My waters broke 4am Wednesday morning, 08 July 2009, and a midwife came to visit that same day to check me over. She advised that most women go into labour within 24 hours of their waters breaking. Those that don't will do so by 48 hours. If the labour doesn't start naturally by 48 hours its unlikely to at all, but we could wait till 96 hours before they'd want to induce me.
Nothing happened on Wednesday, despite a long walk and spicy food! Thursday the same so we arranged to be be induced at hospital at 11 Friday morning, Then Thursday evening, I started getting contractions every 5 minutes at 7pm. These went on till 3 .30am and I thought we wouldn't be needing to be induced after all. Then they just stopped. So in the morning we went to hospital, but by this point I was pretty tired already as I'd been up all night having contractions.
We got to hospital at 11 am Friday 10 July 2009 and were told to go to level 12 which is where they keep women before and after delivering. They said there was no room for me on level 13, the delivery ward as they were having an influx of emergencies. (Brighton hospital has a special care unit and deals with a lot of special deliveries outside of London). So we waited and at 2pm they finally gave me a pessary and said that it would take 8 hours to work and probably wouldn't work at all, that I'd need another one after 8 hours and a third 8 hours after that. Apparently I'm quite sensative though, as within 3 hours I was having 3 contractions every 8 minutes. I was ready to go to level 13 to deliver, though I'd need to hormone drip to help labour fully establish.
However there were still no rooms in the delivery ward as they were still experiencing a lot of emergency cases. So I had to wait. At 8pm visiting hours were over and they wanted my husband to leave! (The delivery ward doesn't have visiting hours, but the maternity ward does). I asked if I should be in a delivery room and they said yes. So I said since they'd induced me and got me to the point of having 3 contractions every 8 minutes and given that I should be upstairs delivering, my husband was not subject to visiting rules, so they turned a blind eye and let him stay the night with me. My contractions carried on..
On Saturday 11 July 2009 the midwives were feeling so sorry for me that I was stuck in this indefinate labour, they found me a private room and were so kind to me, but they couldn't change the fact that there were all these crazy emergencies and I couldn't go upstairs to deliver. All I wanted was some gas and air but there was none on our level and I guess it was all in use upstairs! At this point the contractions were hideous because baby had turned back to back and the pain was insane. I lay on a bed kneeling with my face down and my backside in the air for 2 hours to try and ease off the contractions becuase I was just so exhausted!
Finally at 5pm on Saturday after 24 hours or so of these contractions and being stuck on a monitor, I was moved upstairs to the delivery ward! I was freaking out though because they told me I hadn't dialated at all and I was so exhauseted and tired. I was scared that 24 hours of labour had achieved nothing and with no energy reserves I was going to have to go through it all again starting from scratch!
It turns out all those contractions hadn't been wasted though as the baby had turned back the right way round,, good news.
They put me on the hormone drip at 7.30pm 11 July 2009 and by 10.30pm I was 3 cm dialated. I was pleased, but also a bit nervous that I'd have another 7 hours of labouring before being fully dialted. I didn't realise though that Bertie was praying for me dialate really quickly! Pretty much straight away my contractions got insanely bad and I was begging for an epidural. The anaesthatist was in theatre with an emergency delivery though so I had to wait. It was so horrific though, that I thought the pain might actually kill me! Poor Bertie was having to take like my whole body weight with each contraction. He was so amazing and encouraging and strong for me.. it is the most amazing bonding between husband and wife. I was sucking on the gas and air at this point like nobodies business, that stuff is great! At 11.30pm I told my midwife I needed to start pushing and she chuckled and said 'sorry love you were only 3cm an hour ago, we've got a way to go yet' but I was insistent so she examined me and said I was 9.5cm dialated and yes I almost needed to start pushing!
The guy turned up at this point to give me an epidural, which of course I didn't need, the reason the contractions had been so immense was because I was busy dialating 7cm in an hour and transitioning! So I did end up doing it all gas and air which i was pleased about as I hadn't wanted an epi..
So I started pushing (which I think is the worst part of labour, didn't enjoy that!) and at 1.29am Sunday 12 July 2009 Barnabas Joshua popped out! It was the most awesome thing when his head came out, which hurt, and then this teeny tiny body popped out slipperly like a fish, it felt so good 'cause it was instantly complete and done! And nice that the very last bit delivering his body didn't hurt an ounce.
