We tried to conceive for about 4 years with no luck. We were seriously thinking about getting a referral to a fertility clinic when we realised I was pregnant. We immediately signed up for the 'best' private doctor we could find and made sure we were doing everything right. I planned to continue working as long as I could.
Everything progressed just fine for the first few months, my doctor was happy with our progression, even going as far to say we were 'boring'. During my pregnancy I put on about 30 kgs (I'm only 5'2" so I was huge!), but my doctor was unfazed. In the last 2 months things started getting really uncomfortable; my ankles swelled really badly (I could squeeze my calf muscles and my fingers would leave imprints that would stay there for up to a minute), I would get stabbing pains under my ribs. A few of my friends voiced their concerns, but because my doctor had told me everything was fine I told them not to worry. I ended up taking leave from work a fortnight earlier than I had planned.
A week into my eighth month the doctor told me that my little man hadn't turned yet and I would probably be looking at a C-section. When I asked how big he was likely to be, he told me that we would find out when he came out. This surprised me because my friends who were pregnant at the same time, were given an idea of what to expect from their doctors, as well as having regular internal examinations which I never had, although I wasn't bothered by this at the time.
So anyway, about 4 days after what ended up being my final appointment, I started to have contractions. I was 2 weeks early. They continued to be about 10 minutes apart for 2 days. When I rang to speak with my doctor, I got his 'fill in' who told me not to worry about going in yet so I went out to a BBQ with my family, with my hospital bag in the car. Everyone who was there was shocked at how bloated I was (which I hadn't noticed really but looking back on photos I looked like a beach ball). Nothing happened that night.
The next day I woke up with a raging migraine. I couldn't hold down food, I couldn't face the light. I rang the doctor (and got his 'fill in' again), who told me not to come in yet because my contractions were still 10 minute apart, but to take some panadeine and lie down. I couldn't even hold those down. So, frustrated and uncomfortable, I went back to bed and eventually fell asleep at about 2 in the afternoon.
An hour later my husband, who happened to be in the next room thank goodness, heard some funny noises and rushed in. I was having a seizure. He rang 000. We had 3 ambulances there within about 5 minutes. I came around briefly in the ambulance looking for my husband, but I had 2 more seizures on the way to the hospital and another one there. The raced me in for an emergency C-section.
My little boy was born 5lb 3oz, but healthy enough, although he was in baby ICU for 2 days because I was too drugged up to feed him myself. Meanwhile, I had been put into a coma. That night they asked my husband if he wanted to be notified when I died, or if they should wait until he got there in the morning. They also told him and my mother that I would most likely have serious health problems when I came out of the coma which could include a stroke, heart problems, or any number of other things.
They bought me out of the coma the next day. I had missed the whole birth of my son and so did my husband, and yes, we do feel dissappointed still, 2 years later. I later found out that I had protein in my urine at my doctors visits, as well as being hugely overweight, both of which were key signs of pre-eclampsia apparently, but it was never diagnosed. So all the doctors could tell me was that I had full blown eclampsia and we were both extremely lucky to be alive. If, by chance, my husband had of been at work at the time, both my son and myself would have died (and that is hard to acknowledge even now).
Looking back, I wish that I had listened to the concerns of my mother and friends more seriously and gotten a second opinion. My husband, when my doctor did eventually turn up 2 days later, told him not to bother coming back.
Now, my little boy is healthy, I have no health problems, but no-one can tell me whether this will happen again. As an added bonus I had an infected c-section wound for 4 months, which again, was not noticed by the doctors when I left hospital. Consequently I have no plans at this point to have anymore; I am 32, and I want watch with my husband my little boy grow up. I don't really want to tempt fate a second time.
Showing posts with label Labour. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Labour. Show all posts
Emma
I am 23 years old and i was pregnant with my second child. Things were going great during the first trimester and that was very exciting for me, during my first pregnancy i had nothing but problems from the very beginning. I have always wanted a boy then a girl, and I said that if I got a girl this time I would be having no more children.
Everyone told me that I was going to have another boy and I believed them, but to my surprise I found out I was having a GIRL! My husband cried out of disappointment and I cried out of pure joy. My husband loves our daughter but was nervous since he knows nothing about woman or girls lol.
Anyway by my second trimester I was having really strong contractions, the doctors didn't think anything of it they said it was Braxton hicks contractions. One night in my 22ND week I was having contractions that were getting stronger and closer together once they were about every 5 minutes I headed to the hospital....
sure enough I was in LABOR! I had to have medication to stop the contractions and thankfully it did. I had a internal ultra sound done to measure my cervix and the found that it had shortened significantly.... they sent me home with the orders to be on complete bed rest ( only getting up to go to the restroom or take a 5 minute shower). Mind you I had a 2 year old at home...
I had my mother take my son most days and the other days my mother in law would come over to wait on me and clean my house. I hated it! I was 24 weeks pregnant went I was admitted to the hospital for three days, because I had gone into labor AGAIN!
This time they put me on medication to stop contractions and steroids to help the baby to develop. After three days everything calmed down and a week later I was taken off bed rest and instructed to take it very easy, my cervix had even gone back to almost normal length.
Other then being fat and completely miserable everything was going pretty good, the doctors said the baby was doing great and looked like she was going to be a big baby. Then at 34 weeks It was Thursday May 22ND at 5 pm i was walking up to my mothers door, my grandma was in town visiting and I went to see her, and my water broke.
I was shocked I wasn't having any contractions. I called my doctor and asked if I could wait a couple hours until I came in, since my water was clear and I wasn't having contractions she said it was ok.
I was set on not having any drugs...with my last pregnancy I had to be induced and Pitocin is EVIL, seriously those contractions were so fast and so strong I thought I was going to die and I didn't want to go through that again. So I went to Target and made my hubby park as far as he could so I could walk and try to bring on some contractions, and I hadn't bought a car seat yet and I didn't trust my hubby to buy the one I wanted.
Now my family thought I was crazy because here I am with my water broken wearing one of my sons diapers LOL walking around target buying baby stuff. When I was in the isle looking at car seats I was standing next to a woman who was 8 mos pregnant when I had my first strong contraction, I doubled over in pain....
That poor woman was so freaked out! At that point we decided it was time to go to the hospital. When I got there they did an ultra sound and found that I had very little amniotic fluid left and they want to get things going. At this point I wasn't having anymore contractions I begged them to give it more time... after an hour there were still no contractions and the baby wasn't showing activity like they want to see so.......
they said the last thing I wanted to hear PITOCIN. They started the drip and the contractions came fast I was in excruciating pain for hours, I finally decided that someone had to come in and check me because if I hadn't made any progress I needed an epidural.
They came in to check me and I hadn't dilated at all I was still at 4 cm and 70 % effaced that is where I was when I came in. I was devastated because I wanted to have a natural birth with no pitocin and no epidural. I waited another hour then opted for an epidural.
I asked them to give me as little as possible because I didn't want to be completely numb, I was numb for my son and I couldn't feel anything , it was hard to push and know when I was having contractions.
The epidural helped me to relax a little and that must of been just what I needed because I turned to tell my hubby that the baby was coming when the nurse and mid wife ran into my room because the baby's heart rate had dropped and wasn't going back up.
They wanted to check me and when she pulled up the sheet I heard her say "Hello baby Emma" I was so excited, the baby was crowning and it was time. This was the best experience I had, one pediatrician form the NICU, a nurse, and the midwife, the light was dim, everyone was calm and quiet.
My midwife sat at the end of my bed she didn't have to break it down . No one was counting and telling when to push, no one was holding my legs back, I let my body tell me when to push. Sure enough my daughter was born at3:34am on Friday May 23rd 2008 after 10 and half long hours of labour.
