13 YEARS AGO.....
...today i was in hospital waiting to give birth to my amazing son....
It was a long hard struggle.
I was admitted on Friday 23rd October at 5pm. I was taken by ambulance after having my blood pressure monitored for 6 weeks before his birth. On this particular day it had risen too high and i was taking in straight away to the main hospital 30 minutes away.
I was monitored again for several hours when pre-eclampsia was diagnosed. However, due to my mental state, i refused to stay and discharged myself.. I was warned that there was a very high possibility that i could have a stroke.... but that didn't deter me, i was NOT going to stay away from home... (at that point i was having panic attacks but didn't realise what they were). The only way the let me home was if i promised i'd go back first thing the next day at 8am, which i did. They put me on a machine and gave me medication straight away for my blood pressure and i was being checked on every hour......
Sunday came and it was decided that i should be induced. At 10am I was given a internal, then a vaginal pessary, put back on the monitor for an hour and told not to move... That was a long hour!!! Finally i was allowed to move about but nothing was happening.... then all of a sudden the pains started... contractions were here.... Flipping heck they hurt, nothing like the good old braxton hicks.... I was having pains ALL day, having regular internals, then at 10pm on the dot, they stopped....nothing. In the meantime, my ex had promised not to leave me and he slept outside in the car where i could see him from my hospital ward window... it was very reassuring to know he was nearby.
Monday came and it was decided again that another pessary was needed, this one should do it since my cervix had been softened from the previous day... Same drill happened, internal, pessary, monitor, don't move. Exactly the same thing happened again....i started having contractions....but low and behold, 10pm came and they stopped.....again!!!! This time they moved me upstairs to the labour ward, i think they needed my bed... I was getting bored now, i'd been in hospital for 3 days!! About midnight i had my "show".... I absolutely crapped my pants, i had no idea what it was. I ran to the midwives who weren't that helpful... they said what it was and that i should try and get some sleep, baby definitely wasn't coming any time soon.
Tuesday morning and enough was enough. My blood pressure was now through the roof..... I was seen by the consultant who said i needed to go into labour "now"....., next step was a C-Section and i didn't want that. I was given MORE pills for my blood pressure in the hope that would at least stabilise it. Looking back, i was so dangerous that they left me THAT long without doing anything... A nurse came in a broke my waters..... Within MINUTES i couldn't even stand up straight from the pain... Calmly (LOL) i said i needed an epidural.... I didn't have to wait long... I'll tell you what though, trying to keep still as they stick a needle into your spine while having contractions is practically impossible! Once the epidural kicked in i could rest. I hadn't slept since Friday night.... I was exhausted. They put in a catheter because you can't move, or feel the need to pee... That was fun! During late afternoon i was beginning to get pains in my back and legs....terrible pains, LABOUR pains, my epidural wasn't working.... I called in a nurse and she topped me up.... Oh yeah she did. What a fuck up this was... How they know if your numb or not is by spraying ice cold water (or something like that) up your body and when you can feel it is how they can see how far you're numbed to. This time they were spraying me and i was numb up to my neck... YES, my neck.... HIGHLY DANGEROUS... I saw the look in their eyes as they realise what had happened. They shut off the little button on the bag which was connected to the pipe coming from my back... Slowly, gradually the feeling starting coming back. By 6pm i was having full blown contractions and feeling every-single-one. Meanwhile my blood pressure had risen and was even higher than before... This is when the shit hit the fan.... I was told that i had to have this baby right away and was told to start pushing as luckily i was 10cm... I didn't feel like pushing, i didn't want to push... i had no energy to do anything, plus i was now hallucinating too... After struggling to move my baby out of my body, it was decided that forceps was the way to go, failing that, the surgeon was on standby for a C-Section... I didn't care, i was too tired... There was a roomful of people (including students!)......
My baby still wasn't showing any interest in coming out... Then i kindly received an episiotomy which turned into a 3rd degree tear! This was NOT pleasant. This is how it goes...
First degree tears – small, skin-deep tears which usually heal naturally
Second degree tears – deeper tears affecting the muscle of the perineum as well as the skin. These usually require stitches.
For some women with a tear, up to nine in 100 (9%), the tear may be more extensive. This may be:
A third-degree tear extending downwards from the vaginal wall and perineum to the anal sphincter, the muscle that controls the anus.
