So after a rollercoaster pregnancy, it was decided that I would be
induced at 39 weeks given my risk of pre eclampsia. My consultant was brilliant
and comforted me with all my anxieties (lots of them!).
We decided that I was to be induced on
a Sunday with hope that I'd be in established labour by the Monday or Tuesday
when my consultant would be on duty. Things didn't quite go to plan!
So I was admitted on the Sunday morning and was given a pessary. My
contractions came on pretty much straight away and I was getting five contractions
per ten minutes within three hours. By this time my husband had gone home to let
Bruno out and my sister was with me. The midwife decided it was time for me to
go down to the labour ward as the baby was on its way. "WHAT?!?!" I
thought, "I thought I'd get at least a day to chill!!" I was
rushed down to labour ward with my terrified little sister who had not planned to
be with me in labour.
On reaching there I was immediately taken to a delivery suite.
"All systems go!" I thought, "soon the pain will be over and
I'll have my little darling in my arms!!" I thought. The senior midwife
came in to get me set up, "regular strong contractions" she said
"I think this baby will be here tonight!" We called my husband
who had rushed back by now. After faffing for what seemed like ages, the midwife
checked how far dilated I was. "Oh" she said. "What's the
matter?" I said. I was 0cm dilated and in severe pain with these
contractions. I was one of the rare cases whereby the pessary induced
contractions but didn't cause any dilation. I was given pethidine (which I'd
sworn against!) and sent back up to labour ward.
I felt deflated.
After all that adrenaline (and pain!) there was nothing. How much longer was this going to last?! I'd hoped that my regular contractions meant that my baby was going to be here soon. I decided to make the most of whatever time I had at the hospital - with the hustle and bustle of everyday life, it isn't often you get time to just sit back and do nothing (apart from contract :z). I was fortunate enough to be given my own room for the duration of my stay and was also allowed to have one visitor during non visiting hours which helped my time pass. I was allowed to have someone stay over at night but the midwives did such a great job at ensuring I was as comfortable as I could be in riding through the contractions that on a couple of the nights I told my husband to go home to get some rest to prepare for life after labour!
68 hours later, still having regular (painful but bearable!) contractions (my TENS
machine helped lots), a pessary, two lots of gel and six internal examinations
(ouch!) and 0cm dilation later it was decided that I would be taken down to
labour ward where they would administer an epidural and force my waters open
using a hook type thing (I really should know the technical term!). They were unsure whether they would be able to break my waters as my cervix was far back and they were unsure if it would be possible. Four epidural
attempts (can you tell my life is full of drama?!) later, they successfully
managed to break my waters. I was absolutely ecstatic! Woohoo! I was going to
be able to deliver my precious little baby naturally!
Once I was comfortable
(if that's what you want to call it - I couldn't move my legs myself!), they
administered "the drip" to artificially bring on established labour.
I'd heard this part would be easy - that I'd be able to sleep till I was fully
dilated as it'd be pain free. Pain free it was. However the next 16 hours were
spent with my midwife asking me to move positions every 15/20 minutes as my
baby's heart rate kept dropping. It was like torture. I was exhausted from the
past four days and I was so worried that something was wrong. At least for part of
the time The Real Housewives of Atlanta was on to keep me distracted - one of
my favourite shows!
16 hours later I felt the urge to push. I was physically,
mentally and emotionally exhausted by this point but I gave it my best shot
with my sister and husband egging me on. Unfortunately after two hours of
pushing there was no sign of baby. At this point the consultant came in and
informed that the baby's head was too far back and that I wouldn't be able to
deliver naturally. I was then rushed to theatre for an emergency c section and
after about 60 seconds of pulling and tugging our perfect little baby was
born at 5.30am on Thursday 26th June weighing 7 lbs and 8 ounces.
 |
| Arjun - four hours old x |
It
was all a big blur and a few seconds after Arjun was born, I passed out. It was almost like my body gave way as soon as it knew our little prince was born ok. All my
hopes of skin to skin, saying a little prayer as soon as he was born and trying
to feed him myself quickly became just a dream. Instead my blood pressure and
heart rate dropped, I was unresponsive, Arjun's body temperature dropped -
instead of the calm we were hoping for on the arrival of our little prince,
Preetam was instead faced with a room full of doctors frantically rushing
around standing there helpless whilst his son (just a few minutes old) was
rushed to an incubator and his wife lay unresponsive surrounded by medics.
I woke up about four hours later in the HDU and was greeted by a smiling
midwife, my husband and my gorgeous little baby boy. I was exhausted but seeing him gave me a sudden burst of energy. He was just perfect! I
couldn't believe he came from inside me. I tried to get up to pick him up and
felt a sudden pang of sharp excruciating pain. My hope of being able to care
for my newborn the minute he entered was another hope that turned in to a
dream. Preetam fed him his first bottle, changed his first nappy and held him
first. It broke my heart that I was physically unable to.
I remember the
emotional roller coaster I went through the next few weeks being immobile and
trying to deal with a newborn. I decided to try mixed feeding as I really
wanted to give breast feeding a go. Plus they put an enormous amount of
pressure on you at the hospital.
The midwives were absolutely lovely and it seemed like the whole of
maternity knew my crazy journey. I felt like I received private health care with how
attentive and helpful all the staff were. Having stayed there a total of eight
nights plus my twice weekly trips to day care, they all became very familiar faces and I'm still in touch with some of
them now.
My labour lasted a total of 84 hours but it was finally over and I would
do it over and over just to have the most beautiful precious gift I could ever
have imagined. I reminded myself that others go through a lot worse and not
everyone gets the result that we did. What a roller coaster but I couldn't have
done it without my husband and my sister. They were my pillars of support x
Now that six months have passed I can confidently say that as each day
passes and Arjun gives us so many more memories, the whole labour experience
becomes a distant memory. We are truly blessed.
Remember, every birthing story is different as is every pregnancy!
Long post but I often get verbal diarrhea when sharing my
thoughts! :)
