Thought it was about time I gave you ladies a quick run down of our labour / birth story !
Around 7am Wednesday morning (12th July) I was lying in bed debating whether or not to get up, or try and sleep in. I eventually gave up and just as I hopped out of bed, heard a quiet 'pop' and *ta da* my waters had broken ! Luckily it's not far from the bedroom to the toilet so I managed to contain the worst of it LOL
Contractions didn't start right away, and we decided that we'd go into Roland's work to get his laptop - enabling him to work from home, because we knew things wouldn't be far off. I also sent my midwife a txt just to let her know what was happening.
Around lunchtime I started to get very light contractions, so after having something to eat I thought I'd try and have a nap while I still could. They were around 40 mins apart for a couple of hours, then 20 mins, and were around 10 mins apart from 2pm or so.
My midwife had come to see us around lunchtime, and then came back around 5pm, but I was still only about 3cm dilated. She also mentioned that because my waters had broken so much earlier, I'd likely need to go into hospital for some antibiotics to counteract the risk of infection - d'oh ! This was a bit of a disappointment, but at that stage I also didn't care, as all I wanted was my baby girl out and safely so.
She said we'd probably have to meet her at 11pm, so we all took off to the hospital around half past 10pm, as the contractions were starting to come at around 3-4 mins apart.
I'll also mention here, before I forget, that it was awesome to have my friend Jo there for support - she was the lady I went to for my massages at Bella Mama, and we just ended up getting along really well. It helped Roland out a lot too for her to be there !
The rest was a bit of a blur, I had to ask Roland afterwards who had undressed me and put me in a hospital gown, because I couldn't remember. At about 1am my midwife said we could get into the birthing pool, which I had been absolutely dying to get into - and what bliss once I finally did ! The only problem I did begin to have is that the urge to push came a little bit early when I was only 8cm, and so I took just a few puffs on the gas to help me breathe through it better and not swell up my cervix any further (which could have lead to an epi etc.). At 3am the urge to push got REALLY strong, so the midwife did one last check and then gave us the go ahead !
Unfortunately I couldn't have the gas for the pushing part, and the instructions were to give (if possible) three big pushes with each contraction. It didn't really burn too much, but I was in "another place" by then and just so excited because I could feel my little girl was ready, and I was ready.
So, after 13 mins of pushing, Miss Erin Alexandra Bird was born at 3:13am - and came straight up and out of the water for some skin to skin with mum while my midwife checked the cord / placenta. Roland cut the cord in the end, which I was so proud of ! I just felt SO much better after that - the sense of relief was like nothing else I had ever felt.
We then drained the tub, and I got the jab to expel the placenta, which is where things started to go a *little* downhill - I lost quite a lot of blood with it, and then later on would lose a whole lot more.
However, with the support of Roland, Jo, Jill my midwife, and all the hospital midwives, doctors and nurses - we were well taken care of and made it through.
I definitely think the acupuncture helped too - just realise I forgot to mention that I went in for my appointment that morning anyway (10am), and she gave me a treatment to help my body work more efficiently during labour. The massage in the early stages was also awesome, although I because I was walking around to try and help things along, I had Jo and Roland running all over the house after me when I had to stop for a contraction ! LOL
That is just about it I'm afraid, stayed in a hospital a while longer than most due to needing a transfusion eventually, but came home Monday morning - and am loving being a new mummy, it is the biggest challenge I have EVER had to face but I wouldn't swap it for the world.
Erin’s birth story (long ish)
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Kelpa wrote:
