Sara's Birth of Jack

The Birth Story of Jack William

About halfway through my pregnancy, I found a copy of SpiritualMidwifery at a used bookstore. After reading it cover to cover, this becamemy pregnancy bible. Ina May Gaskin’s knowledge and birth stories were soinspiring and amazing to me. I watched The Business of Being Born andread everything I could get my hands on about natural childbirth. I learnedthat my body and baby knew exactly what they were doing and that givingbirth was a completely natural process that- in healthy, uncomplicated circumstances- didn’t need medical intervention. I knew that I didn’t wantto bring my baby into the world in a hospital. The minute my husband and Iwalked into The Midwife Center for an orientation class, I knew it was whereI wanted our son to be born. The peace I felt in that building wasindescribable- I knew that I had made the right choice in turning myprenatal care over to the midwives. The first time I met Kara, I liked herinstantly and hoped she’d be on call when I went into labor. Every othermidwife I saw during my pregnancy was awesome too- such kind womenwho truly care about each mom-to-be. As Jack grew inside me and the daywe would finally meet him drew nearer, I grew more excited and joyfulabout bringing him earthside in a natural and gentle way.

On Wednesday August 18th, I woke up around 2 a.m. to pee and Inoticed that I was having light, but REAL contractions. They were differentfrom the cramps, twinges and pressure I’d been feeling over the previousweek (my body had definitely been giving me the signals that it was gearingup for labor). I just knew it wouldn’t be long before we’d meet our littleJack! The contractions continued pretty regularly but were mild, so I spentthe day getting some things done and waiting for the feelings to growstronger. I walked on the trail at our local park (like I did every day), wentto Giant Eagle to be sure we had everything we needed at home for afterJack’s birth, went to TJ Maxx, cleaned the house, made sure the laundrywas done and waited for those uterine surges to grow stronger. Jake, myhusband, came home around 4 p.m. to hang out with me. He has a love forold motorcycles and mopeds and was tinkering on his latest project- a 1971Honda 50 (a small, motorized bike). I thought it would be fun to hop on fora little ride around the yard (and I figured the bumpiness might intensify mycontractions). I was carefully cruising when all of a sudden I was on theground. Yes, I fell off. My elbows and knees hit the ground first and Islightly felt like I had the wind knocked out of me. Jake ran to me as fast as
he could. I was fine- just bruised my ego a bit. Then we went for a ride inthe jeep to Starbucks for frappuchinos and stopped at empty property nextdoor to us for a little mildly bumpy fourwheeling. This didn’t work to bringon stronger contractions either. As I made us a dinner of egg and cheeseenglish muffins, I continued to feel the same mild contractions that weremaybe around 5 or 6 minutes apart.

Later that evening, I decided to take a shower and wait for my sweetbaby boy to let me know he was ready. Not long after, I noticed some cleardischarge but I chalked it up to the same “pregnancy juices” I had going onall week. I certainly didn’t think my water had broken. Around 10 p.m., Icalled The Midwife Center to check in and let them know that active laborwas imminent. We live about 45 minutes away from the Strip District and Iwanted to be sure we’d make it there in time. Kara returned my call- shewas at Mercy with another woman in labor. I told her about the day anddescribed how my contractions were progressing. At first, she said I shouldtry to get some sleep and call to check in at 7 a.m. But after we talked,Kara must have thought twice about the “leakage” and consulted with Lori.They decided that I should go to Mercy so Kara could check the fluid- if itwas amniotic fluid and my water was broken for over 24 hours, there’s arisk of infection… and no birth center birth. Jake and I packed up the carwith our bags and my birth ball and headed downtown (the carseat was alsoinstalled and ready). I honestly thought for sure we’d return home thatnight to sleep in our bed. We arrived at Mercy around midnight and Karamet us on the labor and delivery floor. The nurse hooked me up to a fetalmonitor to keep watch of Jack’s heartbeat and Kara took a sample of thefluid. After waiting for what seemed like forever, she came back and told usthat yes, it was amniotic fluid. Kara took us out of the room to show uswhat it looked like under the microscope. Amazing- amniotic fluid looks justlike frost crystals. I thought it was so cool of Kara to show us. We wentback to the triage room to discuss what to do from there. The issue wasthat we had no way to really determine when my water had broken. Thatfact, along with a couple dips in Jack’s heart-rate (which was otherwise niceand strong) caused Kara some concern. She consulted with the doctor themidwives work with at Mercy and told us that she really felt it was time forthis baby to be born. It wouldn’t be smart for us to go home and wait forlabor to progress when the risk of infection was there. In those moments, Iwas 100% crushed. I really did not want to have our baby in that hospital.I felt like all of the preparation and work I’d done over my pregnancy was
for nothing and it was a really depressing half hour or so for me. Kara left Jake and I to talk and I cried and felt horrible for a little while. Then Irealized that we had to do what was best for Jack and no matter where hewas born, he was coming to us! Kara’s assurance that Jack’s birth wouldstill be beautiful and special and Jake’s support were what helped me accept that we would be having our baby in the hospital. Not what I had envisioned. I had known things could go differently than what I had planned, but it was a total shock to me in those moments as we sat underthe glaring fluorescent lights.

