Ok while I have a quick few minutes while Amber is sleeping I will do my birth story....
Last Sunday night I was getting niggly pains and thought we were about to start. They got progressively worse. I told DP I wanted to vacuum! So he did it for me. The pains got steadily worse. We started timing the contractions and they got down to 4 minutes apart and what I thought as painful. We rang the hospy and they said I could come in if I wanted to. So I went to emergency, couldnt go to the FBC as they were understaffed. We finally were taken to a ward where I was to be monitored. They put the CTG on me. About an hour later an obs came in and examined me. I was only 1 cm dialated so she gives me a panadeine forte and sends me home. This was 4am Monday morning.
DP and I try to get some sleep and end up with about 3 hours. We had an obs appointment Monday arvo. She examines me and says I am now 3cm dialated. She does a stretch and sweep and reckons I could go naturally into labour over night. She did book me in for an induction the next morning. That evening the contractions started again. Quite painful but 10 minuts apart. I couldnt sleep at all. DP went to bed. I was pacing up and down the halls. Finally it gets to 5 in the morning, DP gets up and feels helpless in doing anything.
We go to the hospital at 7am to be admitted for induction. There were a few other women in there for the same purpose. I was in quite a bit of pain so I managed to go through emergency. I then went down for another CTG. After this, I had to wait in the waiting room for a bed to become available. The hospital was chock a block.
My contractions were getting worse and worse. DP gets up and tells the people that I cannot be there in a waiting room full of people having intense contractions. They ring around the labour wards but there is still no bed. They eventually decided the pregnancy monitoring unit was for me. So we get down there in pain and are seen by an obs who says I am 4cm dialated and need a bed. She rings around and finally there is one. I get to the labour ward at 10am.
The contractions are getting worse. I am now wanting some pain relief. We try the gas. It goes straight to my head and I feel sick. I cannot have this anymore. My midwife is at lunch when I ring the buzzer. Another midwife comes in and I ask about an Epi. I had been going for quite some time and felt I could not get through this labour without rest. She starts to tell me the cons of an epi. Perhaps I should try the gas. Eventually she says she will wait til my midwife gets back from lunch.
When she finally did she does another internal. I am still 4 cm dialated. They are going to have to start the synotocin drip to get things going and they will have to break my waters. She breaks them, they are meconium stained but ok. She then says perhaps an epi will be good because my labour will be quite sometime yet.
The aneithatist finally comes... and oh the relief! So I am now bed confined, hooked up to the epi and the drip. I start to get an intense pain in my side which will not go away. They call the anethesit back, they fiddle and do a top up. The relief again is amazing. I even start to doze off. During this time there is a midwife shift change.
Some time down the track the pain comes back again. Another epi top up... The relief! The obs comes and does another internal. I am now fully dialated but need to wait a bit more for the baby to descend down the canal a bit more.
We now are coming up to midnight and the pain comes back in my side. Every time this pain comes, my whole body shakes. My third midwife of the day thinks I can use this now to try and push seeing as the epi had worn off some again.
Into the stirrups we go and when I feel the need I push. The midwife keeps leaving the room which ammoys me no end.
After about an hour of pushing, I finally tell them I am going to need help as I was utterly exhausted after 3 days of virtually no sleep and pain. She tells me to keep pushing but now the obs keeps coming back in. I again ask for assistance and they tell me they will use the suction cup to get this baby out.
All of a sudden the room fills with docs and other people and machines. There were 2 obs there. They attach the suction to the babies head and the next contraction while I push they are pulling and pulling hard. I feel the burning of the head crowning. The next contraction is excruciating in pain and I feel this cannot get any worse. They all of a sudden I feel this major pull and out she comes. My contraction pains are gone. I hear a loud cry.
Now they obs are at my business end. I ask how badly did I tear. They said they would have to wait until the placenta comes. I get the urge to push it out. I ask again about the tear. They sort of skirt around the issue. I find out later I tore 3rd degree.
Amber arrived at 155am Wednesday morning. 3 days after my initial labour. She was a big 10 pound 4 ounce. The pulling on the suction cap and her size contribute to my tearing...

If you get this far then you are a champ!

My girl is stirring again.....