She was 5lbs4oz 17 in long. They let me see her for a few seconds before they gave her to the pediatrician. I was so worried about her since she was born 6 weeks early. I saw them giving her oxygen, they told me she was fine but they needed to take her to the transitional nursery. She was breathing too fast and they wanted to get her breathing regulated and her blood oxygen level up.
20 minutes later the nurse came in and said she was perfectly fine and as soon as I get in my new room I will be able to get her. At 5 am the nurse brought me my beautiful little girl, told me she was hungry and then left. I panicked... I planned on breastfeeding and I forgot everything about babies and feeding them, lol I think it was due to pure exhaustion.
I had a hard time because Emma was a preemie she had a hard time feeding from a bottle or breast. But things started going good when I noticed she was yellow.... she had Jaundice. I was sent home with My little girl 36 hours after giving birth, the Jaundice went away after a week, and she is now 6 mos old weighing 16lbs and is 21in long.
I am truly blessed that everything was ok and she was healthy, I hear so many horror stories about other mothers giving birth to children at 34 weeks and having to go home without them because they are in the NICU and have serious issues.
Overall I loved my birthing experience, comparing it to my first if I have another child I will definitely go to a midwife! Thanks for reading my story, I do love telling it LOL.
Sincerely, Krista May
Everyone told me that I was going to have another boy and I believed them, but to my surprise I found out I was having a GIRL! My husband cried out of disappointment and I cried out of pure joy. My husband loves our daughter but was nervous since he knows nothing about woman or girls lol.
Anyway by my second trimester I was having really strong contractions, the doctors didn't think anything of it they said it was Braxton hicks contractions. One night in my 22ND week I was having contractions that were getting stronger and closer together once they were about every 5 minutes I headed to the hospital....
sure enough I was in LABOR! I had to have medication to stop the contractions and thankfully it did. I had a internal ultra sound done to measure my cervix and the found that it had shortened significantly.... they sent me home with the orders to be on complete bed rest ( only getting up to go to the restroom or take a 5 minute shower). Mind you I had a 2 year old at home...
I had my mother take my son most days and the other days my mother in law would come over to wait on me and clean my house. I hated it! I was 24 weeks pregnant went I was admitted to the hospital for three days, because I had gone into labor AGAIN!
This time they put me on medication to stop contractions and steroids to help the baby to develop. After three days everything calmed down and a week later I was taken off bed rest and instructed to take it very easy, my cervix had even gone back to almost normal length.
Other then being fat and completely miserable everything was going pretty good, the doctors said the baby was doing great and looked like she was going to be a big baby. Then at 34 weeks It was Thursday May 22ND at 5 pm i was walking up to my mothers door, my grandma was in town visiting and I went to see her, and my water broke.
I was shocked I wasn't having any contractions. I called my doctor and asked if I could wait a couple hours until I came in, since my water was clear and I wasn't having contractions she said it was ok.
I was set on not having any drugs...with my last pregnancy I had to be induced and Pitocin is EVIL, seriously those contractions were so fast and so strong I thought I was going to die and I didn't want to go through that again. So I went to Target and made my hubby park as far as he could so I could walk and try to bring on some contractions, and I hadn't bought a car seat yet and I didn't trust my hubby to buy the one I wanted.
Now my family thought I was crazy because here I am with my water broken wearing one of my sons diapers LOL walking around target buying baby stuff. When I was in the isle looking at car seats I was standing next to a woman who was 8 mos pregnant when I had my first strong contraction, I doubled over in pain....
That poor woman was so freaked out! At that point we decided it was time to go to the hospital. When I got there they did an ultra sound and found that I had very little amniotic fluid left and they want to get things going. At this point I wasn't having anymore contractions I begged them to give it more time... after an hour there were still no contractions and the baby wasn't showing activity like they want to see so.......
they said the last thing I wanted to hear PITOCIN. They started the drip and the contractions came fast I was in excruciating pain for hours, I finally decided that someone had to come in and check me because if I hadn't made any progress I needed an epidural.
They came in to check me and I hadn't dilated at all I was still at 4 cm and 70 % effaced that is where I was when I came in. I was devastated because I wanted to have a natural birth with no pitocin and no epidural. I waited another hour then opted for an epidural.
I asked them to give me as little as possible because I didn't want to be completely numb, I was numb for my son and I couldn't feel anything , it was hard to push and know when I was having contractions.
The epidural helped me to relax a little and that must of been just what I needed because I turned to tell my hubby that the baby was coming when the nurse and mid wife ran into my room because the baby's heart rate had dropped and wasn't going back up.
They wanted to check me and when she pulled up the sheet I heard her say "Hello baby Emma" I was so excited, the baby was crowning and it was time. This was the best experience I had, one pediatrician form the NICU, a nurse, and the midwife, the light was dim, everyone was calm and quiet.
My midwife sat at the end of my bed she didn't have to break it down . No one was counting and telling when to push, no one was holding my legs back, I let my body tell me when to push. Sure enough my daughter was born at3:34am on Friday May 23rd 2008 after 10 and half long hours of labour.
She was 5lbs4oz 17 in long. They let me see her for a few seconds before they gave her to the pediatrician. I was so worried about her since she was born 6 weeks early. I saw them giving her oxygen, they told me she was fine but they needed to take her to the transitional nursery. She was breathing too fast and they wanted to get her breathing regulated and her blood oxygen level up.
20 minutes later the nurse came in and said she was perfectly fine and as soon as I get in my new room I will be able to get her. At 5 am the nurse brought me my beautiful little girl, told me she was hungry and then left. I panicked... I planned on breastfeeding and I forgot everything about babies and feeding them, lol I think it was due to pure exhaustion.
I had a hard time because Emma was a preemie she had a hard time feeding from a bottle or breast. But things started going good when I noticed she was yellow.... she had Jaundice. I was sent home with My little girl 36 hours after giving birth, the Jaundice went away after a week, and she is now 6 mos old weighing 16lbs and is 21in long.
I am truly blessed that everything was ok and she was healthy, I hear so many horror stories about other mothers giving birth to children at 34 weeks and having to go home without them because they are in the NICU and have serious issues.
Overall I loved my birthing experience, comparing it to my first if I have another child I will definitely go to a midwife! Thanks for reading my story, I do love telling it LOL.
Sincerely, Krista May
Baby Naz
Its difficult to say when labor started for sure as I'd been having contractions during the night time for about a week, but every day when I woke up they stopped. I was at 39 weeks, and 6 days when the contractions finally continued through the night having started at about 2 in the morning.
We'd traveled up north to the Galilee to give birth at a friend of mine's birth center a few days before so we were settled and comfortable. I am a midwife myself and my husband is a medical student so we planned to labor and deliver alone only asking for help from our attendants should we really need it. My midwife, Mindy, checked me at noon and I was 3 cm and 70% effaced. We were elated! Labor seemed to be with us now and we were hopeful that we'd meet our baby later that day.
We walked around through the gardens and forest near the birth center, played a board game, and read some books during the day while labor slowly picked up speed. Around 4 pm we prepared some beans and rice anticipating that this would be the last meal I would be interested in eating for awhile. Around 7 pm contractions were lasting about 1 minute and were now about 5 minutes apart, we were starting to cook now and when Mindy checked me at this point I was at 7 cm and 100% effaced.
Wow, it has all been so much fun we were amazed that I was that far along. We continued through the night with the contractions increasing in intensity. We danced to some music my sister had prepared, and spent lots of time relaxing in the birth tub (so amazing!!!!). Adam was a star, being with me through every contraction rubbing me, supporting me, and keeping me focused. He was a rock.