Around 1:30 a.m., Kara took us to a labor and delivery room. It had abathroom, a bed, a chair and a sink…and florescent lights, which Iimmediately asked Jake to turn off. Jake went back to the car for our stuffand the nurse hooked up the fetal monitor. Much to my dismay, Kara andthe doctor wanted me on a pitocin drip to progress my labor. I veryadamantly didn’t want this, but they felt that things weren’t really picking upand Jack needed to come out of there- no one wanted to risk infection. Itwas what it was. The nurse started the pitocin and Jake returned. We wereleft alone to relax and wait for the contractions to intensify. Kara estimatedthat Jack would probably be born the next afternoon. Jake and I talked andhe eventually drifted off to sleep. Me- not so much. I was still having thesurges that began almost 24 hours previously so every time I’d get close tofalling asleep, I’d feel that intense surge that started in my lower back andwashed through my body like a tidal wave. The fact that I was stuck in aterribly uncomfortable bed with a monitor strapped to my (very large) bellyand an IV in my right arm, made these feelings so much moreuncomfortable than they really were. I so wanted to get out of that bed tomove around and use my birth ball! It felt completely unnatural to be lyingon my back. But there I was and I had to make the best of it.

I breathedthrough the contractions and tried to stay relaxed. That pitocin hit me like afreight train- it didn’t take long at all for the contractions to grow in intensityand frequency. Around 6 a.m. during a contraction, my body knew it wastime to push. My uterus and baby Jack were doing their job and beginningthe process of birth! Without my brain having any part of the action, mybody was pushing! I told Jake to call Kara- it was definitely time. Thecontractions were so close together and so intense- the word that came tomind was “hardcore”. Kara came in and saw that this was it! The feelingswere so powerful that I was grunting and being way more vocal than I hadexpected. By that point, I really crushed Jake’s hand and arm bone as I clung to him through the intensity. Kara started setting up the “deliverystuff” and we prepared to meet our little man! At 7 a.m., there was a shiftchange. Kara needed to be with a woman who was about to have a c-section, so Lori (a midwife I hadn’t met yet) would be “catching” Jack. Iremember when she came into the room and introduced herself- she wasvery warm and kind. I told her it was nice to meet her but I couldn’t reallychat- things were very intense and it was finally time for Jack to make hisgrand entrance. Jake kept asking if he could do anything for me and Iremember telling him to just not ask me any questions. The nurseHenrietta (who was fantastic) was on my right, Jake on my left, and Loriwas front and center. They gently coached me to push as each contractioncame on, working with my body to move the baby down. In all my pre-labor preparations, I knew I wanted to “breathe the baby down” but itwasn’t just as simple as that- I really needed to PUSH him down, using allmy breath and strength. It was the most exhausting, hard work I’ve everdone, but Lori, Jake and Henrietta really coached me along to do the work Ineeded to do. I silently listened to what they told me to do and did it whilegrunting loudly. This experience was, in a word, primitive- deep, throatynoises emerged from me while I spread my knees and legs and workedharder than ever with each contraction to help Jack down the birth canal.Lori could see the head and told Jake to look- he says the first thing he sawof Jack was some of his dark hair flopping out! So our boy had hair! Loriput a big mirror at the foot of the bed and told me to look- I needed Jake toput my glasses on me so I could see. I’ll never, ever forget the amazingsite of the top of our son’s dark-hair covered head! He was RIGHT there! Itwas thrilling. He was almost out and I was giving every bit of energy I hadto these final pushes.

I looked up at the ceiling and was fading in and out ofconsciousness. The nurse put an oxygen mask on me and then it became atotal scene out of ER for a couple minutes: I was trying with all my might topop this kid out but he was stuck- his little arm was near his head and notallowing his little body to easily slip out. His heart rate began to drop.Between each contraction, Lori was telling me to breathe oxygen to mybaby. I did my best to follow her instructions through the extreme fatigue.It became very serious when Lori announced that they needed to get thedoctor and the vacuum in the room. I heard this and even saw a doctor inscrubs come in and I knew I HAD to push my boy out. It was just like theway a mother would find the strength to lift a car off of her child if she hadto. My efforts paid off and Jack moved down a little more. Then Lori used her scissors and made a small cut to widen the opening. Apparently, itwasn’t enough- she told Jake not to look (but of course he did anyway) andmade the cut bigger (a fourth-degree episiotomy). Before we knew it, Jackslid out (at 7:51 a.m.)! The physical relief of the push that got him out wasgreat. I’ll always remember the feeling of his warm, wet body on minewhen Lori placed him on my chest. It was absolutely AMAZING. His head ofwet, dark hair was smashed against his little head. I remember saying “my baby, my baby” in sheer amazement, love and joy.

I immediately put Jackto my breast to nurse him and he latched right on like a champ. Wow- whata bond: words really can’t even describe how amazing and instinctual itwas. Jake cut the umbilical cord then I delivered the placenta (which I hadencapsulated into pills for its awesome postpartum hormonal healingproperties- I will do this with every baby I have!!). Lucky for me, theycalled in an excellent surgeon to stitch me up- that was the painful part ofthe experience but I barely noticed. I lay there with my trembling legsspread as he stitched and I remember telling everyone that I felt like alaboratory frog.

