The Arrival of Caitlyn

Well, where do I start - at the beginning I guess. DH finally arrived in Townsville from Cloncurry on 13th October. I had already been there for 5 weeks and was getting anxious that he wouldnt arrive in time.
On the night of Tuesday the 16th we were watching some boring show on TV and I was feeling really really tired so I decided to go and have my shower and get ready for bed. I was undressing in the bathroom when I thought that I had wet myself. I jumped in the shower and noticed more was leaking. It wasnt quite the right colour for pee and I thought - "Oh my GOD!! This is it". I got out of the shower and tried to dress - ended up just wrapping a towel around my waist and walking quickly into the bedroom. Once there I dropped my towel on the floor and tried to grab a pad to use. Of course it just kept coming and coming. I finally was ready and thought I have to get off the carpet. DH was at the bedroom door as I was leaving and was in the way. He was coming to give me a kiss and cuddle goodnight. I just pushed him on the chest and said " My waters have broken - let me off the carpet!!!"
Of course he, and his mum, went into panic mode. I just handed them my book and phone and said call the birth suite. They told DH to bring me in straight away. That was at 10pm.
We (me, DH and MIL) got to the hospital and up to birth suite where of course they told me that yes my waters had broken and I can just stay there and wait for things to progress. They put me on a monitor even though contractions hadnt started. Contractions didnt start until about midnight. By 3 they still werent in any regular pattern and they told me that I had to go on the drip to regulate them. The midwife who put the drip in was very rough and it hurt alot more than I expected!
Of course the contractions did start coming regulary then and they hurt worse than any pain I have ever been through. By 530 am, I was in such agony I could barely move. The gas did NOTHING to help me. As Caitlyn had decided that she liked to face my back more than my front all the pain was concentrated in my back. I knew it was going to hurt I just didnt know it would hurt that much.
My dad had called the hospital because he wanted to be there (mum was in Rockhampton for work!) They told him there was nowhere for him to wait and he should just stay home. So dad called DH who met him downstairs and brought him up to me. Dad told DH to go home and grab a shower and then come back.
They did an internal at 6 and I was 1 cm dilated :doh: but fully effaced. They had advised me earlier that they would prefer to give me pethidine (which I REALLY didnt want) before an epidural but after the exam the midwife said that we would head straight for the epidural. Right about now dad called DH and told him that he may want to hurry back! I am still trying to remember what hurt more - the contractions or getting that epidural. Of course right when the anaesthetist said stay very still - I got a contraction. After about 2 minutes I could feel the epidural kicking in! YAY :dance: But - I shook - I shook so badly I could barely hold my hand still and DH had trouble keeping it in his hand!
They upped the drip, and the midwife started paying ALOT more attention to the monitor. Seems Caitlyn was doing the opposite with her heart rate than what she was supposed to. From what I can gather, it went down once the contraction had passed instead of during the contraction. They fiddled with the rate of the drip a bit more and then a bit more again. Up and down it went.
At 7 am - I saw a Doctor for the first time - from what I understood a midwife was going to be delivering my little one - what was a Doctor doing here? As it turns out - the heart rate thing indicated that bub was in a little bit of distress. It was concerning everyone that she wasnt getting enough oxygen. By this time (830 am) I was fully dilated and ready to go. The Doctor said that they needed to put a little nick in her head and check the oxygen level in her blood. They did this twice and both times it clotted before it could be tested - what a waste of time! If she wasnt distressed before I am sure she was then. They all then decided it was time to start pushing. Of course not being able to feel the contractions the midwife kept telling me when to push. At this point they changed the fetal monitor from the one on my belly to the one screwed into the little one's head. The poor little darling.
I had been pushing for one and a half hours before they told me that they were going to have to either get this one out in the next 10 minutes with a little help from the vacuum or I would be having a caesar. So I had an episotomy - which (thanks to the epidural) I didnt feel and they tried with the vacuum. So I pushed and pushed and pushed - and they pulled and pulled and pulled. Just at the end of one push - the midwife sneaks up to me and says (quite loudly!) - we will talk about the care of your haemorrhoids after! Right in front of my DH, MIL and my dad - who had the camera rolling!! NICE!!
Anyway - of course at 11.12 am on Wednesday 17th October my little darling girl Caitlyn Louise was born weighing 7 pound. DH got to cut the remainder of the cord once she had been checked over by a paediatrician. How exciting!
Then of course they stitched me up, put Caitlyn on my boob for a quick smell/suck and DH got to nurse her for a little while.
It was a beautiful time and I am so glad that DH stayed concious through it. He bawled when he saw her for the first time. He so loves his little girl and I am the luckiest woman in the world!

Well done Rebecca! Thanks for sharing your story, you did a fantastic job birthing your beautiful little girl!

Congratulations on your little girl, Rebecca. :)

congrats on your baby girl :)

thank you so much for sharing your birth story

welcome to the wonderful world of motherhood :)

xx yogababy

Good effort!!

My husband works away (in mining) and my biggest fear is him being away when I go into labour, so I know how you must have felt towards the end!! That's excellent that he made it there with you and you got such a good result!

I sympathize with getting a mega contraction when you have to stay still for the epidural, that's terrifying isn't it!!! Impossible!