Isabell Jade's arrival - 13/4/08
Hey,
I'm going to give this a crack. Ive added times, they arent exact, but are roughly around the time that things happened. Its going to be a bit long, but Im almost certain not boring (well, I hope not!) Enjoy :)
It all started on Saturday morning (12/4/08). I woke up with period pain, which was coming and going, around 6am in the morning. I didnt think anything of it, just tossed and turned trying to get back to sleep and comfortable. The pain wasnt going away no matter what position I got myself into, but like I said, I thought nothing of it. The pain wasnt all that intense any how, so I was able to sleep, it was just a bit uncomfortable when the pain came.
When I woke up completely (I cant say what time that was) is when I realised the pains were coming and going, seemingly consistently and evenly spaced. I started to get a feeling that this might be it.
(10am) DP went for a shower, and when he got out, I told him about these pains, trying not to get too excited. He asked me if it was it, and I replied with "I dont want to say yes, but I cant say no either." I had a feeling it just might be.
When I went for my shower, I noticed I had a bit of a show on my liner. Things were pointing in the right direction for me, I started to get excited.
(2pm) I called my midwife and explained to her what I was feeling, by this stage I had roughly timed the contractions, and they were about 8mins apart. She told me it sounded like I was in labour, and to go to hospital when the contractions were under 5mins apart or if my waters had broken. I was really excited and a bit nervous by this stage.
I then called my mum and spoke to her, told her things might just be happening, and to be on standby (she was one of my support people). I then got off the phone and came online to do some research and chat to people on bellybelly chat.
(4pm) I found a contraction timer, and proceeded to time my contractions. It was timing my contractions to be around 4 mins apart, and around 2 mins in length. Im not entirely sure if it was correct or if I was timing the correctly, but I was pressing the button at the same point of a contraction and when they finished, and the times were roughly the same times apart. I also had a lot more of a show when I checked at this point.
DP started nesting around this time, more to get his mind off things and to calm himself down. (Sorry had to add that bit )
(6pm) I got off the internet, and called my MW and explained to her that my contractions were seemingly closer together, roughly 4 mins apart, and that id had a lot more of a show. She said to go to the hospital and get checked out. My heart started racing by this stage.
DP and I sat down, and had a little bit of a chat. He wasnt all too convinced that I was in labour, and didnt want to drive all the way to the hospital only to be told I was having BH's. I was convinced, because they were evenly spaced, and lasting the same amount of time. So we both decided we would infact go to the hospital.
We got the last few things packed into my hospital bag, and put everything into the car, got a towel for me to sit on in the car, and we were off to the hospital. It all started to feel so real to me by now. My heart was racing so fast, and I was excited, but nervous as hell.
(7pm) I remember timing my contractions in the car, not to the second, but by the min. They seemed to have dropped off...but I didnt mention anything because I wasnt properly timing them so it wasnt accurate.
(7:30pm) We got to the hospital, went to the fetal assessment unit, and got put onto a CTG scanner. Baby's heart rate was normal, and my contractions were contractions, but they didnt seem to come as closer together as they were at home. I think maybe they had dropped off from being nervous or something.
I then had to show the nurse/midwife my pad, and she wasnt sure if it was my show alone, or my show with leaking fluids. So I had to lay on my side for 20 mins (40 mins actually) and then the midwife came back and checked if there was any fluid that had leaked out of my cervix. She also checked if I was dilated at all. Which I wasnt.
We then had to wait for a doctor to come see me. So we waited, while we waited (and after a while!) we discussed it, and came to the conclusion to leave, we had been waiting ages for the doctor, and it didnt seem that things were going our way. So we got up to go. On the way out I spoke to the MW and said we were leaving coz we had waited so long and that we would come back if things progressed. She said she would really like us to see the doctor that she wouldnt be much longer. So we went back in and waited.
(10pm) When the doctor finally came to see us, she said I was in early labour and it could be a while yet before I went into proper labour, or that I was just having extremely painful BH's. I was upset by this. She said we should go for a walk for a hour and come back and get re assessed, and DP and I went outside to do so, but we changed our minds, it was dark and if any one knows the area around King Edward, its not the kind of place you want to walk around at 10pm. DP and I went back to the fetal assessment unit to collect my folder and let them know we were going back. We left the hospital in silence.
When we got into the car, I said sorry to DP, but I also told him that I knew for a fact it wasnt BH's, that I was in labour, and that the pains were still there. He was totally put off by it all, and was convinced it was only BH's (coz the doctor said so). So we went home.
On the way home we tried to get dinner, but everywhere was closed...apart from a pizza place, so DP ordered pizza. While he ordered I realised the contractions were a lot more intense and painful, but I managed them, just. DP got back in the car while we waited for the pizza to be ready. He was so upset, and I had lost my appetite, that we ended up not getting our pizza and went home to get ready for bed. Big mistake!
(11pm) We got home, I went for a shower while DP took some alone time. I hopped into bed feeling really bad that id made DP drive all that way, for basically nothing. I also felt really upset that things werent happening.
Soon enough I was in so much pain I was curling up, and having to breathe through the contractions. They were SO painful. DP went for his shower, and got into bed, and we just laid there talking. I couldnt stand the pain and started crying, this was when I told DP that the pains were getting worse and that it was DEFINATELY NOT BH's. He held me while I cried.
