So I've been off-line for a bit longer than usual and those of you that didn't know probably made an educated guess that I had perhaps gone into labour . . . and you'd be correct!
Now, I've spent a while thinking about how much information to include in this blog as don't want to make any of my readers feel queasy. However, I figured that those of you that have been loyally following my journey deserve a full account of what I've been leading up to and I also suspect that a majority of you reading this blog will be women and let's face it we're tougher than most men, so I don't imagine any of you will be passing out or puking about what I tell you and for you men reading the least you can do is read about what happens in labour, because let's face it you're never going to have to go through it yourselves! It's not that going to be disgusting, I just want to portray a truthful account and know that some of my choice of phrase will be a little out of sorts compared with my everyday blogs. Anyway, enough justifying - let's cut to the chase!
It was last Tuesday evening (23rd August) one week before my due date and I went to bed, on my own (as James and I had been doing for the past few weeks in an attempt to both get a little more sleep). It was about 11pm and I put my hypno-birthing affirmations on the ipod to relax into a deep sleep and further drum into my brain how everything about my birth would be perfect and easy etc etc. It was probably about 15 minutes into it when my mind wondered off track and I found myself thinking about how both of my sister-in-laws had given birth early to both of their first children (who both happened to be girls) and questioned whether I would be the same. This was despite the fact that at this point in my pregnancy I was getting sick of wondering 'is today the day?' and was really trying to just think about the fact that she would definitely be with us in three weeks time - a task that is easier said than done when you are heavily pregnant and pretty flippin' uncomfortable! Anyway, it turns out I wouldn't have to go through this thought process again, as whilst I was thinking about my nieces being early I felt a trickle down below which quickly turned into what felt like a flood (I did warn you squeamish people!) - yep you guessed it, my waters had broken! (thank god for the plastic sheet we'd put on the bed a few weeks prior, in anticipation for this very moment). At this point I didn't know whether to stay on the bed or get up - so after about 3 seconds deliberating I leapt up, waters still spilling all over the floor, pulled open the bedroom door and shouted along the corridor to James (who by the way didn't hear me!) then went and sat on the en-suite toilet whilst my waters continued to break. After a few minutes this flood ceased so James (still at this time blissfully asleep) was in for a rude awakening! I went along to the spare room he was sleeping in, pushed open the door and let him know that 'it' was happening! I've never seen him move so quick! He leapt up and followed me back to our room, picking up the pregnancy notes on the way so he could call the hospital to let them know. We were lucky in that everything was looking ok for me to be admitted to the midwifery unit at the hospital rather than the delivery suite. This is basically a home-from-home experience run by midwifes only and no doctors anywhere (well technically they were across the corridor, but they just don't get involved unless they have to).
James called them and spoke to a midwife called Laura, who asked some questions like 'what colour is the water?' and 'have the contractions started?' etc etc. This resulted in her telling us to go back to bed, get some sleep (yeah right!) and call back in the morning if my contractions hadn't started and I'd have to go in for a check over. Anyway, I got as far as sitting on the bed and knew I was never going to be going back to sleep. In fact, at this point I couldn't have been further away from the relaxed state I'd been practicing to get into when I went into labour - my teeth were chattering and I was shaking - this was probably adrenalin and panic rather than being cold and was not how I expected to feel. Something had to change! I needed to relax but at this precise moment couldn't remember any of the techniques I'd learned, as I was apprehensive about what was to come next . . . within about ten minutes of James speaking to Laura I started getting cramps but didn't think they were contractions and was so concerned about making a fuss, or appearing to be a wimp if they weren't that I didn't let James call the hospital back, despite the fact that there was really not much time between these weird pains. I was thinking that perhaps I was constipated rather than in the midst of contractions, despite the fact that I'd already been to the toilet twice since my waters had broken. This continued for a while and it reached the point where I called my Mum to see if someone with labour experience could shed some light for me . . . she ended up coming over (the beauty of her living just three miles away) and she had been at ours for no longer that a couple of minutes before confirming that I was definitely experiencing