Arrival of Samantha - 14 days late and still didn't want out
At my 12 week ultrasound, the doctor gave me Samantha’s estimated date of birth (EDB) as 15th November 2005. I was very sure of my dates and had worked it out as 22nd November but the ultrasounds throughout the pregnancy (I had four of them) kept giving the EDB as 15th November.
The pregnancy went fairly smoothly, just a bit of morning sickness early on (nothing too severe) and some concerns about the baby’s growth on a couple of occasions. The 15th November came and went, then the 22nd came and went but there was little sign of baby wanting to enter the world! She was too content where she was.
I was booked into John Hunter Hospital, Newcastle to give birth and hospital policy is that they will not let you go past 14 days overdue. I went into the hospital to be monitored on Friday 25th November when I was 10 days overdue and they said the baby’s head was well down but still had a little way to go but I could still go into labour at any time. One of the doctors swept my membranes hoping to bring on labour. I went home and waited for something to happen over the weekend and all of Monday but I woke up on the Tuesday (29th November), officially 14 days overdue, and there was still no sign of labour starting. I telephoned the hospital (as had been arranged) and they asked me to come in to be induced.
My partner Jim and I arrived at the hospital delivery suite about 8am. After being examined and prepped, an amniotomy (manual breaking of my waters) was performed at 10.25am. Oxytocin was administered by IV drip about 10.45am. Within half an hour my contractions had started and after just the second one, they were four minutes apart. They were mild at first but gradually the pain grew in intensity and by about 1pm, I was well and truly in established labour. My Mum, who had come down from the North Coast for the birth, arrived at the hospital around that time. As the afternoon went on, the contractions grew stronger and closer together. I was managing the pain reasonably well and thought the birth wouldn’t be that far away. I heard on the television that Bec Cartwright had given birth to her and Lleyton Hewitt’s daughter, Mia, that morning and was quite proud of the idea that our babies would be born the same day. How wrong I was!
In the evening I began to get severe labour pains in my lower back, right next to my spine. I started to use the nitrous oxide gas to take the edge off the pain of each contraction which were now about two minutes apart. An internal examination showed I was only 6cm dilated. This went on for some hours and the pains were getting quite excruciating. I thought things were progressing but another examination showed I was still only 6cm dilated. The baby was in a posterior position, with her head and back against my spine. The midwife was looking concerned and I was very disheartened that labour wasn’t progressing despite the ever intensifying contractions! That was when I asked for an epidural. What a relief that was! I rested comfortably for a while but the epidural wore off and the back pains returned with a vengeance. They topped up the epidural and that helped for a while, but that also wore off and the pains returned for a third time, even stronger and now one minute apart. By now I was vomiting and feeling the urge to push but was told I couldn’t. I was in tears and asking for a caesarean, which they refused. The epidural hadn’t been inserted properly and they repositioned it and topped it up again. This helped enormously and I was resting comfortably enough that Jim took my poor exhausted Mother home so she could get some sleep. A further examination showed I was still only 6cm dilated. Labour had completely stalled and baby was apparently stuck fast. The monitor also showed she was in some minor distress. The doctor came in said I had to have an emergency caesarean.
At about 1.30am on Wednesday, 30th November, I was wheeled into theatre. At 2.02am, our beautiful baby daughter, who we named Samantha Jane, was born. I was awake for the operation but couldn’t see anything so I was greatly relieved to hear her cry out. She was given some oxygen and cleaned up and Daddy cut her umbilical cord. The nurses then wrapped her in a blanket and laid her own my chest and she looked me straight in the eyes and at that instant I fell absolutely in love with her (not that I hadn’t already been completely smitten!). I thought she was the most beautiful thing I ever saw. She even suckled on my breast within minutes of being born. Samantha weighed a healthy 3.6kg (7lb 15oz) and was 54cm long (very long for her weight). She scored an excellent 9 out of 10 on her Apgar test. The doctor who delivered her said her head was thrown back in my pelvis and there was no way she was ever going to come out any other way other than by C-section.
After coming out of theatre, my Mother was back to meet her baby granddaughter. Jim’s parents had also arrived to meet her. They also thought she was the most beautiful baby!
I had been shivering before being wheeled into theatre, but by now I was shaking uncontrollably. I thought it was just very cold in the room but the doctor said I was in shock. I didn’t believe him! After all, we had a beautiful, healthy daughter and the pain of the labour was all forgotten as far I was concerned! I was blissfully happy. However, after being transferred to the Postnatal Ward about 3am, I began to hallucinate - just flashbacks of the birth at first, then everything started to go black and I thought I was dying. It was horrible. Apparently I had a respiratory attack due to shock and the hallucinations were a possible reaction to all the drugs I had been given. The doctors gave me some sort of injection and that settled things down and the last thing I remember before falling asleep was feeling grateful to be alive and how lucky we were to have such a healthy, beautiful baby. I had never been so exhausted but happy in my life.
I awoke about 8am that morning and couldn’t wait to see our daughter again. After 6 days in hospital, we were discharged. Samantha had put on 0.02kg since her birth.
Samantha has been an amazing baby. At 7 weeks she was sleeping consistently 7-8 hours per night. At 9 weeks, she slept the whole night through. She rarely cries, unless she has belly pains or wants a cuddle. Mummy and Daddy think she is just perfect and YES, I would do it all again tomorrow.
