Probably lots of people don't remember me anymore as I haven't posted lots while pregnant but it's nice to write this down anyway
Contractions started on Monday morning at 40+1. They were low down in my back and fairly mild so I guessed this labour was going to be slow to get going, the same as with DD1. My dad decided to come and get DD1 soon after so I could concentrate on labour. Contractions stayed irregular for the rest of the day, but were getting a lot more painful. I spent the day bouncing on the birthing ball and watching Curb Your Enthusiasm and by 5pm contractions were 5 minutes apart. I decided to ring the midwife to get on the system and see how I was doing. As soon as I made the call my contractions slowed down massively I was Not Impressed! The midwife came at about 6.30 and checked me. I was at 2cm, which is no more than I expected but Bishop score was 8/10 so was looking promising. Contractions stayed at every 12 minutes while she was here so she left soon after.
I decided to go for a walk to hopefully move things along although I was expecting to be in it for the long haul. Contractions really hotted up on the way home so a 15 min walk did amazing things! I couldn't sit down after that, had to be up and moving round as I could feel all the contractions in my bum By 10.30 contractions were 2-3 mins apart and I was having a good old moan through them Texted the midwife to let her know and she rang just at the end of a contraction. Based on the sound of my voice she came round and second midwife came too with some pethidine just in case I wanted it.
By this point I was getting quite tearful and breathing techniques were slightly less effective so I decided to ask for some gas and air. Unfortunately at this point my blood pressure started registering high on their monitors and I had a lot of protein in my urine so we made the decision to transfer. Contractions were coming thick and fast now but was just about breathing through them.
Ambulance arrived 5 minutes later. Lying on the bed was agony and prob worst ten minutes of the whole thing. Got some gas and air and had a good old shout. Poor DP was white as a sheet and upset because he couldn't reach to comfort me Got to hospital and got the urge to push straight away. Was on hands and knees initially but they asked me to roll onto my back so put a monitor on and then I couldn't get up again. 17 minutes after we arrived at the hospital Mila Hazel was born She weighed 6lb 14oz and is scrummy although she does bear a slight resemblance to a Shrek baby I escaped with a slight laceration and not one injection as physiological third stage went well.
10 minutes after the birth she worked her way over to the breast and self latch which was lovely She's been there pretty much ever since. So far bfing is going really well, I am much more relaxed than with DD1 and enjoying these early feeds. Tandem feeding going ok although DD1 isn't asking as much as I expected yet.
I had to stay in the hospital the next day as my bp stayed high but it has come down naturally so I avoided any meds. Tbh I was quite frightened by the bp thing so I might start another thread to discuss it later.
At the time I was really upset about the transfer but overall I am feeling very positive about the birth. My midwives were absolutely fantastic and came with me to the hospital where they ensured that the birth happened exactly as I wanted it to. In fact apart from the transfer my birth plan was completely followed and so I feel really good about it. Am also happy but amazed that the only pain relief I had was the g and a in the ambulance, I really hadn't thought I would cope so well I felt so much more in control mentally this time which was nice.
Sorry for epic post but it was good to get it all down. I'll stick a little pic on in a sec.