Around 3 AM Mindy checked me again and I was still at 7 cm. We all felt a bit discouraged at this point and Mindy gave me some homeopathic drops to speed things along. Boy oh boy! The contractions really increased in intensity and I was sure we were getting somewhere. Then, Mindy checked me again at 6 am and I was still at 7 cm, and it seemed to her that the baby had actually moved from +2 position in the pelvis to +4, i.e, it was going back up the birth canal instead of down!
At this point we had a little pow-wow and decided it was time to move to the hospital in Nazareth about 20 minutes away. That decision was hard for me for a few moments. I cried, vomitted, and then was ready to move. I decided an epidural might at least allow to me rest and some pitocin might get this wee one to move, so off we went.
By some sheer force of will and deep meditation I didn't have a single contraction in the car on the way to the hospital, but when we arrived and I got out of the car I had back to back contractions with no rest for about 10 minutes. That is when things changed for me, physically and emotionally, I was exhausted.
When we met with the doctor I requested a cesarean. I did this because I trusted that if the baby hadn't moved down after almost 30 hours of labor, it knew something we did not and I wanted to spare it the trauma that a vaginal birth might present.
And with that decision behind us, Mindy and I went into the operating theater and Adam waited outside to be with the baby in the nursery. Mindy and I shared stories of the births and midwives we had worked with in Tanzania and before I knew it, there was my son, swaddled, looking at me, and then he was wisked away to join his Dad.
I wept with a joy I had not anticipated and couldn't wait to see him again. After two hours in the recovery room, baby Naz and I were reunited. He nursed immediately, and I was deeply in love.
The recovery time in the hospital was the most traumatic part of the experience for me as I've never really been sick so I've not spent anytime in hospitals and was totally unprepared for the noise, lack of privacy, and discomfort of being away from home.
Additionally, I had no idea how much it was going to hurt for weeks afterwards. I am now at 10 weeks post-delivery and feel great, but those first weeks were the hardest of my life. We also had some trouble nursing as he was losing too much weight those first days. We had to supplement with formula and that was really, really hard for me, but I finally encountered a nurse who encouraged me to trust myself, to nurse all day if I have to, and it will come. And it did!
All in all, I describe Naz's birth experience as the labor I'd always dreamed of and the delivery we needed. He is thriving and we are wonderfully happy together. I will do everything in my power to delivery the next baby vaginally, but remain open to the possibility that the next one may need to be birthed by someone else, as well.
I believe that the real key to an empowered birth is being open, feeling in charge of your decisions, and having support. All of these elements were available to me and so I feel really good about our birth. But again, I hope to push the next one out myself, we will see!
Sera Bonds Beersheba, Israel
"Be the change you want to see in the world" ~M.Ghandi
We'd traveled up north to the Galilee to give birth at a friend of mine's birth center a few days before so we were settled and comfortable. I am a midwife myself and my husband is a medical student so we planned to labor and deliver alone only asking for help from our attendants should we really need it. My midwife, Mindy, checked me at noon and I was 3 cm and 70% effaced. We were elated! Labor seemed to be with us now and we were hopeful that we'd meet our baby later that day.
We walked around through the gardens and forest near the birth center, played a board game, and read some books during the day while labor slowly picked up speed. Around 4 pm we prepared some beans and rice anticipating that this would be the last meal I would be interested in eating for awhile. Around 7 pm contractions were lasting about 1 minute and were now about 5 minutes apart, we were starting to cook now and when Mindy checked me at this point I was at 7 cm and 100% effaced.
Wow, it has all been so much fun we were amazed that I was that far along. We continued through the night with the contractions increasing in intensity. We danced to some music my sister had prepared, and spent lots of time relaxing in the birth tub (so amazing!!!!). Adam was a star, being with me through every contraction rubbing me, supporting me, and keeping me focused. He was a rock.
Around 3 AM Mindy checked me again and I was still at 7 cm. We all felt a bit discouraged at this point and Mindy gave me some homeopathic drops to speed things along. Boy oh boy! The contractions really increased in intensity and I was sure we were getting somewhere. Then, Mindy checked me again at 6 am and I was still at 7 cm, and it seemed to her that the baby had actually moved from +2 position in the pelvis to +4, i.e, it was going back up the birth canal instead of down!
At this point we had a little pow-wow and decided it was time to move to the hospital in Nazareth about 20 minutes away. That decision was hard for me for a few moments. I cried, vomitted, and then was ready to move. I decided an epidural might at least allow to me rest and some pitocin might get this wee one to move, so off we went.
By some sheer force of will and deep meditation I didn't have a single contraction in the car on the way to the hospital, but when we arrived and I got out of the car I had back to back contractions with no rest for about 10 minutes. That is when things changed for me, physically and emotionally, I was exhausted.
When we met with the doctor I requested a cesarean. I did this because I trusted that if the baby hadn't moved down after almost 30 hours of labor, it knew something we did not and I wanted to spare it the trauma that a vaginal birth might present.
And with that decision behind us, Mindy and I went into the operating theater and Adam waited outside to be with the baby in the nursery. Mindy and I shared stories of the births and midwives we had worked with in Tanzania and before I knew it, there was my son, swaddled, looking at me, and then he was wisked away to join his Dad.
I wept with a joy I had not anticipated and couldn't wait to see him again. After two hours in the recovery room, baby Naz and I were reunited. He nursed immediately, and I was deeply in love.
The recovery time in the hospital was the most traumatic part of the experience for me as I've never really been sick so I've not spent anytime in hospitals and was totally unprepared for the noise, lack of privacy, and discomfort of being away from home.
Additionally, I had no idea how much it was going to hurt for weeks afterwards. I am now at 10 weeks post-delivery and feel great, but those first weeks were the hardest of my life. We also had some trouble nursing as he was losing too much weight those first days. We had to supplement with formula and that was really, really hard for me, but I finally encountered a nurse who encouraged me to trust myself, to nurse all day if I have to, and it will come. And it did!
All in all, I describe Naz's birth experience as the labor I'd always dreamed of and the delivery we needed. He is thriving and we are wonderfully happy together. I will do everything in my power to delivery the next baby vaginally, but remain open to the possibility that the next one may need to be birthed by someone else, as well.
I believe that the real key to an empowered birth is being open, feeling in charge of your decisions, and having support. All of these elements were available to me and so I feel really good about our birth. But again, I hope to push the next one out myself, we will see!
Sera Bonds Beersheba, Israel
"Be the change you want to see in the world" ~M.Ghandi
Baby Girl
I had lots of Braxton Hicks contractions this time. I Kept wondering if I was in labour and just as I would be about to tell my husband (after an hour or so of steady contractions) to take me to the hospital, they would quit.
So on Sunday evening (4 days after my due date), contractions started around 10:00 but weren't bad. I went to bed but couldn't sleep. Kept having contractions. About 11 I got up and walked around, rocked, took a shower, still having contractions. Finally, about 12:30, I woke my husband up.
I called our friend/babysitter who was going to watch our other two girls and told her we would be bringing the girls over. Took our kids to her and got to the hospital about 2:15AM. My contractions were only about 2 minutes apart when we arrived. I told the nurse about delivering at home the previous time. I told her I thought this baby was coming pretty soon. But I was calm and I don't think she believed me.
She checked me, said I was a four, and said they would wait 20 minutes to admit me. I was disappointed to only be a four, but thought, Okay. About 2:45 AM, they admitted me and I got a new nurse. She told me that my contractions were right on top of each other and they thought I was dehydrated.
