Sitting waiting for madam to awaken, so here's my birth story :)
Woken up at 3am on my due date with strong, regular contractions coming every ten minutes, lasting anywhere from 45 secs to 90 secs. Tried to get back to sleep, but no joy, and between them and running to the loo to empty myself , DH was awoken at 5am. We timed them using an app, before I got up at 8ish with DS and went plot chat with my mum to let her know what was happening. Let DH sleep on a little as I knew he'd need the reserves later.
We went to feed the ducks, and a bit of a walk, contractions sometimes tailing off slightly, but never going. When we got back, I retreated to our bedroom as my DGM was also down, and she kept asking if I was ok - very sweet but I felt like a watched pot.
Had a half hour nap at about 3pm, followed by a sandwich, and things started to progress around 9pm, when I was getting the pains for a minute every 4 minutes. We called the hospital at 10, and got told to come in as I was vbac, and live 30 mins away.
Got up there, and internal showed I was only 1 1/2cm :( I could have wept. 21 hours of bad contractions for what felt like nothing. They hooked me up to a trace, which showed baby haif an absolute party - very active and heartrate not coming down. The midwife thought she was back to back but am very sure she was mistaken as we could all hear her moving on the trace, but I felt nothing.
After an hour was sent to walk around and bounce on a
Ball to try and progress, then had another trace. Same thing happened again, heartrate mental, another hour hooked up, but she eventually calmed. A further examination showed I had dilated to 2 - 2 1/2cm. The only pain relief they could offer was paracetamol and codeine, which didn't touch the sides.
They then said I could stay on ward (without DM and DH) or go home, but I was in the latent phase which could last for 2 weeks! I started sobbing - I had been in labour for over 24 hours, with no let up, and then thought they would let me continue contracting until my induction 5 days later (midwife had not cancelled it in case it was needed after I had text her to let her know it had kicked off) was soul destroying.
We went home at 5am, and DH and I managed about an hours sleep. When I woke up, the contractions were even worse, I was now lowing through each one, and they were a minute every 3. I ended up calling my one to one midwife at 7.30, leaving a tearful message tellif her what had happened, and explaining I really didn't feel I could cope with how it was going if these contractions were doing nothing. She called back and explained she was at a birth, but would be with us soon.
She arrived at 10, finding me mooing on the bed, contracting hard, and at 5cm! Got told to get to hospital NOW or we might not get there at all. She phoned ahead, and when we arrived, we were whisked through to the mw led unit for my waterbirth. I was so close I could FEEL the water ... Except the pool needed cleaned.
They got on to that, but took me to another room in the meantime. It ended up being the same room I laboured in with DS. I got my gas and air, and they suggested leaning over the bed on my knees, which is how I stayed. It was now just after 11, and I'd went from 5 - 8 in 30 mins.
By 12.30 I was fully dilated and involuntarily pushing. They came to offer me the pool at 12.50, but I couldn't have moved if they'd paid me. They offered more pain relied, which was then forgotten about as they could see her! The only thing holding her in was her waters, and thank god, the mw gave them a little nip and they went.
Pushing, I don't think, took very long at all. She couldn't get round the bend whilst I was on my knees, so by a force of sheer will, I turned on to my back as they had said, and pulled on my knees, following their directed pushing. The second midwife had come in not long before that point - and was the one who was there when I had DS! Lovely!
The pushing went very well, I felt her head, and I don't think it took all that long, although the whole thing seemed like it took hours. Cameron arrived at 1.29pm, delivered on to my tummy with only gas and air. I had a few grazes but that was it - directed pushing definitely worked for me!
Once it got going for me, it happened really quickly. It was a fast, intense birth at the end and I'm not that bothered about missing the pool - I'm so incredibly proud of myself that I did it all on gas and air and didn't tear
Our princess is perfect, feeding like a champ, and my boobs are rocks today - which never happened with DS!
She has a slight heart murmur, which we've to see if has resolved in 2 weeks, and she needs an ultrasound on her hips as she wa breech into the third trimester, but she is perfect and we're all, DS included, besotted.