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I had a jelly-like discharge one week before my due date- which I took to be my mucous plug and then on my due date I had a slight bloody show. I didn't feel like there was anything happening until the early hours of the morning 2 days later when I woke up at 1am with what felt like bad period pains and back ache- coming every 10 mins. I couldn't sleep and spend the night on the sofa watching bad late night tv (I live in New York so it was very bad/weird manhattan cable programmes- a bit surreal really!!). Anyhow the pains didn't get any closer together and so by 7am I was tired so tried to sleep- I went to sleep for 20 minute periods as the contractions had slowed down and then they completely disappeared. I got up and we went shopping having sporadic contractions and came home around 1ish.
It was our wedding anniversary and we were going to celebrate it by going out to the park which was all I was up to(whoppee we know how to live !!). Anyhow the pains started getting closer and closer together (every 4- 7 mins)and were becoming more painful so we phoned the hospital who said that there was no rush in as they weren't really that regular, but we decided to go in anyway and phone for a taxi (after much persuasion of hubby who wanted me to go on the bus ) and then the taxi didn't turn up cos it has been involved in a car accident!! So we called another one and arrived at the hospital at 6.30pm only to be told we had to sit in a room a fill out forms (which was hilarious as I couldn't write during contractions and hubby had to massage my back!). I then had to wait in the corridor with all the relatives until they were ready to examine me (with all and sundry walking by as I was having my back rubbed!!).
Anyhow they examined me and I was 8cm dilated !! Which they said was very rare in a first timer. So I was hooked up to an iv and wheeled to the delivery room. I was in sooo much back pain that they eventually got a russian anaesthetist manny to come and give me an epidural. While he was putting it in my waters broke (either that or I had become incontinent ). The epidural was good for a while, but my belly still really hurt and I was writhing around in pain and so the manny had to come back and give me a top up. Around 9.30ish I had the urge to push and started pushing- felt like I was really constipated and had to push out the biggest bowel motion ever . I was pushing for over an hour when the midwife said "well you can push for another hour or I can cut you now and baby will be born next push" so I apparently shouted "cut me, cut me, cut me!". Eva Susannah was born. Her cord was round her neck, so hubby couldn't cut it but she got and apgar score of 9 at 1 and 5 minutes. The midwife then delivered the placenta and stitched me up....