They wanted to give me an IV. Figuring that I probably still had a while I told her I really didn't want an IV, could I have ice chips. So they gave me ice chips but said if my contractions didn't slow down they would put me on an IV.
By this point the contractions were suddenly getting pretty bad and I didn't have the energy to argue. I hadn't been checked since I first arrived. At about 3:10, I started wanting an epidural but figured I would wait 10 minutes and see how I was feeling. About 3:15, I started feeling like I needed to go to the bathroom.
I knew that was a sign that the baby was coming but figured that I was only a four so it couldn't be yet. I waited about five minutes, then told my husband and he called the nurse. She decided to check me and found I was a ten. She told me to keep breathing and started making phone calls.
My OB/GYN was out of town, so they had let the doctor on call know that I was in labour, but I'm sure they told him it would be awhile. So he was still at home. THey called him and told him to hurry.
She asked if my water had broken and I said no. She told me I was doing great breathing and to keep it up and started preparing for delivery. Then my water broke and there was meconium in it. She called NICU, just in case.
She told me to keep breathing and not to push but at that point, it was no longer an option. She was coming and I couldn't not push. The nurse seemed kind of panicky, but she called a resident and the resident came. Our third baby girl was born at 3:34 AM. She was 8 pounds, 13 ounces and 21 1/4inches long.
Her one minute Apgar score was low and she had swallowed some meconium. But her five minute score was a nine. She was breathing and doing great. She is happy and healthy and such a sweet, content baby. And she was born just about 1hour after we got into our hospital room.
So from 4 to delivered in an hour. Once my babies decide it is time, it is time... except my first, who was perfectly happy to just stay inside as long as possible!
Jenny & Alfredo Panameno
"We do not give thanks because we are happy. We are happy because we give thanks." --Douglas Wood
So on Sunday evening (4 days after my due date), contractions started around 10:00 but weren't bad. I went to bed but couldn't sleep. Kept having contractions. About 11 I got up and walked around, rocked, took a shower, still having contractions. Finally, about 12:30, I woke my husband up.
I called our friend/babysitter who was going to watch our other two girls and told her we would be bringing the girls over. Took our kids to her and got to the hospital about 2:15AM. My contractions were only about 2 minutes apart when we arrived. I told the nurse about delivering at home the previous time. I told her I thought this baby was coming pretty soon. But I was calm and I don't think she believed me.
She checked me, said I was a four, and said they would wait 20 minutes to admit me. I was disappointed to only be a four, but thought, Okay. About 2:45 AM, they admitted me and I got a new nurse. She told me that my contractions were right on top of each other and they thought I was dehydrated.
They wanted to give me an IV. Figuring that I probably still had a while I told her I really didn't want an IV, could I have ice chips. So they gave me ice chips but said if my contractions didn't slow down they would put me on an IV.
By this point the contractions were suddenly getting pretty bad and I didn't have the energy to argue. I hadn't been checked since I first arrived. At about 3:10, I started wanting an epidural but figured I would wait 10 minutes and see how I was feeling. About 3:15, I started feeling like I needed to go to the bathroom.
I knew that was a sign that the baby was coming but figured that I was only a four so it couldn't be yet. I waited about five minutes, then told my husband and he called the nurse. She decided to check me and found I was a ten. She told me to keep breathing and started making phone calls.
My OB/GYN was out of town, so they had let the doctor on call know that I was in labour, but I'm sure they told him it would be awhile. So he was still at home. THey called him and told him to hurry.
She asked if my water had broken and I said no. She told me I was doing great breathing and to keep it up and started preparing for delivery. Then my water broke and there was meconium in it. She called NICU, just in case.
She told me to keep breathing and not to push but at that point, it was no longer an option. She was coming and I couldn't not push. The nurse seemed kind of panicky, but she called a resident and the resident came. Our third baby girl was born at 3:34 AM. She was 8 pounds, 13 ounces and 21 1/4inches long.
Her one minute Apgar score was low and she had swallowed some meconium. But her five minute score was a nine. She was breathing and doing great. She is happy and healthy and such a sweet, content baby. And she was born just about 1hour after we got into our hospital room.
So from 4 to delivered in an hour. Once my babies decide it is time, it is time... except my first, who was perfectly happy to just stay inside as long as possible!
Jenny & Alfredo Panameno
"We do not give thanks because we are happy. We are happy because we give thanks." --Douglas Wood
Home Birth
I went to the doctor the day after my due date. I was dilated to a 2 1/2. We scheduled a date to be induced, in case she wasn't born in the next 2 weeks. I left and started feeling kind of sick to my stomach and crampy. But I needed to go grocery shopping, so I bought a month's worth of groceries (about $300 worth) and started having contractions while shopping.
I figured I'd overdone it and they would stop when I got home and rested. They didn't. But they really weren't bad. They were about 5 minutes apart, but only lasting 30 seconds. I figured my baby would be born early the next morning.
I rested on the couch. My husband put our 2 year old to bed and laid on the other couch. We both dozed off. I would wake for each contraction but then doze off again. Then suddenly I was wide awake. The contractions were much worse. We called our neighbour who was going to stay with our two year old. She was asleep and said she'd be over in a few minutes.
I remember thinking that if I got to the hospital and was only a four I would need an epidural again. If I was at least a 7,I could tough it out. My neighbour came about 10 minutes later and helped me up. I walked across the room and literally felt like the baby was going to fall out. I told my husband we weren't going anywhere.
My neighbour/friend called 911. They asked if my water had broken and I said no, and it broke just as I said no. They had me lay down and breathe through contractions and my husband rushed around getting towels and stuff while my neighbour talked to the 911 operator and kept me breathing and calm.
The police arrived and were ready to deliver my baby (she was crowning without me even pushing) and then the paramedics arrived literally seconds before she was born. She was born at 10:35 PM on our living room couch. She was 7pounds, 11 ounces and was 20 inches long.
We were taken to the hospital in the ambulance and that was no fun. I went into shock and was shivering uncontrollably. The paramedic couldn't deliver the placenta (although the nurse was able to immediately after I arrived at the hospital) and every little bump felt jarring.
But we were healthy and she nursed well and everything was fine. I had been in labour a total of 6 1/2 or 7 hours, but literally went from almost no pain to being in active labour to delivery in less than 30 minutes.
I figured I'd overdone it and they would stop when I got home and rested. They didn't. But they really weren't bad. They were about 5 minutes apart, but only lasting 30 seconds. I figured my baby would be born early the next morning.
I rested on the couch. My husband put our 2 year old to bed and laid on the other couch. We both dozed off. I would wake for each contraction but then doze off again. Then suddenly I was wide awake. The contractions were much worse. We called our neighbour who was going to stay with our two year old. She was asleep and said she'd be over in a few minutes.
I remember thinking that if I got to the hospital and was only a four I would need an epidural again. If I was at least a 7,I could tough it out. My neighbour came about 10 minutes later and helped me up. I walked across the room and literally felt like the baby was going to fall out. I told my husband we weren't going anywhere.
My neighbour/friend called 911. They asked if my water had broken and I said no, and it broke just as I said no. They had me lay down and breathe through contractions and my husband rushed around getting towels and stuff while my neighbour talked to the 911 operator and kept me breathing and calm.
The police arrived and were ready to deliver my baby (she was crowning without me even pushing) and then the paramedics arrived literally seconds before she was born. She was born at 10:35 PM on our living room couch. She was 7pounds, 11 ounces and was 20 inches long.
