My daughter is now 18 months and I have decided that it is time to write my labour story before it becomes a distant memory.
Monday 7th October 2013 I woke knowing that I was 10 days overdue and scheduled to be induced later that day. However that's not all, I was getting cramps, they kept waking me up and I hadn't quite clicked onto the fact that I was in very early labour!! The previous night I had also had some pressure down there but it didn't turn out to be anything much, I just rocked side to side in the living room watching The X Factor.
So lets get back to Monday, my appointment was at 6:00pm and throughout the day I noticed these 'cramps' getting more regular, stronger even, but I just kept on making sure I had everything packed. Every ten minutes the cramps would come, last a few seconds and then go, finally I realised I was having contractions! They may have been small but they had started, finally, after so many days of just wishing my baby was here and well.
Hours later we got to the hospital, I just went in for my normal appointment time as I had done a significant amount of reading and knew they wouldn't have suggested for me to come in any sooner as the cramps were not strong enough yet, although they were really starting to hurt.
So we waited, and we waited... and we waited. Over an hour and a half later a midwife had decided it was my turn to be seen, she put the weird belt thing around my belly and attached the heartbeat monitor to it to keep an eye on baby and she gave me this pressy thing that I had to click whenever I felt a movement just in case the machine missed it. I was hooked up to this for a good hour or so, she tried to listen to my belly with a plastic horn looking object, but my partner started laughing which started me off. The midwife looked less than impressed, believe me!!
It was around this point that they told me they couldn't induce me because I had already starting contracting on my own and they also told me that Mark would have to leave soon as we were in a public room. This was the worst thing anyone could have said, first of all I wasn't being induced so I had no idea how long I was going to be waiting for my baby to decide that she's ready to pop out, but now I had to stay in the hospital, alone, all night. I was so scared, I was in pain from the stronger contractions and I just wanted someone I loved to comfort me. I cried enough tears for all the babies in the hospital that night, especially because just after he left and got in a taxi they were able to move me to a private room. I was furious, scared, upset and alone. This was going to be a looooooong night!!
The pain just kept getting stronger and stronger, nothing would ease it. I tried bouncing, walking, lying down, kneeling up and the painkillers they had on offer. That anti-sickness injection might I add, made me throw up like crazy and also super dizzy, but the pain was slowly easing off so I didn't mind so much.
Tuesday 8th October 2013 and still no baby. Call me naive but I was in the frame of mind that Monday I go in and be induced, and Tuesday I would be holding my child. I spend the majority of the day lying in bed, the contractions had slowed down mid afternoon and I didn't know what was going on. At about 6:30 the midwife decided it was time to monitor the baby's movements by putting that belt on me again. I was told if the number goes low to press the red button which gets their attention. The number monitored the beats and it went from over 100 to about 60 so I pressed the button and the midwife said that I need to have my waters broken as soon as and that they were rushing to get a bed ready for me. I was alone at this point and Mark was on his way in.
By the time he arrived at the hospital I was in a different ward with a different midwife having my water broken. Having my waters broken, in case you wondered, didn't hurt at all, I didn't even feel it if I'm completely honest, although I know a lot of people say that it was very uncomfortable, sometimes even painful for them. As soon as she finished Mark was in the room and I have to say that calmed my nerves a bit, although I was really starting to get nervous! At 8:00pm I was in established labour, hooked up to oxytocin to help speed the process along, and getting high off the gas and air. Personally for me, as a pain relief it didn't work, but having something to bite down on during the contractions helped. I tried my hardest to not have any other pain relief but by 10:00pm it just got too much for me and I asked for the pethadine. Some say that it just makes them groggy, but it really took the edge off for me, for half an hour anyway.
Having to drink so much was taking its toll on my bladder, which got quite annoying as I had to drag the oxytocin machine with me every time I needed the loo.
After many ramblings about complete nonsense I had really started to get that 'need-to-poop' feeling, the pressure is so strong, you do definitely know when you are ready to push, if can let them examine you then that is fantastic, however there was no way I could hold that baby in anymore!! I started pushing at midnight, and after 41 minutes of focussed pushing, very quietly I must say, the most beautiful child was finally here. Wednesday 9th October 2013 We finally got to meet our baby, a baby girl, and instantly all the pain went away. Weighing 6lb 10oz, every tiny little part of her was as perfect as I could have imagined.
That's not the end though... I got a second degree tear so I needed stitching up, other than the needle going in to numb the area I didn't feel a thing, the next week or so I drank so much water that I only felt sore for about two days as the swelling went down.