Jake and Jack went across the room to do the weigh-in (7pounds, 8 ounces and 20.5 inches long) and foot prints. I chatted with Jakeacross the room, asking how Jack was (he was perfect). I really wantedblue Gatorade to drink. They brought Jack back to my arms and Jake and Istared at the amazing little creature that we created. WOW. They took Jackto the nursery to assess him, which I was not happy about- I didn’t want tobe away from my baby for a second! The nurse helped me up and into awheelchair (my first time in one) and took me to the room where we’d stayovernight. My legs totally felt like they didn’t work. Otherwise, I felt great!When the nurse wheeled me out of the L&D area, our family was waiting. Itold them it was the hardest work I’d ever done with the best result ever. Iremember feeling so incredibly happy, thrilled and EMPOWERED! This wasthe day we became parents and I would do it all again (even the episiotomy!) in a second for our little Jack. We stayed at Mercy until noon the next day(I didn’t want to stay in that hospital at ALL and was ready to leave after acouple hours). I kept my sweet boy with me the whole time and breastfedhim on cue/demand.

It was so exciting to put our son in the car and take him home with us!He looked so tiny in his car seat and I snapped a few pictures tocommemorate his first car ride.

I am so grateful for midwives. These women truly care about the work they do and each woman and baby MATTERS to them. Although Jack’sbirth didn’t unfold as I had planned/envisioned/hoped, it certainly wasbeautiful and special. The hospital was (and still is) my worst nightmare,but during the action, it didn’t matter what four walls we were within- ourbaby was joining us in the world. Even though we weren’t at the birthcenter, I was still under the midwives’ care the entire time and they weretotally there for me. The whole birth experience was amazing and it reallytook my relationship with my husband to a whole new level. I love myhusband and I love the son that we created. The day Jack was born, webecame a true family. I can’t wait to do it again!

After struggling with an eating disorder and abusing my body for overa decade, being pregnant, giving birth and watching my son grow on themilk that my body makes for him have given me a respect and appreciationfor my body that words can’t describe. I am truly changed and being a momhas made me whole. I have a passion for pregnancy and childbirth that Ihope to use in the future to help and support other women. It’s all truly magical!

Tags: birth, birth stories, birth stories on demand, hospital birth, pitocin, intervention, planned natural birth, 4th degree episiotomy, positive birth stories, midwife,

Bernadette's Birth of Haylee May

Bernadette's Birth of Haylee May

Let’s start from the beginning! I found out I was pregnant a month after my boyfriend had broken up. We were starting to talk things thru and I was at his apartment (where I use to live) I found a test and I took it, I don’t know why something just told me to. I started screaming and crying, I was not happy at that moment! He was there in a heartbeat hugged me told me it would be ok he wasn’t going anywhere. (He hasn’t we’re greatJ) My pregnancy was amazing! I was happy and loving! I was due September 23, 2010. I loved the summer it was awesome. I’m always cold so it was great to be hot!!

I started nesting really bad in the beginning of September. I washed, folded, put them away, got them back out refolded, and found a new home I don’t know how many times! I had everything ready to go but my living room was driving me crazy! My last day of work was on the 17^th so that Monday I was going crazy so I started to change the little things. The next day my boyfriend started to help me and then I wanted to go walking the only place I could get him to go was the local casino. We where there for awhile and I started to have contraction. I watched them closely but I started to worry because my hospital was over an hour away. We were there for about an hour later and they were 5 minutes apart and not very strong. I just kept walking. I didn’t tell anyone about them because I was ok. I finally told my boyfriend and he told everyone so I got are you ok very 5 minutes which makes everything worse for me. They are 5 minutes apart for an hour but not painful at all, so I called the doctor.

They told me to come straight there. It was the 21^st at 11 pm when I got there. They hooked me up to the monitor and I waited and waited. They checked me I was not dilated nothing, so I was thinking sweet I’m going to go get some food and sleep! Boy I was wrong. The nurse came in all the sudden with an IV bag and say you’re here to stay! I was so hungry! She told me that my daughter’s heart beat had dropped lower then they wanted so I was being induced.

They put something on my cervix to soften it. I sent the boyfriend home to get my bag, lap top, camera, and my pillow. He came and left, it was 2 am and we knew we had a long day ahead of us so he went home to get good sleep and I got a really good 5 hour nap. They started the pitocin sometime around 12 or something like that! The contractions still were not that bad. They broke my water I think around 2 I did not like that feeling at all!!

I had my whole family up there and all of his family it was great but I was starting to get uncomfortable but I didn’t want the epidural yet so I got a low dose of a pain medication. That helped out but my family was getting annoying. I got my epidural at 4. I was feeling good then!  I tend to have a short temper with my family so I didn’t want them in the room when I started pushing I just wanted my boyfriend.

At 5:20pm on the 22^nd I asked the nurse when it was time to push I was so bored and tired I just wanted to be done then. I couldn’t do much because I couldn’t be off of the monitor no longer than to pee that sucked so badly!!! But she checked me and disappeared, all the sudden nurses come walking in the room and started pulling stuff out of the walls. I got so scared this was my first baby my first time that I really realized I was in labor! I went into a totally panic attack! All the sudden I looked over at my boyfriend and he was PALE WHITE!!!! I hadn’t even pushed yet and he was passing out on me!! So I had made my sister and his mad at me because both of them wanted in the room so bad, I pissed them off even more when I had my best friend come in the room to replace the fainting boyfriend!!!

