The birth of Hamish Jack - 17/09/2007
The birth of Hamish Jack - 17/9/2007
We arrived at the hospital at 8:45am on Monday 17th September 2007. Shortly after my OB broke my waters (which wasn't as bad as I expected) and I had negoiated to be let go for 2 hrs to see if things progressed naturally. I was 2cm dilated at that stage. After an hour I still had no pain, no contractions and asked the midwife what she thought and she said 'it could take 24 or 48 hrs' , so I agreed to be hooked up to the synto drip. It was started at 6ml/hour for the first 30 mins and I don't recall having any pains as such in that first period, then the dose was doubled to 12ml and a got a few niggles, then double again and again until I was receiving 48ml/hour and having strong contractions every two minutes. I was coping very well, managing to breath thru the peak of each contraction. I walked around the birthing suite stopping to rock thru the contractions. At this point I recall Joel being so attentive. He put a Nora Jones CD on, turned the lights down, massaged my back and continually encouraged me. I felt so lucky to have him by my side.
I was classed as being in established labour at about 12 noon. I sat backwards on a chair and rocked from side to side for ages - this felt so comfortable and took all the pressure off my legs yet maintained the gravity factor. My OB had said she'd popped back in the check me at lunch and by 2:00pm I still had not seen her. I got into a warm bath but didn't find it was comfortable as I had hoped. I couldn't move the way I wanted and actually felt the contraction were stronger while in the bath. So I got out and back on the chair as before. I asked the midwife 'how much longer' and she went and called my OB to come check me. At 2:45pm my OB examined me and said, 'you've made very good progress, your 4cm and the cervix is paper thin'............. only 4cm I though. Geez I'm going to be here for a while. The midwife and OB tried to convince me that all was going well but in my mind I had only progress 2cm in 4.5hrs and feared that it was going to continue for another 12 hrs or more. I was a little deflated.
The contractions continued to come constantly and were quite painful. I managed to breath thru the majority of them but do recall utterly, ' I can't do this ' a few times to Joel. I was plagued by the thought that the labour was going to be long and wanted to ensure that I had enough energy left to push, so I asked the midwife what I could do to get some rest for the rest of stage 1. She suggested either gas or pethaine. I had one mouthful of the gas and gave it back, didn't like the fuzzy head sensation I got. I continued to manage the contractions for another hour or so then the midwife asked if I wanted some pethadine and I said yes without thinking. I considered changing my mind before she returned to give the injection - I was so uncertain if I wanted it or not. The midwife retunred and a felt a small ***** to both my arms. It was done........
Within 20 mins I felt the relief from the pethadine. I changed positions and sat on the edge of a comfy recliner chair that was close enough to the bed that I could bend over and rest my upper body and head on the bed and a pillow, I was very comfortable. The contractions continued, I still felt them but was able to rest in betwen which is what I had hoped for. I felt very very relaxed during this stage. I didn't speak, no one did. I was in my own zone, concentrating on each contraction as being one step closer to meeting my baby boy.
About 5:00pm I got the most intense urge to go to the toilet. I stood up when I got a contraction and I truly thought I was going to have an accident then and there. I started to panick and said to the midwife, 'you have to help me get to the toilet NOW'. She tried to calm me down and waited til the next contraction and I said the same thing about urgently needing to go to the toilet. The midwife said she wanted to check me and it took some convincing on her part to get me on the bed so she could - I was certain I was going to make a mess everywhere. So you can image my surprise when the midwife said, 'you don't need to do a poo, you need to have a baby - the head is less than an inch from crowning'. To say I was surprised is an understatement. While I was still on the bed the midwife explained what I needed to do when the next contraction came but for the life of me I couldn't get my head around the fact that I was all ready to push as less than 2 hours ago I was only 4cm !!! A number of contractions came and went without me doing anything as it took a while for me to wrap my head around the whole pushing thing. I gave a few half hearted pushes, as I was still convinced that I just needed to do a poo !!!! I said I wasn't comfortable on the bed so the midwife said she would go get a birthing stool and call my OB again.
I was moved onto the birthing stool which was placed in front of the comfy recliner that Joel was told to sit on. I was able to lean back into Joel's legs and balance myself with the handles of the birthing stool. The midwife placed a mirror so I could see. As the next contraction came she told me to push into my bum as if I was going to the toilet and as I did I saw myself open and the top of the head. The midwife said, we'll he hasn't got much hair on his head.' I think seeing this convinced me that the midwife was right - he was just there, not far to go ! I recall saying to the midwife, 'Ok so I've got about an hour of pushing to go.........is that right?" I really needed to have some timeline to work towards. The midwife replied, 'no sweetheart, if you give me nice strong pushes he'll be here in 15 - 20 mins.
Again I couldn't believe things were moving so fast. I then got a renewed vigour. I waited for the next contraction and pushed as much as I could. A felt a stinging sensation. With the next contraction I saw the head crown and again was overwhelmed that it was really happening. I didn't look at the mirror with the next contraction but pushed with all my might and gave a loud powerful scream as I pushed. Then the midwife said to not push when the next contraction came. I did what she instructed me to do and just breathed short puffy breaths for the next two or so contractions and then she said 'OK with the next one push for as long and as hard as you can'. I did and my beautiful baby boy was pushed out and lifted into my arms. I sat there holding my baby and was so shocked that it was over. I recall saying, 'that's it.........it's over' I was so shocked but overwhelmed with joy that he was here.
After moving to the bed and delivering the placenta, my OB stitched my 2nd degree tear which I didn't even feel the worse thing was getting the local before the stitching. I lay there snuggling my baby skin to skin for over an hour before he was weighed (8lb 2oz) and measured 51.5cm. He was bright eyed and just stared at me for what seemed like forever. Such a special time that I will never forget.
Thanks for listening to my story.
