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25-6-2008 - Birth Story

My mood while writing this blog: Happy :)

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I had no signs that labour was approaching at all - not even a braxton hicks - until 4 days before my due date (Tuesday) when I started to lose my mucus plug &getting some contractions (period pains). Over the follwing days i gradually lost more & more of my plug & had more & more contractions. The contractions were becoming painful and keeping me awake all night so I was exhausted. By Friday night the contractions were really hurting me and again I was sat up all night in pain but they still were irregular even though they were coming fairly frequently. At 4am I had a particularly painful contraction and some water came out but I wasn't sure it was my waters breaking because there wasn't loads of it. I rang the hospital and they told me to come in to be checked.

I got to the hospital at 6am on my due date (sat 21/06/08) and they started monitoring babies heart and my contractions. They said my babies heart was good &i was getting contractions but they weren't regular - I was v frustrated because they weren't getting regular but they were certainly hurting. They then did an internal & told me not to be disheartened if I was only 1cm dilated because it takes women ages even to get to 1cm with their 1st baby. But to my relief when they checked I was 3cm and so they gave me the option of going to the ward instead of going home since I was on the border of what they considered real labour. I was glad all this pain hadn't been totally 4 nothing and said I wanted to stay - mainly coz I wanted some pain relief as soon as possible!

On the ward I put my tens machine on which didn't help much other than kind of distracting me from the pain a tiny bit. Then I went for a walk around the hospital to try and get things moving - it was so painful but I kept walking as much as I could. When I got back to the ward I asked for gas and air which I used in conjunction with my tens machine - I got used 2 using them together so that they helped a tiny bit but it was still horrible pain! I asked how long I'd have to wait for an epidural and they said I needed to be at least 4cm dilated and they would check me soon. My contractions were more regular at this point and about 4mins apart and lasting for over a minute. Luckily the next time I was checked I was 4cm - I was so relieved I could get my epidural - and was moved to the delivery room ready to get it at about 1:30pm.

I had to wait in the delivery room for a while before I got the epidural because anaesthetist had an emergency to deal with but I was finding my contractions a little more bearable just knowing that real pain relief was coming! They were coming more frequently now but had become irregular again - some coming every 2mins & others coming every 3mins & some were stronger than others. I finally got my epidural at around 3pm. I was really scared because I'm scared of needles but I didn't see the needle and it didn't hurt that much and was soooooo worth it. After I got the epidural I had one more contraction that I felt and then after that I couldn't feel a thing - it was bliss! It was the best I felt in days and after that I was just sat up laughing and chatting with my mum, mikey &the midwife.

At 4pm my midwife did another internal and I was still only 4cm dilated- how annoying! It looked like we were in 4 a long evening! The midwife said it was because my contractions had become irregular and they decided to give me a drug to speed them up. They gave this through the drip that was already in my arm for the epidural. I was so glad I had the epidural at this point because I can't imagine how awful the contractions would have been with this drug - thankfully I still couldn't feel a thing! And as soon as I started to feel anything at all the midwife gave me a top up. The only problem was that as the hours passed by my contractions continued to be irregular - it looked like I was going 2 have a v long labour!

My midwife said that she would check me again just before 9pm but not to get my hopes - none of us had high hopes that I would have progressed much at all. At this point I did have a strange heavy sensation low down but I couldn't feel that much because of the epidural so I wasn't sure what it was. But when the midwife checked me - much to everyones suprise - she said I was 10cm dilated and ready to push! We were all shocked but v excited! I suddenly realised that my baby was about to enter the world and I couldn't stop smiling even though I was really scared about the pushing part and of tearing down below.

I started pushing about 9pm - my midwife was brilliant and talked me through every step and gave me lots of encouragement. She told me exactly when to push, when to breathe and when to relax. And then when the head was coming she told me when to do little pushes and when to push more. Mikey was holding my hand at one side and my mum was at the other and everyone was really supportive. I was trying to put all my energy into it and it was hard work but my mum & mikey said that I was smiling inbetween pushing! I think that must have been the excitment of meeting my baby so soon. Ella-Rae was born at 9:35pm with only around 30mins of pushing and without tearing me at all - I was thrilled! They put her straight on my chest and I was immediately in love - it was the most amazing experience ever. I am so thankful 4 my great labour, the great support I had from my mum, mikey and my midwife and the safe delivery of my gorgeous baby girl.

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3 Comments on Birth Story


carmendayle - Tuesday, 5 Aug
HEy there, How's mother hood going for you? I love it, and I love my little angel. I was just checkin in and wanted to say HI and see how things are?? Hope all is well, take it easy hun..and keep in touch

Cindie - Thursday, 26 Jun
CONGRATS!

carmendayle - Thursday, 26 Jun
Congrats hun, I;m so happy for you...As I'm reading this I'm so excited to meet my little one too. I'm so excited it's almost unbarable. I'm sure you understand...lol Have fun with your little one hun, and take care...