At first everything was going good! No pain, no problems! Then all the sudden I got the worse feeling in world. My epidural stopped working I was in so much pain! They told me to push the button, I felt better for a minute. All the sudden they realized that she had turned and she was pushing on my hip. I could feel my legs but they were very heavy, but I could feel everything down there on my hip it was horrible! They told me to try the button again and that time nothing at all happened. They called the guy and told him that it wasn’t working well he was helping with a surgery and he would be up there in about 30 minutes. I started freaking out my nurses were amazing they helped me out so much! I tried to stay as clam as possible but I couldn’t take it, it was the worse feeling I have ever felt. Finally the guy (whatever they are called lol) come in and did something I felt better for about minute and the bam super pain he did something else and it knocked a huge amount of pain off. I could still feel everything thing but it was more like a pressure pain instead of a knife ripping out your insides pain.  We finally got her turned and it was a lot better!

It was 10 pm now I had been in labor for almost 24 hours, pushing for 5 hours. I was tired I was done. I relaxed my legs on the stirrups and told the doctor I was done I couldn’t do it anymore, just give me a c-section. They keep saying your almost there bah blah blah. I was done. They finally told me that I had no choice they seen the head. I cried and told them I was done for the last 30 minutes of pushing and FINALLY at 10:24 pm my beautiful daughter was born on September 22 one day before her due date! She was 7.7 and 20 ¼ long.

She was my everything right then! Her dad was nervously walking the halls so my family track him down and he came in the room and the look on his face was amazing! He had no clue what hell I just went through to get our daughter Haylee May here. I was so hungry and thirsty I asked for some crackers and water. I did not listen to the nurse and ate them all, she watched me and had a bucket there just in time! I felt better though. My wonderful Haylee May is now 18 months old and is still ahead of the game and mean as can be. She thinks it’s her way or the highway. Its amazes me that I can remember this pain and the hell I went through to have this kid and I want another baby one day so bad it’s crazy!! There’s something about their love that makes all the pain we go through worth every little bit! 

Tags: birth, birth stories, birth stories on demand, birth stories with pictures, medical intervention, epidural, induction, fainting, husband fainting, boyfriend fainting, birth pictures

Leanne's Birth of Laura

Leanne's Birth of Laura

On Tuesday the 7th of february at 5pm i was on my way to armadale hospital to be induced at 11 days overdue. once we arrived at the hospital my partnet (jamie) and myself were taken to the assessment room. at 5:30pm i had my first lot of gel inserted, and waited and waited and waited... 6 hours later nothing had happened. so off i went to sleep for the night, and jamie was sent home to also get some good night sleep. 6am on wednesday the 8th of february i was woken up by the midwife for my secnond lot of gel to be inserted.. while on the phone to jamie and mum to let them know to get ready to come to the hospital...jamie arrived about 10 minutes after.

By 6:30am i was having very mild contractions and was placed on the oh so very uncomfrtable gct machine to monitor lauras heart rate, at 8am mum arrived at the hospital. i was then checked to see how dilated i was to see if they could hurry things along and break my water.. 2cm nope i wasnt ready to have my waters broken so off the gct machine to get up and moving around... silly idea we went down to the cafe downstairs to get mum a coffee and me a sandwhich else i was never going to get time to eat... next thing i knew i was having contractions every few minutes. (i never ended up eating my sandwhich) and so we went back up stairs, i went back to the assessment room and new by this time i needed some gas and air to help calm me down...

i got to the assessment room and the midwife came to check me.. 4cm dilated so they broke my waters... the midwife kept me on gas and air while having waters broken so i would relax. which we all had a good laugh with.. while having my waters broken.. i was shouting out to my mum and my boyfriend jamie... POP, POP, POP omg im pissing myself!! omg can you feel that mum, you must be able to feel that! by this time i was away with the fairys on the gas and air while the midwifes having the time of her life laughing at me.. i sat up and laughed and said " what are you laughing at me for your ment to be a professinal" she was in stitches laughing. i just couldnt understand what was so funny! after she had finshed with breaking my waters and all having a good laugh at me on gas and air i got up and washed off in what felt like the most amazing shower of my life! i didnt want to get out but my contractions were comming non stop now so i knew i had to get out the shower, it was now or never... so mum helped me get dressed and i walked on down to the birth suite...

when i got there i set my eyes on a bean bag which was placed in the far corner and though yep thats what im having im having that, so mum got the bean bag and i rested on that while leaning on the edge of the bed... while mum was to busy taking photos of how amazingly nice the birth room was i was holding jamies hand while trying so hard to breath threw my contractions on just gas and air... the midwife walked in and i said "IM PUSHING IM PUSHING" she ran over and told me dont push your not dilated yet! i was sure as hell this baby was comming now, weather she was ready for it or not. this was my chance to get on the bed otherwise id be having this baby laying on the beanbag.... once i was on the bed the midwife checked to see how dilated i was. sure enough as i thought i was 10cm i was ready to push... in all a matter of 2o minutes i had gone from 4cm to 10cm... so i started pushing, and pushing.... and pushing...... and more pushing i was just about ready for more drugs i was so sure that i was going to need the epidural and kept telling the midwife its epidrual time. but nope she wouldnt she just kept telling me i was coping fine with just gas and air. she eventully gave me a shot of pethadene (which really didnt do that much at all) i was just about freeking out that she wasnt going to give me the epidural.

