So I was around 37 weeks pregnant with River and she had gone from being a super active baby to a little lazy which I thought was worth getting checked out, after some routine bloods and the glucose test everything came back fine so I was monitored to which they confirmed she was being less active than what the midwives usually expect to see.. I was then told I would have a growth scan and at 37 weeks she was estimated approximately 7lbs 8/9oz and had a big tummy! (Turned out she wasn’t this weight at birth and tummy was normal sized) so I was told they need to monitor me for 5 days straight Monday-Friday for around an hour each day to see if movements pick up. Halfway through the week I was told that there was a possibility that if by Friday baby still being lazy they would be ringing the hospital up to book me in for induction. ( Just to confirm rivers movements were still there each day however they were reduced ) so Friday comes along and my mum drops me off at the hospital for the last morning of monitoring before a decision is made and we look at each other anxiously saying by the time she picks me up we could possibly know when the baby would be coming.. the look of excitement yet nerves upon our faces at this time I nervously said goodbye to my mum and headed into the hospital with a strong feeling I was going to be booked in for induction. So the midwife that had seen me all this time during my monitoring was lovely we had a laugh with a cup of tea and biscuits which obviously helped the nerves! And she turned round and said to me I’m booking you in for induction at 38 weeks just because we aren’t 100% happy with baby’s movements and it’s just a precautionary measure.. realising it was Friday and I was turning 38 weeks on Sunday nerves immediately started to kick in when she rang the hospital in front of me and booked me in for that Sunday.. I was super excited yet anxious. she handed me a leaflet and the decision was made to do a stretch and sweep to see if this brought anything along however this didn’t lead to anything. I went home told my mum the news and it all suddenly started to become real..
Sunday 24th September 2017 8.40am I receive the call asking me to come in with all my hospital bags and maternity notes.. most of my nerves faded away believe it or not and I just was super excited. Once we arrived at the hospital we was given a room and the induction process started around 12pm and first stage of the process was the 24hour pessary which is placed in the opening of your cervix and is a little smaller than a tampon. This process was quick and then the waiting game began.. she explained to me in detail what it should do and that it doesn’t always work straight away.. my cervix was not ready at all so she did warn me that this would be a bit of a waiting game!i I managed to get comfy and the hospital had WiFi so I just spent most the time preparing myself as well as watching films to try and make the time go a little faster.. 24 hours later and nothing happened not one twinge or one cramp which left me feeling a little disheartened however she had warned me it could be a long process so I had to accept that. second part of the induction was a 6 hour gel again which is inserted around the cervix area. After this I started to get some nasty cramps similar to period pains and I had asked for some pain relief as I was quite uncomfortable, I went and took a hot shower to take my mind of it and by the time I had got back to my room and got changed back into my clothes every single bit of pain had gone.. time was at the end for this gel and it had been about 5 hours since I had stopped cramping so my hopes of this hurrying up again was fading! The 3rd step of the induction process was another 6 hour Gel.. they gave this to me around 9pm Monday evening. Minutes after this Gel I am in all sorts of pain, contractions on the monitor are out of control all I can remember at that point was being In lots of pain and confused because it all hit me at once! Next thing I know I had around 5 doctors and midwives around me one putting a canular into my hand and another midwife said that because of the pains they were hoping this second lot of gel has opened My cervix enough for my waters to be broken.. I waa given gas and air because of the pain and next minute I had injections jabbed into the top of my leg to slow my contractions down as they had become out of control. The midwife examined me and managed to get my cervix to open enough for my waters to be broken so that’s when I was booked onto the delivery ward and taken straight down for this to happen. My Mum had been anxiously waiting at home ready for a phone call of when to come in and she was in bed by this point as it was between 10-11 at night, however she was contacted and came straight up to the hospital. The relief of seeing my mum instantly made things ten times better. I remember being off my face on gas and air which made time go faster and next minute I’m having my waters broken and the sensation is unexplainable. I needed to pee badly so I stood up and my waters just went everywhere all over the floor and me and my mum looked at one another and laughed how much waters I actually had as it seemed like I flooded the whole room! My contractions were very strong and didn’t have much of a break between them i can’t exactly remember however I went from around 11pm contracting very strongly to 10am the next morning and I was examined and only at 3-4cm which was devastating so the decision was made to have the epidural.. now I’m someone who has a massive fear of needles so I always swore throughout my whole pregnancy there was not a chance I would have the epidural .. anyway.. don’t listen to yourself during pregnancy vs labour things change! I was sat on the edge of the bed flopped over excited to have this epidural. And it all changes from there! If I could explain the epidural in one word it’s amazing.. so I got comfy on the bed propped up and every single bit of pain faded away I felt like a new person and all my excitement for this baby was right in front of me.. I think it’s every 15 minutes you can boost your epidural to stay on top of the medication and it sends a really nice cold feeling down your back and I think I managed to get some sleep whilst I was numb, my mum was a life saver giving me cold drinks she had brought from her freezer as well and holding a flannel to my head.. the midwife examines me and says well your 10cm!! she then gave me half hour to prepare myself and said we would then start pushing! there was a knock at the door and I think it was a student doctor had asked if she could be present for the birth and of course I said yes! Super excited to begin pushing I use every bit if strength in me and more to push as hard as I could and I can’t exactly remember how long I was pushing for in total but it seemed to go really quick .. the baby’s head appears and all I remember is looking forward and the student doctor just look so overwhelmed, excited and happy .. she then puts her thumbs up to me smiling as the baby was nearly born encouraging me every single step of the way as well as the midwives and my family .. my gorgeous baby girl River was born on the 26th September at 5.23pm 7lbs 4oz.. the most exciting day! luckily I only grazed a little and I didn’t need no stitches as the midwives said I pushed and stopped exactly when I needed to which eased baby out very well.. so recovery for me wasnt as bad.. I had a catheter in As part of the epidural which I had very easily removed that evening.. I had a temperature after giving birth to river which indicated a possible infection meaning I had to be on IV antibiotics as well as River having a course, however with my first baby I never intended to want to rush home and we ended up staying another 2 nights because of this. Everything was perfect and I had the most beautiful birth.. for anyone reading who is considering a epidural or has been booked in for an induction my best advice would be just stay relaxed let your body do what it needs to do, be open minded things never or rarely go to plan in childbirth and the epidural is an absolute life saver.. and NO I have not had one bit of back ache post epidural.. and if I was in a position to have the epidural again I would!
Thank you so much for reading my birth story.. any questions message away 😊