After a 9.15am induction, I went home and waited patiently. Throughout the day I could feel a small amount of pressure but nothing that presented itself as labour. It's difficult in your first pregnancy as you just don't know what to expect. I was assuming my waters would be the first sign but googling this suggested it may not be. I had been to antenatal classes but to be honest, the sessions were held in a boiling hot room (not great when you're pregnant) and it was information overload so I found it difficult to retain a lot of information (not forgetting having 'baby brain')!
Around 6pm I was feeling very uncomfortable but it was difficult to see how long it lasted for and I didn't know if it was a contraction. I started timing anyway and it seemed I have 1 and a half mins of nothing then a minute long "contraction". I still didn't believe it though and put it down to gas. My husband told me to phone triage but I refused and instead asked him to make pizza. Trying to eat the pizza proved difficult as at this point I couldn't sit and instead needed to pace around the room. Finally I gave in and called Triage.
I was told to go to the hospital and I was quickly admitted to the ward. They removed my pessary quite soon after I arrived. They told me they could send me across to the birthing suite (midwife led centre) but I'd already decided I wanted the epidural and so I'd need to stay on the ward. Not long after arriving I was given the option of gas and air. It felt awkward to use and initially made me feel dizzy and sick. This soon wore off and gas and air became my best friend! I actually used 3 canisters of it whilst on this ward! It felt embarrassing as everyone on the ward seemed carefree and not in pain. I worried that perhaps my pain threshold was low and this had all been a huge mistake especially considering this was only early labour! I was told to go for walks throughout the evening/night but it was so painful! It felt like my insides were falling out.
Eventually I was given an injection of Pethidine. I had originally discussed with my partner that I didn't want this as I'd heard stories of people getting sick, hallucinating and it not helping, however, in the moment all stories went out of my head. What the Pethidine did was it helped me to sleep/rest between contractions so I had quite a good night.
At 9am on the Thursday I was dilated enough to go to the delivery suite, however I had to wait until noon for a bed. The midwife in the delivery suite was amazing and really helped me feel at ease about things that were worrying me such as pooping during labour. It's inevitable but I'd only heard about it quite late on in pregnancy and the thought was humiliating. My sister had invited her mother-in-law to her third pregnancy but told her in no uncertain terms that she must not go down 'that end' and she was banned from seeing the head. Obviously when the head appeared the midwife invited her to see and she quickly obliged much to my sister's horror. My sister said she still finds it difficult to look her in the eye one year on.
I continued with gas and air in the delivery suite but this one was attached to the wall so there was a constant supply. I may have overdone it as I vomited twice! I had only managed 1 piece of toast and half a sandwich this day so having been sick was not great. I was most certainly going to have to rely on isotonic drinks to get through this labour!
My waters had to be broken. A very odd sensation! This revealed that baby had pooped inside me which clearly was not great but not much was said about it. I had my epidural which was not painful as I had imagined. An artery got scratched slightly so there was some bleeding but it was definitely worth it!
As we approached 7pm, I was told that at 8pm I would be ready to push. Eek scary!!! As the time got closer the midwife and her trainee continued to reassure me everything was good and I trusted and believed them. What they hadn't told me was that at 8pm they finished and a new midwife took over!!!! I had built up a relationship with these 2 midwives throughout the day and now when I was about to push I had to trust a new person! It was an agency midwife and a trainee came in to volunteer her services. For some reason after the changeover my contractions became less intense and less regular. This meant I was not able to push until about 10pm. Even with the epidural I could feel when there was a contraction as I could feel pressure. The monitor indicated the intensity of the contractions. Pushing was tricky but the midwife use her hand to apply pressure so that I could push against her hand. It was getting close to midnight and I'd decided I wanted my daughter born on the 23rd and not the 24th (so she had the same number as me). I shouted at my husband "I cant do it. I can't do it anymore!" Literally on the next push the head was out! It is a massive relief when the head is out. Apparently the head has to go around a bend and therefore the push has to be strong enough to get it round. It's so odd feeling the heat from the head. The next push got the body out. Baby was wrapped in a towel and put on me but I was not allowed to touch her.
It was here that I realised this once quite soon was now busy with people. Baby got taken away quite quickly. I remained on the bed in the stirrups. I had been torn so I needed stitches. I got baby handed back to me as the stitching commenced at which point she pooped down my arm and again got removed. My husband was advised to clean up my daughter and put on a nappy. Again she pooped before he had chance to put on the nappy. No pressure dad! After she was cleaned up she got taken away for antibiotics. Apparently I had a high fever during labour and this was signs of an infection which could have been transferred across to baby.
I did not get back to the ward until 5am. Stitching proved difficult for the midwife as she could not stop the bleeding. I was back on gas and air and a doctor had to come and stitch me up. I was then told to shower but I was so dizzy and weak. Damn the gas and air! My husband had to shower me which was hard as there was no power in the shower and he'd also been handed back the baby whilst the midwife went to write up the notes.
They talk about that amazing moment when your baby gets handed to you and you all shed a joyful tear but I never had this. I didn't really get to see her until we were back on the ward. The delivery suite was too busy and too stressful to have 'that moment' unfortunately. I felt a bit cheated.
The agency midwife was good, however, she did not know the hospital policies and therefore relied on the trainee to help her. This all seemed to prolong the actual labour.
Labour is embarrassing. You have to leave your dignity at the door. You are most likely to poop which can also result in haemorrhoids (as I found out!). You may need a catheter fitted to help you urinate (that's after you've sat on a commode in front of everyone a couple of times) and you may be left in stirrups for a few hours whilst sewing takes place! Such fun!
