The Birth…..Not As I Planned It
Having waited almost the full 40 weeks, I could hardly contain myself when on Sunday morning I went to the loo to discover I had, had a show. My cervix plug had finally come out, closely followed by what can only be described as a feeling of wetting myself slowly and repeatedly (lovely!!!)
With a quick phone call to my mum and all my girlfriends I told Rich, who was very excited that this could carry on for a couple of days, so with that he does what every good man does, begins to finish off a couple of DIY jobs.
At around 1.00pm I phoned the midwife just to let her know what is going on, and she asked the question “What colour is the waters that are coming out?”, which at the time seemed a rather strange question, but when I describe them she says she is coming over to talk to me.
Meconium….Pain Or Blessing In Disguise
Once my midwife arrives she explains that the colour of the water suggest that there is meconium in the water, which means that the baby is either stressed or has been stressed at sometime.
Then she delivered the bad news, unfortunately due to the meconium I cannot have a home birth, I have to go into hospital and possibly be induced.
Well as you can imagine I felt that the perfect home birth I was going to have fly out the window and it was with a heavy heart we packed up all our bits and drove to the hospital.
Hospital Birth Here We Come
Once we arrived at the hospital, I was given a gorgeous gown, not the most flattering as your rear end seems to be open to the elements and I was hooked up to a monitor to monitor both baby and I. They asked me whether I was having any contractions which I answered no to, only period pains.
Well, apparently the period pains were contractions and were coming every 5 minutes, at this point I thought that if all contractions were like this, this birthing lark must be easy!!!! (Famous last words)
Unfortunately the bearable contractions were short lived and soon I was sat on a birthing ball with the gas and air firmly fixed in my mouth.
Having never experienced gas and air before, it made me feel like I had just downed a bottle or two of wine (not very good wine, I might add) as well as make me feel like sand had just been poured into my mouth (need water). I also remember the books saying that once you go into labour, the baby drops therefore relieving your heartburn, in my case this was untrue, I had heartburn throughout the whole of my labour.
At this point my midwife who was not due to be on duty came back to see how I was and remained by my side until the early hours of the next day
As the night progressd the pain got worse and worse and I could not believe that several of my girlfriends had given birth with no pain relief, at this point the birth plan went out of the window.
Flexibility Is Key
The one suggestion I have for anyone writing out their birth plan is to be flexible, you do not know how your labour will progress and how you will feel. My husband soon learnt this as I cried out for an epidural; unfortunately he made the error of asking “are you sure?” and received a torrent of abuse.
Unfortunately or fortunately I do not remember anything from asking for the epidural to receiving it, my husband says that the anaesthologist came in and went through the risk factors etc with me, but the next thing I remember is them saying to lie very still.
They then said that the epidural was in, which I assumed meant that they had given me the epidural so I automatically stopped breathing the gas and air……big mistake.
If you are ever told that the epidural is in, make sure they have added the liquid, unfortunately the line was in but the fluid was not and the pain was unbearable.Luckily wthin 10 minutes of them adding the liquid I was able to talk to my husband and was feeling a little more human.
To Push Or Not To Push
A word of warning to anyone who has had or is going to have an epidural, you cannot feel a thing from the waist downwards, so when your midwife tells you to push where her fingers are she could quite easily have her fingers up my husbands bum for all I could feel.
But push I did, the best I could, considering I couldn’t feel a thing. After about half an hour of pushing I was given another blow, unfortunately the baby was coming at an angle and would need to be manually rotated and then pulled out with the help of ventouse suction.
Surgery
The consultant came in and went through what would be happening and Rich was given some gorgeous blue scrubs to put on and I was wheeled into surgery. I have to say this was not what I imagined, my feet were put in stirrups and I was given oxygen via a mask and then yet again asked to push.
Again I did the best I could with no feeling what so ever. On the third occasion of being asked to push I felt a sense of relief and our baby was delivered onto my chest.
One of the assistants lifted her leg and revealed a beautiful baby girl, who was remarkably quiet. Well, with that the flood gates opened as Rich and I looked at our gorgeous baby. They took her away to clean her up and even then no crying and then finally the moment we had both been waiting for the chance to hold our daughter Amelie.
During this time the consultant worked quickly and efficiently stitching up the episiotomy cut he had made and then, baby Amelie and I were wheeled back to my room.
Breastfeeding Or Red Hot Needles!!
Once back in the room, I was helped to get Amelie attached onto my boob as I was desperate to breast feed. For a baby who is only minutes old, when they first latch on it feels like they have teeth or that red hot needles are being poked into your nipple.
It probably doesn’t sound like I am an advocate for breastfeeding but within minutes that feeling subsides and seeing your baby snuggled up to you is the nicest feeling in the world.
Worth Every Bit Of Pain
At this point I would like to say that every birthing experience is so very different and although mine didn’t go according to my plan, Amelie is worth every bit of the ups and downs we experienced and three weeks after her birth, I can now say the birth seems a distant memory as sleep deprivation sets in……But in the middle of the night when you are so tired its untrue she will give you one of her toothless grins that makes it all worth while.
Extra Notes
A couple of things I learnt from the birth of Amelie that others might want to take onboard……
- If people offer their help in the first couple of weeks after giving birth, take it because I have always been independent and thought that I would cope, but having someone cook and look after the baby for an hour whilst you get some sleep is a godsend. ( thank you mum)
- If your husband is taking time off work to be with you, a week is probably not long enough
- Don’t expect to feel great too soon, it does take a while before the aching in your pelvic area eases up
- Buy some tea tree oil to bath in as this helps your stitches heal. Put four drops into a little milk as this stops the oil sitting on top of the water
- Do your pelvic floor exercises in the bath
- Buy sanitary towels as well as maternity pads as you will not want to go shopping for these after giving birth and once your bleeding eases up, it’s nice to have something a little thinner.
- Buy decent breast pads as the cheaper ones itch
- If you intend to breastfeed get a breast cream such as Lansinoh which you do not have to wipe off before feeding, also invest in nipple shields (if you do suffer with cracked nipples it is nice to have at hand)
- Cook lots of freezable dinners such as chilli, spaghetti Bolognese etc that you can pull out once your help has left you.
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