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Jan 25th I woke up at 6am with my first pain. I 'knew' right away the baby would be born that day. The pains continued but not too strong or regular, about 6-9 mins apart. They definately felt different from the bh's I'd been having though. I noticed a bit of blood later in the morning. I wasn't worried just assumed it was a show. I was supposed to have an appt with my consultant at 2:30 that day, so I rang the hospital to find out if I should still go to it. They told me I needed to come in and be checked because I was bleeding. I didn't want to go in so soon but they said I needed to. They weren't convinced that my pains would turn out to be labour either.
So about 1:00pm I went in to be checked. I took my bags but was really hoping I would get to go home again. I spoke with the midwife and she didn't really think much was happening since I was so calm and dealing with the pains well. She checked me and was surprised to find that I was already 3cm dilated and things were definately happening. She said I was at the point where I could stay if I wanted or go home. She assumed I'd stay, but I didn't want to. She did a bit of a sweep and told me not to worry if the bleeding gets heavier, which it did. She said she was very surprised at how calm I was for it being my first baby. That made me feel good!
I went back home, and just puttered around. The pains were getting stronger and closer together but still not very regular. They were about every 5-7 mins. I couldn't talk through them very easily though. I had a little lunch, played my violin, and just kept busy. I was very relaxed.
About 4pm my waters broke. It was a big gush and wouldn't stop! After that my pains very quickly got much more painful and closer together. I decided to go to the hospital. On the way out to the car I actually threw up. When the contractions were quite stronge it made me feel sick.
I got to the hospital at 4:30pm, and they checked me and said I was 6cm dilated. They did another sweep (that one was really uncomfortable). I was surprised to find out that I didn't need to have antibiotics. I had been told that I did. I was really happy about that.
Unfortunately I couldn't move around at all once I was at the hospital because the baby's heartbeat was dropping with the contractions. I had to have continuous monitoring. I asked the midwife what position the baby was in. My midwife had told me a couple days before that he was posterior, so I was a bit worried. She told me she couldn't tell if he was face up or face down. Turned out he was face down, so in a good position, but didn't find that out till after he was delivered.
I decided I wanted to try the gas and air. It didn't seem to help with the pain at all. It made me dizzy if I had too much of it though. After about an hour I asked if I could try the pethidine. The contractions were quite painful by then and coming every 2mins. The pethidine didn't help at all either. The midwife checked me again and said I was almost ready to push. This was about 6:30pm.
She kept asking me if I felt like I needed to push. I never really got a stronge feeling to push. I thought that was strange as I was expecting that. About 7pm she told me to try to push. It was very painful and at the time seemed really hard. As soon as it was over though I knew it was something I could do again. It wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be. I really had prepared myself for the worst. I felt really proud after he was born. I was super happy that I had managed without an epidural which I really wanted to avoid. I was just so happy to meet my baby! I was on cloud nine! I felt full of energy. At the end I had felt like I could fall asleep between contractions, I was so tired. But as soon as he was born it was gone! He was born at 7:32pm.
My dp was being wonderful. He was just holding my hand and being supportive. He was just what I needed. When I was just starting to push, my friend showed up and wanted to come in. I thought I would want her there. But I was already pushing and really didn't want anyone else to think about so I said no. I thought I would need her with me during labour, but at the time I really just wanted my dp. I was surprised at how good he was. My dp and I had planned on him not really looking at the 'buisiness end'. He gets grossed out easily and I didn't want him to be tramatized! He was quite tramatized by the birth of his first son. His ex wife had a c-section and he still talks about how horrible it was. But in the middle of everything he did end up looking and he was great! He was getting all excited saying 'his head is right there!' and telling me to push. He's later said how much better it was than watching the c-section. After Luca was born my dp was eager to leave the room before the placenta came. So he went out to tell my friend the news. But unfortunately I had a retained placenta and ended up in theatre an hour later having it manually removed. I threw up again just after the birth. Was strange since the sick feeling had completely gone by then.
I had about an hour to visit with Luca, my dp and my friend before going to theatre. It was lovely. We were taking pictures and just staring at Luca! When I was taken to theatre my friend and dp stayed in the room with Luca until I came back. In theatre I told them all that I had never been naked in front of so many people! They all laughed at me. They were all really friendly and it wasn't at all horrible. I had a small tear as well but didn't need stitches. I told them I wanted to try to avoid them if I could.
It was really a great experience and was just how I wanted it. Everything has been easier than I thought. I thought there would be a lot more pain afterwards then there has been. I think I've been very lucky having such an easy time of it.
One thing I found strange was at the hospital they never gave Luca a bath. I didn't find out until the second day that it was because the water was contaminated with something so they weren't bathing the babies. I didn't like that. Poor little guy was all gunky until we got home and could bath him.
Another small annoyance is I have to give myself heparin injections for 6 weeks unfortunately. My sister had complications after she had her son, so it's just to be safe. But I was annoyed about this because they had me wait around till 6pm the day I left waiting to find out if aspirin is safe when breastfeeding. I couldn't believe no one knew that. They eventually decided that it wasn't and I had the choice of the injections, or tablets. But if I took the tablets I would have to stay in the hospital a few more days to sort out the right dossage. I was soooooooooo eager to leave that I just decided on the injections. 2 nights in there was plenty for me. It's sooooooo nice to be home!
Breastfeeding is going well and so far hasn't been as hard as I thought. We're all happy and really enjoying getting used to our new life. I'm loving being a mom. I love watching my dp with Luca. He's so proud and happy too. It really has been a great experience, and I have wonderful memories of it all!