The Beautiful Birth of Brandon James
It all started from my appmnt on Friday 29th of July. It was with the day assessment unit as i was a week overdue. The appmnt went well and the doctor performed a "stretch and sweep" which basically tries to get the cervix producing the labour hormones and get things moving. This was very painful and i was spotting after the procedure. I felt a little sick but i wasn't in any pain afterwards. Throughout that night i was woken a couple of times by striong period cramps. I put this down to nothing and managed to drift off to sleep. I had to keep going to the toilet every 2 hours though, and my peaceful nights sleep was starting to turn into a nightmare.
I mananged some sleep in between the toilet trips, until about 7am when i would get this period type pain low in my belly. When these pains kept coming i started to think this was the beginning of things. I didn't want to rush off to the hospital, so just kept an eye on the timing and managed the pain as best i could. In the beginning the contractions weren't painful, they were also really irregular in frequency and duration. By about mid-afternoon, some contractions i would need to breathe through as they were getting more painful. Still unsure i stayed at home as i was still able to deal with the pain.
At about 7pm, i was happily eating my dinner and noticed the pains got more regular and i was now pretty much breathing through all of them. (and sometimes breathe so much i would make myself dizzy). I called the hospital at 10.30pm and the lady said i only sounded like i was in early labour and to rest it out at home and take soem panadol. They then went irregular (AGAIN) for an hour then they were coming every 5 mintues and i really had to breathe through them. I went to the toilet at about 11pm and thought i was going to throw up. I got a glass of water and went and laid in bed, just breathing. At about 11.30pm, i had a big contraction and i thought i was going to be sick, and thats when i started shaking and things became a little bit scary for me. I thought i better get to the hospital as i started to get a little freaked out and didn't care what the lady had said an hour ago lol.
Parking was a breeze (its usually so busy) and we had to enter through emergency and i mananged to find my way to the labour ward (i thought i'd get lost lol). I was worried that i still wasn't dilated enough as i didn't feel like returning home. I had the monitor on for about 45 minutes, i had to get some more movement before she would turn it off, as bubby had decided to go to sleep lol. Bubby was doing well, she didn't tell me my blood pressure and i was worried it was high and she was going to come back suggesting we do an emergency caesar or something, lol. But all was well and when she did the internal i was 3cm dilated and fully effaced and she said i had done really well. I was hoping i was more dilated than 3cm, but the fact that something had been happening was reassuring. The first thing i said to her, does that mean i can stay and she said yes, and i was so relieved, lol. I went into my room, and the midwife came and checked on us. She suggested as it was early to get under the shower and stay upright and active to help things progress. I didnt want to get out of the shower, it was so relaxing and the lady came and put my IV in for the antibiotics and i was completely starkers, but i did not care one bit. Even a male midwife came in to check on the baby while i was in there and i still didn't care lol. I finally got out of the shower and thought id try and get some sleep (how i do not know). DP tried to sleep on their chairs and their bean bags but could not get comfy. I asked if he wanted to go home and get soem sleep, but he said he didnt want to leave me. I said i didnt want to be on my own either but i would ask my sister to come in (in my birth plan i was only going to have DP, but i didnt mind the change of plan) So my sister arrived at about 4am and she had been asleep since 6pm the saturday night, so she must have known something was going to happen.
I got in the shower again at about 5am and stayed there an hour or so. I then went back to the bed and tried for more sleep. The midwife did an internal at about 6am and said i was 4cm (i thought i would be more and was disappointed). She suggested i try something for the pain and said gas would be the best option. I thought i would try it just to take the edge off the pain and i found it was mainly a distraction from the pain and it helped you feel better once the contraction was over. I wasn't having regular contractions though, there would be moments where they were consistent then they would fade out a little longer. I also asked for a heat pack and that made my back feel warm and helped relax my back muscles. I stayed in the bed and did not move, it was the only place i felt comfortable. The midwife changed and the new one was even nicer than the last. My next internal was at 10am, and i was scared that thigns would still be the same. My DP came back in at 9.30am and i was so glad to see him. The next internal if i had not progressed the midfwife suggested she break my waters to get things moving. was scared this was going to hurt, and also scared of what was to follow, and i was seriously considering asking for an epidural if it was that painful. Well the internal revealed i was stil the same (4cm) and she was going to break my waters and i was happy for things to get moving. The procedure did not hurt at all, but only a little bit of water trickled out. However it was enough to get things moving and soon enough those contractions became regular. The midwife suggested i also get upright as it will help things along. I didnt feel up to walking around the hospital but i was going to pace the room, however i manged to gt to the chair in the bathroom and get back to that shower lol. But i made sure the gas was coming with me. The contractions became intense straight away, and were every 5 minutes then 4 minutes, the they were even closer.
I was crying out for the epidural, tears going down my face, but i always said to myself it will be over soon, then the next contraction would hit. My sister was such a big help, she sounded like she was from kath and kim, telling me "gewd girl", almost there, through every contraction and DP was spraying the water on my belly while i sucked on the gas hard just to forget the pain. I said to my sister i cant take it any more, i need the epidural and she went off to find the midwife. Well she was delivering another baby so i was waiting for her in agony. When she came back finally, she said to me, that i was doing well, and maybe i should try the pethidine first. So i get up on the bed and she said she would do an internal first. It was 11.30am and i was 7cm dilated, hoorah finaly somewhere. She said it wouldnt be much longer, hopefully it was before her shift finished at 3.30pm. This really encouraged me i knew the end was near, and i had the pethidine, and i found it only relaxed me in between contractions like the midwife said, i didnt feel it did anything for the pain. My sister decided to go and have her last cigarette at about 11.45am and make a phone call to my mum updating her. It was about midday and i felt this overwhelming pushing sensation, that i had no control over. I said to my DP, i think i need to push, i said you better press the button and get the midwife back. Well my sister returned before the midwife, then the midwife came in. She checked and said i could push when i felt i need to, which pretty much was with every contraction. The midwife disappeared again and i was pushing like she said i could and all of a sudden i felt the head was coming out, but it would go back in, then the next contraction it came out a little bit and i knew it was the head crowning.
Only my sister and DP were in the room and my sister rushed to get the midwife and said the head is coming lol. The midwife hardly had time for her gloves, and the next few pushes he just flew out (as my lovely DP recalls). At 12.28pm, Brandon James was born, barely made a whimper and weighed 3845g and was 55cm long. Dad cut the cord (he needed to try twice it was so tough). My sister and DP were crying there eyes out, and i was just so glad i wasn't having those painful contractions anymore. His apgar was 8 at 1 minute and 9 at 5 minutes. I did tear a little bit and needed some stitches, though the doctor didnt even wait the 5 minutes until i was numb and he put it in and it hurt, owwwwwww. All i can say is im glad that things progrssed so quickly after my waters were broken as i didn't know how much longer i could stand the pain. I didnt have the epidural which i am now glad, but i didnt know i was progressing so quickly. When it got to the pushing stage i found that the contractions didnt hurt as much as you felt them doing something. I also had this uncontrollable grunt that came with pushing, i found this quite funny. Though its amazing how they say you forget quickly, and you do ,but i am just glad that every thing went well and bubs is healthy, and my recovery has been excellent, though i will be glad to see the end of the bleeding.
Thank you for reading my very long story :)
