“This is it!”
Little man decided to hang on an extra 13 days past my due date! I couldn’t quite believe how far gone I was… everyone kept telling me weeks before I was even due “not long now, look how low he is!” and “you’re going to pop very soon”. There were only so many baths and “pamper nights” I could do before just feeling entirely fed up and frustrated.
When he did finally decide to make an appearance, it was about 7 am when I felt some twinges. Mind you, I didn’t get excited at first because I was having Braxton hicks for about 6 weeks by this point and thought this would pass. But the pains got stronger and stronger… then I noticed a leakage in my pants but not as you see in films “your water has broken!” it was a very small little trickle…
I didn’t mention anything to my partner at this point because I didn’t want to get him all worked up for nothing. But, after 30 mins of frequent pains, I finally thought “this is it” so I went upstairs and told him “I think I’ve gone into labour”. We were both up downstairs timing the contractions on an app before they started to get quite close together. The hospital finally said, “come in and we’ll assess you”.
“The midwife and I were sat there having a chat and had spa relaxation music playing in the background”
After tests and measuring my blood pressure often, the midwife said there is a room where I could go to. I felt like I was handling my contractions well and just kept breathing through the pain. I would stand on my toes and hold my hands on my partner’s shoulders through each one and then breathe a sigh of relief once they has gone.
I got into my room and said to the midwives that I wanted an epidural straight away. Perhaps if I wasn’t so overdue and fed up, I may have wanted to try naturally but since I was so uncomfortable for so long, I just wanted to be pain-free! The antitheist came about 40 minutes later meanwhile I was given gas and air. The worst bit I can remember is having to be scrunch over whilst they inject the antisthetic into you… having contractions whilst being hunched over was just agonising!
About 20-30 minutes after they injected me, my lower body started to feel numb and it started to take effect. I still wasn’t, by this point, pain-free and did still have to take gas and air during contractions. My midwife said, “you shouldn’t be able to feel anything, why don’t you use the top-up button”. After pressing the top-up button another two times… any sense of pain was gone! I couldn’t feel a thing! My labour continued from about 4 pm – to midnight and I was completely relaxed and not in any pain/discomfort. The midwife and I even sat there having a chat and had spa relaxation music playing in the background!
“Slight panic in the air”
I knew something was wrong after the midwife checked her monitor and very calmly told me that “she’d just need to get some advice from her colleague about something”. A couple of midwives came in and started talking between themselves and started agreeing with what my midwife has said. She then reassured me that “everything is OK but we’re just noticing that baby’s heartbeat is slowing down” and that we need to get some more people in to take a look at this. To my and my partner’s surprise, a team of midwives storm in, all lights go on and the tranquil atmosphere it was before was gone, there was a slight panic in the air.
His heartbeat has dropped which could be a sign of infection, my temperature rose and my blood pressure was dropping… the midwives gave me a choice of seeing how things go but meaning things could potentially get worse or have a caesarean. My choice was easy, I wasn’t going to risk anything going wrong/worse and told them straight away that I would like to go to the theatre. Within 20 minutes, I was swooped to the theatre table and was given lots of drugs for various things and they started the procedure.
I wish I had researched into C sections before my birth as the experience is very surreal and quite overwhelming, I wish I knew that the shaking and feeling faint was quite normal otherwise I wouldn’t have sat there worrying the whole time!
Out safe and well
When I heard the first cry, I started sobbing. It is just the most magical and relieving feeling to know that they’re out safe and well! The midwife handed him over to me and I was just in love straight away – all of that waiting and ordeal was completely worth every second.
I loved my time in the hospital, I had to be there for 2 days and I treasured that time being in a bubble and being completely absorbed and mesmerised by him. The whole experience, every single midwife we met will always hold a very special place in my heart!
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