Gestation:39w 5d
Site: Hospital
First Stage: 1hr 35min active labour
Transition: One contraction's worth
Second Stage: 10 minutes
Third Stage: 20 minutes
Tearing: Mainly external second degree tear
Weight: 8lb 10oz
Details:
As some of you know, I had been quite terrified of going into labour with this baby. My history of short labours and PPH (post-partum haemorrhage) plus generalised anxiety genuinely made me fear we would both die if I went into labour with nobody around to help. I think my body knew that, because despite two weeks of prelabour, nothing kicked off properly until the older boys had gone to their dad's and Tom was home from work.
Early on Friday evening, I started to get a burning cervical pain. I'd been getting a lot of pressure for a few days, but this was really uncomfortable and specific, so I could barely sit. I rang the hospital and they said it was more likely to be thrush or a UTI than imminent or silent labour, but considering my history, to come in to be checked. I didn't really think it could be labour because he wasn't due til the 6th, and other people have their babies early, not me!
Off we went, and had to wait for HOURS to be seen because they had several emergencies - Friday night is party night in delivery. I had a normal CTG. The obstetrician thought it was probably a UTI as I had a lot of leuks and protein in my wee, but my cervix was still thick, and 2-3cm dilated, as it had been for the previous two weeks. I got some antibiotics and left, starving and tired at 11pm. When we left, I didn't want to get out of the car. I had a strong urge to be safe at home, so Tom took me back and went into town to try and find some food. When he rang to tell me he couldn't get anything, I started to cry, which is rather unlike me. He went to McDs and then came home, knocked on the door for me to let him in and as I stood, my waters went CATASTROPHICALLY. It was a veritable DELUGE. I must have lost two pints in the first gush. I managed to get the door open, and then started giggling for joy. I rang the hospital who were sceptical about my need to be admitted immediately until I told them that my consultant had told me to insist on it. I couldn't eat because I knew I was likely to be sick in labour, and leaked about the house while Tom ate his burger.
My waters broke (the first time) at 12:10am.We got to hospital around 1, were seen around 1:30am in triage. I had some fierce backache, but no real contractions. I'd wodged a huge towel between my legs to try and catch the river, and the midwife asked if I hadn't got any pads. My waters had already soaked through two pairs of trousers and pads, I thought a towel might be more dignified...
I went on the monitor, and had a couple of painful contractions. On VE, I was 2cm stretching to 5, and admitted on the basis of previous precipitate labours. I wasn't in much pain, and was still quite joyful at the prospect of incoming child.
I was moved into a delivery suite around 2am, and nothing much was happening aside from the BIBLICAL STORM outside. If you missed it, shame on you - chain lightning, forked lightning, drunks outside A+E stumbling around in the rain. Gorgeous. Ahem. I was cannulated in case of PPH, and had some bloods done. I was then monitored for bloody ages. Alex's heart rate was ALL OVER the place. He was decelerating and accelerating and generally being very worrying, but because I wasn't technically in established labour, they were happy to wait and see if he settled down when labour settled in. I spent most of the next three hours alternating between being monitored and jigging about the room in soggy trousers, trying to get labour going. My waters didn't stop breaking until around 6am, and there were pints and pints of it. I can't believe how much there was. Me and Tom both kept nodding off, although I was getting one contraction every 15 minutes. They prepped my syntocin drip ready for afterwards. I explained that my cervix did not dilate as they're supposed to, but I only actually had two VEs from when my waters broke, which was great.
At 5:15am, I had another VE which was 4cm, stretching to 7 or 8cm, but this still didn't put me in officially established territory. Nonetheless, the VE got me going, to about one every four minutes. Annoyingly, I had to stay on the CTG throughout because he was still decelerating. I had the same midwife with me (Nina) throughout, and she only left for breaks (in which case someone else came in) or to get someone else to check his trace. This surprised me - I thought I'd be left to get on with it, and I did find it a bit inhibiting to begin with. Once I got going, there could have been a circus in there and I wouldn't have noticed.
The contractions lengthened and got a lot more painful. I was starting to get quite vocal during them, and hallucinating between them as I did in strong labour before, and my official labour start time was 5:55am. However, Nina kept telling other midwives I wasn't established, presumably so they didn't panic about the CTG. It didn't feel like my other labours because I had to be lying down - it made me feel rather detached, and although they were more widely spaced than if I'd been mobile, they were also more difficult to cope with because I couldn't use my body position to cope. Also, the CTG was registering my thunderously vicious contractions as 30-40, instead of 100, which made me wonder if I was actually progressing at all.