We were taken to the hospital in the ambulance and that was no fun. I went into shock and was shivering uncontrollably. The paramedic couldn't deliver the placenta (although the nurse was able to immediately after I arrived at the hospital) and every little bump felt jarring.
But we were healthy and she nursed well and everything was fine. I had been in labour a total of 6 1/2 or 7 hours, but literally went from almost no pain to being in active labour to delivery in less than 30 minutes.
Owen
My second child Owen was born in 2006.
I was scheduled to be induced with this pregnancy 2 weeks before my due date due to the meconium scare with my first child. Everything went well until they broke my water. Once they did that the baby's heart rate kept dropping.
They had me lay in all kinds of different positions in my bed to see if that would help. I remember being on all fours on my bed, with my butt sticking up in the air, gown probably not covering it! The nurse had me lift my leg to check me and I was so embarrassed.
Then, in no time at all, a team of nurses and my doctor came rushing in to take me for surgery. I was SHOCKED because I had never imagined needing a c-section, yet here I was, baby in distress flying down the hall to the surgery room. I had never had a surgery before and having the c-section was like a dream.
They put that curtain up so that you can't see, yet I could feel tugging and pushing. It was like an ER episode only it was happening to me! Needless to say, Owen was born healthy and my husband was able to cut the cord that just happened to be around Owen's neck two times.
I was scheduled to be induced with this pregnancy 2 weeks before my due date due to the meconium scare with my first child. Everything went well until they broke my water. Once they did that the baby's heart rate kept dropping.
They had me lay in all kinds of different positions in my bed to see if that would help. I remember being on all fours on my bed, with my butt sticking up in the air, gown probably not covering it! The nurse had me lift my leg to check me and I was so embarrassed.
Then, in no time at all, a team of nurses and my doctor came rushing in to take me for surgery. I was SHOCKED because I had never imagined needing a c-section, yet here I was, baby in distress flying down the hall to the surgery room. I had never had a surgery before and having the c-section was like a dream.
They put that curtain up so that you can't see, yet I could feel tugging and pushing. It was like an ER episode only it was happening to me! Needless to say, Owen was born healthy and my husband was able to cut the cord that just happened to be around Owen's neck two times.
Austin
My first son Austin was born June 21st, 2000.
He was three days late and I was feeling it! I went in to see my doctor that morning and I didn't know that I was in labor. No pain, no contractions, nothing. They sent me over to the hospital and told me that my baby would probably come later that day. About an hour later I was in bed in my hospital birthing room when my doctor came in to break my water.
When she did this, I could tell that something was wrong by the look on her face. Up to that point I was always so afraid of my water breaking in public and I had read that if that happens you need to make sure the water was clear. Well, when my doctor broke my water it was not clear, it was a greenish color and I knew that wasn't a good sign.
I was told that the fluid contained meconium, which means that the baby had it's first bowl movement. They told me that if the baby inhales this meconium the baby can get an infection, and would be taken to another hospital with a NICU. I am a very calm person and tried to not let this news affect me. Not an easy thing to do when you're stuck in a bed now having labor pains. I remember that they put a tube into my uterus to flush it out.
They told me that I couldn't push because they wanted that fluid to stay in there. That was not an easy task considering that my labor was moving along so quickly that I was unable to have any kind of medication. I remember even passing out a few times, and wanting to move positions, but they wouldn't let me. I was lucky, I was only in labor about 3 hours.
My room became filled with a medical team for the baby, and seeing them made me realize how serious this situation was. When I pushed Austin out, the doctor plugged him so that he wouldn't breath and she whisked him to the waiting team. My husband wasn't even able to cut the cord. I am very happy to report that Austin did not inhale any meconium and was a very healthy baby.
Carrie
He was three days late and I was feeling it! I went in to see my doctor that morning and I didn't know that I was in labor. No pain, no contractions, nothing. They sent me over to the hospital and told me that my baby would probably come later that day. About an hour later I was in bed in my hospital birthing room when my doctor came in to break my water.
When she did this, I could tell that something was wrong by the look on her face. Up to that point I was always so afraid of my water breaking in public and I had read that if that happens you need to make sure the water was clear. Well, when my doctor broke my water it was not clear, it was a greenish color and I knew that wasn't a good sign.
I was told that the fluid contained meconium, which means that the baby had it's first bowl movement. They told me that if the baby inhales this meconium the baby can get an infection, and would be taken to another hospital with a NICU. I am a very calm person and tried to not let this news affect me. Not an easy thing to do when you're stuck in a bed now having labor pains. I remember that they put a tube into my uterus to flush it out.
They told me that I couldn't push because they wanted that fluid to stay in there. That was not an easy task considering that my labor was moving along so quickly that I was unable to have any kind of medication. I remember even passing out a few times, and wanting to move positions, but they wouldn't let me. I was lucky, I was only in labor about 3 hours.
My room became filled with a medical team for the baby, and seeing them made me realize how serious this situation was. When I pushed Austin out, the doctor plugged him so that he wouldn't breath and she whisked him to the waiting team. My husband wasn't even able to cut the cord. I am very happy to report that Austin did not inhale any meconium and was a very healthy baby.
Carrie
Precious Baby Boy
I was due on 28th November 2006. I had my hospital bag ready months early!!
On the 20th November I had some contractions but then they stopped so It must have been Braxton Hicks. The next night I had some twinges but nothing major so went to sleep. I Kept waking up through the night with slight pains but I was so tired I just kept going back to sleep. I woke up in the morning of the 22nd November about 9am with pains, kind of like period pains but tighter, very hard to explain.
I thought it was just going to stop like 2 days earlier. Slowly they started getting worse, still not that bad though. I woke up my husband and started timing them. They started getting closer and I was thinking "Is this really it...??" I was excited but the fear took over. We Phoned the hospital and they said it sounded like the start of labour but to stay at home till the contractions got closer. I was too scared to do that!!
It must have been about 11amwhen I decided to go in. We got in the car and made our way to hospital. The pains were getting really bad. With each contraction I was lifting myself up off the seat! I remember walking into the hospital and getting a bad contraction and standing there holding onto hubby and screaming. Everyone was looking but I didn't care!
We got into the birth centre. They were great and so relaxed. There was no examination… they just told me to have a shower and sit on this big birthing ball. That helped for a bit but then the pain got worse. I remember sending my hubby to get me a turkish delight!! Even in pain I can still think about chocolate!
The pain got worse, I screamed and shouted at the midwife for gas and air and she finally gave me it, and it was great!!!!! They thought I hadn't started dilating yet because my contractions were still quite far apart, so they checked and I was 4cm. What a relief... but it also made me think "How bad is this going to get if I got another 6cm to go!??"
Much of the middle bit between here and the birth is a bit blurred... (probably the gas and air) but I remember giggling like mad between contractions, high off the gas!! Once I got to the pushing stage, my waters broke. It showed that baby had done a poo inside me (Great!) so we had to be transferred to the delivery suite.
Not long after Igot there my beautiful boy was born at 18:05 weighing a healthy 8lbs 4oz. He was sogorgeous. They took him off me straight away to check he hadn't swallowed any poo.He was fine thank goodness so they passed him to me. I felt like the luckiest person inthe whole world.
Before you have a child you can never imagine that your heart canhold that much love so instantly! It’s the most wonderful feeling in the world. It iswell worth the pain. I cried when I first held him. My little angel. I stayed up all night watching him. My precious baby boy.
On the 20th November I had some contractions but then they stopped so It must have been Braxton Hicks. The next night I had some twinges but nothing major so went to sleep. I Kept waking up through the night with slight pains but I was so tired I just kept going back to sleep. I woke up in the morning of the 22nd November about 9am with pains, kind of like period pains but tighter, very hard to explain.