after about an hour of pushing and still no baby, the midwife sugested i used the birth stool, i agreed so off she went to get it, the birth stool was amazing took all the pressure of my, however i freeked out when she placed a mirror underneath me and screamed out "move that away i dont want to see that" but she didnt coz she had to see when i was pushing.... after about 15 minutes on the birth stool i was over it i was soo soo tired and just wanted to relax (i must have been dreaming relax while this far into labour) so i was back on the bed to push... after 3 hours of pushing the doctor finally thought hummm maybe its best we help this baby out so of he went to get his bits and peices...

the doctor said he was going to make a small cut, (a small cut turned into a little bit more than that... he had cut threw my vein!!!! there was blood everywhere and mum could tell something had gone wrong from the look of worry on the doctors face. he was asking for this and that and the midwife was running about like a headless chook getting needes to stop the bleeding, the vaccum was placed on the babys head (which was so very uncomfy) and i pushed another two times and her head was out, anther push and her body was out, she was placed up onto my chest straight away, and the doctor was back to dealing with all the blood i was loosing, he had to stitch my vein to stop it from bleeding and gave me about another 30 stitches, i was glad it was all over after 13 hours and 40 minutes of labour it was all finally over and i had given birth natraully to my beautiful baby daughter laura elizabeth burton weighing 7 pounds 4oz and 48cm short.

Rebecca's Birth of Jennifer Grace

Used by permission from Rebecca's blog:

http://jenniferthebook.wordpress.com/

My labour! – An EPIC tale..

On the Morning of my induction 12^th April 2010 I woke up with my alarm at 6.15am. I went downstairs and ate 3 Weetabix while mum and I sat at the table in nervous silence. I checked I’d packed everything and took lots of pictures of my bump in the mirror. On the way down in the car I was texting all my friends and finally got to the hospital 8.30am to be induced. I handed the midwife my green pregnancy notes which is the last time I saw them – it’s weird the things you miss! I got told the induction bays were full and I was one of 4 women waiting to go in which I wasn’t very happy about but at least it gave me chance to calm down as I was totally panicking. Matt had a little walk around outside the hospital and found a Subway for our second “breakfast”. After an hour or two wait on the ward Matt went into Manchester to look for accommodation for mum and his stay. He booked an apartment hotel with 2 bedrooms so mum and Matt could sit and watch TV in the evenings and not be so bored and lonely with me and baby having to stay in hospital for 5 days after. He also bought me some Crocs for showering in. I got myself some lunch and had a nap on the bed while mum waited with me. We read magazines and had random talks about anything other than labour! Tea time then came and I had a lovely hot dinner. The anxiety had finally passed, I was just getting bored and had itchy feet to just get it over with. The midwife came in and said there were only 2 left on the induction waiting list and I would take priority because of my heart condition. I could hear another lady on the ward we were on, she was being checked over as her waters had broken and she was only 27 weeks pregnant, I really felt for her. At 8pm we got called to the induction bay, and finally things start moving forward! I was scared and nervous but glad not to be looking at the same blue curtain anymore!

At 9.30pm I got put on the monitoring machine for half an hour, this has two elastic straps one with a baby heart rate monitor on – this one was played out loud the whole time and the other was to measure my contractions which I could see the level of intensity on the screen. Mum and Matt got sent away to the hotel because with a first time mum it could be days until I gave birth, and with being induced too it could take several attempts. After the half hour monitoring a midwife totally violated my lady parts (which was the first of many), and inserted the propess which was a bit like a piece of paper smeared in hormone with a string attached (a little like a tampon) and I was monitored again for a further 40 minutes. Afterwards I got told I could get up and go to the toilet and make a cup of tea or whatever so I had a potter about then went to sleep around 11.15pm.

