The End

This blog was once known as accidentallykle, and is now closed. The story continues over on The Pretty Walrus on Wordpress.

Thank you for reading.

Emily's Birth Story

I wasn't sure whether or not to write this post, but due to a very overwhelming positive response from friends, I've decided to go ahead with it. I understand it may not be to everyone's taste, and of course understand if you do not wish to read it, but either way... this is Emily's Birth Story. And apologies in advance, this will probably be long!


My Birth Plan was simple: I wanted a natural birth with no drugs and as little intervention as possible.

As mentioned, my waters broke at 19.30 on the 27th January, 39 weeks and 2 days into the pregnancy. I'd never expected this to happen as, despite it being your classic movie start of labour, it's in fact only about 15% of women whose waters break before being in active labour. So when it happened, although there was not a shred of doubt in my mind as to what had happened, I was quite stunned and confused as to what to do. I was also very excited... She was coming.

I hurried into the bathroom where I stood in the bathtub, fully clothed, shaking, and trying to call David. I eventually got hold of him, "My water's gone, COME HOME!" and then tried figuring out what to do with my drenched clothes.

There were no contractions as yet. Even the Braxton Hicks that had been quite constant throughout the day had died down. Still, I knew the "rule" is to call the hospital and let them know what's happened. They asked me to go in around 22.30 as they were quite busy and since I was in no pain anyway.

So we went in. Baby was monitored for a while and everything was fine, but there were still no contractions and my cervix was still very much closed, so I was sent home and an induction booked for 9pm the next day.

We got home at 1am. At 1.30am, the contractions started, mostly 7 minutes apart but not always regular, so I didn't really take much notice of them. I let David sleep, had my paracetamol and a hot drink and tried to relax. Didn't get very far. It all got pretty intense and by 3am I woke David up for company, unable to manage the pain on my lonesome any longer, but not quite grasping that I was in fact in labour already.

Somewhere during the night we got the TENS machine going, which really helped as the contractions got stronger and closer together. Around 5am I began to lose control, unable to breathe through the contractions on my own any longer. I began crying and feeling very sorry for myself. David took over and from that point onwards, he was with me through every contraction, making me focus, making me breathe. I'd never have gotten through without him. That is a fact.

By 8:30am they were coming every 4-5 mins, so we called the hospital, who told us to head in. By the time we got me dressed and left the house, they were 3 minutes apart. Not a pleasant drive!

I was by then, 5cm dilated, and therefore in established labour. I was led to a delivery suite where I was introduced to Denise and Sky, the two midwives who would see me through to the end and were absolute stars.

The contractions were by this time hitting violently every couple of minutes or less, but I was still coping on the TENS (though no one was going to pry that thing out of my hands anytime soon!) until about 11.30am when I moved on to Entonox (gas & air), contractions by then coming less than one minute apart. By midday, I started feeling the need to push, and - quick check later - yupp, fully dilated. This was it.

Baby had turned back-to-back, meaning it was going to be more difficult. Lovely. Two hours later, we'd managed to get her to turn over, I was exhausted and although Baby's heart rate remained steady throughout (good girl), there were doctors knocking on the door every couple of minutes to take me to theatre for a forceps/ventouse delivery, but the midwives bought me as much time as possible. Eventually, at 14.00 they told me I had 15 minutes to have this baby and they wouldn't be able to buy me any more time after that. I was giving up, I was exhausted and felt like it was all going nowhere. I didn't even have any patience for the gas & air mouthpiece any longer, so that was discarded. Then suddenly the feeling changed and I knew she was about to be born, so there was some newfound energy and with 4 of my 15 minutes to spare, Emily was born.

The umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck and she didn't cry immediately, but she was fully alert. She was placed onto my chest, skin to skin and right away, she looked up at me with these massive black eyes and I knew she knew who I was. I don't think I'll ever forget that moment and that feeling.

I'd opted for a natural placenta delivery and for the cord to stop pulsating before it was cut, figuring I was in no rush. So we took it easy. I wasn't warm enough to keep Emily warm, so she was transferred to David for warmth where she remained for the next few hours while everything went haywire! Thing was, after 2 hours of waiting, there was still no sign of the placenta. I wasn't at that stage aware of how dangerous the situation was getting, possibly still on a euphoric high from the birth itself and just too tired to register much else.

A catheter was inserted to empty my bladder in case it was interfering with the placenta, but it made no difference. I was given a syntometrine injection, which did nothing. Again, the doctors came into the picture and they put me on a syntocinon drip and prepped me for theatre. There was not much else to do as the placenta was beginning to tear and any tugging would have made the situation all the more serious. Needless to say, I was not impressed. Having managed the completely natural birth I wanted so much, the last thing I wanted was so end up in theatre because of the placenta. On top of that, those of you who know me well will also know of my needle phobia, so this was all quite a big deal for me. I was scared but I wasn't about to put my life in danger because of a 'silly' phobia. I knew that if it came to it, I'd just deal with it.