contractions. Having transferred in this time to the other bathroom, following another breaking of my waters, I sat firmly on the toilet (which seemed like the safest, although not the most comfortable, place to be) whilst James called the birthing unit again. Once again he spoke to Laura and suggested my contractions were possibly about three minutes apart (I didn't correct him at the time but knew they were closer than this). I spoke to Laura and she said to time the contractions and call back in about half an hour to an hour to let her know what was happening . . . James started timing contractions and I headed downstairs, aided by Mum. It was by the time I got to the bottom of the stairs and had experienced another two contractions that we realised they were in fact only ONE minute apart and continued at that rate! So with it all happening so quickly we ended up calling Laura back within 15 minutes and she wasn't surprised to hear from us, after speaking to me before. This was the last phone call we made as we were sent straight up to the unit at this point . . . James ran about getting the hospital bag and other bits and pieces together, whilst Mum tried to help me get ready. I was stressing at this point and couldn't even decide what to wear - not really the time to be fashion conscious I know, but for some reason I was struggling (possibly due to not much fitting me and what did was soaked through from the multiple water breakages I'd had in the previous hour!). Anyway, eventually we were ready and on leaving I apologised in advance to Mum (who we'd decided should come with us at this point, just in case we didn't make it to the hospital!) and James about being horrible to them, as felt I wouldn't be a very chilled patient and didn't want them to take my shortness with them personally.
The car journey seemed to go quicker than I'd imagined and I was particularly thankful that James was putting his foot down more than normal, as just wanted to get there. I didn't really speak much during the journey, which took about 25 minutes, just tried my hardest to concentrate on my breathing and getting into a relaxed state by the time we reached the hospital. We got there at about 1.30am and with a few contractions and cross words to Mum (who was only trying to help - sorry Ma!) between the car and the birthing unit we eventually got into our room, the safe haven! It was a lovely private room with a water birthing pool, plenty of space and an en-suite. After getting past the miserable matron-like receptionist I think we were all very relieved to be greeted by the lovely Laura, who was to be our midwife throughout the birth. She went through the standard admission procedure by filling in forms and weighing me etc - all this seemed quite a faff when I was still contracting every minute and all I wanted to do was get into the pool (which at this point wasn't even filled). Laura was lovely though and was with us every step of the way, standing back most of the time and stepping in when some extra support was needed. When I eventually got into the pool it was pretty soothing - I won't lull any Mums to be into a false sense of security though as it doesn't actually stop the pain of the contractions but it does make you feel a bit more comfortable and I found it far more relaxing than being on dry land (so to speak). The next 5 hours are a bit of a blur really, I continued contracting at a rate of one minute apart for a while and Mum and James did their best to help me through each one (which was probably just as exhausting for them). The best thing for me was the flannel we'd brought with us which James covered with icy water between each contraction and held to my head through the pain. Each time the heat of my body almost dried the flannel out, boy I was warm! It got to the point where James and I had this kind of intuitive bond going on, as when I was starting a contraction all I had to do was nod very slightly at him and he knew so squeezed my hand and mopped by head with the cold compact. I didn't really speak through the whole labour, just got in the zone and did my best to breathe deeply through each contraction. It sounds stupid but one thing that was also helpful was for Mum and James to remind me to breathe deeply, as otherwise it would have been easy to speed my breathing up with the pain, resulting in me being more stressed. This is exactly what happened when I had a couple of puffs on the gas and air, as automatically you breathe it in quickly and this took me out of my more relaxed state, so I ditched this as an option within minutes deciding to go it alone and pain relief free! It wasn't until right near the end when I felt I needed help and couldn't do it, a normal reaction for women in labour apparently? In my head I was wanting an epidural, caesarian or anything that would take the pain and work away from me - I was so exhausted and didn't feel like I was getting anywhere . . . in actual fact I was and before long Laura was telling us she could see the head which was covered in dark hair (relief for me as I was bald until I was about a year old!) and then, after some serious pushing for the last tough half an hour or so, our little girl was born at 6.21am.