At 1.15am I was rudely awoken by annoying tummy pains which by 2.15am were so unbearable I needed pain relief. The midwife gave me co-codamol but looked at me as if I was pathetic as she said I wasn’t in labour yet (it had only been 3 hours since induction) and that the crampy aches I was describing was only my cervix ripening. The co-codamol started working quite quickly but by 4.45am the pain was back and I was writhing around the bed and had to get up. I went to try and find somewhere in the blinking hospital which has some signal for my phone – it happened to be outside the induction ward in a corridor. Luckily it was deserted and I sat down on the floor and dialled Matts number. No answer. Dialled mum. YES a friendly voice! I sat there crying on the phone to my mum and she asked if I wanted her to come back in but I said no, I just wanted to hear a friendly voice. I kept having to put the phone on the floor every 2 minutes and breathe through these strange ‘waves of pain’. My mum cottoned on to this and told me to grab the midwife and scream at her to give me more pain relief as these ‘waves of pain’ were actually contractions and me needing to fart is actually me needing to push!!! So I wiped my tears and walked back to the midwifes station, but my midwife wasn’t there, it was a different one. As I was talking I told her to hold on a second, I inched my way from standing to crouching using the midwifes station’s door frame for support and moaned a little. I then stood up slowly and said “my mum says these are contractions and you need to give me some form of pain relief as my heart can’t be under any stress”. She walked me to the bathroom where she promised a warm bath. The walk down the corridor took forever as I had to stop every minute for a contraction which was worrying me. I finally made it there at 5.15am in a proper pregnant lady ‘waddle’ and as I took my PJ bottoms off I felt my waters break! I told the midwife who asked for my sanitary pad to inspect it and even though this sounds absolutely disgusting it gets to a point where you just don’t care anymore! She looked at the pad and said that it didn’t smell like ‘waters’ and it was probably just some mucus or part of my ‘show’ on the pad. I realised that as I was so mortified at this conversation and scared, I’d totally clamed up and was actually using my pelvic floor muscles to keep it in so I thought “I’ll ‘show’ her” and let go completely, there was a big gush on the floor of a strange peachy coloured liquid. She tried to rush me back to my bed for an examination but I was adamant that I wanted to wash this stuff off my legs, or at least wipe them down with some paper towels! The next few hours feel like a blur..

Back on the bed she examined me and I was only 2cm dilated. She said she’d call my mum and let her know what was happening and then put me back on the 2 strap machine again and monitored me while she went to find my midwife. I was laid there in agony, the contractions were coming on thick, fast and strong and it was becoming unbearable. I kept thinking to myself that I am pathetic, I’m only 2 cm dilated and I’m making such a big deal of it and I didn’t want to be like these women on ‘one born every minute’ who are embarrassing and scream at only 2cm dilated. I thought ‘I’m stronger than this, I can cope with this pain. Women go through this every day and survive, they walk out with beautiful babies and come back again and again to have more babies so I need to just work through this pain and each contraction is just one step closer to meeting my little Jennifer Grace.’ Keeping these thoughts in my head really helped me deal with it.

The induction bay I was in was one big room with 4 beds divided up by blue curtains. The induction bay is full so I am one of 4 women in this room and the other 3 are trying to sleep. I am writhing round in agony and cannot bear it any longer; I started swearing, I kept saying under my breath “I’m so sorry to anyone trying to sleep… Oh my god here comes an F-ing other one.. moan, moan, moan, swear, moan” then repeat from the beginning. It was awful, I’ve never experienced pain like it and I’m used to awful period pains. It felt like a ‘rubber ring’ of pain, severe period pains in your tummy and back, squeezing like a vice whilst someone is kicking you all around your tummy and back. After each one I felt winded. I needed my mum and there was not even a midwife in sight. It felt like an eternity I’d been left alone for, and then finally they wheeled me on my bed through corridor after corridor, banging me through doors all the while I’m moaning and groaning very loudly and swearing profusely. I finally reached my destination, a large rectangle room. They plugged my bed in and put a drip in my arm and called the anaesthetist for my epidural. I got introduced to about 6 new faces but I think I even said “I don’t care all I want is my mum”. I got told she was waiting for a bus, and you should have seen my rage! “A bus?” I questioned, “A F-ING BUS?? What the fuck is she doing waiting for a F-ING bus?!” I was so foul mouthed but after every contraction I apologised and tried to explain, but the contractions were so close together I struggled to. I was given some gas and air but after only 3 or 4 puffs it made me feel woozy like after a heavy night out when the room is spinning and you’re sick. I was sick but thankfully in a bedpan so decided gas and air definitely was not for me! Finally the anaesthetist came and told me to warn him when a contraction was coming so he could stop. They gave me an injection of local anaesthetic in my back first, then once that had worked he put the tube in and secured it with tape up my back up and over my shoulder to the entry valve where the anaesthetic could be administered. It was freezing cold all along the tube going down my back into the bottom of my spine, it felt glorious! After 5 minutes or so it was working ok, I was just left with a ‘window of pain’ in my tummy which was still painful but much better than all over pain. Finally my Mum and Matt walked in at 7.30am, comedy timing guys! The midwife had just examined me and I was 9cm dilated! I had gone from 2cm at 5.30am to 9cm at 7.30am on no pain relief as my co-codamol which I was given at 2.15am had well and truly worn off! The midwives were astounded; they honestly didn’t think that a first time mum whose cervix was closed on first examination could be in labour this quickly, only 8 hours after the Propess was inserted. I hope the midwife who said – ‘it’s just your cervix ripening’ now understands that each lady is different and a pregnant woman knows her body best!

I was in agony now as the ‘window of pain’ became more intense. It felt like I was being stabbed repeatedly in one place. I kept shouting for Matt to ‘Shut the F-ING door’ to which he replied “but honey the door isn’t open!” The anaesthetist knew what I meant and sorted out the newly named ‘door of pain’ by rolling me onto my side and fiddling with the tube until finally I was calm and pain free. At some point I was fitted with a catheter which I didn’t feel. I’ve been holding in pee using muscles in my lady area for 24 years now why just because I can’t feel my bottom half be any different? But sure enough after an hour or two, when I thought I’d been using my trusty muscles to hold in my pee, the midwife held up the catheter bag and it was full and needed to be emptied. The word confused doesn’t even come close! It’s so strange after being in so much pain with contractions to not feeling them at all and the only way to tell your having one is to look on the machine next to you at the rising numbers. Also so strange not being able to move your legs or twitch your toes even when you focus desperately hard and ‘command’ them to by your ever powerful brain.

