birth story, for anyone who's interested. sorry it's a bit long!!
6am ? wake up with severe gut rot, spend an hour or so on toilet (sorry, tmi!)
7am ? feels like my gut is spasming in a post-hot-curry kind of way (am cursing dp at this point for agreeing to my idea of a chilli and chorizo pizza, but send him to work without really thinking about it)
8am ? it begins to occur to me that my ?gut spasms? are quite regular. I play around with contraction timer and as they are only 2min 30 sec/3 mins apart, I decide it can?t be labour, as surely the contractions would be further apart initially.
9am ? regular pains still coming, further apart but more intense. Contraction timer suggests they are around 3 mins 30 secs/4 mins apart, lasting for 30 seconds to a minute each. I decide that perhaps I am one of those unfortunate souls who will have a long early labour, stopping and starting, as the pains really are only around the level of a period pain.
10am ? pains getting slightly more serious ? I can easily talk through them, but have to pause for the odd breath. I phone DP and say I might be in v early labour, but not to worry, will probably be hours before it?s even remotely close to being ?proper? labour. Also phone hospital, who agree with me.
11am ? Pains sore enough to get into bath for pain relief. Phone DP again, asking if he can work from home for the rest of the day to keep me company, as am suffering a bit now.
12pm ? DP back home, pains now bad enough to want to breathe through them, but I can continue talking if necessary. Phone labour ward, who are happy for me to stay at home as long as possible.
2pm ? pains now sore enough to be breathing through them, have been using hypnobirthing relaxation techniques for past couple of hours, and now really feel that they are necessary.
3:45pm ? I decide I want to go to hospital and get drugs. Rather disappointed, as I am sure that I will end up with epidural etc, as I am already wanting drugs, having only decided 4 hours ago I was actually in labour.
4:15pm ? Arrive at hospital, contractions on journey bad enough to have me crying out with pain, and I have to stop and hang off DP?s neck at each one as we walk to labour ward. Get onto the ward and examined within a few minutes. Am preparing for the worst, when the MW announces I am 8cm!! I am sooooo relieved you wouldn?t believe, and begin taking G&A.
6pm or so ? I decide I can?t do it any more and want pethidine, realising I have probably missed the boat on the epidural front. MW is brilliant, tells me I?m v close, and by the time she?s got the pethidine and it?s taken effect, I might have popped.
7pm is ? I really decide I can?t do it any more (at loud volume), as urge to push begins. MW again v supportive, telling me I am doing it, whether or not I want to, and this time baby will definitely be out before pain relief takes effect.
7:25pm ? baby out! Body only a few seconds behind head. Pain of crowning genuinely lost among other sensations, no ?ring of fire? moment (just endless, appalling contraction from hell!). I have spent the entire labour and delivery kneeling on the bed, leaning over the back of it, with DP following my rules about staying at shoulder level! He swears he didn?t see anything (i.e. me pooing myself, I assume I did!?) but as I instructed him to lie if he did, I have no idea. Find myself remarkably uncaring about it though.
the next few mins are a bit of a blur, but piecing things together, this is what happened:
MW calmly asks DP to press call button, as I?m having ?a little bleed? (placenta delivered by injection by this time). Baby placed on me for a moment, then given to DP as doc comes in and asks for me to be put in stirrups. I am crying and still using G&A. Lines are put in my hands, about 5 nurses/MWs in room as well as doc, doc informs me that my little tear needs a couple of stitches, and as it goes up inside, and I am screeching with pain, he will get a spinal in me.
I am wheeled to theatre, dp left with baby. I cry lots, spinal goes in. feel woozy, get sewn up. I overhear them talking and hear ?third degree tear? and ?cervical tear? mentioned and realise despite calmness I have torn quite badly.
Stitching takes a while, and I am eventually returned to dp and baby about 9:30-10pm. We get 3 hours before I have to move onto the ward.
I was in hosp for 2 days, purely due to implications of tear ? catheter, inability to walk etc! Swore I would never forget the pain, but it?s already fading so fast, taken over by feeding and sleeping dramas!
Anyway, in summary, my notes state that I was in active labour for 5 hours, second stage 15 mins, followed by PPH (1.3 litres blood loss), a third degree tear and possibly a cervical tear (I haven?t asked MW for too many details about that, will enquire more once it?s healed!)
Sorry, that was a bit of an epic?
Teddy is still feeding v erratically, but it's so lovely to be at home, and i really feel i'm eginning to recover from the injuries of birth!