Hudsons Birth

My EDD was the 25th of July but I was convinced I was going to go way over so I wasn't really expecting anything to happen until a week or two later. On the 24th at around 6pm I started feeling what I thought were mild contractions, but wondered if maybe they were just BH as I'd had a lot during my pregnancy. By 11pm they had gotten a lot stronger and I decided maybe I should time them for a while just to check if they were coming regularly. They were coming at 8 minutes apart so I kept timing and after an hour or so they were at 7 minutes. That was when I started to get excited and thought I was sure to be seeing my little one the next day. The contractions continued all night and gradually got closer together. By 6am I was beginning to really think this was it as I was in pain and the contractions were now 5 minutes apart. I got in the shower to try and help the pain and decided that once I got out I would wake DH and call the hospital, however once I had been in the shower for about 5 minutes the contractions completely disappeared! DH and I then spent all day waiting for them to come back with no luck and a lot of disappointment. Then just after midnight that night it all started up again. I was praying this would be the real thing and not another sleepless night all for nothing and by morning I was fairly sure that this was it. We called the hospital at 7am on the 26th and they told us we should make our way there as the contractions were 4 minutes apart and it was an hour long trip. We headed off to the hospital and were about 10 minutes away when the traffic started to slow down coming up to a set of lights. That was when we felt a huge bash as someone smashed straight into the back of our car sending us and them spinning into the middle of the road! Luckily we were both ok, as was the driver of the other car but both cars were pretty smashed up so police and ambulances were called. I sat in the car and waited for the ambulance to come while DH went and checked on the other driver. As he got to her she handed him her mobile phone and said 'can you call my work and tell them I won't be in because I am already late?' (obviously why she was in such a hurry and not paying attention), to which he replied ' Do it yourself! My wife is in labour and you have just smashed up our car! I'm going back to check that she is ok!' DH came back and waited with me and eventually the ambulance arrived and took both of us to the hospital, leaving the tow truck to deal with our smashed up car. Once we arrived at the hospital the midwife checked and told me I was 3 cm dialated and that because I had been involved in an accident the baby was going to have to be monitored the whole way through the labour. I was really disappointed to hear that as I had wanted to have an active birth and it meant being strapped to a machine and stuck on the bed, and also that I would not be able to use the shower or bath as pain relief, which had been my main plan. The midwife put the monitor on and checked that all was ok and then went off to try and find a mobile monitor that would allow me to move around more. Eventually she came back with one and hooked me up to it but every time I had a contraction and started leaning over it would stop working so I ended up having to get back on the bed. A couple of hours later there was a shift change and my new midwife came in to find me stuck on the bed and not coping all that well with the pain. She did another internal and said I was now 6 cm dialated and that she could break my waters and attach a fetal heart monitor to the babys head which would allow me to get up and move around. I agreed to this so after a quick shower my waters were broken and a monitor attached and that was when the real pain started! I started using the gas and air and it helped quite a lot to begin with, but as the pain got worse I started sucking on it furiously until I was completely out of it and not aware of what was going on around me at all. Apparently DH and the midwife both tried to take it away from me but I refused to give it to them ROFL! Eventually they had to turn it off and take it away from me once I came back out of my own little world! At that point I was 10cm dialated and ready to push so I started pushing as hard as I could thinking it would all be over with soon. After 3 hours of pushing and getting nowhere I was completely exhausted and begging for an epidural, a c-section, anything!!! The baby was posterior and because of this he wasn't able to move down through the birth canal easily so at this point the ob was called and I was told I was going to be given an episiotomy and ventouse delivery and if that failed then I would be having an emergency c-section. They put me in a wheelchair and rushed me from the birth center to the labour ward and got me up on the bed where I was given a local and the episitomy was done. The ventouse was then inserted and the ob told me I needed to give a couple of really big pushes. I pushed with all my strength (not that I had much left by then) as I was terrified of having to have a c-section and I was worried about our baby being distressed as the second stage had gone on for so long. I finally felt the head come out and with another big push his shoulders and body were born. I felt such a huge sense of relief at this point that I collapsed with exhaustion and it wasn't until I felt a warm wet feeling on my tummy and opened my eyes that I realised my baby had been born and was lying there on my belly! I reached down and touched him but a minute later he was whisked away by the doctors to be checked. That was when I heard his first cries and knew he was ok. I called out to DH and asked if it was a boy or girl and he told me with tears streaming down his face that it was a boy. DH stayed with him while he was checked over and I delivered the placenta and was stitched. Once it was all over and done with I finally got to hold my baby boy and he had his first bath with me in the huge birth center bath. It wasn't until then that it finally hit me that I was holding our beautiful baby boy that we had both waited all those months to see. Hudson Archer Dean was born on the 26th of July at 7.27 pm weighing 6 pounds 10 ounces, 49 cm long and a head circumferance of 35 cm. He scored a big 9 on both his apgars and is the most beautiful baby I have ever seen (but then I suppose I am a bit biased LOL)

Marcia, thank you for sharing that amazing story with us. How scary to have an accident on the way to the hospital! ROFL at you refusing to let DH and the midwife take the gas away :)

Congratulations!

Marcia that was beautiful! Well done =D> ! IKWYM about the gas!! I started to loose it big time! ROFL at your DH & the midwife!

OMG that's awful about the accident Marcia, and I'm so glad that the three of you were alright!!

I also KWYM about the gas.....LOL!!

OMG that's scary about the accident. Glad to hear you all were ok though.

Thanks for sharing your story too!

That was a wonderful story Marcia, thankyou so much for sharing it!! :)

That is so terrible about the car accident beforehand, but thankgoodness everyone was ok...
That is a classic that you would not give up the gas!!! :lol: (but totally understandable why! :D )

Does the car accident while the wife is in labour only happen in movies LOL !!!

That was a great story Marcia. Gota love Adelaide driving ROFL !!!

Love :hbeat:

That was a great story Marcia.

What a terrible thing to be in a car accident on your way to the hospital, glad everyone was ok though!

LOL at not giving the gas back, i think i will probably like that too when it's my turn!

Oh MAricia, it could only happen in the movies, your son will be very amused when he hears his birth story, so much drama LOL. So glad you were all ok and that your perfect little boy was delivered safe and well.
Best wishes Michelle

wow marcia,
glad u werte all ok after the accident that must of been very scary!

take care
Lesley

Marica,

I can't believe that you and your DH had to deal with an accident on the way to the hospital to give birth!

Thanks for sharing your story and I am glad that Hudson arrived safely.

:D

nellbe

Thanks for sharing your story Marcia.

I can't believe the accident, you must have been so scared - I would agree it sounds like a movie story line!!

Oh my God, what a day you had. It does sound just like a movie. Maybe you can sell the rights to it :) Glad to hear things turned out great.

Take care
Trish