I was really hungry and kept getting a whiff of food smell, I’d not eaten since 5pm the day earlier andthrown up after my gas and air. Now I’d missed breakfast in case I needed a C-section so I was well and truly starving! Mum and Matt went down to the canteen to get some food and I was left feeling very hard done by! I was left in the room with only the midwife when suddenly (bearing in mind there was only me and the midwife in the room) I heard an almighty loud fart and looked at the midwife in horror. I was actually disgusted that she could do that in my presence – fair enough she’s been closer to me in my intimate area than a lot of my past boyfriends but still, does that excuse a ‘lady’ who is working for the NHS to pass wind with such gusto in my presence? And then not even acknowledge it? So I said “oh my god!” to which she replied, “It’s ok, it happens to most people after an epidural!” I literally could have died – as if that was me!

The hours then seemed to roll by. As I wasn’t allowed to eat, I drank about 3 bottles of still raspberry Lucozade glucose drink for some energy and to try and perk me up but this was having a strange effect on the colour of my urine in my catheter bag; it was going pink! I also kept slipping down the hospital bed so my mum and Matt had to keep pulling me back up the bed under my armpits. One of these times Matt grabbed my hand which was being used as a pin cushion for various drips and monitoring devices, (the worst of which was an arterial line which was huge and had to be stitched onto my skin at all four corners,) and I screamed and cried. I would rather be slumped halfway down the hospital bed for the rest of the duration than have to feel that pain again! In fact I’d say that being not able to move and having all the drips, lines, needles and monitoring systems is one of the worst parts of my labour. The list of ways I was tied down to the hospital bed goes like this: 1 strap round my tummy to monitor baby’s heartbeat, 1 strap round my belly to measure my contractions, one clip on my finger to measure the oxygen levels in my blood, a drip in my hand for the epidural, the epidural going into my spine, an arterial line going into my wrist, three sticky pads on my chest to measure my heart rate, a cuff round my bicep for blood pressure, a catheter going into my lady area and that’s all I can remember in my drug induced state!

I had another internal at about 10am and I was almost 10 cm’s dilated but there was a tiny ring of skin which would stop baby from being able to be born just yet so we had to wait a little longer, so I just thought to myself I’m not quite 10 cm’s yet probably more like 9 ½ cm’s which kept me sane! I had a top up of my epidural. It’s strange, every time the midwife tops up the epidural she got an aerosol canister out and sprayed me several times starting up by my shoulder with freezing blasts until the lower it went I couldn’t feel a thing. Finally at 12 Midday I was fully dilated so mum, Matt and I bet each other on when I’d give birth. We all said before 3pm as all I need to do now is push her out.. Or so I thought.

My midwife who had been with me since 7.30am was changing shift and I felt like my world had ended, I really liked her, bonded with her, I even farted in front of her, and now she was going to disappear and leave me? I had to be left for ages anyway for baby to work her way down naturally as much as possible as my heart couldn’t be strained at all. My new midwife was lovely but I really just wanted the midwife who first told me I was 9cms dilated on no pain relief and who had listened to me fart and not giggled, but this lady was all I had and was going to bring my baby into the world so I had to pull myself together.

At 2pm I was eventually allowed to push, finally the 2^nd stage of labour had arrived! My legs were in stirrups, the midwife was down the lady area end and Matt was one side and mum on the other side – both ‘head’ end. As I was only allowed to push for 30 minutes max I was told I had to make each contraction count and as soon as one appeared on the little screen next to me I was to push into my bottom like I was pushing out a big troublesome poo. Well honestly, if you can’t feel your bottom or your lower half for that matter, how are you supposed to know which bits to tense and push? It was so hard and all the time I was worrying about pooing myself like you hear about on these birth programmes. The 30 minutes absolutely flew by, contraction after contraction came and I felt like collapsing. My eyes were all bloodshot and strained and I was knackered and felt a total failure. No joy, baby was not coming of its own accord. Theatre was called for forceps delivery but both theatres were in use so there was another wait where I tried to get some sleep and my epidural was topped up again.

When theatre was ready for me there were two new doctors who examined me internally – by this point I didn’t care, I wasn’t pretending to have any of my dignity left and I was being used as a human lucky dip. I had to be cut out of my nightie as the arterial line in my wrist couldn’t be disturbed – it would have been impossible to take the nightie off over my head while still being attached with all of the wires. I had to put on a sexy backless hospital gown and Matt had to get dressed into his ‘scrubs’. He also stole the stethoscope from the anaesthetist so actually looked like a real doctor! After signing my life away with all the hospital operating theatre contracts, and having some last bump photos taken I said a teary goodbye to mum. She couldn’t come in with me as only one person is allowed as support in theatre and that had to be Matt. He was bundled off into a little room and I was on my own being transferred onto the chopping slab – theatre bed. I was being spoken to by a lovely guy who was totally drugging me up, there was another anaesthetist who has been checking in on me through my labour, two porters, two female surgeons, my midwife and about 3 other random people – no wonder there was no room for my mum, this place was like a circus with me as the main attraction!

