Kobi Jades Arrival....VBAC
Ok this is long so you may want to grab a cuppa!
I went to bed at about 12:30am on Wednesday morning and was so tired. But not even 15 minutes later I felt a thud in my pevis and then heard a pop and felt a trickle. It all happened so fast I didnt register what was happening. I thought it was more discharge as that day I'd had my show. Until all of a sudden there was a huge warm gush and it just kept coming. I woke DH with the 'Honey my waters have broken' and he got up and started to pack the car etc. Made the calls to get DD looked after (who was very excited she would have a sibling soon).
I had no contractions yet but I figured that I wouldnt have to wait too long.
I got to the hospital just before 2am and was given a cannula (for just in case) and was monitored for about 20 mins. During the monitoring my contractions began and they were ranging from 2-4 minutes apart.
They got me to walk around and just be active and we were timing the contractions. It was only an hour before they were very regular at 2 minutes apart and lasting about 50 seconds. They had me on a portable external monitor which was driving me insane cos I had to hold the bottom part of it or else it would fall off. I ended up complaining as it was stressing me out and they agreed to monitoring me 10 minutes every hour or so to check on bubs and for the rest of the time I was free!! YAY!!
I was handling the contractions fine for a good while til it got to about 7am (maybe a bit later) when I asked for the gas. They turned it on slow at first and let me go gradually turning it up. My ob came in at 8:30am and did a VE and said I was 4-5 cms and that it would be a few hours yet. To which I told him that was just not fair and they needed to help me lol.
While he was there he was a bit unhappy cos the monitoring system wasnt working out well and we both agreed on internal fetal monitoring (which I was so against originally but it turned out much better than external and I didnt even know it was there).
After that he left and the pain got more and more unbearable. I asked for the pethidine and after a while it was given. (about 10am) It took time because they wanted to make sure it was what I wanted. As it was in my birth plan to avoid drugs where possible and they were trying so hard to follow my wishes they wanted to make sure it was the right thing to do. I was so much more relaxed when that was given and was able to rest for periods of about 25 minutes at a time. Almost able to 'ignore' them.
It wasnt long til I was feeling the urge to push with some of the contractions I was having. The mids were telling me to try not to push becuase they didnt know how dialated I was and the ob was coming back soon.
He came back in as the peth was wearing off just after 2 and did a VE and said I was 9 almost 10cms but just had a bit of a lip there. He pushed that back and I was 10 and pretty much ready to go. Good thing really cos I couldnt avoid the urge to push and with each contraction I was getting 4 majorly strong pushes. I couldnt believe how powerful the urge was and the sensation of these feelings as I had never been there before. It was intense but I could take the experience in at the same time as well.
I had so much back pain with my contractions that I found it hard to find a good spot or to move in between cos I felt stiff and sore. In the end DH got me in the shower which I wish I had of done earlier becuase it was amazing. So much relief. The midwife was following us around the whole time with a mirror so we could all see what was going on. I spent almost an hour in the shower before being told I should try something else as this was causing relaxation for me and bubs and could slow things down.
At one stage after that the midwife said bubs head wasnt down low enough and I really needed to get that head down or it could mean intervention as I had been pushing a while. I knew what she meant by that and she didnt say the words (becuase she didnt want to put them out there).
Next contraction I gave it my all and think I nearly exploded lol. But after those pushes she said..'good girl, baby is down you did it'
Ob came back in just after 5pm to see how I was going and knew I wasnt too far off delivering and wanted to be there.
The pushing was being majorly held up in the end becuase everytime I pushed she came right to the tip but then would slip back in. In the end Ob and I agreed on the vacuum as I had been going for 2 hours or more and was too tired.
He did all he had to do there and waited for me to do all the pushing and within about 10 minutes Kobi Jade was in the world and on my tummy. As she came out he said "Oh she is transverse"
She was trying to come out with her head sideways instead of head down and there was probably no way I would have got her out without some intervention. In the end it was an episiotomy and a little tear past that and 12 stitches. But worth it.
Once she was out and I saw her on my tummy I just cried. I couldnt beleive I had done it. I cried and just kept saying to mum and to Dh "I did it, can you beleive I did it...did I really do that?" lol.
So there you have it.
Kobi Jade born into the world at 5:53pm after 15 hours of labour. She was 8lb1oz and is just absolutely beautiful.
My doctor and the midwives were so totally fantastic I really think they made the birth what it was. At some points it could have been easily lost but they did everything to avoid the unnecessary and played a huge part in helping me achieve my dream outcome.