The next hour or so is a total blur. I had to stay on the bed. Tom was there the whole time, but I had my eyes shut through most of it. I got onto all fours, so I could let gravity do its thing, while staying on the CTG. Then I asked to go to the toilet, for a wee, because I was feeling pushy and I badly wanted to stand up for a minute. Going for a wee was an agony of blood and pain. Nina gave me some dextrose tablets (I hadn't eaten since Friday lunch) and I got back onto all fours, leaning into the back of the bed. She rubbed my back, while Tom held my hands. I remember telling Tom it was nearly time. A midwife came in to review the trace and organise shift handover, and said I was going to be referred to the coordinator for a caesarean, because of his heartrate (this wasn't actually discussed with me or stated explicitly, but I know the drill). I hit transition around then, and my legs started shaking uncontrollably, I felt sick and I told Tom he wasn't allowed to go and I wanted to go home and I couldn't do it anymore.
Then I began to push, so Nina got between my legs to monitor him, and just let me get on with it. I tell you now, giving birth without people telling you if you're allowed, or what to do is the best bloody way! Two other midwives came in then to take over the shift from Nina (who had already told me she wanted to stay until he was born) and were quite surprised to find me pushing since they'd been told I was 4cm and not established. I felt like it was very much my party - nobody told me what to do. It didn't take long at all, only ten minutes. I started screaming that it burned when he crowned, but otherwise I tried to be quiet and just pushed. I managed to mostly pant his head out and his shoulders took a bit longer to be born than I was expecting, but then out he came! He was a bit wrapped in cord, but I had my back to them so I'm not sure how bad it was.
I had him at 7:41am, four minutes before Nina's shift finished! I went a bit "Oooh, I had a baby", because it didn't really feel real. They helped me get onto my back and I started to haemorrhage immediately. They gave him to me and I haemorrhaged some more, so they plugged my syntocin in quickly. I lost about 500ml, so not as bad as last time. Alex was quite bluey purple and still properly covered in vernix. He took a while to go pink, but his Apgars were fine.
Then came the placenta. Even with the syntocin and syntometrine injection, it took a while. It was a bit tangled up in membranes and my body did not want to push it out. They got it out in one piece after about twenty minutes, while I was feeding the baby.
Then, bloody horrible stitching. I didn't tear too badly this time (2nd degree, mostly exterior) but being examined by a student with shaky hands was deeply unpleasant. However, when they'd finished and gave me the best tea and toast in the world, I was much improved.
They weighed and checked Alex. He is 8lb 10oz, so a little smaller than we expected but not much. His head circ is only 36cm, which is MUCH smaller than I expected, and quite a relief.
We sat around waiting to go. My drip took 3.5 hours to get through and they wouldn't uncannulate me until it was time to go in case I suddenly had a haemorrhage again. He passed his hearing test first time, which surprised me because he had such a soggy labour. The paediatrician (who I'm sure I went to school with) didn't come round til gone 2pm. Alex is all normal. Then my midwives started to discharge me, got halfway through and called to an emergency, and then we sat for an hour waiting for someone to finish it off. He pooed all over the discharging midwife. We finally left around 5pm, by which time I was heartily sick of hospital having been there (with a break) for almost 24hrs.
I think this was probably my easiest birth. It was frustrating being hooked up and immobile for hours, particularly as I'm sure he would have been born sooner if I'd been allowed up and I couldn't really tell how I was progressing because it feels so different from being active in labour. BUT his actual delivery was really good and felt much more natural and easy than the other two and I didn't have quite as bad atony in the third stage as before. I didn't want or need any painkillers, which totally shocked all the midwives, but what's the point for two unbearably hard contractions? That's all it was as well - and they didn't seem to get to the point where they rolled into each other, so I was still getting breaks right up to transition. I was worried before that having him on the consultant led unit would mean a lot of intervention and trying to make my body go by the book, but despite being monitored, the midwife was quite happy for me to get on with it on my own terms.
Alex is beautiful and looks just like his brothers.
I never want to do it again, but I'm so glad it went well.
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