Then they did the amazing cool injection and the placenta just immediately came out ('cause I'd had an assisted labour I had to have an assisted 3rd stage too, but I was fine with that, way beyond it at that point!
So all in all, once I got there the labour was only 6 hours, just unfortunate that I had the delay at the start. And of course that I couldn't go into labour naturally.
Thankfully it didn't end up being a home birth as he came out with his fist by his head and I had 3rd degree tears and had to go into theatre to be stitched up by a surgeon, rather than by a midwife under local anasthtic. I had to have a spinal block, which to be fair was a way cool experience being in theatre! (very greys anatomy!)
Finally at 5pm on Saturday after 24 hours or so of these contractions and being stuck on a monitor, I was moved upstairs to the delivery ward! I was freaking out though because they told me I hadn't dialated at all and I was so exhauseted and tired. I was scared that 24 hours of labour had achieved nothing and with no energy reserves I was going to have to go through it all again starting from scratch!
It turns out all those contractions hadn't been wasted though as the baby had turned back the right way round,, good news.
They put me on the hormone drip at 7.30pm 11 July 2009 and by 10.30pm I was 3 cm dialated. I was pleased, but also a bit nervous that I'd have another 7 hours of labouring before being fully dialted. I didn't realise though that Bertie was praying for me dialate really quickly! Pretty much straight away my contractions got insanely bad and I was begging for an epidural. The anaesthatist was in theatre with an emergency delivery though so I had to wait. It was so horrific though, that I thought the pain might actually kill me! Poor Bertie was having to take like my whole body weight with each contraction. He was so amazing and encouraging and strong for me.. it is the most amazing bonding between husband and wife. I was sucking on the gas and air at this point like nobodies business, that stuff is great! At 11.30pm I told my midwife I needed to start pushing and she chuckled and said 'sorry love you were only 3cm an hour ago, we've got a way to go yet' but I was insistent so she examined me and said I was 9.5cm dialated and yes I almost needed to start pushing!
The guy turned up at this point to give me an epidural, which of course I didn't need, the reason the contractions had been so immense was because I was busy dialating 7cm in an hour and transitioning! So I did end up doing it all gas and air which i was pleased about as I hadn't wanted an epi..
So I started pushing (which I think is the worst part of labour, didn't enjoy that!) and at 1.29am Sunday 12 July 2009 Barnabas Joshua popped out! It was the most awesome thing when his head came out, which hurt, and then this teeny tiny body popped out slipperly like a fish, it felt so good 'cause it was instantly complete and done! And nice that the very last bit delivering his body didn't hurt an ounce.
Then they did the amazing cool injection and the placenta just immediately came out ('cause I'd had an assisted labour I had to have an assisted 3rd stage too, but I was fine with that, way beyond it at that point!
So all in all, once I got there the labour was only 6 hours, just unfortunate that I had the delay at the start. And of course that I couldn't go into labour naturally.
Thankfully it didn't end up being a home birth as he came out with his fist by his head and I had 3rd degree tears and had to go into theatre to be stitched up by a surgeon, rather than by a midwife under local anasthtic. I had to have a spinal block, which to be fair was a way cool experience being in theatre! (very greys anatomy!)
I didn't enjoy the internal exam that determined that I had vaginal, perenial and rectal tearing though!!! Kept on the gas and air for that and was so grateful for the spinal block in the OR!!!
The amazing thing about labour is how uninhibited it makes you! And I tell people about it now, where as I would have never used to have talked about such intimate things. I guess you become proud of what God has carried you though. Labour is SO empowering and fulfilling. I always wondered why mum's share their labour stories and now I understand. it's amazing!
Isaiah 41 10 kept me going, as well as the psalm which says 'I lift my eyes up to the heavens, where does my help come from? My help comes from you, maker of all things, creator of the Earth'. That and the gas and air and my husband.
The amazing thing about labour is how uninhibited it makes you! And I tell people about it now, where as I would have never used to have talked about such intimate things. I guess you become proud of what God has carried you though. Labour is SO empowering and fulfilling. I always wondered why mum's share their labour stories and now I understand. it's amazing!
Isaiah 41 10 kept me going, as well as the psalm which says 'I lift my eyes up to the heavens, where does my help come from? My help comes from you, maker of all things, creator of the Earth'. That and the gas and air and my husband.
