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I got my VBAC!!!
My hind waters started leaking on Wednesday 28th July (3 days past my due date) and we went in to hospital to be checked over. After spending most of the day at the hospital I was told that I was just a watery discharge and not my waters – I knew otherwise as I was still getting the discharge 2 days later. I went to see my consultant that afternoon and he told me to ask my midwife to do a stretch and sweep before the weekend and if nothing happened he booked me in for an induction on Saturday 7th August.
My midwife came out and performed my s&s on the Thursday morning and told me that I was already 3cm dilated before the s&s and my cervix were favourable. I was really pleased with this as the day before I wasn’t dilated at all.
I woke on Friday 30th July with period type cramps in my stomach but never thought anything of it as I’d been getting the on and off for the past week. I wanted to go out as I was sick of being stuck in the house. We went through to Sunderland town centre to do some shopping – not that I bought anything. I started to get more pains about 11am when we were walking round the town. We went to my mams house shortly after that and I started to get more regular pains at about 1pm. My tummy wasn’t tightening at all so everyone kept telling me that they weren’t proper contractions – I wasn’t convinced either although I was in quite a bit pain.
I managed to stay at my mams until just before 3pm when I told Lee that I wanted to go home. We started the drive home and I realised that I was getting the pains about every 2 minutes and they were lasting about 50-60 seconds and starting to hurt a bit more. We got in the house and Lee suggested that I ring the delivery suite – I wasn’t too bothered but he said that I should just to see what they said – at this time my tummy still wasn’t tightening. I rang the delivery suite and she said that I should make my way in so that I could be monitored with being having a previous section.
We got Reece sorted and took him back through to my mam’s house (the hospital is in the same town that my mam lives in). I didn’t have the effort to get out of the car so my mam came to see me and said that I now had a ‘mask’ on my face – old wives tale!!
We got to the hospital just after 4pm and the midwife said that she’d examine me and if I was in labour she’d have to break my waters with me having a previous section as it’s hospital policy – something I never knew. Anyway she started her examination and I had the long hook ready in my hand to open if she needed to break my waters. She said I was 6cm dilated and was about to break my waters when they broke themselves – it was a strange sensation as it was really warm. I was then 5cm dilated. I had to have a canular in my hand with having a previous section – another hospital policy which I never knew about – just in case I needed another section and they also took blood from me.
I started on the gas and air shortly after 4.30pm and then had a shot of diamorphine at 5.30pm. I had told the midwife that I didn’t want an epidural but as time went on I kept asking if I could have one. I was told that I couldn’t have one until 8.30pm as I’d already had the diamorphine. I was examined again about 8.15pm and I was fully dilated but his head wasn’t far enough down so I wasn’t quite ready to push – but that also meant that I couldn’t have an epidural. I started to get the urge to push about 8.30pm but his head still wasn’t far enough down, the midwife told me to push a little when I got each contraction so that it would help him down a little.
I got the ‘big’ urge to push at 8.40pm and it was the strangest feeling I’d ever felt. I’d been told that you’d know when you needed to push but I never thought that it would be like it was – you certainly feel as though you need to go to the toilet!! I started pushing at 8.40pm. The diamorphine was really wearing off at this point and the midwife told me to stop using the gas and air so that I could concentrate on pushing so at this point I hardly had any pain relief. I started pushing and felt it really difficult to get more than one really good push in during each contraction. I was pushing my feet against the waists of my midwife and an auxiliary and found that this was a great help. I didn’t feel much down there until his head started to go round the corner and then it started to get a little uncomfortable. The midwife had to cut me as I wasn’t stretching as much as I should have been. That was something that I really didn’t want but I didn’t have much choice in the matter as it was either that or I would tear and I dreaded that even more. She gave me a local anaesthetic and done what she had to do. Ethan’s head was born shortly after than then his whole body just shot out without me having to do anything.
Ethan Samuel was born at 9.20pm, just 40 minutes after I started pushing. He weighed 7lb 10oz and was 21 ½ inches long. The midwife had problems delivering the placenta and I had to have a catheter inserted so that she could empty my bladder to help her get the placenta out. She finally managed to get the placenta delivered and I was left to concentrate on our new arrival.
I had to have stitches later that night to repair the episiotomy which I found was an awful experience. Needless to say, I knocked myself out on the gas and air and made myself sick on it as well. Lee sat beside me and held my had all the way through the stitches and I was really proud of him. Apparently part the way through the stitches I came up for a bit of air and told the midwife that I knew what she was up to – I thought that the cut was worse than what it was and they’d brought Lee in to calm me down and that it was taking ages. I guess it was the gas and air doing the talking.
Lee was absolutely fantastic during the whole process and even stood at the bottom of the bed at one point so that I could push against his waist during a contraction and he even got to see his head crowning. The only time he felt a little queasy was when the midwife was having problems delivering the placenta.
We had to stay in the hospital until the Sunday lunchtime as Ethan wasn’t taking his feeds very well and I had to wait for my blood results back. As it happened I had a low hb level – 8.4 and needed to either have a blood transfusion (they insist on one if it’s below 8) or take iron tablets – I opted for the iron tablets as I really wanted to get home.
Thanks for reading my birth story – I hope I haven’t put anyone off.