As she finally entered the world under water in the pool, I was very privileged to be able to lift her up and out of the water myself. I laid her on my chest where she latched on for a feed immediately, a truly amazing moment and apparently one that is pretty rare according to the midwives present. She continued to feed for twenty minutes and despite wanting to hold her until the placenta was delivered I felt suddenly exhausted, so James cut the cord (something I was very proud of him doing) and took her for a cuddle whilst I stood up out of the water to deliver the massive placenta! If you've never seen one of these you will be shocked to know that they are about as big as the baby and weigh around a third. If you imagine a school dinner tray, this was about the size of the tray it landed on and filled - amazing!! Mum, went out of the room as she was born to give James and I time together which was nice, although I was kind of in a World of my own.
I was left in the pool for a while after this as was loosing quite a bit of blood - so now I was sitting in a not so clear pool surrounded by my own blood and my new babies poo (thanks darling!). When I eventually got out of the water I laid down on a mattress on the floor and fed my little girl for about another hour. By this time Bryan had arrived to pick Mum up so we invited them in and Bryan was particularly choked and overwhelmed, which was when I got a lump in my throat and shed my first tear as a new Mum (one of many to come over the coming years no doubt). Once they left I was examined and told I had torn quite severely, internally and externally, so would need stitches. They just needed a Doctor to examine me too to decide whether I needed to go into surgery for this or not . . . this is where I will stop with the detail as it could get really crude and quite frankly I'm not sure I want to relive the pain of these multiple examinations and then the stitches. All I will say is that I had the stitches under a local anaesthetic (which in itself was more needles than I'd ever want to be near again!) and that along with the examinations was horrific! Far worse than labour and something I hope I don't have to go through again. This is when I did make the most of the gas and air and tried my best to get as high as a kite!
We ended up staying at the hospital until about 5pm by the time they got round to doing my stitches and checking the little one over (who by the way was all fine and weighed 7lb 8oz), by which time we were more than ready to head home! That evening James' parents, Mum, Bryan, my sister Yaz, brother Karl and partner James all came over to see us and meet the new addition to the family. It's safe to say lots of hearts were melting that night and she'll never be lacking in attention and cuddles!
Now, for life ahead as parents! Here goes . . .
Now, I've spent a while thinking about how much information to include in this blog as don't want to make any of my readers feel queasy. However, I figured that those of you that have been loyally following my journey deserve a full account of what I've been leading up to and I also suspect that a majority of you reading this blog will be women and let's face it we're tougher than most men, so I don't imagine any of you will be passing out or puking about what I tell you and for you men reading the least you can do is read about what happens in labour, because let's face it you're never going to have to go through it yourselves! It's not that going to be disgusting, I just want to portray a truthful account and know that some of my choice of phrase will be a little out of sorts compared with my everyday blogs. Anyway, enough justifying - let's cut to the chase!
It was last Tuesday evening (23rd August) one week before my due date and I went to bed, on my own (as James and I had been doing for the past few weeks in an attempt to both get a little more sleep). It was about 11pm and I put my hypno-birthing affirmations on the ipod to relax into a deep sleep and further drum into my brain how everything about my birth would be perfect and easy etc etc. It was probably about 15 minutes into it when my mind wondered off track and I found myself thinking about how both of my sister-in-laws had given birth early to both of their first children (who both happened to be girls) and questioned whether I would be the same. This was despite the fact that at this point in my pregnancy I was getting sick of wondering 'is today the day?' and was really trying to just think about the fact that she would definitely be with us in three weeks time - a task that is easier said than done when you are heavily pregnant and pretty flippin' uncomfortable! Anyway, it turns out I wouldn't have to go through this thought process again, as whilst I was thinking about my nieces being early I felt a trickle down below which quickly turned into what felt like a flood (I did warn you squeamish people!) - yep you guessed it, my waters had broken! (thank god for the plastic sheet we'd put on the bed a few weeks prior, in anticipation for this very moment). At this point I didn't know whether to stay on the bed or get up - so after about 3 seconds deliberating I leapt up, waters still spilling all over the floor, pulled open the bedroom door and shouted along the corridor to James (who by the way didn't hear me!) then went and sat on the en-suite toilet whilst my waters continued to break. After a few minutes this flood ceased so James (still at this time blissfully asleep) was in for a rude awakening! I went along to the spare room he was sleeping in, pushed open the door and let him know that 'it' was happening! I've never seen him move so quick! He leapt up and followed me back to our room, picking up the pregnancy notes on the way so he could call the hospital to let them know. We were lucky in that everything was looking ok for me to be admitted to the midwifery unit at the hospital rather than the delivery suite. This is basically a home-from-home experience run by midwifes only and no doctors anywhere (well technically they were across the corridor, but they just don't get involved unless they have to).