I eventually convinced DP that the pain was so bad, and that it couldnt be BH's. He agreed to take me back to the hospital, but was still a bit unsure. I called the MW's back and said I was coming back in.
Off we went, back to the hospital. Our parking space was still free. We went in, and I had to hold my tummy while I had a contraction while we were waiting for the admin to sort something out (they didnt have my folder at the desk so were umming and aahing on letting me through to the fetal assessment unit). We finally got let in, and in the elevator I had another contraction.
(2am) Back in the fetal assessment unit, I got checked again to see how dilated I was. I was 4cm dilated, fully effaced and DEFINATELY in labour. I turned to DP and said 'See I told you I was in labour!?
(3:30am) We got moved to a birthing suite, which was lovely and comfortable. It was the MW's birthday that was with me in the birthing suite (Sian). She was really nice. We all sat down and had a bit of a chat. She didnt believe how well I was managing it; she said she wouldnt have thought I was in labour the way I was just chatting away casually, hardly flinching when I was having a contraction.
I went for a walk around the birthing floor, to get things moving, and also to check out the baths, for incase I decided to use them for pain relief. Stopping every now and then to get through a contraction (they were SO much more painful when walking!)
It was then time for breakfast, which was great coz it had been a while since id had anything to eat.
(7am) Then it was time for new midwives, it was shift change over. We got another two lovely midwives, one was a trainee who was going to be delivering my baby (Paula), and the other was there to help and supervise her (Dee). Sian was telling Dee and Paula about how well I was doing; they couldnt believe how well I was handling everything.
(7:30am) I had antibiotics injected into me because I tested positive for Strep B.
(8am) I had another internal to see how dilated I was, but I was still 4cm's dilated. So DP and I went for a walk around the outside of the hospital, for some fresh air, and to get things hopefully moving. My contractions were really painful, so I was stopping for each one and breathing through them slowly. We went back to the birthing suite coz walking was making my contractions too painful, and I just wanted to sit down as I was feeling extremely tired.
I also insisted to lay down on the bed a lot, because thats how I felt the most comfortable. The midwives kept insisting I walk around, even if it is only around the room, but I was really stubborn and would only either lie on the bed or sit in the chair.
(9:30am) I asked for gas to help with the pain, I had one suck of the gas, and giggled my head off, it all just seemed so funny to me.
I managed to get through all my contractions with gas, and I also got Dee to get me some heat packs, which helped a tiny bit. I also took some panadene forte for the pain. It did nothing.
(Midday) Lunch was bought to me, but I didnt eat it, I was too focused on other things. I tried a different position other than lying on the bed and sitting on the chair, so Dee got me a bean bag and put it on the bed and I kneeled on the bed leaning on the bean bag.
(12:30pm) I asked for an epidural, the pain was too much for me. They said it would be about 30 mins till I would get it, I said I still want it.
(12:45pm) I decided to not have the epidural, but that I would take the pethadene, which they didnt have, or dont do, so they offered me morphine instead.
(1pm) I had the morphine injected into my bum. This is the first time I got vocal and a little bit foul mouthed, and I personally thought that the injection was more painful than the contractions (LOL).
(1:30pm) My mum arrived around this time.
(2pm) Doctors came in, and were surprised I hadnt had the baby yet (They said they wanted me to have had the baby by 1pm, because I hadnt had any progress from 2am-7am or something along those lines, DP knows more about that than I do) They said to rupture my membranes. Paula ruptured my membranes, and I very quickly went from 4cm dilated to 8cm dilated. It took a while for them to feel how dilated was, as Paula was unable to feel, so Dee ended up doing the internal to measure how dilated I was.
(2:30pm-2:45pm) I had another internal to see how dilated I was, 10cm, I was asked if I had had the urge to push yet, and I had. I was given the okay to push. Dee got the bean bag ready for me on the bed; I got comfy kneeling and leaning against the bean bag, and started to push.
(3:15pm) After much fussing about me not wanting to push coz I didnt want to tear my beautiful DD was born. I eventually started pushing properly once I got over being scared of tearing. Once she was out, there was a very short silence, and then I heard her cry. DP says I was very upset and worried coz she was crying (Morphine talking I think).
(3:45pm) My placenta was delivered. Paula was rolling the cord up onto something and tugging on the placenta and pushing on my tummy, but that wasnt helping. I remember wondering if it was okay for them to be tugging at my cord, I thought that was dangerous? Paula didnt seem to be able to get my placenta out, so they got another midwife in to get it out, she got me to blow on an empty coke bottle that helped!
DD was born at 38.6weeks gestation, weighing 2800grams, 48cms in length, head circ 35cms. Her Apgar Scores were 8:10.
I must say I had a really good birthing experience, although I wouldnt take the morphine again. I still felt all the pain, it just made me really drowsy, and I dropped out a few times which is why things are a bit vague to me.
The midwives were awesome, I really liked the fact they spent the whole day with me. It made me feel really comfortable knowing they were there all the time to help and support me.
DP was a wonderful support person, Im glad he was there with me to experience it all; I feel it has bought me closer to him having experienced such an amazing thing with him. I cannot thank him enough for being the wonderful DP he is, he kept his cool, and helped me the most just by being there.
