<-- Back to the list of birth stories
My waters broke about 3.30am last Tuesday, I could feel them coming so I jumped out of bed and it gushed onto the bedroom carpet, so much for having low fluid levels. The day before I had bought a waterproof mattress protector but hadn’t got round to putting it on the bed.
I had a shower, some breakfast and then phoned the hospital, they told me to come in so then I had to pack a bag for myself and the baby (at the time I didn’t know he would have to stay in hospital). My hubby just wanted to get back into bed.
I got to hospital and was feeling fine, I was expecting them to send me home, but because I was only 34 weeks +6 they told me I was going to stay in hospital until I had had the baby which could have been 3 days.
I started having contractions about 6.30am about every 15 minutes, at the time I thought they were Braxton Hicks. The midwife and doctor examined me and sent me to the maternity unit to rest and a doctor would come and see me at 1pm. At 9.30am I was sent for a scan to check how much fluid was left, this was about the time I started getting contractions every 5 minutes. I got back to my bed on maternity ward at 10am and by 10.15 I could stand the pain no longer and a midwife and doctor examined me and said I was 2-3cm dilated and sent me down to the labour ward.
I was on gas and air but at 11am I had a really bad contraction and at that time I wanted every pain killer going, but then they eased a bit until about 12 when I asked for an epidural but I was told I couldn’t have one as all the anaesthetists were busy. So the midwife said I could have pethidine so I had that. The pethidine made me very drowsy and I must have nodded off in the afternoon, I woke up to find hubby asleep. I was examined about 4pm and was about 9cms dilated and felt the urge to push. The pain was getting really bad at this point and I wanted an epidural. The anaesthetist came in and spoke to me for a bit and said it was too late for an epidural. I was really getting the urge to push by about 4.30 but still had to wait for the midwife to examine me at 4.40 when I was 10cms and then I started pushing. It really felt like nothing was happening but at 4.55 Sean was born. He was taken away from me to be wrapped up, we held him very briefly before he was taken away to the Special Care Baby Unit. We were taken up to him about 6.30 after I had a shower, he was in an incubator but was breathing on his own. He looked so lovely and cute with lots of dark hair.