hi everyone
Isabel is sleeping soundly, so I've got a bit of time to give you my birth story.
I woke up for one of my many nightly trips to the loo in the early hours of Monday 28th, and thought something felt a bit different. After the third consecutive trip, I was sure that there was more than just weeing going on and wondered if my waters had broken. Thought at first that I was just being fanciful, as there were no signs of any contractions. Really couldn't shake the feeling though and wanted to err on the side of caution so called the hospital to ask advice as soon as I could. They told me to come in and get checked out. Felt quite odd leaving the house and getting on the bus thinking that I might be in labour.
Got checked over at the hospital and it was confirmed that not only had my waters broken, but that I'd also had a show (couldn't feel it thanks to the pad I'd put in to catch the fluid). I was told to go home and wait for the contractions to start but to come back in 24 hours if they hadn't started so that I could be induced.
That was a long afternoon! I tried everything I could think of - curry, pineapple, long walks and so on but no joy!
There was still no sign on Tuesday morning, so we went back to the hospital to prepare to be induced. Because it had been over 24 hours since the waters broke, the first priority was to put be on some antibiotics. I'm allergic to pencillin, so they had to put me on something else which needed to be applied through a canula (??) in my wrist. It took them three goes to find a good vein for it, and when they did, it was incredibly painful. It took an hour to put all the antibiotics through me and I was in lots of pain all the time, and was then violently sick. So that was a good start.
It took most of the morning to ingest the antibiotics and find a room in the Hospital Birth Unit for me, and another few hours before we were admitted and ready to go. Because there was still no sign of contractions, they wired me up to a drip and a monitor and started me on syntocin (synthetic oxytocin) at about 6pm. Unfortunately, I then had to have more antibiotics, followed by more pain and vomiting, so I wasn't in a great frame of mind. The contractions were slow to start, but suddenly - at about 9pm - they started coming on very strongly and very painfully. One of the problems of induced contractions is that you don't build up with little baby contractions, but start quite violent contractions straightaway.
I managed the first few with the TENS machine and then moved onto a combination of TENS and gas and air and this made them manageable for a while. I think that it would have been useful to have 'practiced' getting into a rhythm of pain management with the minor contractions so that I was better prepared for the bigger, later ones, but because I didn't have the build up, I found it hard to get the rhythm. I'm afraid I was a complete wimp and demanded an epidural after only about four contractions. The midwife told me that my labour would be difficult if I had an epidural before I was 3cm dilated and that she would examine me after I'd been having regular contractions every four hours. FOUR HOURS!! To say I was a bit dismayed would be an understatement.
Eventually I found myself able to get into a rhythm of pain management with the TENS and the gas and air and went off into a bit of a trance. (Can I just say at this point how completely fantastic DH was as my birth partner? He just encouraged and supported me all the way through, gently helping me through all the contractions.)
Got very fed up after a while and asked again if I could have an epidural, even though I'd only been contracting for about two and a half hours. The midwife agreed to examine me and then told me that it was too late for an epidural and I now needed to push!!
I have to say that we've talked a lot about the pain of contractions and how to manage them, but I really wasn't prepared for the completely different pain of pushing the baby out. I started pushing at about 11.30, but got very discouraged because I completely couldn't feel the baby anywhere. I made another fuss, and the midwife brought the doctor in and they started discussing options for taking me into theatre for anaesthetic and a ventouse delivery. Frankly I decided that it would take too long to do that and I was utterly fed up with the whole giving birth lark. So I carried on pushing and then, all of a sudden, taking me completely by surprise - there she was!!
I've had some people congratulate me for managing the contractions with just TENS and G&A and not having any interventions. Can i just say that I don't think it's anything to boast about? I most certainly would have had an epidural if it had been possible, and it was just the circumstances of my birth that dictated what I used, rather than my own choice. Had I had a longer delivery, I think an epidural would have been a completely logical and reasonable option and I hope nobody else feels any pressure to do it without an epidural because I did.
After the birth, I was transferred to the ward and was kept there for two nights so that they could observe us in case either of us developed an infection due to the early waters breaking. I actually really enjoyed my time in hospital - the staff were brilliant and I was really well cared for.
have been home for nearly a week now and am adjusting to life as a new mum. Have nearly mastered breastfeeding and we are beginning to get into a sort of routine. Getting her to settle in her Moses basket at night is our biggest current challenge, but we're working on it.
Sorry for long post, but hopefully it will make some of you feel more encouraged about having an induction if that's what you're facing.