Nice huh!??? So baring in mind, i had NO pain relief any more and i was feeling everything that was going on. Suddenly with another push, a cut and some forceps out came baby.... :) How relieved was i!? Pretty much straight away i was given another drug that made me want to throw up immediately.... It was to get the placenta out... That fucker came out with bits missing too... and i'd heard stories about how dangerous that was....
Anyway... i gave birth at 7.55pm on the 27th October 1998, to a lovely healthy little boy weighing in a 6lb 1oz.....
MY BIRTH STORY! Hope you enjoyed :)
It was a long hard struggle.
I was admitted on Friday 23rd October at 5pm. I was taken by ambulance after having my blood pressure monitored for 6 weeks before his birth. On this particular day it had risen too high and i was taking in straight away to the main hospital 30 minutes away.
I was monitored again for several hours when pre-eclampsia was diagnosed. However, due to my mental state, i refused to stay and discharged myself.. I was warned that there was a very high possibility that i could have a stroke.... but that didn't deter me, i was NOT going to stay away from home... (at that point i was having panic attacks but didn't realise what they were). The only way the let me home was if i promised i'd go back first thing the next day at 8am, which i did. They put me on a machine and gave me medication straight away for my blood pressure and i was being checked on every hour......
Sunday came and it was decided that i should be induced. At 10am I was given a internal, then a vaginal pessary, put back on the monitor for an hour and told not to move... That was a long hour!!! Finally i was allowed to move about but nothing was happening.... then all of a sudden the pains started... contractions were here.... Flipping heck they hurt, nothing like the good old braxton hicks.... I was having pains ALL day, having regular internals, then at 10pm on the dot, they stopped....nothing. In the meantime, my ex had promised not to leave me and he slept outside in the car where i could see him from my hospital ward window... it was very reassuring to know he was nearby.
Monday came and it was decided again that another pessary was needed, this one should do it since my cervix had been softened from the previous day... Same drill happened, internal, pessary, monitor, don't move. Exactly the same thing happened again....i started having contractions....but low and behold, 10pm came and they stopped.....again!!!! This time they moved me upstairs to the labour ward, i think they needed my bed... I was getting bored now, i'd been in hospital for 3 days!! About midnight i had my "show".... I absolutely crapped my pants, i had no idea what it was. I ran to the midwives who weren't that helpful... they said what it was and that i should try and get some sleep, baby definitely wasn't coming any time soon.
Tuesday morning and enough was enough. My blood pressure was now through the roof..... I was seen by the consultant who said i needed to go into labour "now"....., next step was a C-Section and i didn't want that. I was given MORE pills for my blood pressure in the hope that would at least stabilise it. Looking back, i was so dangerous that they left me THAT long without doing anything... A nurse came in a broke my waters..... Within MINUTES i couldn't even stand up straight from the pain... Calmly (LOL) i said i needed an epidural.... I didn't have to wait long... I'll tell you what though, trying to keep still as they stick a needle into your spine while having contractions is practically impossible! Once the epidural kicked in i could rest. I hadn't slept since Friday night.... I was exhausted. They put in a catheter because you can't move, or feel the need to pee... That was fun! During late afternoon i was beginning to get pains in my back and legs....terrible pains, LABOUR pains, my epidural wasn't working.... I called in a nurse and she topped me up.... Oh yeah she did. What a fuck up this was... How they know if your numb or not is by spraying ice cold water (or something like that) up your body and when you can feel it is how they can see how far you're numbed to. This time they were spraying me and i was numb up to my neck... YES, my neck.... HIGHLY DANGEROUS... I saw the look in their eyes as they realise what had happened. They shut off the little button on the bag which was connected to the pipe coming from my back... Slowly, gradually the feeling starting coming back. By 6pm i was having full blown contractions and feeling every-single-one. Meanwhile my blood pressure had risen and was even higher than before... This is when the shit hit the fan.... I was told that i had to have this baby right away and was told to start pushing as luckily i was 10cm... I didn't feel like pushing, i didn't want to push... i had no energy to do anything, plus i was now hallucinating too... After struggling to move my baby out of my body, it was decided that forceps was the way to go, failing that, the surgeon was on standby for a C-Section... I didn't care, i was too tired... There was a roomful of people (including students!)......