James called them and spoke to a midwife called Laura, who asked some questions like 'what colour is the water?' and 'have the contractions started?' etc etc. This resulted in her telling us to go back to bed, get some sleep (yeah right!) and call back in the morning if my contractions hadn't started and I'd have to go in for a check over. Anyway, I got as far as sitting on the bed and knew I was never going to be going back to sleep. In fact, at this point I couldn't have been further away from the relaxed state I'd been practicing to get into when I went into labour - my teeth were chattering and I was shaking - this was probably adrenalin and panic rather than being cold and was not how I expected to feel. Something had to change! I needed to relax but at this precise moment couldn't remember any of the techniques I'd learned, as I was apprehensive about what was to come next . . . within about ten minutes of James speaking to Laura I started getting cramps but didn't think they were contractions and was so concerned about making a fuss, or appearing to be a wimp if they weren't that I didn't let James call the hospital back, despite the fact that there was really not much time between these weird pains. I was thinking that perhaps I was constipated rather than in the midst of contractions, despite the fact that I'd already been to the toilet twice since my waters had broken. This continued for a while and it reached the point where I called my Mum to see if someone with labour experience could shed some light for me . . . she ended up coming over (the beauty of her living just three miles away) and she had been at ours for no longer that a couple of minutes before confirming that I was definitely experiencing contractions. Having transferred in this time to the other bathroom, following another breaking of my waters, I sat firmly on the toilet (which seemed like the safest, although not the most comfortable, place to be) whilst James called the birthing unit again. Once again he spoke to Laura and suggested my contractions were possibly about three minutes apart (I didn't correct him at the time but knew they were closer than this). I spoke to Laura and she said to time the contractions and call back in about half an hour to an hour to let her know what was happening . . . James started timing contractions and I headed downstairs, aided by Mum. It was by the time I got to the bottom of the stairs and had experienced another two contractions that we realised they were in fact only ONE minute apart and continued at that rate! So with it all happening so quickly we ended up calling Laura back within 15 minutes and she wasn't surprised to hear from us, after speaking to me before. This was the last phone call we made as we were sent straight up to the unit at this point . . . James ran about getting the hospital bag and other bits and pieces together, whilst Mum tried to help me get ready. I was stressing at this point and couldn't even decide what to wear - not really the time to be fashion conscious I know, but for some reason I was struggling (possibly due to not much fitting me and what did was soaked through from the multiple water breakages I'd had in the previous hour!). Anyway, eventually we were ready and on leaving I apologised in advance to Mum (who we'd decided should come with us at this point, just in case we didn't make it to the hospital!) and James about being horrible to them, as felt I wouldn't be a very chilled patient and didn't want them to take my shortness with them personally.
