So I've done two previous posts on my first and second trimesters and obviously the plan was to do another on my third trimester; however as we went into lockdown in my 29th week of pregnancy I spent all of my third trimester in my flat, with my husband not really doing anything at all so that post would be a very short one. So instead I'm just going to go straight into my labour story! It's only taken me 4 months to write! So Teddy was born on Sunday the 31st of May at 04:27am at 39 weeks and 6 days. I had a scan on the Tuesday before as he had measured big in his 32 weeks scan that I needed to check his kidneys were developing properly as they were slightly abnormal at the 20 weeks scan - I should have known my labour wouldn't be straight forward just from how many scans this baby needed! I was advised that an induction was the best course of action and a combination of lockdown boredom, back pain and a massive bump meant I took no convincing at all. I was ready to try the induction that day! But that wasn't possible so I was booked in for Thursday.
Thursday came and I had everything packed and ready to go, I just had to wait for the phone call to say I could go in. I remember feeling apprehensive but excited to finally get the journey started. I was told if I hadn't heard anything by 3pm to call the unit, I know how busy the wards can get so I left it until about 5pm before calling. I wish I had called sooner though as it turns out they hadn't put me on the list for Thursday! Again, another sign my labour wasn't going to be plain sailing! The midwife was so apologetic on the phone and promised she had put me on the list for Saturday (Friday was fully booked) so I resigned myself to the fact that I was going to be waiting 2 more days until I could start my labour journey.
Saturday morning rolled around and I tried not to get my hopes up so me and Jack went to Asda early on and made sure we had enough freezer food and pasta etc so we knew we had easy food we could make quickly as we didn't know what to expect with a newborn. We were just finishing getting the last few bits when my phone rang and the midwife informed me I could come down to the ward whenever I wanted. I said I would aim to get there for about 12:30pm so we'd have enough time to go home, put the shopping away and have something to eat. Finally we packed my bags into the back of the car and made our way to the hospital. My desire to be a midwife meant I already knew the induction process and I was absolutely adamant that I would be in the hospital for days waiting for something to happen.
Jack came up with me to the entrance of the ward and then he had to leave me due to the covid restrictions. I was met by a midwife who showed me to my bed and gave me a tour of where the bathroom and kitchen was. I got settled in, unpacked things I knew I was going to need sooner than others, changed into my PJ's and got comfortable. The midwife came in an hour after I arrived and went through the process with me and inserted the hormonal pessary that would be left in for 24 hours. If that failed to start labour then they give you a hormonal gel on your cervix, leave it for 6 hours, if nothing has happened after that they do it again for 6 more hours and if nothing has still happened then depending how dilated you are they either break your waters or discuss the possibility of a c-section. The pessary was inserted at about 2pm and I settled down with my Take a Break magazines and lucozade sport on my birthing ball. I started to get strong period cramp like pains that were gradually getting stronger but I remember feeling like I was overreacting or imagining it so I down played it for hours. Then at 5:30pm I was lying in the bed, overheating because the room was facing the sun and it was absolutely beating down on me and as I was lying there my waters broke. It was the most bizarre feeling. It truly just felt like I had wet myself. There was no massive gush or pain, just a stream of liquid. I waddled to the toilet to clean up and change my PJ bottoms whilst the midwife changed my bedding. I was hooked up to the monitor to keep an eye on my contractions and baby's heart rate and she examined me to see how dilated I was. I was 3cm. So close to the 4cm I needed to be to be transferred to the delivery suite and Jack could join me.
I shut the curtains around my bed and got myself as comfortable as I could be, I still had my waters coming out gradually so I eventually ended up being sat in a puddle of that and I was struggling so much through each contraction that I couldn't even entertain the idea of standing up. I breathed through each contraction and tried as much as I could to relax but with the sun making me overheat it was easier said than done. Luckily I had packed a small hand held fan and used that on my face to help cool me down. At first I felt bad about how loud it was but eventually I got so uncomfortable that I really didn't care what the other women in the room thought. Jack kept trying to call me to see how I was but I had no energy to talk to him bless him. I went from 1cm to 3cm pretty quickly but getting to 4cm seemed to take ages. I was so desperate to see my husband that I begged the student midwife to examine me and see how far along I was. It was about 11pm and I had finally reached that magic number! The midwife came in and helped me to repack everything I had unpacked in my expectation of being on the induction ward for days and helped me to climb into the wheelchair which was harder than I expected it to be. Being wheeled into the delivery suite and seeing my husbands face again was a magical moment and I felt some form of relief knowing I wasn't alone anymore.
