Anouska's stories - Rico, Gia and Jett

RICO

Things started to happen when I was 38 weeks and 3 days gestation. I woke up late Sunday morning (enjoying my last few weeks of being able to sleep in!). After relieving myself, I noticed a streak of blood on my underpants. Hmm, I thought, what's this all about?

I called my LMC but she was in another delivery. I spoke to the nurse or midwife who answered the phone and explained what had happened. I assumed I had had my "show" and the nurse or midwife agreed.

Later that day, I received a call from my LMC and again told her what had happened. She, too, thought I had had my show.

The week went on and Friday morning came. I thought by now my supposed "show" should've been over by now, but I was wearing a sanitary pad and it was getting quite heavy with fluids. I called my LMC again and left a message, and then I went out for the day.

On returning home, I again called my LMC, who had left a message on my phone while I'd been out. I explained that my sanitary pad was very heavy. She said she would meet me at the hospital to check things over, thinking that maybe my membranes had broken.

I called my husband, who was on his way home from work, and said, "Things may be happening!" We went over to the delivery suite to meet my LMC, who, after fiddling around "down there", announced that my membranes had ruptured and I was 2cm dilated. She said I would stay in overnight and she would induce me in the morning, since it had probably been over 24 hours since my membranes broke. My husband went home and collected my bags.

That night, I had mild contractions. At 8am on Saturday, 2 August 2003, I was induced. Things started slowly but the pain was manageable. By the time I was 5cm dilated, I was wailing in pain. I had been given pethidene, but it wasn't enough.

My LMC decided an epidural would be needed, saying, "If you're screaming now at 5cm, you won't handle it at 10cm!"

It was about two-and-a-half hours later, at about 3:45pm, that I finally received the epidural, as the anaesthetists had been busy with emergencies elsewhere. After the pain started to subside, I drifted in and out of sleep.

At 7pm, I was 10cm dilated, and started pushing at 7:30pm. The baby was sitting in the posterior position, and he wasn't coming, so I was taken from the delivery suite over to the operating theatre at 8:30pm. It was either going to be a forceps delivery or caesarean (thankfully I'd already had the epidural!). I was primed for a caesarean, but the obstetrician was fantastic and managed to rotate and pull my son out with forceps.

My gorgeous baby boy, Rico, was born Saturday 2 August 2003 at 9:27 pm, weighing 8lb 15oz. As originally thought, it was not a "show" that I had on that Sunday morning, more like my waters leaking. My "show" came while I was in labour.

 

GIA

The first sign that my baby may be on its way was in the early hours of the morning. I woke with a sore back, which I assumed was due to me sleeping on my back. After lying there waiting for the pain to subside, I noticed it was creeping around to the front of my lower stomach. I knew then it was a contraction.

I decided not to wake my husband, just in case it was a false alarm as my due date was not for another week. I got up and surfed on the net for a couple of hours, timing the contractions, which were fairly mild and coming only every 20 minutes. By 5am, they had ceased, so I went back to bed. I called my LMC later that morning to say things were happening. She said that it may start again that night or the next day, so I made sure my bags were all packed and I finished packing my son's bag, as he was to stay with my sister while I was in hospital.

Sure enough, after having a great sleep that night, I woke at 6am Friday, 28 October 2005 with contractions. After going to the toilet, I saw a streak of blood and knew things were definitely happening. I told my husband he wouldn't be going to work that day and decided to take my son to my sister's house so I wouldn't have to worry about him while I was in labour, knowing it would be a long day.

I called my midwife at about 7am to say I was having contractions and there had been a bit of blood. She was planning on visiting me that day anyway, so said to wait for her to come unless I needed her otherwise. She finally made it over about 2:45pm. I was so glad to see her, but my contractions were still 15 to 20 minutes apart but were getting quite painful. She left with the notion that when things got to be too much for me, we'd go up to the delivery suite as she would be up there anyway.

I was getting very bored so my husband took me for a drive and we got something to eat. At about 4pm, I told him we needed to go up to the delivery suite so I could be assessed and see how far along I was. After my midwife checked me out, she said I was only 3cm dilated! I was gutted. So off home we went again, had some dinner and I took a sleeping pill, but I was getting way too uncomfortable.

At 8pm I arrived at the delivery suite again and requested an epidural. I was still only 4cm but was in too much pain. I tried the gas but, like my previous labour, I could not suck it in without feeling nauseous. I decided I wasn't going to have any pethidene this time, as it didn't take away the pain, only made me drowsy, which made me forget a lot of my first labour. This time I wanted to be more alert and aware of what was happening. My midwife was great and knew that after my previous labour, it might be a long night, so requested the epidural straightaway.

This time, the wait was not so long and by 10pm the epidural had been administered and I managed to get some sleep. My poor hubby had to nap on the chair with no pillow, so I was more concerned about him than I was about me being in labour! I offered him one of my pillows, since I was feeling so good, but he refused!

At 2:30am, I was fully dilated and I started pushing at 3am, hoping I could push this baby out myself this time without intervention. I also requested a mirror so I could see my baby coming. It was amazing to see my baby's hair for the first time, a vision I will never forget.

At 3:33am on Saturday, 29 October 2005, at 39 weeks gestation, to our surprise, our baby girl Gia was born, weighing 8lb 8oz. I felt so immensely proud to have pushed her out myself. That feeling was amazing -- one I missed out on with my first labour. It made me feel so relaxed and the bond with my baby was instant.

She gave a little cry when she came out, then she was laid against my tummy while the placenta was delivered and I was stitched up. She then went quiet and was just listening to my voice -- it was truly amazing.

