John Benjamin finally decided to make his appearance on Friday 10th October at 23:29, weighing in at 8lb 10oz.
If you want all the details do read on:
On Thursday I had a sweep (or a scratch-and-sniff as my brother-in-law calls it) to try and get things moving, then Mark and I took Joanna for a nice walk down to the river. In the evening I was having contractions, but not that regularly. The contractions seemed to stop and we decided to try and get some sleep, and woke in the morning still babyless (Mark says babyfull).
Mark took Joanna to nursery, and went off for a course about tax returns. I was still having fairly irregular contractions at that point, but they weren't very strong.
Mark returned home at 13:30, and my contractions started to be more regular. At 15:00 we decided we ought to call Mark's mum to ask her to be prepared to come over, but said we'd call back at 16:00 when we had decided if this really was established labour. At 16:00 we called Mark's mum, who started heading over. We also called local friends because Mark's parents live a few hours away and we had no idea how fast things would progress. Our local friends arrived just as Mark got home with Joanna from nursery.
The contractions weren't speeding up that quicky, so we got through till Joanna's bedtime, and once she was in bed, and Mark's mum had arrived, we set off for hospital. The contractions were every 6 minutes at this point, maybe lasting 30 seconds, and just a case of closing my eyes and breathing through them.
We went to the new midwife led birth centre at the John Radcliffe Hospital (The Spires) and arrived shortly after the start of a new shift. Having arrived at the Spires , I was examined and was 4cm dilated. Not as much as the 8cm I had been when I arrived for Joanna's birth, but then we knew the contractions weren't as frequent, so had expected that. The first part of the labour was a bit weird, as we were almost at a loose end, making polite conversation with the midwife between contractions.
Once the contractions started getting really painful, maybe around 10pm, I asked for gas and air, which did help a bit to start with. However the contractions continued to get really painful, and I didn't feel I coped very well with the pain at that point. Often there wasn't enough time to recover at all between contractions and I was exhausted between contractions. I also couldn't tell how I was doing, as there is no nice little status bar saying "10 minutes left...."
Finally(*) I started to feel the need to push, and couldn't manage the pushing and breathing the gas and air, so the only "pain relief" was me crying/shouting a bit. The midwife couldn't encourage me by saying she could see his head, as she couldn't see it. My water's hadn't broken, so all she could see was a sack of fluid. The midwife even talked about the possibility that he would be born with the waters intact. In the last few contractions the waters went, and then finally(*) the pushing started working, and I could feel his head coming out. Then with a great relief for me John was born and I could know it was finally(*) over. The midwife passed me John, and I gave him a cuddle. They then helped me onto the bed, and I got a proper cuddle and good look at my georgeous boy. That was amazing, holding him, and seeing him properly. The pain of the delivery meant that the relief that he was born was even greater, and I was just so delighted to hold him + tell him how much I loved him already. Then I let Mark have a cuddle, while the midwife helped me deliver the placenta. She then examined me(ouch again!), but I got the wonderful news that I didn't have any tears, so didn't need stitches. I used gas + air while she examined me, and it was so funny the different effect it had then. While having contractions I knew it must be working, but didn't really feel it. While being examined I went a bit dizzy, my lips went tingly and I was much more aware of it.
Mark and I then had a bit of time to get to know our lovely little boy, and around 2pm we were taken to a recovery room, where John went to sleep in a cot, and I got a nice bed, and Mark got an old mattress on the floor. We didn't get much sleep, but it was good to all be there, and good that Mark didn't get chucked out. At 7am I woke up, and after feeding John and having a bit of breakfast we headed home to show Joanna her new baby brother!
*Disclaimer - This labour was the most painful thing I've gone through. It felt like it went on forever and was awful. However I know it was a relativly easy birth. 1st stage 8-10hours. 2nd stage (pushing) 20 minutes. 3rd stage (placenta) 12 minutes. I only had gas & air and gave up on that during the 2nd stage. I didn't need assistance. John didn't get distressed. I didn't need stitches. I couldn't have coped with that level of pain for very long, and if I had thought I wasn't progressing then I'd have needed more pain relief.
If you want all the details do read on:
On Thursday I had a sweep (or a scratch-and-sniff as my brother-in-law calls it) to try and get things moving, then Mark and I took Joanna for a nice walk down to the river. In the evening I was having contractions, but not that regularly. The contractions seemed to stop and we decided to try and get some sleep, and woke in the morning still babyless (Mark says babyfull).
Mark took Joanna to nursery, and went off for a course about tax returns. I was still having fairly irregular contractions at that point, but they weren't very strong.
