Maria's stories - Alyssa and Jayde
ALYSSA
My first baby, Alyssa, was born 9 days overdue. I went to
see the midwife on the Monday at 9am (8 days overdue) so she could
give me a sweep (where they run a finger around the lip of your
cervix to get your show to start), as I really didn't want to be
induced, which they were planning for that Friday.
When she went to do the sweep, she suddenly asked, with a
puzzled tone in her voice, "Have you been having any niggles?" I
said no and she told me I was already 3 cm dilated and to go home
and wait, as my labour wouldn't be too far away.
When I got home, I had a show, but it wasn't too bad although
I did have to wear a pad. The "niggles", as the midwife
called them, started at about 2pm, and I rang my
husband and one of my best friends, who was going to be a support
person. At this stage, my contractions were about 20 minutes
apart.
My midwife rang later that night and asked how things were going
and we told her they were going well. My contractions were about 15
minutes apart, but sometimes going down to five minutes apart.
I was awake most of Monday night with the contractions, but also
because I was too excited to sleep. The contractions were now
between two and five minutes apart, so at 7am I called my
midwife, thinking that surely I must be nearly ready to go into
hospital. The midwife came over and checked me but I was still
only 3 cm dilated. How frustrating!
My husband did some work outside while my friend and I went for
two very long walks. Then I decided to have a hot bath, as my back
was killing me by this stage with all the contractions. I was
using all the things I'd been told could help speed things up!
At 1pm on Tuesday, I couldn't stand being at home any longer and
the pain in my back was pretty intense (it turns out that Alyssa
was lying a bit posterior). So I phoned my midwife and told her I
was going into hospital.
When I was admitted, she checked me and discovered I was 5cm
dilated, so it was good to know things were finally
progressing. I got into the spa bath when it was available and
stayed in there, drinking heaps of cold water as well. By now I was
also starting to vomit because of the pain in my back. My
contractions weren't that bad, but if you've ever had back labour
with a posterior baby, you'll know just how awful that pain
can be.
I eventually got out of the bath and went back to my room so the
midwife could check me (she had been monitoring the baby and my
blood pressure while I was in the bath.) I felt ready to push.
I was offered gas but took one puff and couldn't stand it. Once
Alyssa's head had come down far enough and she had obviously turned
into the right position, the back pain stopped. So I started
pushing at 4.30pm and Alyssa was born at 6pm, weighing 8lb 6oz and
52cm long. All in all, it was a fantastic labour. I was in active
labour for seven hours, and that's not too bad for a
first-timer!
I feel really positive about my labour and birth and what was
great for me was having my friends and family there to support
me: my husband, my sister, and two of my closest friends.
Also, I totally trusted my midwife, and anything she suggested that
I try, I did.
It was truly the best day of my life. Sure, it was hard at the
time, but I can't even really remember how sore I was now!
JAYDE
At 6am on 24 December, Alyssa, our 20-month-old, came into
our bedroom saying it was time to get up. I told her it was too
early and took her back to her bed. As I was tucking her in, my
hind waters broke.
I phoned the midwife, who advised me she would be out later that
afternoon to check on me and the baby. Nothing much happened
throughout the day -- I had Braxton Hicks contractions but that's
it! The midwife made an appointment for 8.30am on Christmas Day to
give me a sterile internal at the hospital, just to check how
things were going.
I woke up with mild contractions at about 1am on 25
December. At about 2.30am, my husband woke up and I
reluctantly told him that I was in labour. He started timing
the contractions, but it was a bit frustrating, as they ranged
between five and eight minutes apart and were still pretty mild,
with the odd strong one every once in a while.
We got up about 7am and got my hospital stuff together,
just in case the midwife thought my labour was far enough advanced
for me to stay in hospital. Alyssa woke up and we opened her
presents with her. My mum arrived to look after Alyssa and we left
for the hospital at about 8.10am.
I got to hospital and was hooked up to a machine for half an
hour to check Baby and monitor my contractions. Everything
was going well and my contractions were coming every three to
five minutes, but still not that strong. The midwife did a speculum
exam and found I was 5cm dilated. She told me my forewaters were
bulging and asked if I wanted them broken. As I had now resigned
myself to the fact that this baby was going to be born on Christmas
day, I agreed so we could get things moving.
While the midwife was filling the spa bath, Rob and I were
walking around the ward. I started to have one contraction
each time we circled the floor. After about half an hour or so of
doing this, I was having 2 contractions per round and felt ready to
hop in the bath.
I got in the bath at about 11.30am and was hooked up to IV
antibiotics for half an hour because my hind waters had
broken more than 18 hours beforehand. My contractions
were starting to get fairly painful and I was feeling to get a lot
of back ache. After the antibiotics had finished doing their thing,
I thought I would get out of the bath and see if that eased my back
pain. But the pain was way more intense out of the bath, so I got
back in. I was now getting double whammy contractions (not
fun).
By 12.30pm, I think I must have been going through transition
because I was freezing and shaking, so the decision was made for me
to get out of bath. I told the midwife I was feeling a lot of
pressure, so she did an internal and told me I was only 8cm
dilated. But I was positive I was ready to push. She then told me
to go to the toilet for a wee, but I was having contractions all
the time and could not go.
The back pain was really intense by this stage and I was
starting to lose it. I had to really concentrate on my breathing
and try and keep myself calm. The gas was given to me to try, even
though I insisted I hated it. I think in the end they got the
message: I didn't swear but I think I was very firm! I asked for an
epidural and got told no.
By this stage, I was leaning over the head of the bed on my
hands and knees and really felt like pushing. The midwife noticed
this and told me if I wanted to push I could push (FINALLY!). After
three pushes, my baby's head was out. She then started to
wriggle (OUCH!) and it felt like an eternity before the next
contraction and she was completely out. It took less than five
minutes to birth her -- she was born at 1.24pm on Christmas
Day.
Now comes the really scary part: As I was on my hands and knees
facing away from the baby and the midwife, I couldn't see what
was happening, and I heard the midwife telling Rob to push the
yellow button and then to push the red button. I was screaming, "Is
my baby all right?" My sister, who had arrived when I was in
transition, was reassuring me that she was and my midwife was
really calm and still let Rob cut the cord. Apparently because it
was such a quick birth, baby Jayde was stunned and she
also had the cord wrapped around her neck. The other nurses got
there really quickly and all she needed was a few whiffs of
oxygen.
I started bleeding quite heavily and had to have an
injection to try and stop the bleeding. They also inserted a
line just in case I needed to be hooked up to an I.V. (It took
three goes to do this and in the end the house surgeon needed to be
called). The afterpains were horrible!
By 7pm, the bleeding finally slowed down and I could have a
shower and be transferred to the ward. And I could start enjoying
our little girl!
Jayde Mia was 9lb and 53cm at birth, and her big sister
Alyssa absolutely loves her!