 A
'real' baby for the Christmas crib!
Jasmine found a 'real' baby in the crib - her baby sister, Maisie,
made it the best Christmas ever.
Lots of false starts
Maisie was due either 18th or 25th December. We'd had lots of false starts
but a week of no action at all before it finally began. After a brisk,
very cold walk round a local nature reserve we came home and I started
to feel familiar regular pains, it was Sunday 21st, around 6pm. The pains
continued to increase in frequency and intensity but weren't much different
to the false starts so we carried on watching TV and timing them.
At around 11pm I had a bath and, rather than easing off they got worse,
this was my first sign it was probably starting. I got out of the bath
around midnight, had a show and told my husband to get his head down for
a sleep while he still had a chance. Having been warned that we should
go in 'at the first sign' due to my caesarean last time, I put it off
until I was sure it was real and called in around 1 am. We were told to
go straight down to the hospital at around 2 am.
The hospital were very 'hands-off'. I was monitored intermittently throughout
the night. In between, my husband slept while I read my book (can't remember
much of the story though!). At around 7am I was given an internal only
to be told I was 1cm dilated - gutted! I went home with my second dose
of co-dydramol in time to see Jasmine off to Nursery and for Noel to let
the carpet fitters in.
By 9am the pain was far worse and my spirits were low, at 11 am we went
back to the hospital…
Birth goes to plan
The next two midwives were lovely. They both read, liked and followed
my birth plan helping me to stay on my feet, use gas an air and cope well.
At around 3pm, my third midwife finally did an internal and found me to
be 5-6 cm dilated - I was over the moon! She said at that point that the
'trial of labour' would begin. I was using gas and air heavily now but
coping well and feeling very positive. I remember standing for a good
10 minutes, naked from the waist down while she tried to get a good output
on the monitor, all the while with Christmas carols and the Christmas
No 1 'Mad World' playing on the radio - very surreal!
I carried on through more and more intense contractions with more and
more brilliant support from my husband and eventually decided I'd need
pethidine, In the time it took for the midwife to get the pethidine, my
endorphins must have kicked in, all of a sudden I just didn't need it!
This was the funniest part of the whole labour. I was high on gas and
air, coping well and saying the most bizarre things. Noel was supporting
me (quite literally) during contractions and the midwife was monitoring,
supporting and being there without me really noticing her. Around now
I had another massive show which I decided must be 'ectoplasm' in my entonox-induced
state!
Things go awry
At about 10pm, things started going downhill. My lovely midwife had to
go home and was replaced by a not so nice lady (to put it mildly). I began
to feel totally out of control. The midwife got me on my back (unbearably
painful) and gave me an internal only to find I was 8cm, not 10! This
finished me off, the air was blue with expletives mostly directed at the
midwife!
At about 11pm, they decided to 'speed me up' with Oxytocin, against my
wishes due to the risk of scar rupture, however I was bullied into it
(I have since made a complaint). I did refuse to have this drip without
an epidural as my own insurance policy in case they needed to do an emergency
section. So, in the space of an hour, I'd gone from upright and in control
to on my back, in a hospital gown with pethidine, syntometrine, epidural
and a monitor on the baby's head - I really wonder what would've happened
had midwife no. 3 not gone off shift! Apparently the waters were broken
at this point too. They found meconium in the waters but Maisie's heart
traces remained good so they weren't too worried.
The next hour or so is a blank, I guess I must have dozed. At around
midnight I was ready to push. Luckily the epidural hadn't been 100 per
cent effective so I still had feeling on my right side, this was enough
to help me push. Now the midwife's army training came into play, she was
really motivating. With the pain under control I felt like I could do
it, I also felt it would've been more productive had I been upright but
given that my legs were like play-doh that wasn't really an option.
Maisie needs coaxing out
An hour later they decided it was time to get Maisie out as she was beginning
to suffer a bit up there round the u-bend. They asked if they could use
forceps, I said 'My mum'll have you if you use forceps, you have to use
ventouse' (mum's got a bit of an 'issue' with forceps babies!) So they
gave me a local anaesthetic, popped the ventouse on, pulled … and out
popped the ventouse! No baby! I had visions of a headless baby at this
point so I was reassured when they said the ventouse can slip sometimes.
On the third attempt they managed to get a good grip, and after 3 pushes/pulls,
three distinct 'snips' and the feeling that my insides were being turned
inside out, Maisie slipped into this world crying beautifully. It was
1.20 am on Tuesday 23rd December and she was 7 lb 2 oz. They showed her
to us so we could find out whether she was a boy or a girl. I couldn't
really see anything but the cord and got it wrong - oops! She was checked
quickly, then put onto my tummy for a nice snuggle.
Maisie and I stayed in hospital until Christmas eve, we were the only
ones on the ward as they'd sent everyone home so we had a peaceful night
and Maisie and Jasmine (her big sister) were given Christmas gifts by
the staff before we went home. When we got there we had to shout up the
chimney to ask Santa to bring some extra gifts for our new baby!
We made it to my Mum's for Christmas dinner with our tiny bundle, however
sore I might have been!
This year she will be walking, talking and into everything and celebrating
her 1st birthday, Christmas and her Daddy's 30th all within two days of
each other. We're looking forward to a very Merry Christmas!
Where to next?
| 