The car journey seemed to go quicker than I'd imagined and I was particularly thankful that James was putting his foot down more than normal, as just wanted to get there. I didn't really speak much during the journey, which took about 25 minutes, just tried my hardest to concentrate on my breathing and getting into a relaxed state by the time we reached the hospital. We got there at about 1.30am and with a few contractions and cross words to Mum (who was only trying to help - sorry Ma!) between the car and the birthing unit we eventually got into our room, the safe haven! It was a lovely private room with a water birthing pool, plenty of space and an en-suite. After getting past the miserable matron-like receptionist I think we were all very relieved to be greeted by the lovely Laura, who was to be our midwife throughout the birth. She went through the standard admission procedure by filling in forms and weighing me etc - all this seemed quite a faff when I was still contracting every minute and all I wanted to do was get into the pool (which at this point wasn't even filled). Laura was lovely though and was with us every step of the way, standing back most of the time and stepping in when some extra support was needed. When I eventually got into the pool it was pretty soothing - I won't lull any Mums to be into a false sense of security though as it doesn't actually stop the pain of the contractions but it does make you feel a bit more comfortable and I found it far more relaxing than being on dry land (so to speak). The next 5 hours are a bit of a blur really, I continued contracting at a rate of one minute apart for a while and Mum and James did their best to help me through each one (which was probably just as exhausting for them). The best thing for me was the flannel we'd brought with us which James covered with icy water between each contraction and held to my head through the pain. Each time the heat of my body almost dried the flannel out, boy I was warm! It got to the point where James and I had this kind of intuitive bond going on, as when I was starting a contraction all I had to do was nod very slightly at him and he knew so squeezed my hand and mopped by head with the cold compact. I didn't really speak through the whole labour, just got in the zone and did my best to breathe deeply through each contraction. It sounds stupid but one thing that was also helpful was for Mum and James to remind me to breathe deeply, as otherwise it would have been easy to speed my breathing up with the pain, resulting in me being more stressed. This is exactly what happened when I had a couple of puffs on the gas and air, as automatically you breathe it in quickly and this took me out of my more relaxed state, so I ditched this as an option within minutes deciding to go it alone and pain relief free! It wasn't until right near the end when I felt I needed help and couldn't do it, a normal reaction for women in labour apparently? In my head I was wanting an epidural, caesarian or anything that would take the pain and work away from me - I was so exhausted and didn't feel like I was getting anywhere . . . in actual fact I was and before long Laura was telling us she could see the head which was covered in dark hair (relief for me as I was bald until I was about a year old!) and then, after some serious pushing for the last tough half an hour or so, our little girl was born at 6.21am.
As she finally entered the world under water in the pool, I was very privileged to be able to lift her up and out of the water myself. I laid her on my chest where she latched on for a feed immediately, a truly amazing moment and apparently one that is pretty rare according to the midwives present. She continued to feed for twenty minutes and despite wanting to hold her until the placenta was delivered I felt suddenly exhausted, so James cut the cord (something I was very proud of him doing) and took her for a cuddle whilst I stood up out of the water to deliver the massive placenta! If you've never seen one of these you will be shocked to know that they are about as big as the baby and weigh around a third. If you imagine a school dinner tray, this was about the size of the tray it landed on and filled - amazing!! Mum, went out of the room as she was born to give James and I time together which was nice, although I was kind of in a World of my own.
 |
| India Macy King with tired Daddy in the background |
I was left in the pool for a while after this as was loosing quite a bit of blood - so now I was sitting in a not so clear pool surrounded by my own blood and my new babies poo (thanks darling!). When I eventually got out of the water I laid down on a mattress on the floor and fed my little girl for about another hour. By this time Bryan had arrived to pick Mum up so we invited them in and Bryan was particularly choked and overwhelmed, which was when I got a lump in my throat and shed my first tear as a new Mum (one of many to come over the coming years no doubt). Once they left I was examined and told I had torn quite severely, internally and externally, so would need stitches. They just needed a Doctor to examine me too to decide whether I needed to go into surgery for this or not . . . this is where I will stop with the detail as it could get really crude and quite frankly I'm not sure I want to relive the pain of these multiple examinations and then the stitches. All I will say is that I had the stitches under a local anaesthetic (which in itself was more needles than I'd ever want to be near again!) and that along with the examinations was horrific! Far worse than labour and something I hope I don't have to go through again. This is when I did make the most of the gas and air and tried my best to get as high as a kite!
We ended up staying at the hospital until about 5pm by the time they got round to doing my stitches and checking the little one over (who by the way was all fine and weighed 7lb 8oz), by which time we were more than ready to head home! That evening James' parents, Mum, Bryan, my sister Yaz, brother Karl and partner James all came over to see us and meet the new addition to the family. It's safe to say lots of hearts were melting that night and she'll never be lacking in attention and cuddles!
Now, for life ahead as parents! Here goes . . .
Thanks for sharing this with us kaori, I was looking forward to ALL the details and you didn't disapoint. I love hearing about others birth experiences as they are truly amazing.
ReplyDeleteSo glad she is here safely with you. x