Birth story of Olive Mae 17/10/08
I think it's a great idea to let women tell their birth stories, mine was very truamatic and I feel that it's a great way to move on from it as 3 weeks on i've only just begun to stop thinking about it. Ok so here goes.
My hubby and I have been together for nine years and decided around new years that we wanted to have a bub this year. On the 25th of feb I found out I was pregnant so it happened very quickly for us. I had a fantastic pregnancy, no morning sickness or anything. I was huge though and the doctor said that I was carrying lots of fluid. I worked up until 35wks then at my 38wk check the dr said I was ready to go, bub had engaged. I had been having lots of painful braxton hicks and felt ready. I had been having acupuncture to help open my hips and help my back so when I went the next day I asked the acupunturist to bring on labour. I had 2 treatments and at 11pm on the 14th of oct after the second one exactly a week before my due date my waters broke. I couldn't believe how much fliud there was, it poured out all night. I rang the hospital to keep them updated and they said unless anything major happened to come in at 9:30 when my dr would be there. Our local hospital is small but relaxed and we are lucky enough to have a larger hospital 30mins away.By 12:30am I was getting contractions every 5-8 minutes but stayed at home until 9:30 trying to get some rest (like that was going to happen). I rang my mum at 7:30am as she was my second support. When we got to the hospital they put me on the CTG machine and said I should probably stay in as it was my first baby but that everything was going well. I laboured all day, having irregular but constant contractions sometimes 3 mins for a couple of hours then they would drop back to every 10. Mum and Clayton would made me go for walks and massaged my back constantly as Olive was posterier and I had horrendous back pain. later that afternoon the doc did and internal to find that I was only 5 cms dialated. He decided that I needed to have antibiotics due to the fact that my waters had broken nearly 24hrs before so put in a canula. The dr sugessted that I have a sleeping pill to help me rest which worked for an hour. I continued to labour through the night and at 2am got really excited as I started getting contractions every 2 mins. Clayton called mum who had gone home for a sleep but by 4am they dropped back to every 5 mins again. The next day at about 1pm the dr did another internal and I was still only 5cms so they decided to I had to go to the big hospital for augmentation. So we went in the ambo, not a comfy ride in labour and arrived there at around 2pm. They put me on the drip to speed things up and hooked me up to the CTG machine which ment that I basically had to lie down the whole time as the midwife got the s**ts eveytime I wanted to change postions because the straps would come off. I wasn't a happy chappy as posterier pain lying down is no fun. When the obsetrition came in at 4pm I was 6 cms so they sped up the drip more. By 7 the contractions were constant and the midwife predicted that Olive would be born at 11pm. Well by 10 I was 9 and a half cms and had a water injection for pain relief, it was so painful but afterwards calmed me down heaps and it fitted in with my natural birth plan. For those of you who haven't heard of it the dr and a middie injected 4 little bubbles of water beside my spine similtaniously to relieve pressure. It was the only time I swore during my whole labour. At about 11 I got a better middie and was able to walk around which must have helped cause by 11:30 I was ready to push. Well I pushed for an hr and a half without much success so it was decided that I needed further help. MInd you by this stage I was quite distressed. The specialist said that I needed an epidural cause he was either going to do a ceaser or forceps. I felt heaps better after that. The specialist decided on the forceps. Olive was finally born at 2:24am after more then 50hrs of labour, a 3rd degree episiotomy, a 3rd degree tear and a 1.8ltr blood loss weighing 8lb 15oz. When she was finally placed on my chest the feeling was so overwhelmimg. I actually passed out about an hr after delivery due to blood loss and had to have oxygen and felt very lethargic and faint for days. We went back to our little country hospital the next day and spent one night there together (Clayton was allowed to stay) then the next day the midwife said that Olive had jaundice and we had to go back to the big hospital for phototherapy. I also didn't get any milk for 5 days due to blood loss so all in all it was a very overwhelming time on top of dealing with sleep deprivation etc. I am feeling more human now though, I can walk again and my iron levels are improving which is good.Olive is so beautiful though and our bond is getting stronger every day, I just love her so much. Anyway thanks for letting me share my story.