I suddenly felt sheer panic and realised Matt still wasn’t there by my side. I think they had forgotten about him because as soon as I’d said something he suddenly appeared! With me clutching Matt’s hand I felt safer but I felt myself struggling to keep my eyes open, they felt really dry and I felt so drunk. Then the surgeons were speaking to me so I had to pull myself together, they were lovely girls one looked very young but I felt totally at ease. They explained to me that they were going to make a cut called an episiotomy then insert the forceps and pull baby out. Easy! Well again, unfortunately it wasn’t easy, baby was facing the wrong way she was back-to-back although no one had told me this so I didn’t feel so much a failure for not pushing her out the old fashioned way. She was manually turned by hand then the forceps were inserted, but Jennifer had quickly turned back round -obviously she was comfy! She did this three times and on the last attempt the surgeon said if she turned again one more time it’ll be Caesarean section time! I was devastated that after slicing me down in my below parts I’d also have to be sliced in my tummy too. Luckily baby stayed put like a good girl and I was told to push into my bottom again. I pushed with all my might whilst the surgeons pulled with the forceps. They were yanking me so much I slid right down the table, and the porters had to pull me back to the top by my armpits!

With me pushing and the surgeons pulling, at 4.51pm Jennifer Grace was finally born! I was tired beyond belief having not slept in 2 days, was so hungry as I’d not eaten for a whole 24 hours and I’d been sick from the gas and air but I suddenly got a massive rush of energy. I looked at her purple, wrinkled, wet, bloody body and touched her tiny purple foot with my finger. I saw her little face and thought “wow, that’s what she looks like”. The midwife said to me she couldn’t believe how long her eyelashes were; but my response was “I can’t believe it, it’s a baby”. When you’re in that situation you realise that you’ve never met this tiny little person before and she has a face of her own – she looked completely different to what I imagined. As quickly as I saw her she was rushed away to be cleaned up and weighed, Matt going with her. I was given an injection to start the placenta delivery and as I was losing quite a lot of blood they started stitching up my episiotomy straight away. I could hear Jenny screaming from the other room and smiled to myself. The 3^rd stage of labour was here but they had to manually remove my placenta as it wasn’t coming of its own accord – the injection had been given time to work but as I was losing so much blood the surgeons acted fast. They manually removed the placenta by pulling on the severed umbilical cord and I had to push some more. Jenny was then handed to me wrapped in a towel. She weighed 6lbs 13ozs and we had our first photos taken. The surgeon was pushing on my tummy lots to try and make sure none of the placenta was left inside me and my tummy now looked like a water bed – all jelly on a plate and rippling even when she had finished touching it! They then started stitching me up again as manually removing the placenta had torn all the stitches – all I can say is thank god I was drugged up!

Jenny is beautiful, dark hair, long eyelashes, blue eyes, a little turned up nose and has a really big set of lungs on her. She has forceps marks and bruises on her face and little blood shot eyes from birth trauma but she is perfect; I look at her all full of awe and emotion and cry silent tears of pure happiness.

For more information about Rebecca and her family please follow her blog here:

http://jenniferthebook.wordpress.com/

Tags:Birth, birth stories on demand, birth stories, hospital birth, induction, pain medication, epidural, epidural stories, episiotomy, midwife, forceps delivery, overdue, birth stories with pictures, 

Vicky's Birth of Chloe

In September 2010 we found out that we were expecting our 2nd child. I had a really good pregnancy. When my June 20th due date came and went I got very frustrated as would any other overdue expectant mother. I tried everything to get our little girl moving, sex, big walks, spicy foods, castor oil (YUCK!!!), raspberry leaf tea, pineapple, bouncing on the tramp, the list goes on. I was so excited when my midwife rang me on June 28th and told me to be at the hospital at 7:30 the next morning to be induced!!

 

My partner and I hardly slept all night, we stayed up talking about how nervous we both were. When the alarm clock went off at 6am we both leapt of bed and went about having breakfast. We also unpacked and re-packed the bags for the baby and myself. When we arrived at the hospital I was put into a shared room with a lady who was having problems in early pregnancy. The midwives checked the baby and I. I saw the doctor at 11am and was given my first dose of gel at 11:30. I expected everything to kick off straight away, this was not the case. We went for walks up and down the stairs, but nothing happened, I was beginning to get upset, perhaps from lack of sleep the night before or it could have been from my selfish room-mate who had really noisy visitors all day. My midwife came to see me at 4:30pm and did a stretch and sweep, still nothing happened. At 6pm that evening my partner and I went down to the carpark to have our dinner in peace without our annoying room-mate. By 7pm we were rushing back up to the maternity annex on the first floor of the hospital. I was in hard labour!!

 

We were finally in a private room at 7:15 and my waters broke as I waddled in. I was put straight on the bed and given gas to suck on. I had my beautiful baby girl, Chloe, at 7:37pm 29th June 2011. She weighed in at 6lb 7.5oz. We were discharged later that night. She is 4 months old now, the time has gone so fast.

Tags: medical intervention, gas and air, labor, hospital, birth, birth stories, birth stories on demand, induction, gel, childbirth stories, birthing stories, midwife