Calli
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- Jan 8, 2012
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Its taken me awhile as the 1st 10 days have been a whirlwind... I had baby Joseph on Friday 22nd June 2012 at 3.36am.
I'd gone overdue and so had been booked in for an induction on 27th June, but went into spontaneous labour on Thursday evening. It all happened very quickly... At 4pm I was hoovering and had what I thought was a bit of mild period-pain-like aches so changed the beds and fed the dog while I was at it. I definitely didn't think that i was in labour! But by 5pm the pains were too strong to ignore and by 6pm I was in hospital already 4cm dilated with continuous contractions.
Unfortunately I couldn't have the water birth I'd hoped for as the hospital I'd been originally booked into was full and so i had to go to another hospital instead. However, it turned out that I wouldn't have been able to have a water birth anyway as they found merconium when my waters went, so baby needed monitoring throughout labour.
From 6pm to 7.30pm while they were checking how far along I was, and setting up the delivery room, I was in the most awful pain. I think it was because of the speed that the contractions came on, and that there was no gap between them. It sent my body into shock. The doctors suggested an epidural and although I'd wanted a natural birth I didn't hesitate to say 'bring on the pain relief'! And it couldn't have happened quickly enough... Just before they got the epidural set up I started vomiting over and over again. The epidural really was the most wonderful thing. The pain just disappeared and from 8pm to 11pm (the time it took for me to become fully dilated) my OH and I had the most calm and wonderful time - they turned down the lights and left us alone in the delivery room... We were just talking to each other and listening to baby's heartbeat on the monitor. It really was a beautiful few hours for us.
I started pushing sometime between 1 and 2am but baby was looking in the wrong direction, which made delivering him naturally a bit harder work. In the end I had to have a forceps delivery as the doctors didn't want to leave baby too long without help because of the merconium in the womb. I was rushed down to the operating theatre and given a full epidural in case i had to have a cesarean. Fortunately i just had an episiotomy and Joseph was out very quickly. From start to finish it all took about 10 1/2 hours, and would have been even quicker if Joseph were in the right position.
Although they had to intervene, I feel like I had a fairly good experience. And i'm glad that I went into labour naturally without being induced. I've no proof, but I think that staying active throughout pregnancy helped with kick starting things naturally.
And I would say to all ladies to go into labour with an open mind. I had firm ideas about wanting a water birth and just gas and air, but you can't know how much or little pain you will bein, or how your body will react to it. I'm do glad I had an epidural as it turned what could have been an awful experience into something really beautiful for me and my partner. We'll both remember those few hours before Joseph arrived as perfect. An experience to be treasured for the rest of our lives...
Here's a few pics of our beautiful little man
---
I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?2xiviy
I'd gone overdue and so had been booked in for an induction on 27th June, but went into spontaneous labour on Thursday evening. It all happened very quickly... At 4pm I was hoovering and had what I thought was a bit of mild period-pain-like aches so changed the beds and fed the dog while I was at it. I definitely didn't think that i was in labour! But by 5pm the pains were too strong to ignore and by 6pm I was in hospital already 4cm dilated with continuous contractions.
Unfortunately I couldn't have the water birth I'd hoped for as the hospital I'd been originally booked into was full and so i had to go to another hospital instead. However, it turned out that I wouldn't have been able to have a water birth anyway as they found merconium when my waters went, so baby needed monitoring throughout labour.
From 6pm to 7.30pm while they were checking how far along I was, and setting up the delivery room, I was in the most awful pain. I think it was because of the speed that the contractions came on, and that there was no gap between them. It sent my body into shock. The doctors suggested an epidural and although I'd wanted a natural birth I didn't hesitate to say 'bring on the pain relief'! And it couldn't have happened quickly enough... Just before they got the epidural set up I started vomiting over and over again. The epidural really was the most wonderful thing. The pain just disappeared and from 8pm to 11pm (the time it took for me to become fully dilated) my OH and I had the most calm and wonderful time - they turned down the lights and left us alone in the delivery room... We were just talking to each other and listening to baby's heartbeat on the monitor. It really was a beautiful few hours for us.
I started pushing sometime between 1 and 2am but baby was looking in the wrong direction, which made delivering him naturally a bit harder work. In the end I had to have a forceps delivery as the doctors didn't want to leave baby too long without help because of the merconium in the womb. I was rushed down to the operating theatre and given a full epidural in case i had to have a cesarean. Fortunately i just had an episiotomy and Joseph was out very quickly. From start to finish it all took about 10 1/2 hours, and would have been even quicker if Joseph were in the right position.
Although they had to intervene, I feel like I had a fairly good experience. And i'm glad that I went into labour naturally without being induced. I've no proof, but I think that staying active throughout pregnancy helped with kick starting things naturally.
And I would say to all ladies to go into labour with an open mind. I had firm ideas about wanting a water birth and just gas and air, but you can't know how much or little pain you will bein, or how your body will react to it. I'm do glad I had an epidural as it turned what could have been an awful experience into something really beautiful for me and my partner. We'll both remember those few hours before Joseph arrived as perfect. An experience to be treasured for the rest of our lives...
Here's a few pics of our beautiful little man
---
I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?2xiviy
xx
