 Two
pushes later, out she came!
Michelle Healey had had a textbook pregnancy until a scan after
a bleed showed that her baby was too small for her dates.
I'd had a really good pregnancy
I found out I was pregnant just before Christmas in 2005. We had been
trying for a few months so I was familiar with my cycle but my dates were
a week out according to the dating scan. I'd had a really good pregnancy:
no problems or complications, and as I got bigger, the midwives kept telling
me I had a good-size baby growing.
On 27 July I had a bleed. My husband was making the tea and I shouted
for him to help me and get my maternity notes. I phoned the hospital and
they asked me to come right away. I was immediately taken to the delivery
suite. A student nurse came in and checked my blood pressure and hooked
me up to a baby monitor. A heartbeat was found and I was told to wait
for the doctor to come.
About 20 minutes later, the doctor did an internal examination and found
some polyps on my cervix. She was sure that these had caused my bleed
but wanted me to stay in overnight to have a scan the next day just to
be sure.
The baby hadn't grown since 31 weeks
At my scan, they discovered a few problems. The doctor told me that the
baby had not grown since 31 weeks gestation; she was OK but was very small
and they were concerned, especially since my amniotic fluid was also quite
low.
I was to have a special scan the next day which would show just how
small my baby was and how much fluid I had.
This scan confirmed everything the doctor had told me. They decided that
I had to stay in hospital, be put on the baby monitor twice a day and
have two scans a week to show the size of the baby and the fluid around
her.
I wasn't very happy about this as I have another child and, since my
husband still had to work, I wasn't sure who would look after him. I was
also worried about the baby and what was going to happen so I was very
emotional at this time.
Luckily, I have a very supportive family and husband: my grandparents
offered to take my son for a couple of weeks. They live in Wales and it
was really hard knowing I wasn't going to see my son for a while.
They told me they needed to get a move on
In the next couple of weeks I was bored and frustrated at not knowing
what was happening from one day to the next. I was monitored twice daily
had my regular scans and there would be slight changes but still many
concerns.
Then I had my last scan of the week on 10 August at 38 weeks gestation.
The doctor told me that I was to be induced the next day as my scan was
showing that the baby hadn't grown much and that my placenta was starting
to stop working so they needed to get a move on.
I didn't sleep much that night: I was so nervous. At 8.30am, the midwife
came round and told me that the doctor was on his way to induce labour.
He turned up and was lovely and told me about what was going to happen
over the next 24 hours.
Then he proceeded to start the induction process: he had to do an internal
and put the gel on my cervix.
Nothing happened until about 3.00pm, when I got my first labour pain.
I had another lot of gel as my cervix wasn't dilating. The pains became
more frequent and I thought I was on my way! However, 9.00pm came and
still nothing, I wasn't even dilating so another lot of gel was put in
and that was my last lot.
If nothing happened through the night then they were considering a C-Section
the next day.
My waters were full of blood
As visiting time had finished they wanted to send my husband home, I
broke down in tears and cried that I needed him. They had kept me in hospital
for three weeks without my family and I needed him now more than ever.
After some persuasion, they moved us to a private room with two beds
and let him stay with me. About 1.00am the pains were getting quite strong
and very frequent so I thought this was really starting to happen.
The midwife did an internal and still no dilation, so I went for a bath
then, at 2.30am, I told my husband to go home and I'd call him if anything
happened. The midwife gave me some painkillers and I fell asleep.
I was woken at 6.00am by the midwife asking how I was. The pains had
subsided. She called the Dr, who arrived at 9.00am (by this time I had
fallen back to sleep and missed breakfast).
I turned over and was suddenly all wet: my waters had broken and they
were full of blood.
She looked under the sheet and the head was crowning
He sent me straight to delivery and I called my husband to come straight
away. I was hooked to a monitor and told that I was to stay on it until
my baby was born. I was also ordered nil by mouth in case I had to have
an emergency C-Section.
I was so weak and hungry that the midwife spoke to the doctor and he
agreed I was to have a piece of toast and nothing more. At 2.00pm I was
examined and I had not dilated still. I just burst into tears.
I'd had enough. I was so tired and I just wanted it all over. The Dr
came and broke the rest of my waters and put a drip in to speed up the
contractions. I also had an epidural put in at 3.30pm. Within 15 minutes
I was asleep.
I woke at 4.45pm with a pushing feeling, and I started to feel my contractions
again; they weren't painful but I knew they were happening. I ended up
on gas and air at 5.05pm; the midwife examined me and said I was only
6cm dilated and I had ages to go so she would top up my epidural.
She topped that up at 5.20pm and I started pushing ten minutes later.
She told me not to as I would be doing myself damage but I couldn't help
it. She looked under the sheet and there was a head crowning.
Two pushes later, out she came!
The placenta hadn't been properly attached to the cord
There was a bit of a panic but Niamh was born at 5.30pm on12 August 2006
weighing in at 5lb 4oz. She was two weeks early by my dates but was only
33 weeks gestation by the scan. Once I'd passed the placenta, everything
became clear.
My placenta wasn't attached to the cord properly: the cord went around
the back of the placenta instead of through the middle. I was told she
was lucky to have survived at all!
Niamh had to have a blood sugar test through the night to check she was
maintaining her own sugars. She did really well so we were allowed home
the next day, only to return three days later when the midwife visited
and we discovered she had jaundice.
We had to stay in hospital for the day while she had various blood tests,
but once we had the all-clear we could go home.
I'd felt robbed of the birth I'd wanted
It was quite strange bringing her home: she was so tiny. But after a
week or so it was like she had always been there. I did become quite depressed
after as I felt so robbed of the birth I'd wanted.
I'd wanted a perfect quiet birth with just me and my husband and the
midwife, with no medical intervention at all. She is one year old now
and is still quite small for her age.
She weighs 19lb at the moment, but she is perfect in every way and I
wouldn't change her for the world.
Michelle Healey from Manchester is mum to Reece (9) and Niamh (1)
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