thanks everyone!
here is the birth essay story:
contractions started at about 7 am the day after my waters broke.
at 8 am they were 2 mins apart and dh hurried my ds to my sister's and we arrived at hosp about 9.
my ctx were pretty strong - was shouting quite a lot - and had about 30 sec gap between them. i was examined and was only 2cm they gave me gas and air which was great. they put a monitor on the bump and said that baby had an irregular hb. mw went to get consultant to listen who said that they weren't happy with the readings they were getting and it was becoming difficult for me to stay still on my back as the pain was so bad. she says the ctx are bad because baby is back to back. my instinct is to be on all fours which is not possible due to monitoring. also, it is not possible to use the birthing pool due to hb.
11 am i couldn't stay on my back any more and they put a monitor on baby's head to read hb, which was still irregular. mw says to me that when baby is born he will need an ecg to check his heart is ok. she offers me some pethidene for pain relief but having had it with ds1 i really don't want to take it again (just didn't like the experience).
she examines me and i'm 5 cms which is good progress over 2 hours but still a long way to go.
ctx are coming on top of each other and i'm constantly breathing gas and air which is not as effective. i scream ask for an epidural which they sort out really quickly. the first dose doesn't work. after 20 mins i have the second dose which doesn't work. after 20 mins more they give me the third dose which has the effect of shortening the contractions (thank god) although i can still feel them, i can use the gas and air to get through them. after another 20 mins or so i am not in pain anymore although i can feel the contractions they are mild. i also have some involuntary pushing and mw tells me that it is my body trying to turn baby over as he is back to back.
and then the sickness begins! the epi makes me vomitty and freezing cold. they give me an injection to stop me being sick and pile three blankets on top of me. i can't stop shaking though, most bizarre. my blood pressure drops and i keep blacking out but again after a while that stops.
at about 2.30 pm the mws tell dh to go and have a walk and eat as she'll examine me in a couple of hours to see how dilated i am. at about 3 ish i can feel the contractions getting stronger again and mw says she'll arrange a top up. i ask her to examine me as i can feel the baby pressure changing. she looks and can see the baby bulging (ew) and tells the other mw to call dh back quick.
they tell me to pant through ctx until dh gets there. he arrives and they offer me g&a for the pushing stage, which i decline so i can stay in control (lol). they tell me to start pushing with each contraction which feels great to be actually doing something to end the pain i feel much more together during the pushing stage than with ds1 and am able to stop and pant where necessary in order to stop him being delivered to quickly, the worst bit being the burning feeling still nothing in comparison to the ctx. in about 7 pushes (2 pushes being when i am vomitting again!) ds2 is born and i have no tear (2nd degree with ds1). he is 9lb 2 oz which is bigger than ds1 and he was 2 weeks early, thank god i didn't go full term!
they deliver him on to my chest and after a few rubs with a towel he starts mewing then they take him to the little bed thing and give him oxygen because of his heartbeat. his apgar score was 9 and so they give him back to me for a feed.
phew!
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