Not been on here for an age, just been so busy with my new arrival. Lewis Hamish was born on 28 Aug, 7.58am by CSection, weighing 7lb 13 oz.
Here is my mammoth birth story if you fancy a read...
After 2 unsuccessful sweeps at 1cm dilated (midwife didn't think I'd need 2nd sweep never mind getting to the induction appointment!) I had to be induced. So on Friday 26 August in I went. I thought it would be quick - in, examined, pessary, home. But it took hours. Monitoring, examination & pessary, half an hour lying on side to ensure pessary stayed in, monitored again. While being monitored, I had to lie almost flat on my back which was extremely uncomfortable, especially when I had to get up again. Anyway after 4½hrs we went home. 12hrs later contractions started although it took me an hour or so to realise what was happening. So on went the TENS machine. After a few hours I rang triage just to see if I should take the pessary out, they said no. I decided to go to bed and try to sleep and I think I actually did manage to between contractions. The pain was manageable and I certainly could have withstood more. I kept the TENS on all night. At 6am while on a trip to the loo, the pessary came out and basically the contractions stopped. As I was due to go back onto hospital the next day anyway to have the pessary removed, I decided to keep that appointment. So I went in, explained that the pessary had fallen out and was told the ward was full so to go for a walk for an hour and a half and then go back. When I went back there was another half hour wait and then I was hooked up to be monitored again. After that I was examined and now 2-3cms dilated, so at least the pessary/contractions had done something. So I was to have my waters broken and waited on a bed in labour ward, which came up very quickly.
So up in labour ward I was examined again and my waters were broken. After midwives consulting and further examinations they agreed that there was merconium in the waters and so I had to be monitored for the remainder of the labour. Contractions began again, so TENS was back on and I sent DH home to feed the cat and have his own tea.
In just over an hour he came back and the situation had completely changed. While he'd been away my contractions had increased beyond belief. Every time I moved I set another one off and there were little or no breaks in between each one. After a while of this I mentioned the epidural word to the midwife but she convinced to try paracetamol and dihydracodine first. After nearly an hour they had barely dented the pain and so I got my epidural. By this point I couldn't move and could only stand immobile while the contractions came in waves. I couldn't speak or be touched either. Thankfully the anaesthetist arrived very quickly and got the job done and I was soon much more comfortable but bed bound.
So my body laboured away while I felt no pain and tried to sleep. I got the epidural topped up anytime I wanted it and was getting regular examinations to check on my progress. I got to 8cms and nothing happened for a while so they got the oxytocin drip going. After a while I still hadn?t progressed so they tried laying me on my left. This created a problem as baby?s heartbeat dropped dramatically so they tried my right but heartbeat still didn't pick up. So all the doctors were now running in and it was a bit of a blur but I remember someone giving me am oxygen mask and then the doctor talking about monitoring the heart by using a probe on baby?s head. My instincts were that now that I was on my back again, he would be ok so I asked her to give us a minute and the heart returned to normal. I really didn't fancy that probe thing! While I had been on each side though, another problem had been discovered... I had developed pressure sores on my backside (bed sores). More on that later!
So after another hour or so on the oxytocin I was examined again but there was still no movement and so at about 7.30am they suggested caesarean. So after throwing up a few times, off we went to theatre. The section went well and Lewis was born at 7.58am. He was covered in merconium (looked like curry sauce) but cried straight away which was a good sign. He was cleaned up, I was stitched up and off we went to recovery then onto the ward.
As I had a catheter in I was bed bound for 24hrs so other people did the nappy changes and he was brought to me for feeding. Unfortunately we had big problems feeding as he wouldn't open his mouth wide enough. I was quickly shown how to hand express while one of the nursery nurses syringed the colostrum from me. In the meantime Lewis developed the newborn rash but it was quite severe so each doctor who came referred it to a colleague. About 4 doctors saw him before they were satisfied it was nothing more serious. He also developed a temperature which had people worried and I was warned to prepare myself for him going to neonata,l however another of the nursery nurses thought that it was all down to dehydration and so I decided that he should get topped up with formula because of the breastfeeding issues. This did the job quite quickly but as the feeding was still an issue the top ups continued for a few days.
In the meantime countless doctors and specialist nurses had been down to look at my behind. It was something that had happened to another few women recently during childbirth and so was of great concern. Mine was the worst so far though. Thankfully it wasn't painful, but I had to stay off of it, which is quite difficult when you're recovering from a caesarean!
On day 2 I had a total meltdown. A midwife was in trying to help Lewis latch on for a feed. I was worried about his rash and temperature, which hadn?t yet been sorted out and he was crying with hunger and frustration. It was heartbreaking as there I was ready to feed him but it just wasn?t working. I just burst into tears. It was probably the lowest moment so far.
After 2 nights on the ward a lovely midwife got me my own room and the next day I had a shower which took ages but was so worth it. The feeding issues continued but small progress was being made every day. My butt was still of concern but was getting the correct treatment and the best news was that Lewis' temperature was back to normal and his newborn rash was reducing day by day.
After 2 nights in my own room and after loads of great feeds on my last day (no more formula) I finally got home. I was in hospital for a total of 5 nights. Much longer than normal even for a CSection.
Lewis dropped from 7lb 13 at birth to 7lb 1, but at his first weighing in the house was 7lb 10 and at just 11 days old he was weighed again at 8lb 5. So the breast feeding is paying off.
The district nurse also still calls in to check my butt and change the dressings (the sores have a terrible smell!) and has shown DH how to do it too so that they can be changed whenever I want. The right side is now healed, but the left will take 2-3 more weeks we think.
I am amazed at the level if care I received at the hands of the NHS. The staff I have encountered were all amazing. I had someone with me for every single feed in the early days and if I hadn't been in hospital for so long I know that I'd have given up on the breast and gone to the bottle, so maybe things happened for the best.