They weighed her and then she was put on the breast, something I missed out on with my son's birth as he was whisked off as soon as the cord was cut, to be examined by the paediatrician and then put in an incubator until we got back to the post-natal room. I therefore did not have the initial contact with him. I regret that, but at the time, with it being my first child and me being quite drowsy from the pethidene, I did not question what they were doing with him. I think with it being a very long labour, then with him being rotated and pulled out with forceps, they were checking to be certain he was okay.

As much as my second labour was long, because I had the epidural early it made the whole experience so much more pleasant and I will cherish the moment of my daughter's birth forever.

 

JETT

Thursday 30 August 2007
I woke about 6:35am having cramps. That wasn't the first time that had happened, so I wasn't getting excited by any means. Most of the day I got a lot of niggly BH & cramps which wasn't like me. I was hoping that MAYBE….. FINALLY….. it was a sign that things were to happen very soon. Went to bed as usual that night, but woke around 11:55pm having painful cramps. I knew if I couldn't sleep through them they were worth timing. They were coming every 5 mins & lasting 20secs.

Friday 31 August 2007 - DUE DATE!

After lying in bed and having the cramps for half an hour I was too uncomfortable and they weren't going away. Got up to really time them, and after having them for an hour, decided to call my MW to let her know. She said things needed to change before it was worth going into hospital. - i.e. the pain needed to get worse. I had something to eat as I was starving and a hot drink, then thought I'd try and get some rest between the cramps. But they were still only 5 mins apart so no time to get any sleep in between. About 3am I thought the pain was starting to get to me and really wanted just to be in hospital seeing where I was at, but thought I'd try and bear it as long as possible to let everyone sleep. At 4am I decided to wake my husband up so he could get organised to go up to the hospital, and he was timing the cramps. By 5am I was getting really tired, but the cramps were slowly down to 10mins apart, I called my midwife and told her I was fed up, so she told me to make my way in.
Called my mum to come over to look after our other 2 children. As soon as she arrived we scooted off to the hospital and arrived about 5:30am. My midwife checked me and said I was 5 cms dilated, but she was calling the obstetrician to get the OK for the elective epidural and then contact the anaesthetist. I felt a bit silly as the cramps weren't really that sore considering but I was exhausted from being awake from midnight. The epidural was administered by about 7:30am so I thought I could now get some sleep. The syntocinon was put in to speed up the contractions, and I could feel that the epidural hadn't quite covered my left side so was feeling them, but was comfortable. Managed about half an hour sleep but was constantly disturbed by the midwife checking on me etc. By about 11am I was crying in agony as the contractions got to their strongest and the epidural still wasn't covering the left side. My midwife was giving me top ups as often as the machine would let it, and finally it  covered the left side in time for me to have to push! She checked me at 11:30 and said I was fully dilated!! I was starting to feel the pressure of baby pushing on my bum so she said I could give it a push if I wanted, but I was so exhausted I didn't
think I had it in me so thought I'd wait till she told me I HAD to push! She did this about 12:35ish and with 2 pushes the head popped out! I couldn't believe it! I thought I'd be pushing for half an hour. She told me to rest as the cord was loosely around baby's neck. As soon as she gave me the go ahead I pushed one more time and out slithered the body - it was the weirdest sensation ever! I was like "WHAT! He's out already?" I was so surprised! He
was laid on my tummy while the cord was cut & he let out a little cry, but then just lay there & was reaching out & he grabbed my finger! Oh it was so cute! MW said when I was ready, I needed to push again to deliver the placenta. Oh yeah - forgot about that! So I passed our new baby boy to my husband  and needed to cough, and when I did - out slipped the placenta! The midwife just cracked up & said "oh there it is" and once again I said "WHAT?! Is that out already too??? I thought it was all too easy! So at 12:40pm our 3rd child & second boy, Jett Te Akau Ryan Nelson was born with 3 pushes. I needed a few stitches from the quick delivery so my husband was happy holding Jett whilst that was going on.

We were transferred to the post natal room & settled in. Visitors started arriving about 5pm and I was feeling fine. About 7pm I was starting to get uncomfortable and needed to get off the bed. Once I did I realised I had flooded the bed, so got some clothes to change into and went to the bathroom.
Once I'd undressed I went to get in the shower when a massive clot come out and there was blood everywhere! I push the call button and a nurse came and helped me redress and recovered the clot. Once I got back to my bed I was in a lot of pain and then all the nurses were running into my room. The next thing I had them pushing on my tummy which hurt like hell and needles being put in all over the place, and another clot came out. They were all freaking out! I was taken to another room closer to the nursing station and started vomiting and had a 3rd clot came out. I could hear the nurse saying the bleeding was too much. A doctor arrived and was giving the nurses instructions. A syntocinon drip was put in to help the uterus contract down & a catheter was put in, which was so uncomfortable. I was beside myself in agony & bawling my eyes out! My husband was super fantastic and was gripping my hand the whole time. I think due to him seeing what was happening and the nurses all in a tizz over me totally freaked him out as well. I must have been in a little shock and had my eyes firmly closed the whole time. Things seemed to settle down after an hour or two. But I was checked every half an hour for most of the night. My blood pressure surprisingly wasn't too bad! My main nurse was fantastic and reported back that I'd lost between 750 - 900 mls of blood - not quite a litre which was just as well. But a haemorrhage is classed as anything over 500 mls. I only lost around 250 mls after birth!

Unfortunately due to that I was not able to go home the following day as I had planned. When my MW discharged me from hospital 2 days after, she said I needed to be on the next best thing to bed-rest for about 6 weeks. Thankfully my mum was on hand to help with our older 2 children & housework!