In the end, the registrar had one last go (er, manually) before I was taken into theatre and that was what did it - placenta was finally out. Further examination revealed a very deep first degree tear. I needed a few stitches. Again, not impressed!

By this time it was about 6pm and we were just getting round to contacting family and friends to announce Emily's safe arrival. I'd planned to be in touch with friends during the labour - having expected it to be much more drawn out than it was - but in the end, even my hospital bag was left untouched! There just wasn't time for anything!

As crazy as it may sound, it was an amazing experience. Sure, it hurt and sure, there were moments I felt I couldn't go on. But today as I sit here writing this, I have this strange desire to go back to the 28th January, if I could, and relive it all minute by minute, pain and all. Even with all the complications that could have gotten ugly, I still consider it to be one of the most positive experiences of my life. I consider myself incredibly lucky to have had David there by my side being the rock that he was - and I am (I can't and won't deny it) also incredibly proud of myself. It gives me all the more confidence to begin this new life of ours as a unit of three.


Pictures:
1 - 10.30am, in very good spirits between contractions!
2 - Seconds after Emily's birth
3 - David with Emily after we'd dressed her, around 7pm


[Read David's side of the story!]

16 comments:

  1. You make it sound so easy.. it would be interesting to see David's perspective re. his drive home when you called him telling him about your water breaking :) You guys rock, well done both of you X

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  2. What a fantastic birth story. I love that you found the energy within yourself to push her out. It's a shame about the 3rd stage comlications but your Midwives must have been fanastic leaving you alone for so long to give things a chance to move by themselves.
    Your pics are beautiful. Massive congratulations again, what a lovely family of three you are.
    Much love xx

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  3. Thank you for posting! Beautiful story. Lately I have been wondering if I am capable of childbirth. I am encouraged when I read other mom's stories (c:

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  4. So many things the same, so many things different! I read this with tears in my eyes as it also made me relive my two births :)so here goes:

    Differences: Both times I was already in hospital when I went into labour; both times my waters had to be broken at 7 & 10 cm respectively- apparently I make very tough amniotic sacks!; I thought a TENS machine sounded like a horrible idea and wouldn't let one anywhere near me!; Theo's heart rate dropped with every contraction - gas and air made it such that I was pretty much oblivious to this!; I was more than happy to have syntometrine (although it did make me puke) - and NO I did not want to examine my placenta thank you very much!!!

    Similarities: I had paracetamol...(dear midwives please stop trying to fool 1st time mums into this!); both my kids were obstinate little back-to-backers!; My midwives were also great at fending off the doctors - (although my last 15 minutes had to involve stirrups and an episiotomy - so stitches for me too)! And in much the same way as you would like to go back to the 28th January pain and all ...I cannot imagine never doing it again :( !!!

    I hope you are having a wonderful time guys ... xxx

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  5. thanks for sharing, clare. the drama! you were fantastic and you've got a perfect little being to prove it. and you're right, you WERE lucky to have david with you. i don't know yet what that will be like but am looking forward to having a different experience this time round. give yourself a round of applause because you deserve it! x

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  6. It's very nice to hear other women saying it all. It makes it a bit more clear to us women who haven't experienced childbirth yet.

    Can you explain what the Tens machine does and how does it make it feel better?

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  7. Thanks for sharing this Kle - sounds like a very intense experience but also very beautiful, to finally have contact with your little girl. Yay I'm so happy for you guys xx

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  8. I'm so happy for you cikka :) You really handled everything like a pro, it's quite impressive!

    Confession: I had google handy to help me figure out what things like a TENS machine is :P

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  9. Wonderfully written. As someone who is going to embarking on this adventure soon, Its actually put a lot into perspective.

    Thank you for sharing xx

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  10. Lovely :) sounds like you had some excellent midwives!

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  11. What a great birth story, thanks for sharing it. Glad it all turned out ok in the end despite the drama in between! I had a similar thing; all natural birth then ended up with a spinal and in surgery after the whole thing had happened! All that matters though is a healthy baby at the end of it. Welcome to the world Emily!

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  12. How wonderful and sweet this is!!! Congratulations!!! :)

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  13. :) I'm sure Emily will love reading all your blogs when she's older. An idea might be to put all your blogs into a book for her.

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  14. Gosh, that is an amazing birth story! So positive and heart warming.

    Congratulations again! Emily is truly an adorable wee girl!

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  15. I love your birth story. And I am so glad that you wrote it.
    I've had 4 completely natural home births so far, and planning the same for this next one (any day now)!
    I was so heartened that you wanted everything to be natural and without interference - unless needed - because that is why we need the medical profession, incase something goes wrong, but if everything is going right, we can get on with letting our bodies do what they were designed to do, work.
    I love your whole attitude, all the way through - a testament to your fine character dear friend!
    Enjoy this time, as I know you are. And blessings to you and David, and all my love and warmest wishes to that precious little girl - with such a special, and dedicated mother.
    God Bless...

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  16. I cannot express how wonderful it has been to read your reactions to this post. Makes me all the more glad I wrote it up! Thank you all for your lovely words xxx

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