anything about it), I then went from here to the fit ball with helped a bit but still not very comfortable, I then clung off my doula and started pushing, about 5 minutes later the Midwife said if I felt like I needed to push go ahead, I said I have been!!!!! At one stage I was frantic about Mark because I couldn`t see him (I remember having this same reaction when Matthew was born).
The monitor needed to go back on and stay on, this time she put it on while I was standing up but she wasn`t happy with that so I had to go onto the bed, this is where I stayed and pushed and pushed and pushed, at times when the Midwife asked me to push I didn`t want to, it was very strange how my body just didn`t get the urge at times to push but then other times I only managed one push and then others 2 or even 3 pushes, it wasn`t working on my back so I got up on my knees and leant over the bedhead, I was getting so very tired, I remember I was even craving a drink of Coke, something I very rarely drink, I thought to myself I can`t ask Mark for a can of coke for one he`ll think I`m crazy and for another I don`t want him to leave the room so I kept it to myself, I remember going into a daze but I recall the serious looks on both my doula and midwife, the way they were looking I got really worried as they looked quite concerned about something, I very nearly asked what`s wrong but didn`t, it did worry me quite a bit.
I was getting more and more tired, I kept saying I`m tired, I`m tired, I was so very nearly there but didn`t have enough left in my fuel tank for the last ride home. The Midwife said she`ll get the Dr in, the Dr came in again it was an instant dislike, she was so very very young and just wanted this baby out, I did agree as I was exhausted, she said she`d need to do an epi and use the venthose, I agreed, I just wanted my baby boy out now, after two unsuccessful attempts at the venthose, she used the forceps and got my beautiful boy`s head out, another great big push and my baby`s body was out and what an awful feeling that was (in regards to my stomach here), something I wasn`t expecting at all I hated it!!!!!! My beautiful baby was placed onto my chest, I was asked what sex the baby was "He was still a he LOL" but OMG he`s enormous, all the medical staff, all the midwifes during these last few days said I was going to have a small baby as I was tiny, they all said he`ll be much smaller then Matthew!!!! Adrian was taken over to be cleaned up, I remember looking over at him and thinking OMG he looks like a frontrower for a football team, he`s so big and so very well covered. In the meantime the Dr said she`ll need to take me to the operating room as I`ve sustained a 4th degree tear that required stitching up, so I was quickly taken into the operating room and I met up with Mark, my Doula and my beautiful baby boy 2 hours later.
Adrian`s Ob`s were 4280gms (20gms lighter then his Brother, how wrong was everyone!!!!), Length of 55.5cms and head was 45cms.
All in all it wasn`t a great outcome and if I could I would have changed a lot, such as my prelonged early labour if it wasn`t for that I know I would have birthed my baby boy myself and I would have loved to have been allowed to labour longer in the bath and to be upright like what I wanted, but it wasn`t meant to be. I don`t regret it at all, this is my one and only VBAC and I`m so glad I did it and what a bonus to do it all drug free. I am sad that I don`t recall Adrian`s first cry at all but he is here with us and that is a miracle in itself after a very rocky beginning to pregnancy.
Thank you to everyone who has managed to read this long story, it means a lot to me :D