My baby still wasn't showing any interest in coming out... Then i kindly received an episiotomy which turned into a 3rd degree tear! This was NOT pleasant. This is how it goes...
First degree tears – small, skin-deep tears which usually heal naturally
Second degree tears – deeper tears affecting the muscle of the perineum as well as the skin. These usually require stitches.
For some women with a tear, up to nine in 100 (9%), the tear may be more extensive. This may be:
A third-degree tear extending downwards from the vaginal wall and perineum to the anal sphincter, the muscle that controls the anus.
Nice huh!??? So baring in mind, i had NO pain relief any more and i was feeling everything that was going on. Suddenly with another push, a cut and some forceps out came baby.... :) How relieved was i!? Pretty much straight away i was given another drug that made me want to throw up immediately.... It was to get the placenta out... That fucker came out with bits missing too... and i'd heard stories about how dangerous that was....
Anyway... i gave birth at 7.55pm on the 27th October 1998, to a lovely healthy little boy weighing in a 6lb 1oz.....
MY BIRTH STORY! Hope you enjoyed :)
Nicely relaxed.... The calm before the storm...
He's here....
28th October 1998...Holding the bear to show how small he was.
My sister and the little man... He looks teeny tiny :)
Comments
..and now your boy is almost a grown man. Amazing story. What a struggle it was to bring him into the world though!
xxx
xxx
HAPPY BIRTHDAY STINKY! X
xxx
:-) :-)
same happened to me with the 3rd degree cut and now i have stitches that still have not really healed ;0( as i too had forceps as she just wasnt budging after 2 hours of pushing my hardest ggrrr,they gave me the epidural too late when i was already 10cm dilated so i felt everything and had already been through all the nightmare contractions with just gas and air which btw i was wired on lol,had no energy as like you i hadnt slept for days,they also topped up my epidural far too late and i was numb just above my boobs which felt very strange but at least i didn't really feel the forceps bit,i remember that ice water being sprayed though like you said,the epidural took ages to wear off and i was numb for about a day,i had to stay in hospital as i lost too much blood,they said you usually lose half a jug but i lost a full huge jug full,nearly had to have blood transfusion but went on iron tabs and a drip for 3 days,she is now just over 11 weeks old and i'm still hurting down below and my dr is telling me to have sex as normal?? what? no even though about it yet.
anyway i'm sure i will remember this just as clear as you remember your story all them years ago,i love the pics he was such a cutie pie and i loe the one with the teddy awwww,happy birthday to your son and thanks for sharing that it was lovely and i bet he couldn't wish for a better nicer mum than you,big hugs xxxxxxx
awww what a lovely story and memories hun,he is sooo cute and yeah teeny tiny,god i thought teegan was tiny at 7 pound 6 ounce but ur boy must have been so fragile to hold.
same happened to me with the 3rd degree cut and now i have stitches that still have not really healed ;0( as i too had forceps as she just wasnt budging after 2 hours of pushing my hardest ggrrr,they gave me the epidural too late when i was already 10cm dilated so i felt everything and had already been through all the nightmare contractions with just gas and air which btw i was wired on lol,had no energy as like you i hadnt slept for days,they also topped up my epidural far too late and i was numb just above my boobs which felt very strange but at least i didn't really feel the forceps bit,i remember that ice water being sprayed though like you said,the epidural took ages to wear off and i was numb for about a day,i had to stay in hospital as i lost too much blood,they said you usually lose half a jug but i lost a full huge jug full,nearly had to have blood transfusion but went on iron tabs and a drip for 3 days,she is now just over 11 weeks old and i'm still hurting down below and my dr is telling me to have sex as normal?? what? no even though about it yet.
anyway i'm sure i will remember this just as clear as you remember your story all them years ago,i love the pics he was such a cutie pie and i loe the one with the teddy awwww,happy birthday to your son and thanks for sharing that it was lovely and i bet he couldn't wish for a better nicer mum than you,big hugs xxxxxxx
Sex...forget it... ;-/
My stitches healed quite nicely...didn't take long at all, thank goodness...
x
oh god you lost lots of blood too then.horrid isnt it and sex no way lol not even thought about it yet.
glad your boy had a nice day,love the pics and u and ur sis lookhappy ;0) and so much like you did years ago xx