Final Pregnancy Guest Blog- The Birth 2020

Final Pregnancy Guest Blog- The Birth. My due date came and went, I had two unsuccessful sweeps and was booked in to be induced 11 days overdue. I managed to fit one last sweep in, two days before my induction date, and the following day my labour began!

 

At 1.00pm I arrived at the delivery suite, I went straight into a room for examination and for the baby’s heart rate to be monitored, luckily Sam was allowed in from the start due to the possible complications we may face. The midwife examined me, I was 3cm dilated, she explained that the baby had done a poo inside me and that I will need to stay in this room on this ward for constant monitoring. This was not my plan, but I really didn’t mind, I was more concerned about the wellbeing of our baby.  A midwife brought a couple of twinkly lights which she plugged in to make the room more relaxing, like the rooms on the MLBU. This was lovely of her to do for me, but in all honesty, after an hour or two when the pain got worse, I had my eyes closed for the majority of the time in there.

A little while after my examination I asked for gas & air which helped for a few hours however when the pain got worse, I asked the midwife for my second choice of pain relief- Remifentanil. I had read about this drug and I liked that it does not affect the baby unlike some of the more common types of pain relief.  The midwife examined me before calling the anaesthetist, I was 7cm dilated. I was so happy that I had made it that far with just gas & air, however, I knew the worst was yet to come. The anaesthetist fitted the cannula and explained, every time I feel a contraction about to start, press the button to release the drug. He explained that I must press it as soon as possible otherwise the drug will take effect after the contraction.

I had got the hang of pressing the button and the pain relief was helping, however, it did make me very drowsy and I could no longer watch the monitor of the baby’s heartrate beside me. Luckily Sam had been keeping an eye on it and noticed the baby’s heart rate had dropped, but it had also stayed low for a few minutes. He told the midwife who checked the printout and immediately pulled the emergency alarm. Within seconds there were several people in the room with us. They were all incredibly calm and explained to Sam and I that because the baby’s heart rate had stayed low for so long, they would need to take me straight into the theatre for a C Section under general anaesthetic. This was because they wouldn’t have time to administer an epidural and it also meant that Sam wasn’t allowed into the theatre with me. My earrings were removed, and my ring taped up, Sam was given scrubs just in case there was a chance he could come with me and I was ready for theatre. Just as they were about to take me away, the baby’s heart rate had stabilised long enough for the midwife to examine me. I was 9cm dilated and the surgeon really didn’t want to operate on me at such a late stage. They decided to call the c-section off for now and monitor the baby even more closely. Luckily within an hour, I had the urgency of needing to push. The feeling was so strong that I could hardly hold back despite the midwife telling me not to push yet because she hadn’t examined me. I was soon told that I could push on my next contraction, I felt so relieved yet scared because, after 41 weeks of waiting, the time had come to give birth naturally to our baby.

I started to push with each contraction but weirdly my contractions didn’t seem as strong as before.  I had a few pushes and Sam said he could see the head, however, the midwife explained that they needed the baby to be born quickly to reduce the stress to the baby. The best option would be an episiotomy. I agreed, and between contractions, the cut was made, I then pushed again, and Sam told me that the head was out. It was liberating to hear Sam say that because I felt that I was pushing as hard as I could, but she wasn’t coming out. A couple more pushes and our perfect little bundle was born!

Almost instantly after she was born, I went into shock, my whole body was trembling, and my teeth were chattering so hard it was difficult to talk. Our baby was placed on my chest where I started to panic because it wasn’t crying, the midwife was extremely calm and said she’s just gathering her breath, it felt like minutes had passed but it was just a few seconds later she started to cry. Sam announced that she was a girl and later cut her cord. I held her skin to skin for at least an hour where she pooed on me again, covering my tummy in thick black tar- but I didn’t mind one bit and stayed like it for several hours! I asked the midwife when I should feed her, which she replied whenever I want to try I can, within minutes she was latched on and feeding perfectly, this was extremely emotional for me, because I had been worrying that I may not be able to breastfeed as I know some mothers struggle with it for various reasons.

Sam, Baby and I spent the next 7 hours in the room together, hardly talking, just looking at her in our arms in complete awe. I will never forget the feeling of holding our tiny baby for the first time, it was everything I could ever wish for. Seeing Sam hold her was elating and filled me full of joy. Sam has been ready for a baby long before me, and to see how happy he was, was magical. A few hours later we called some family members on FaceTime to announce the news, this was a shock to everyone because we hadn’t told anyone that I had gone into labour- I had even been on the phone to my grandma that morning during my contractions and managed to keep it a secret!

And so parenting began…

I can’t thank Eloise enough for all her blogs you can read more blogs here

 

Jess

 

and if you wish to book a newborn shoot I am open and have spaces for late September onwards contact me here.