a short and sweet labour. the story seems long because i've padded it out with all that happened that day. i just can't believe what I was doing just hours before I had her!
thursday morning i was having little niggly pains. nothing major. they felt a bit like period pains, but I had been having similar pains all week so i wasn't overly concerned, though i did mention to DH that I was having twinges.
10am - I left to take DS to gymnastics, dropped him off and went for coffee. was feeling fine so stopped of at asda then DS and I took the bus up to my friend's place for lunch.
1pm - I was sitting having tea and cake and timing the twinges, they were about 8 minutes apart but still coming and going. They still didn't really hurt.
2 pm - my friend drove me home as I had an appointment with the midwife at 3:45 and I wanted to put my feet up for a bit before I went.
3:45pm - midwife appt. my BP was fine, baby hadn't dropped and her heart rate was perfect. booked in for induction on 9 May.
4:30pm - we were in Morrisons picking up stuff for dinner. I was having twinges again.
5pm - I was making dinner when the twinges got a little sorer. I remember that with DS the pain radiated down my legs and it started to get like that so I told DH that he's have to do dinner and I started timing the pains on contractionmaster.com. They were coming about every 6 minutes.
5:20 - pains started coming every 3 minutes and were getting quite sore, lasting about a minute and a half. I contemplate having a bath but decide against it.
5:40 - phoned triage who said to come in whenever I wanted to. phone mom to tell her that I thought i was in labour and was going to the hospital.
5:50 - bags BACK into the car, dropped DS off at MIL's
6:20 - text friends to say we're going to hospital. i tell DH that I'm DEFINITELY having pain relief this time. (only had gas and air last time because there wasn't time for anything else)
6:40 - arrive hospital. walking from the car have to stop 3 times because of contractions. go up to triage. she checks my notes. can see that I'm in a lot of pain.
6:55 - midwife examines me to find that I'm fully dialated. cue HUGE rush. suddenly there are a lot of people there. they wheel the bed out and into the lift (DH was pushing the bed). I hear the midwife say that the head has popped. i can't figure out what this means and think there's something wrong. when she tells me not to push I ask if there was something wrong. she says no, she just doesn't want me to have the baby in the elevator!
7pm - in labour ward. i'm in the wrong kind of bed so they tell me i need to stand up (ha. ha.) somehow i manage to and lean on DH. MW tells me to open my legs and sway my pelvis. WHOOSH. waters go ALL over DH's shoes. I'm also pooing. not a proud moment but hey, you gotta go with what your body tells you. i'm really feeling the need to push at this point (hence the poo) but feel like there's something blocking the way. i tell them that there's a poo stuck and once it comes out i'll be able to push the baby out. the MW tells me that it is, in fact, the baby's head! i lay down again and the MW tells me to do what my body tells me to do. I tell her that I do NOT want to tear this time and I'm not going to just push the baby out. the MWs and DH are amazing. telling when to push and when not to. I'm not screaming or anything. I'm amazingly lucid. I just keep saying that I could do it. that i wasn't going to push. talking to myself really.
7:05pm - baby's head is born! MW tells me with the next contraction the baby's body will be born. I ask if I can push now, she says yes!
7:08 - baby is born and put right on my stomach. there is an almighty cry from this tiny thing. we turn baby over to find that it's a girl!
she's perfect and gorgeous and her eyes are wide open and she just looks at us. i just about sob.
she's 8lbs14oz. EXACTLY the same weight as DS, but this time I only had a 2nd degree tear (was 3rd with DS) and MW says it's only barely a 2nd. it's not even as bad as an episitomy would have been.
so in the end i got NO pain relief at all. not even gas and air this time (though i did have it while they stitched me up and it was niiiiiiice). i feel so empowered by the birth. not sure if it has any effect on my emotional state, but I feel great. I'd even consider another one! ...but not for a loooong while!