Making An Entrance

Before becoming a Mum I read many birth stories.  I often wondered why women wanted to share every last detail of their labour but now, having been through it myself, it's both an amazing, wonderful and horrifyingly painful experience that is so unique to you and your baby that you can't help but recount it time and time again.  Everyone has their own birth story and I was hoping that ours would involve me coughing and Bobby falling out!  I'd done the hypnobirth CD and had the pregnancy yoga mantras ready and I was looking forward to a positive experience!

My bump at 36 weeks - ready to pop!

Unfortunately things don't always pan out quite as you hope! The minute we were told on Thursday 25th June (exactly 39 weeks) that we were going to be induced due to reduced fetal movements I thought the labour may be more painful than anticipated! The induction started with a membrane sweep at 11am, followed by being sent home to get our hospital bag and return later on that day for the rest of the induction process. Going home after that sweep was really surreal and killing a bit of time at home was also wierd.  I pottered around the house and then did what any normal person about to be induced would do - watched One Born Every Minute!

This is a load of rubbish and I want a refund on my dvd haha!

We ended up going back to the hospital before our alloted time becuase I was in so much pain and hadn't stopped bleeding. Upon our return to hospital I was 2cm dilated and they did a second sweep (just as painful) before explaining the rest of the induction process.  I was excited about the prospect of meeting our little boy but the fear, that I hadn't really expected, soon kicked in.  We were greeted by two midwives Jeanette and Caroline (who were so lovely) who got me ready and before I knew it things were underway! They broke my waters whilst I tried to put all the positive mantras from my pregnancy yoga into action.  "You are in tune with your body" and "I am breathing my baby out" just didn't quite cut it!!  Jeanette knelt by my side for 3 hours trying to hold the monitoring belt on me whilst I bounced up and down on the birthing ball but then they became very concerned about our baby's heartbeat which was elevating to 190 at times.  Unfortunately my hope for an active labour then went out the window as I was asked to get on my back in the bed to try to lower Bobby's heartbeat.

So on my back in the bed, things didn't really seem to be progressing.  Our baby was back to back which meant the pain was horrific and I was chomping on the gas and air like there was no tomorrow, only pausing to throw up over myself (this literally happened 20 times - it was disgusting!) Stuck at 4cm dilated I asked for some pethidine and it wasn't long before I was begging for an epidural (something on my birth plan I had said I would avoid like the plague!). Jeanette and Caroline were present for the epidural but then were soon coming to the end of their 12 hour shift and saying their goodbyes (at which point I was still only 5cm!)

Anytime today Bobby!!

Our labour was then taken over my an equally lovely midwife called Kat and a student midwife Louise - who has been with me throughout the whole of my pregnancy. I was so happy to see her I burst out crying! Between them Kat and Louise were just amazing. The support and encouragement they gave me was fab. Unfortunately I seemed to be stuck at 5cm and twice there was the threat of going to theatre for a C-Section as our baby didn't seem to want to budge.  There was a constant trade off between ramping up the hormone drip to speed the labour up Vs keeping our baby's heart-rate stable as the more they upped the drip, the more distressed he seemed to be.....not mentioning the more pain I was in! It was a race against the clock to see if I could get to 8cm in 4 hours otherwise it would be a trip to theatre.

Our gorgeous little man - he doesn't rush for anyone!

So, going back to that epidural. Ah...yes! The one that failed to work!!! It basically didnt cover a panel on my left hand side which meant all my pain was focussed and channelled to this one area.  The team of staff lay me on my left hand-side hoping the epidural would work it's way over and alleviate the pain.... no such luck!!! OMG the pain was so bad I actually asked one of the midwives to put me down! They ramped the pain-relief up leaving me in a completely comatized state! There was also a thought that came ito my mind that I wasn't going to make it and I remember saying to Chris to just make sure Bobby was OK.

One of our first photos of Bobby -  a little bruised from the forceps but absolutely gorgeous!

Finally they took the epidural out and started again. The second epidural was much more effective and for the first time in over 24 hours I could cope with the pain. I was terrified the labour was not progressing and we were now on intravenous antibiotics because it had been so long since my waters had broken.  I was so relieved when Kat eventually told me that I was 10cm dilated and could start pushing. I had a new found inner strength and had perked up a lot more than earlier and pushed with all my might. Unfortunately after 90 minutes of pushing there was still no sign of our baby and the monitoring revealed he was once again becoming distressed. I had an allowance of 30 more minutes otherwise it would be a C-Section - the third time they had told us that! I began to cry as I couldn't believe I would have been through all of this for it to then end with a cesarean. I pushed a little harder but there was still no sign of our little guy - possibly because of the position he was in. Then, after 26 hours of being in labour, the last 5 minutes were a complete whirlwind. The doctor came waltzing in, put his hand in to turn the baby's head, did an episiotomy, clamped the forceps on his head and tugged and pulled like there was no tomorrow and before I knew it our beautiful baby boy was on my chest.

Percetange of first time mums who have an assisted birth

He was absolutley perfect and made quite the entrance. They say good things come to those who wait and although those 26 hours felt like 26 years, I would do it all again for the love and bond I have with my son.  Born on Friday 26th June weighing 7lb 15oz, our beautiful son Bobby Samuel came into our lives and into our hearts. I feel incredibly blessed and lucky and Chris and I are so grateful to all the staff who played their part in helping deliver the best thing that's ever happened to us.  I spent 4 nights in hospital but now that we are finally home our lives can begin together - I wouldn't change it for the world.

Percentage of new mums who stay in hospital for 3 or 4 days

Let the fun begin!