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Childbirth

10.6 pound (4.8kg) birth story

42 replies

Barbamamama · 24/02/2014 20:44

My LO is 10 months and I have just registered to see someone at my hospital to go over my birth story as, although I have honestly never been happier and have a happy healthy baby who I adore, I do feel that the birth is hanging over me like a black cloud.
I hope this post isn't too self indulgent as it will be therapeutic for me to write it all down, but I would also like to hear people's responses and stories (esp from other people with big babies) to gauge how 'bad' my birth was.

So… as soon as my midwife began measuring my bump I was always 1cm over, this was always closely followed by "but this is not an accurate way of measuring the baby and you are very tall (5'11") so it's probably nothing to worry about…

I had a scan at around 7 months due to a low lying placenta (which had moved out of the way by then so all was looking good) However, the approximate weight of the baby at this stage was 6 pounds (2.7 kilo). Although my initial glucose test results were fine, it was recommended that I have the full GTT test at the hospital anyway as I was measuring over and they thought I may have gestational diabetes. These results were also fine and I was told, again, there is no accurate way of measuring the baby's size and I am big so there is probably nothing to worry about… but I was warned of the risk of shoulder distosia in big baby's and it was recommended that I come back 1 week before my due date to be measured up again.

SO, I went back to the hospital to be seen on the Monday (I was due on the Friday) and they measured my bump with a tape measure, I think I was 2cm over at this stage. They did not offer me another scan as they said scans can be 15% inaccurate either way when gauging the baby's weight so there was no point in having a scan. They recommended that I have a sweep and was induced on my due date. I had the sweep and made the appointment and went away feeling very confused, I had repeatedly been told that all the measurements they were doing were inaccurate and that I was big etc. so it was all probably fine and I did not want to go through the ordeal of being induced for nothing.. So I went back for a 2nd opinion on the Wednesday and saw a Dr who was higher up and asked for some straight answers and advice, he said that he strongly recommended that I was induced on my due date so the baby did not get any bigger and gave me another sweep in the hope that a natural labour would happen before my appointment on the Friday morning… it did not!

So Friday morning came and cut a loooong story as short as possible. I had 4 pessaries over the next 4 days, all of which did nothing at all, baby was NOT budging. By Sunday evening I was still in the 'waiting ward' where you are induced and had been told that if I was still only at 1cm they would pop my waters, I had been warned that this can be very painful so was feeling pretty fed up and terrified.
To make matters worse, the ward for new mothers was full so the entire ward other than me was suddenly filled with new mothers with their baby's and husbands and extended families of visitors, it was PACKED and I was hiding behind my curtains in tears at the thought of having my waters popped surrounded by a room full of celebrating strangers. My husband called a midwife over and she was really apologetic and reassuring and said right we are moving you upstairs NOW. This was great news, I was moved into my own room upstairs and was assured there would be a bay by morning (it was 6pm now).

The midwife that took over at this stage was the most positive and amazing woman I have ever met and I still think of her all the time. She completely talked me round and geared me up and I felt fantastic and determined. They broke my waters, contractions started and she told me her shift was finishing but as long as my contractions started on their own now I would not be put on the drip that forces unnatural contractions and would be free to move around etc etc.

This is where the black cloud comes in… my lovely midwife finished her shift and contractions were becoming stronger, I was thrilled I would not be put on the drip!! Then… my new midwife started her shift. This is where my memory becomes distorted and I honestly cannot tell if this woman was terrible or if it was my perception of her in the situation I was in. She walked in and said, right so we're putting gyou on the drip now, I protested and said I had been told that if contractions had begun on their own this would not be necessary, she looked me up and down and said I didn't "look like I was in enough pain" and proceeded to put me on the drip. I was so gutted, partly because she made a complete hash of it and blood spurted out of my hand, it was really painful and messy and bruised. I was now wired up to 2 machines and unable to pace around the room or change position. I was stuck on my back on the hospital bed and have never felt worse in my life. The drip made the contractions incredibly painful and I kept asking her to examine me but she kept saying i did not look like I was in enough pain and that I wasn't even nearly there yet. This made me furious. I didn't want to scream and shout my way through the pain, I didn't want to make noise I just wanted to breathe my way through it and try and separate myself from the situation mentally. I ended up feeling like I had to scream and yell the place down just to get them to look at me.