The next few hours went by in a bit of a blur of contractions, squeezing Jack's hand and a few puffs of the gas and air, the few of which made me sleepy as hell so between each contraction I fell asleep which was lovely in one aspect but it also meant that each contraction was harder because I was so desperate to stay asleep. Jack could not have been anymore supportive, he was encouraging and made sure I had anything and everything I needed or wanted and didn't mind that I squeezed his hand so hard I was leaving nail marks. At about 01:30am I finally reached 10cm and was allowed to start pushing. The urge to push was really strange and honestly having something to do and concentrate on when I had a contraction made the pain so much easier to deal with. And before I knew it I had been pushing for over an hour. It honestly didn't feel that long at all. The midwife explained that baby had gotten so far down the vaginal canal before deciding to turn his head to the side meaning he was stuck. She reassured me that I was doing a great job in pushing and that this happened sometimes. A doctor came into the room and explained my options to me, which was quite funny to experience through contractions as I was trying to hard to be polite and listen but I was in so much pain. He explained they would take me to theatre where they would try an assisted forceps delivery where I would still push him out but they would use forceps to help turn his head the right way on the way out.
We got to the theatre at about 3:30am and I was talked through everything and told who was who and what they were there for. Everyone was incredibly friendly and so warm, even at that early hour of the morning. One of the things I had originally put into my birth plan (it wasn't very comprehensive because I know they very rarely go to plan) was that I didn't want an epidural. But if I had to then I wouldn't object. Typically of my luck that's exactly what happened. Sitting on the edge of the bed and leaning over enough to open the space between my spine so they could put the epidural in was one of the hardest parts of my labour especially as his head was already quite descended so it was ridiculously uncomfortable and I knew even the slightest movement could have meant I ended up with long term effects. Luckily I managed to keep still and the epidural took effect really quickly. I was so relieved to not have to go through feeling the contractions anymore. When the time came that I was told to push I remember trying so hard but feeling like I wasn't really doing anything because I couldn't feel anything at all. I felt a bit useless and like I was failing at being a mum already. They let me try pushing three times before they decided that I wasn't going to get him out that way and it was in mine and baby's best interest to perform an emergency c-section.
Again, this was something I knew was a possibility and honestly I didn't think twice about it. The doctors even made a comment about how calm I was and just going along with everything. Honestly I think it was a mixture of knowing I was in capable hands, tiredness and just wanting to see my baby so badly. I laid on the table talking my husband, cracking jokes and just generally being silly whilst the incredible doctors got to work getting my baby out. I vividly remember looking down and seeing one of the doctors with her hand inside me and realising in the recovery room afterwards that she had basically fisted me to get his head to go back up. I genuinely laughed for ages at this realisation because that poor woman was probably so shocked when she realised it was part of her job role the first time she did it. I honestly didn't feel anything at all when they were cutting me open or pulling the baby out despite them saying I might feel a tugging sensation. The next thing I knew they were showing me my beautiful baby boy. He barely cried when he was taken out of me and when he did do a little cry it was almost musical. They took him over the other side of the room to be cleaned and weighed and I could tell Jack wanted to go over and have a look but felt bad because I was being stitched up and couldn't have moved even if I tried. (I made him go over and look at him don't worry)
After he had been checked over they gave him to Jack and he had cuddles whilst I laid there looking at my beautiful family. Once I was stitched up and everything was as back to normal down there as it was going to get for a while I was transferred over onto another bed which I actually did as part of my first year nurse training and let me tell you, it is not the same as when you literally can't move! I knew that in the training if they dropped me then at least I would be able to help myself in some way but when you know that you could do pretty much nothing about it it's a whole different story. We got the recovery room some time between half 5 and 6 and I had skin to skin and we successfully breastfed for the first time. I made Jack take out everything from my bag that I knew I wouldn't need and take it home with him because I already felt as though I had over packed! The midwives changed over at 7am so Jack had to leave us then which was horrible! I understand why but it doesn't make it any easier! The lovely midwife then made me tea and toast and I'd been told by pretty much everyone that it would be the best thing I'd ever eat. It wasn't. i felt so tired and sick from labour and the epidural that I literally threw up. I'm so awkward and didn't want to disturb the midwives during hand over that I threw up in the little water cup they give you and sheepishly told the midwife when she came in. She could not have been more sweet about it though because I did feel like a bit of a tit.
I was the transferred to the postnatal ward which was a room that had 4 beds in it. When I arrived the other three beds where occupied but by about 5pm I was the only one in the room. I didn't expect that to last very long but no one else came in until about 11am the next morning which was lovely as it meant I could wander round and do what I wanted in the evening as I didn't get much sleep. It was a mixture of Teddy not wanting to sleep, midwives coming in to do my observations every 2 hours and just generally feeling a bit overwhelmed by everything. The midwives observed me feeding Teddy to make sure he was okay and I was comfortable enough to be able to do it, we had a consult from physio, taught how to do the clexane injections that stop your blood from clotting after a c-section, Teddy had his general check up and his hearing check and eventually at about 5pm Jack was allowed to come pick us up!
I honestly had no idea what to expect with labour, induction, postnatal etc with the pandemic going on and in a way I'm glad I have nothing previous to compare it too but I don't think that would change my opinion that much anyway. Everyone was so friendly, calming and helpful and honestly I forgot all about what was going on and the outside world. It was an experience I will never forget and even though I do wish the circumstances were different, it's still amazing that Teddy was born at a time that will go down in history. The only thing I regret is not taking more pictures/videos during it all but I will have the memories forever.
Zoe xx
No comments