I thought it was just going to stop like 2 days earlier. Slowly they started getting worse, still not that bad though. I woke up my husband and started timing them. They started getting closer and I was thinking "Is this really it...??" I was excited but the fear took over. We Phoned the hospital and they said it sounded like the start of labour but to stay at home till the contractions got closer. I was too scared to do that!!
It must have been about 11amwhen I decided to go in. We got in the car and made our way to hospital. The pains were getting really bad. With each contraction I was lifting myself up off the seat! I remember walking into the hospital and getting a bad contraction and standing there holding onto hubby and screaming. Everyone was looking but I didn't care!
We got into the birth centre. They were great and so relaxed. There was no examination… they just told me to have a shower and sit on this big birthing ball. That helped for a bit but then the pain got worse. I remember sending my hubby to get me a turkish delight!! Even in pain I can still think about chocolate!
The pain got worse, I screamed and shouted at the midwife for gas and air and she finally gave me it, and it was great!!!!! They thought I hadn't started dilating yet because my contractions were still quite far apart, so they checked and I was 4cm. What a relief... but it also made me think "How bad is this going to get if I got another 6cm to go!??"
Much of the middle bit between here and the birth is a bit blurred... (probably the gas and air) but I remember giggling like mad between contractions, high off the gas!! Once I got to the pushing stage, my waters broke. It showed that baby had done a poo inside me (Great!) so we had to be transferred to the delivery suite.
Not long after Igot there my beautiful boy was born at 18:05 weighing a healthy 8lbs 4oz. He was sogorgeous. They took him off me straight away to check he hadn't swallowed any poo.He was fine thank goodness so they passed him to me. I felt like the luckiest person inthe whole world.
Before you have a child you can never imagine that your heart canhold that much love so instantly! It’s the most wonderful feeling in the world. It iswell worth the pain. I cried when I first held him. My little angel. I stayed up all night watching him. My precious baby boy.
Premature Birth
Premature Birth.
My Daughter Briannah was born at 27 weeks Gestation. Her water broke and she had barely any water in her sack, putting me into labour. I was rushed to Toronto Mount Saini Hospital In Toronto had a Emergency C-Section. Briannah came out blue and black due to a dry birth.
She was incubated right a way. She was very tiny. She had a lot of Apnoea Spells. I held her when she was one week old. It is hard when you are not allowed to hold your own baby and it is very overwhelming when you go into the NICU and hear all the beeping and see all the lights going off.
You see all these little babies who are in incubators that are hooked up to so many machines. Briannah was in the NICU for 30 days and in Level 2 for about the same length of time. Briannah came home on December 12th 2007.
She only weighed 4lbs 6oz when she came home and 14 inches in length. She was very tiny when I brought her home making it very hard to take care of her as I was always constantly checking on her to make sure she was breathing.
I cleaned everything 100 times a day and made everyone use hand sanitizer who ever was to touch her. I didnt want her to get sick. I pumped my milk for her for 3 months as then I dried up and could not produce anymore which was very stressful as This was the first time I had breastfed. I would try and try and then was just so upset that I couldnt give her what was best for her.
She is now 14 months old. She is 11 months corrected. Being a Preemie mom has made me the strongest person I can be. She keeps me going everyday. She can sit alone, she can slide on her belly getting around that way she is not crawling nor pulling herself up. She is still on Formula and eats our food now although she still loves pablem.
She is a very happy baby, she sleeps all night long. She has no complications just behind on her development. It was a very bumpy road and am glad she is bigger and happy.
From Crystal McGee- Elliot Lake
My Daughter Briannah was born at 27 weeks Gestation. Her water broke and she had barely any water in her sack, putting me into labour. I was rushed to Toronto Mount Saini Hospital In Toronto had a Emergency C-Section. Briannah came out blue and black due to a dry birth.
She was incubated right a way. She was very tiny. She had a lot of Apnoea Spells. I held her when she was one week old. It is hard when you are not allowed to hold your own baby and it is very overwhelming when you go into the NICU and hear all the beeping and see all the lights going off.
You see all these little babies who are in incubators that are hooked up to so many machines. Briannah was in the NICU for 30 days and in Level 2 for about the same length of time. Briannah came home on December 12th 2007.
She only weighed 4lbs 6oz when she came home and 14 inches in length. She was very tiny when I brought her home making it very hard to take care of her as I was always constantly checking on her to make sure she was breathing.
I cleaned everything 100 times a day and made everyone use hand sanitizer who ever was to touch her. I didnt want her to get sick. I pumped my milk for her for 3 months as then I dried up and could not produce anymore which was very stressful as This was the first time I had breastfed. I would try and try and then was just so upset that I couldnt give her what was best for her.
She is now 14 months old. She is 11 months corrected. Being a Preemie mom has made me the strongest person I can be. She keeps me going everyday. She can sit alone, she can slide on her belly getting around that way she is not crawling nor pulling herself up. She is still on Formula and eats our food now although she still loves pablem.
She is a very happy baby, she sleeps all night long. She has no complications just behind on her development. It was a very bumpy road and am glad she is bigger and happy.
From Crystal McGee- Elliot Lake
My Four Babies
I have had 4 bubs...all pretty different as far as the actual labours but all with the same outcome! All natural births except for the gas!!!
My first went for 18 hours, they gave me pethadine at the 17th hour as I was only 5cms, within minutes, I fully dilated and needed to push! Poor baby!
The second was definitely the easiest. 4 hours, just gas, My waters broke naturally, and Hayley was born very quickly!!!
My third labour went for 8 hours with a lot of false labours leading up to it for two weeks! Very full on this time, and in the end Lachlan came so fast I was still standing and had to catch him myself!
And the last labour was horrendous! i went ten days over was meant to be induced, started naturally that day...then it all stopped! Went in for the induction and was already 5 cm’s.....They stretched my cervix, and it was all on! No real break at all between contractions, I was stomping around like a horse...and Jett arrived after 3 hours.
My first went for 18 hours, they gave me pethadine at the 17th hour as I was only 5cms, within minutes, I fully dilated and needed to push! Poor baby!
The second was definitely the easiest. 4 hours, just gas, My waters broke naturally, and Hayley was born very quickly!!!
My third labour went for 8 hours with a lot of false labours leading up to it for two weeks! Very full on this time, and in the end Lachlan came so fast I was still standing and had to catch him myself!
And the last labour was horrendous! i went ten days over was meant to be induced, started naturally that day...then it all stopped! Went in for the induction and was already 5 cm’s.....They stretched my cervix, and it was all on! No real break at all between contractions, I was stomping around like a horse...and Jett arrived after 3 hours.
Daniel Thomas
I have 3 children, but only get the pleasure of raising two of them.
My first child was stillborn September 2, 2006. I was less than a week away from my due date and had my normal weekly OB appointment. I took my husband with me and was actually going to ask the doctor to separate my membranes so we could kick start labor. She tried using the doppler for quite a while trying to find his heartbeat. When she couldn't find it, she took me into an ultrasound room and told me that worst news of my life.
His heart had stopped beating.
Everything was completely normal up until that day. I knew he was moving they day before, but was so excited about my appointment that I hadn't done any kick counts that day....huge mistake!
Even though he had passed away, I still had to deliver him. They sent me to the hospital immediately to start induction. Unfortunately my body didn't want to labor. They gave me cervical softening pills and lots of pitocin, It took me 43 hours to dialate to 3 cm. After 45 hours of labor and 5 pushes, Daniel Thomas was born.
