Ok so I thought I would share my birth story here so I wouldn't forget anything.
I was booked in for
induction on 2nd February, I arrived just before 4pm as
instructed. We walked to the delivery suite which was strange as the
last time we were there was when I gave birth to Christopher back in
2009, I was in labour last time, this time I had no pain and had no
idea when my daughter was going to make an appearance.
I was shown up to level
5, and given room 5 – a lovely little private room with a big
window and a view out over part of the hospital and the Oxfordshire
countryside.
I was stuck on the
monitor and everything with me and my princess was fine. I was then
examined and was only 2cm dilated, my cervix was still quite
posterior and thick. My waters were able to be broken but it wasn't
the hospitals policy to break waters 1st anymore, they
opted for the prostin gel 1st.
View from above:
So attractive right?
I was given the prostin
gel at 5:20, it stung slightly but nothing major, it was more
uncomfortable than anything else. I was still being monitored and had
to be monitored for 30 minutes after the gel incase it upset the baby
or anything. The monitor showed a few tightenings, nothing strong or
painful but it was a positive sign that it was doing something.
I had to stay on the
monitor until about 6:30 as our baby girl was a bit difficult and
moved around whilst I was being monitored so I had to stay on the
monitor a little longer than expected but all was well so I was
allowed off and able to get up and walk about. I was still having a
couple of tighenings but they weren't too painful.
We had a wander and
went and rang Christopher about 7 o'clock so that we can say
goodnight to him as he was staying at my mother in laws overnight. I
was able to walk quite happily but still having a few tighenings so
was more than happy to go back to my room and watch some programs
that I had saved to the iPad.
Lee had to go home at
9pm as visiting times were over and I wasn't having any strong pains.
I was having mild pains every 10 minutes or so but didn't think
anything would come of them until the next afternoon really. I said
goodbye to Lee and said I'd see him at 9am the next morning when he
could come back.
As the night went on I
played on my DS for a little while, wandered round the
communal/family seating area for a while but then decided to try and
get some rest so got ready for bed and settled down with the iPad and
watched some Harry Potter. The midwife came and checked on me and
said I should try and get some rest but I couldn't settle down.
About midnight I asked
for some painkillers and if they had any heatpads as my back was
really hurting, my pains were all in my back just like when I was in
labour with Christopher. They didn't have any heatpads but they
brought me a hot towel which was heaven.
Around 3am things were
getting too much, I had been monitoring my contractions which were a
lot stronger now, they were coming every 2-3 minutes and lasting
about 45 seconds to a minute. I called for the midwife to come and
told her it was getting a bit much. She said I wasn't due to be
examined again until 7am but she would check me now. She went and got
her gloves etc and checked me. I was 4cm dilated and now in
established labour! Woohoo!! They were having to call in an on call
midwife but she would be there in about 20-30 minutes which was good
as that was enough time for me to call Lee and for him to get
there.
I called Lee at 3:23 am and told him that I needed him and
that I was in established labour. He sounded a little surprised but
would be on his way super soon.
We went down to the
delivery suite not long before 4am, I couldn't walk as the pains were
so regular so had to be taken down in a wheelchair. Just as I was
coming out of the lift, Lee arrived so it was perfect timing. He
helped open the doors and get me settled into the room. I felt so
much better once he was there. We were in room 9 this time, right
next door to room 8 where I had Christopher.
The pains were strong
but I was managing to breath through them, the best thing I found was
rocking side to side and using the gas and air.
Around 5:30 I was
starting to struggle, I knew that I didn't want other pain relief and
as my waters hadn't gone yet I wanted to know if I could have them
broken as they were bulging when I was last checked yet still hadn't
gone. They midwife wasn't too sure as it wasn't standard practice so
had to go and check with her supervisor if they were able to do it.
Thankfully she came back and said yes! I had my waters broken at 5:40
and was 7cm dilated at that point.
Between then and the
delivery was a bit of a blur, the pains were worse and close together
but the gas and air took the edge off. I started to feel the need to
push, I told the midwife that I needed to push, she had a look and I
just remember her saying “oh yes, I can see the head”, she just
had enough time to put her gloves on before my body took over. I
couldn't hold back. Sure enough Jessica practically pushed her own
head out and then came her body in the next push.
Our beautiful daughter
Jessica Sophie Thomas came into the world at 6:16am weighing 8lb
11oz.
My 2nd stage
was recorded at just 4 minutes!! I ended up with a 2nd
degree tear due to the fast delivery so had to have stitches, weirdly
the midwife who came to do my stitches was the midwife who delivered
Christopher. I remembered her as soon as she walked in the room, her
name was Marie, she had big curly brown hair and a really soothing
voice. Once I had been stitched up I was able to go for a shower
whilst Lee looked after Jessica. I did a wee and had a shower, as it
was the 1st wee post birth they measured it and
unfortunately it was 1.3litres which was too much, more than normal.
I didn't have the sensation to go straight away so they thought that
I had overextended my bladder and in order to prevent any damage/give
my bladder a rest I had to have a catheter fitted for 24 hours. I had
also lost quite a lot of blood, just over what was counted as normal
so they would want to monitor me anyway. Marie, the midwife was so
nice and was really apologetic about it as she had to fit the
catheter which was another invasive thing after she had already
stitched me up. I really wasn't that bothered, I felt drained so just
did as I was told. Weirdly after I had Christopher I had something
similar although I didn't have the sensation to go at all so they did
a manual catheter and when I went upstairs to the ward I still didn't
have the full sensation back so this time wasn't that much of a
surprise and was slightly better.
We went up to the ward
and as it was after 9am Lee was allowed to stay with us. He went home
at lunch time so that he could have a shower and get a couple of
things that I wanted as we were going to be staying in a bit longer
than I had anticipated. He was also able to take my wet towels etc
home. He came back at 3pm with his mum, stepdad and Christopher with
all the bits I wanted.
Here was Christopher meeting his baby sister for the first time:
My mum, dad and sister
came to visit in the evening, my mum had made cupcakes for the
midwives on the ward who really appreciated it, my dad took Lee down
the road to the Pizza Hut to go and get a pizza for me as the food
that had been ordered for my bed by the previous occupant was an egg
sandwich which there was no way I was eating it! I HATE egg
sandwiches. He came back with a large pizza which me and him shared. Nom Nom Nom!!
I was allowed home the
next day after the catheter had been removed and as I was able to wee
normally they said that I hadn't damaged my bladder thankfully. It
was horrible having the catheter in but I know it was for the best.
I can not fault the
care that I received in hospital and even though I was induced this
time I think I had a really positive induction. I thought it was
going to be long and drawn out but it was far from it. I only used
gas and air and no other pain relief. Last time I had pethidine so I
think I coped far better this time.