Then… then she went downstairs to sleep for an hour. I am not kidding. SHe got a lower member of staff to sit with me and cover her but she went off for a fucking sleep. The girl she left me with did not seem to have the authority to examine me or proceed with anything so we just had to wait for her to come back. By this stage I had had pethadin and was hoofing down the gas and air like there was no tomorrow. As soon as she came back in they whispered to each other in the corner and she said, ok I think I had better examine you sooner actually and I was 8cm. All I wanted to do was push and the pain was incredible tense like a burning sensation rushing through my whole body. She told me I would not be able to push for at least another 4 hours so I said I needed an epidural.

The woman that gave me my epidural did not normally give them to women in labour, she had been called in from another dept as all of the labour anethiests were busy. This woman was TERRIFIED she was shouting, shaking and kept saying she wasn't going to be able to do it and it was so so scary. The midwife actually apologised when she left the room as she had made it so dramatic. After this everything calmed down, my husband was able to sleep for four hours while we waited until I was able to push and I just chatted to the midwife.

6am finally came, she examined me and I was 9cm so I was finally able to start pushing. The epidural had been so strong that I had no idea when I was contracting or not so the midwife had to tell me when to push. I had been told I had 2 hours to push the baby out myself with out further intervention so I WENT for it! An hour and a half passed and despite being told I was pushing really hard and well, the baby did not seem to be moving down. At this point the room filled with people and I was given papers to sign, my husband was given scrubs and I was told that I would be taken to theatre for further examination, they would try and use either forceps or ventuse.

Once they had numbed me from the neck down and examined me I was told "there is no way on earth this baby will fit out the front door! it's absolutely huge!" and so they went for cesarian. I felt fine by this point, I was exhausted and off my head on drugs but felt relieved that I was finally going to meet my baby. All I thought was I'm falling asleep, how can I be falling asleep when I'm about to meet my child?
At this point the doctor leaned over the cloth and spoke directly to me for the first time. He said "the baby has moved to far down and we are having difficulty pulling him out (through c section) This is now becoming complicated".

All I could hear after that was a huge cerfuffal and tugging and pulling and "Oh my god he's like a WRESTLER!!" The lightheartedness of this comment made me really relieved as I felt it could not be serious if they were joking. As they pulled him out they were joking and making bets on his weight, which was 10 pound 6 oz (4.8 kg).

I felt so euphoric at this point but I just kept falling asleep and when they put the baby on me I had to ask my husband to hold it as I could not move my body and was slipping in and out of consciousness and was terrified I would drop it. We were all moved into the recovery room at this point and I just remember them shaking me and calling my name and the sound of an alarm going off followed by "it's fine, you're just so tired you're forgetting to breathe". I was so scared that I did not fall asleep until the following evening. BUT it was the happiest few days of my life just cuddling and gazing at my little boy.

Ok I could go on and talk about how I was sent home the following day but I will stop there as this is a ridiculously long post… if anyone is still reading I would really appreciate any thoughts on this. Thanks.

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MrCabDriver · 24/02/2014 20:53

My mum went through something very similar but in the 1980's! she was in labour for 27 hours, he was just too big for her, they tried forceps everything before finally doing a c section but like yourself it was too late and he was very far down.
I'm not sure of all the details but it was very dangerous I believe they both could have died. My mum said his head was totally squashed and bruised everywhere from when they were trying to pull him out.

Anyway I'm probably really not helping (or should tell my mum to join mums net and explain!) but wanted to acknowledge your post....!

I had to have growth scans every 2-3 weeks because they said my baby was too small and not growing at the right rate .... she was born naturally on her due date weighing over 8lb