The nurses cleaned him up and gave us the chance to hold him. It was the hardest thing in the world to do, to look at the face of my little boy. I felt that I failed him in every possible way. My world was torn upside down and it took months to start feeling normal again.
My OB tried to convince me to start using birth control so I could have time to heal (physically and mentally), but I refused. I didn't want to try again, but I didn't want to hinder the possibility when I was I was ready to try. God had other plans though. I found out I was pregnant again less than 3 months after my son died. This time it was twins though! I think it was his way of making up for my loss. My pregnancy was heavily monitored and I successfully carried both babies for 37 weeks. They were born via c-section.
We take our kids to visit their big brother's grave regularly. He is still very much a part of my life and I Know he is always watching over us. The pain of losing him is still with me, but I know he's in a better place.
My first child was stillborn September 2, 2006. I was less than a week away from my due date and had my normal weekly OB appointment. I took my husband with me and was actually going to ask the doctor to separate my membranes so we could kick start labor. She tried using the doppler for quite a while trying to find his heartbeat. When she couldn't find it, she took me into an ultrasound room and told me that worst news of my life.
His heart had stopped beating.
Everything was completely normal up until that day. I knew he was moving they day before, but was so excited about my appointment that I hadn't done any kick counts that day....huge mistake!
Even though he had passed away, I still had to deliver him. They sent me to the hospital immediately to start induction. Unfortunately my body didn't want to labor. They gave me cervical softening pills and lots of pitocin, It took me 43 hours to dialate to 3 cm. After 45 hours of labor and 5 pushes, Daniel Thomas was born.
The nurses cleaned him up and gave us the chance to hold him. It was the hardest thing in the world to do, to look at the face of my little boy. I felt that I failed him in every possible way. My world was torn upside down and it took months to start feeling normal again.
My OB tried to convince me to start using birth control so I could have time to heal (physically and mentally), but I refused. I didn't want to try again, but I didn't want to hinder the possibility when I was I was ready to try. God had other plans though. I found out I was pregnant again less than 3 months after my son died. This time it was twins though! I think it was his way of making up for my loss. My pregnancy was heavily monitored and I successfully carried both babies for 37 weeks. They were born via c-section.
We take our kids to visit their big brother's grave regularly. He is still very much a part of my life and I Know he is always watching over us. The pain of losing him is still with me, but I know he's in a better place.
Elizabeth Hawthorne
I've attached the birth story of my last baby. I had NOT previously had a caesarian, but during natural labour with my second child, my uterus ruptured and had to be removed. The cause was the syntocinon they used to induce my labour. The hospital told me they hadn't seen a case like mine in 20 years. It happens to 6 in 100 000 women.
Elizabeth Hawthorne's Story.
At 8:20pm on the 3rd of September 2008 my waters broke. I rang the hospital and was told to head to the hospital. After waiting around for Troy we arrived at the hospital at around 11pm.
We were asked to sit in the waiting area and were there for a few hours before I was examined by a doctor. She said that I was barely dilated – maybe 1cm. I was taken to my room in the ward at around 4:30am. Troy went home to sleep. I was having very irregular contractions, maybe one every 20 to 30 minutes and they weren’t very strong. I was offered a sleeping pill but I didn’t want the contractions to stop. I ended up falling asleep and the contractions slowed down. These contractions lasted for two days.
The midwives took my OBS every 4 hours and they used the fetal monitor but I don’t remember how often. I was told that I was booked in to be induced on Friday morning but the birthing suite was too busy and I was pushed back to the afternoon. The day was getting later and I was told that I might have to wait until Saturday morning, but we were called down at 6:30pm on Friday night. At 9pm they started the syntocinon drip.
I was not spoken to about the drug at all. I was unaware of the side effects and was not given any other option. The contractions became stronger and more regular. The midwife was using the fetal monitor and was continually having trouble with the machine. I was having contractions and the machine wasn’t reading them. She even went to another room and got a different machine but continued to have trouble keeping track of mycontractions.
I remember all of the midwives complaining about how the machines never work and that they need to invent a new way of monitoring contractions. A few times the midwives sat beside me with their hand on my stomach for about 10 minutes so that they could monitor the contractions themselves.
At 11:30pm I was given an epidural. Afterwards the midwife checked and found that I was 4cm dilated. I slept for a while until around 1:30am when I started feeling uncomfortable. I began to feel the contractions in my right side. The midwife called the anesthetist but while we were waiting for him the contractions suddenly became very severe.
I was aware that my left side was still numb but the contractions were so strong that it didn’t feel like I was numb at all. The pain was excruciating. I was shaking from head to foot. I kept asking for the anesthetist to fix the epidural but the doctor checked and found that I was 10cm dilated. It was too late to worry about fixing the epidural but they did give me a stronger dosage for the side that was still numb.
At this point I believe the syntocinon drip was turned down. The Doctor said that we needed to get the baby out now. That was the first time I felt worried. While we were waiting for the next contraction the doctor was telling me how important it was that the baby come out in the first push. She said that the baby’s heart rate was dropping. I was feeling very sick and started to throw up. I can’t really remember how many times I pushed, maybe twice, but I remember the doctor saying how good I was and that the baby came out in the first push, at 2:37am.
As she came out I saw that the placenta had come out with her. She didn’t make any sounds or show any sign of life. The doctors immediately took her over to the other table and began pumping her chest and giving her oxygen. I was still throwing up and cried uncontrollably while we watched the doctors’ work on our baby. I can’t remember who told us or when but we were told that the placenta had ruptured and that the baby was born without a heart beat and not breathing.
They said that they got oxygen into her as soon as they could. I can’t remember if her heart was beating before they took her out of the room. Neither Troy nor I got to touch or even really see her before they took her away. Almost immediately after she left the room I was overcome with exhaustion. I could not keep my eyes open. I remember the doctors trying to talk to me and not being able to concentrate on anything they said.
They let me sleep for about 20 minutes and Troy was allowed to go to the nursery to see the baby. While he was gone the doctor came and woke me up to give me stitches for the episiotomy that I didn’t even know I had had.
The second she woke me up I began throwing up. I was having severe stomach pains but I was so exhausted that I slept through the whole thing. I remember the doctor trying to tell me that she needed to give me some medicine in my rectum. I don’t remember it being put in. While in the middle of being extremely tired, I continued to complain of stomach pains. I was told that they could be afterbirth pains but I knew it felt different.
One midwife guessed that I might have strained a muscle. The pains got worse and worse and eventually a few different doctors were called in to examine me. I was sent to have an x-ray and ultrasound at around 11am. Lying down on the bed to have the ultrasound was excruciating.
Afterwards I was allowed to go to the nursery to see my baby for the first time. I was with her for about 10 minutes and then they took me back to the birthing suite. A doctor came in not long after I got back and told me that they saw some blood in the ultrasound and that it could mean 3 different things but most likely it meant that there was a hole in my uterus. She said that I needed to go into surgery to fix the hole and that it would be a quick 40 minute procedure.
She said that in the future I would need to have caesarean births. She made it very clear that the worst case scenario would be that the hole would be too big to repair and that they would have to remove it. I distinctly remember her reassuring me that that would not happen. I wasn’t very worried at all and certainly did not expect to have the outcome that we did.
I was taken into surgery at about 3pm. After surgery they woke me up and I was in the most pain Ihave ever experienced. I couldn’t believe how bad it was. A Doctor came and explained to me that the tear had gone straight through my uterus, cervix and down through the vaginal wall. He said that it was irreparable and had to be taken out completely, in order to save my life.