Would I do it all again? Hell yeah! My beautiful daughter was well worth it all.
Around 6pm I was feeling very uncomfortable but it was difficult to see how long it lasted for and I didn't know if it was a contraction. I started timing anyway and it seemed I have 1 and a half mins of nothing then a minute long "contraction". I still didn't believe it though and put it down to gas. My husband told me to phone triage but I refused and instead asked him to make pizza. Trying to eat the pizza proved difficult as at this point I couldn't sit and instead needed to pace around the room. Finally I gave in and called Triage.
I was told to go to the hospital and I was quickly admitted to the ward. They removed my pessary quite soon after I arrived. They told me they could send me across to the birthing suite (midwife led centre) but I'd already decided I wanted the epidural and so I'd need to stay on the ward. Not long after arriving I was given the option of gas and air. It felt awkward to use and initially made me feel dizzy and sick. This soon wore off and gas and air became my best friend! I actually used 3 canisters of it whilst on this ward! It felt embarrassing as everyone on the ward seemed carefree and not in pain. I worried that perhaps my pain threshold was low and this had all been a huge mistake especially considering this was only early labour! I was told to go for walks throughout the evening/night but it was so painful! It felt like my insides were falling out.
Eventually I was given an injection of Pethidine. I had originally discussed with my partner that I didn't want this as I'd heard stories of people getting sick, hallucinating and it not helping, however, in the moment all stories went out of my head. What the Pethidine did was it helped me to sleep/rest between contractions so I had quite a good night.
At 9am on the Thursday I was dilated enough to go to the delivery suite, however I had to wait until noon for a bed. The midwife in the delivery suite was amazing and really helped me feel at ease about things that were worrying me such as pooping during labour. It's inevitable but I'd only heard about it quite late on in pregnancy and the thought was humiliating. My sister had invited her mother-in-law to her third pregnancy but told her in no uncertain terms that she must not go down 'that end' and she was banned from seeing the head. Obviously when the head appeared the midwife invited her to see and she quickly obliged much to my sister's horror. My sister said she still finds it difficult to look her in the eye one year on.
I continued with gas and air in the delivery suite but this one was attached to the wall so there was a constant supply. I may have overdone it as I vomited twice! I had only managed 1 piece of toast and half a sandwich this day so having been sick was not great. I was most certainly going to have to rely on isotonic drinks to get through this labour!
My waters had to be broken. A very odd sensation! This revealed that baby had pooped inside me which clearly was not great but not much was said about it. I had my epidural which was not painful as I had imagined. An artery got scratched slightly so there was some bleeding but it was definitely worth it!
As we approached 7pm, I was told that at 8pm I would be ready to push. Eek scary!!! As the time got closer the midwife and her trainee continued to reassure me everything was good and I trusted and believed them. What they hadn't told me was that at 8pm they finished and a new midwife took over!!!! I had built up a relationship with these 2 midwives throughout the day and now when I was about to push I had to trust a new person! It was an agency midwife and a trainee came in to volunteer her services. For some reason after the changeover my contractions became less intense and less regular. This meant I was not able to push until about 10pm. Even with the epidural I could feel when there was a contraction as I could feel pressure. The monitor indicated the intensity of the contractions. Pushing was tricky but the midwife use her hand to apply pressure so that I could push against her hand. It was getting close to midnight and I'd decided I wanted my daughter born on the 23rd and not the 24th (so she had the same number as me). I shouted at my husband "I cant do it. I can't do it anymore!" Literally on the next push the head was out! It is a massive relief when the head is out. Apparently the head has to go around a bend and therefore the push has to be strong enough to get it round. It's so odd feeling the heat from the head. The next push got the body out. Baby was wrapped in a towel and put on me but I was not allowed to touch her.
It was here that I realised this once quite soon was now busy with people. Baby got taken away quite quickly. I remained on the bed in the stirrups. I had been torn so I needed stitches. I got baby handed back to me as the stitching commenced at which point she pooped down my arm and again got removed. My husband was advised to clean up my daughter and put on a nappy. Again she pooped before he had chance to put on the nappy. No pressure dad! After she was cleaned up she got taken away for antibiotics. Apparently I had a high fever during labour and this was signs of an infection which could have been transferred across to baby.
I did not get back to the ward until 5am. Stitching proved difficult for the midwife as she could not stop the bleeding. I was back on gas and air and a doctor had to come and stitch me up. I was then told to shower but I was so dizzy and weak. Damn the gas and air! My husband had to shower me which was hard as there was no power in the shower and he'd also been handed back the baby whilst the midwife went to write up the notes.
They talk about that amazing moment when your baby gets handed to you and you all shed a joyful tear but I never had this. I didn't really get to see her until we were back on the ward. The delivery suite was too busy and too stressful to have 'that moment' unfortunately. I felt a bit cheated.
The agency midwife was good, however, she did not know the hospital policies and therefore relied on the trainee to help her. This all seemed to prolong the actual labour.
Labour is embarrassing. You have to leave your dignity at the door. You are most likely to poop which can also result in haemorrhoids (as I found out!). You may need a catheter fitted to help you urinate (that's after you've sat on a commode in front of everyone a couple of times) and you may be left in stirrups for a few hours whilst sewing takes place! Such fun!
Would I do it all again? Hell yeah! My beautiful daughter was well worth it all.