Mark returned home at 13:30, and my contractions started to be more regular. At 15:00 we decided we ought to call Mark's mum to ask her to be prepared to come over, but said we'd call back at 16:00 when we had decided if this really was established labour. At 16:00 we called Mark's mum, who started heading over. We also called local friends because Mark's parents live a few hours away and we had no idea how fast things would progress. Our local friends arrived just as Mark got home with Joanna from nursery.
The contractions weren't speeding up that quicky, so we got through till Joanna's bedtime, and once she was in bed, and Mark's mum had arrived, we set off for hospital. The contractions were every 6 minutes at this point, maybe lasting 30 seconds, and just a case of closing my eyes and breathing through them.
We went to the new midwife led birth centre at the John Radcliffe Hospital (The Spires) and arrived shortly after the start of a new shift. Having arrived at the Spires , I was examined and was 4cm dilated. Not as much as the 8cm I had been when I arrived for Joanna's birth, but then we knew the contractions weren't as frequent, so had expected that. The first part of the labour was a bit weird, as we were almost at a loose end, making polite conversation with the midwife between contractions.
Once the contractions started getting really painful, maybe around 10pm, I asked for gas and air, which did help a bit to start with. However the contractions continued to get really painful, and I didn't feel I coped very well with the pain at that point. Often there wasn't enough time to recover at all between contractions and I was exhausted between contractions. I also couldn't tell how I was doing, as there is no nice little status bar saying "10 minutes left...."
Finally(*) I started to feel the need to push, and couldn't manage the pushing and breathing the gas and air, so the only "pain relief" was me crying/shouting a bit. The midwife couldn't encourage me by saying she could see his head, as she couldn't see it. My water's hadn't broken, so all she could see was a sack of fluid. The midwife even talked about the possibility that he would be born with the waters intact. In the last few contractions the waters went, and then finally(*) the pushing started working, and I could feel his head coming out. Then with a great relief for me John was born and I could know it was finally(*) over. The midwife passed me John, and I gave him a cuddle. They then helped me onto the bed, and I got a proper cuddle and good look at my georgeous boy. That was amazing, holding him, and seeing him properly. The pain of the delivery meant that the relief that he was born was even greater, and I was just so delighted to hold him + tell him how much I loved him already. Then I let Mark have a cuddle, while the midwife helped me deliver the placenta. She then examined me(ouch again!), but I got the wonderful news that I didn't have any tears, so didn't need stitches. I used gas + air while she examined me, and it was so funny the different effect it had then. While having contractions I knew it must be working, but didn't really feel it. While being examined I went a bit dizzy, my lips went tingly and I was much more aware of it.
Mark and I then had a bit of time to get to know our lovely little boy, and around 2pm we were taken to a recovery room, where John went to sleep in a cot, and I got a nice bed, and Mark got an old mattress on the floor. We didn't get much sleep, but it was good to all be there, and good that Mark didn't get chucked out. At 7am I woke up, and after feeding John and having a bit of breakfast we headed home to show Joanna her new baby brother!
*Disclaimer - This labour was the most painful thing I've gone through. It felt like it went on forever and was awful. However I know it was a relativly easy birth. 1st stage 8-10hours. 2nd stage (pushing) 20 minutes. 3rd stage (placenta) 12 minutes. I only had gas & air and gave up on that during the 2nd stage. I didn't need assistance. John didn't get distressed. I didn't need stitches. I couldn't have coped with that level of pain for very long, and if I had thought I wasn't progressing then I'd have needed more pain relief.
2 comments:
Hey Em!! Wow, congratulations on the birth of your gorgeous son!! I could empathise with every step of your labour as you wrote about it, though thankfully I didn't have a sweep - does that make labour more painful?! I know some forms of induction can. I was booked a sweep, but Our Boy came only two days late, and our labour stats were similar to yours: 1st stage (officially) was 6 hours 40 minutes, 2nd stage 12 minutes and 3rd stage 13 minutes. I kept asking throughout labour if my waters had broken, and all the midwife could come back with was, 'You'll know when your waters break!'. My waters broke just 13 minutes before he was born, so he was in the sac for a very long time... We hope you really enjoy John as much as Joanna! The only difference is that changing a nappy can be a more hazardous experience (so I've been told..), as it's a bit like a hosepipe with a mind of its own..! ;o) Take it easy, honey!! Lots of love, G&P&R xxxxxxxx
I've just checked my notes from yesterday and felt I needed to share my labour experience too:
first stage = 1hr 10 mins, second stage = 7 mins... would have been nice to have chance to have gas and air... oh, and baby has a headache (yes, I'm serious!).
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