I was taken to ICU where I saw my mother and Troy. By this time I had been given enough drugs that I wasn’t in pain anymore. I slept there until 5am when they came in to move me because they needed the room. I was taken to a birthing suite where a midwife took care of me. I stayed in that room until Tuesday morning, when I was moved up to my room in the Ward.
As they were moving me, at around 11:30am, somehow one of the drains from my wound had been undone and there was blood all over the bed. I called for a midwife and she reattached them. The second she did this I felt a massive sharp pain and screamed.
Another midwife, Jo, told me that they needed to let the air out of the tubes and they did this very slowly but it was extremely painful. After they were finished I continued to have sharp pains in my right side – about one every 30 to 60 seconds.Each one was painful enough to make me scream. Jo stayed with me the whole time, when she wasn’t trying to get attention from Doctors and pain relief people.
I don’t know how long it took for everyone to get there, but it seemed like forever. Doctor Will came and said that they weren’t sure what was causing the pain and they didn’t want to take the drains out, just incase they would have to put them back in again. He said that we needed to get the pain under control before they made a decision about what to do. Somebody increased my morphine drip. It calmed me down and I was able to focus more, but the pain was still unbearable.
It wasn’t until 6pm that the drain was finally taken out and immediately the pain was gone. I think of that time as being equally, if not more painful than the birth. The next day Lilah was brought to my room and I was allowed to keep her with me for good!
Elizabeth Hawthorne.
Elizabeth Hawthorne's Story.
At 8:20pm on the 3rd of September 2008 my waters broke. I rang the hospital and was told to head to the hospital. After waiting around for Troy we arrived at the hospital at around 11pm.
We were asked to sit in the waiting area and were there for a few hours before I was examined by a doctor. She said that I was barely dilated – maybe 1cm. I was taken to my room in the ward at around 4:30am. Troy went home to sleep. I was having very irregular contractions, maybe one every 20 to 30 minutes and they weren’t very strong. I was offered a sleeping pill but I didn’t want the contractions to stop. I ended up falling asleep and the contractions slowed down. These contractions lasted for two days.
The midwives took my OBS every 4 hours and they used the fetal monitor but I don’t remember how often. I was told that I was booked in to be induced on Friday morning but the birthing suite was too busy and I was pushed back to the afternoon. The day was getting later and I was told that I might have to wait until Saturday morning, but we were called down at 6:30pm on Friday night. At 9pm they started the syntocinon drip.
I was not spoken to about the drug at all. I was unaware of the side effects and was not given any other option. The contractions became stronger and more regular. The midwife was using the fetal monitor and was continually having trouble with the machine. I was having contractions and the machine wasn’t reading them. She even went to another room and got a different machine but continued to have trouble keeping track of mycontractions.
I remember all of the midwives complaining about how the machines never work and that they need to invent a new way of monitoring contractions. A few times the midwives sat beside me with their hand on my stomach for about 10 minutes so that they could monitor the contractions themselves.
At 11:30pm I was given an epidural. Afterwards the midwife checked and found that I was 4cm dilated. I slept for a while until around 1:30am when I started feeling uncomfortable. I began to feel the contractions in my right side. The midwife called the anesthetist but while we were waiting for him the contractions suddenly became very severe.
I was aware that my left side was still numb but the contractions were so strong that it didn’t feel like I was numb at all. The pain was excruciating. I was shaking from head to foot. I kept asking for the anesthetist to fix the epidural but the doctor checked and found that I was 10cm dilated. It was too late to worry about fixing the epidural but they did give me a stronger dosage for the side that was still numb.
At this point I believe the syntocinon drip was turned down. The Doctor said that we needed to get the baby out now. That was the first time I felt worried. While we were waiting for the next contraction the doctor was telling me how important it was that the baby come out in the first push. She said that the baby’s heart rate was dropping. I was feeling very sick and started to throw up. I can’t really remember how many times I pushed, maybe twice, but I remember the doctor saying how good I was and that the baby came out in the first push, at 2:37am.
As she came out I saw that the placenta had come out with her. She didn’t make any sounds or show any sign of life. The doctors immediately took her over to the other table and began pumping her chest and giving her oxygen. I was still throwing up and cried uncontrollably while we watched the doctors’ work on our baby. I can’t remember who told us or when but we were told that the placenta had ruptured and that the baby was born without a heart beat and not breathing.
They said that they got oxygen into her as soon as they could. I can’t remember if her heart was beating before they took her out of the room. Neither Troy nor I got to touch or even really see her before they took her away. Almost immediately after she left the room I was overcome with exhaustion. I could not keep my eyes open. I remember the doctors trying to talk to me and not being able to concentrate on anything they said.
They let me sleep for about 20 minutes and Troy was allowed to go to the nursery to see the baby. While he was gone the doctor came and woke me up to give me stitches for the episiotomy that I didn’t even know I had had.
The second she woke me up I began throwing up. I was having severe stomach pains but I was so exhausted that I slept through the whole thing. I remember the doctor trying to tell me that she needed to give me some medicine in my rectum. I don’t remember it being put in. While in the middle of being extremely tired, I continued to complain of stomach pains. I was told that they could be afterbirth pains but I knew it felt different.
One midwife guessed that I might have strained a muscle. The pains got worse and worse and eventually a few different doctors were called in to examine me. I was sent to have an x-ray and ultrasound at around 11am. Lying down on the bed to have the ultrasound was excruciating.
Afterwards I was allowed to go to the nursery to see my baby for the first time. I was with her for about 10 minutes and then they took me back to the birthing suite. A doctor came in not long after I got back and told me that they saw some blood in the ultrasound and that it could mean 3 different things but most likely it meant that there was a hole in my uterus. She said that I needed to go into surgery to fix the hole and that it would be a quick 40 minute procedure.
She said that in the future I would need to have caesarean births. She made it very clear that the worst case scenario would be that the hole would be too big to repair and that they would have to remove it. I distinctly remember her reassuring me that that would not happen. I wasn’t very worried at all and certainly did not expect to have the outcome that we did.
I was taken into surgery at about 3pm. After surgery they woke me up and I was in the most pain Ihave ever experienced. I couldn’t believe how bad it was. A Doctor came and explained to me that the tear had gone straight through my uterus, cervix and down through the vaginal wall. He said that it was irreparable and had to be taken out completely, in order to save my life.
I was taken to ICU where I saw my mother and Troy. By this time I had been given enough drugs that I wasn’t in pain anymore. I slept there until 5am when they came in to move me because they needed the room. I was taken to a birthing suite where a midwife took care of me. I stayed in that room until Tuesday morning, when I was moved up to my room in the Ward.
As they were moving me, at around 11:30am, somehow one of the drains from my wound had been undone and there was blood all over the bed. I called for a midwife and she reattached them. The second she did this I felt a massive sharp pain and screamed.
Another midwife, Jo, told me that they needed to let the air out of the tubes and they did this very slowly but it was extremely painful. After they were finished I continued to have sharp pains in my right side – about one every 30 to 60 seconds.Each one was painful enough to make me scream. Jo stayed with me the whole time, when she wasn’t trying to get attention from Doctors and pain relief people.
I don’t know how long it took for everyone to get there, but it seemed like forever. Doctor Will came and said that they weren’t sure what was causing the pain and they didn’t want to take the drains out, just incase they would have to put them back in again. He said that we needed to get the pain under control before they made a decision about what to do. Somebody increased my morphine drip. It calmed me down and I was able to focus more, but the pain was still unbearable.
It wasn’t until 6pm that the drain was finally taken out and immediately the pain was gone. I think of that time as being equally, if not more painful than the birth. The next day Lilah was brought to my room and I was allowed to keep her with me for good!
Elizabeth Hawthorne.
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