Itsatashathing: Labour story

Hi everyone,

This post might not be everyone's cup of tea, so apologies for this. However, it has interested a few. Speaking of cups of tea, you may need one, it's a long one.

Labour story

I don't exactly know how much information to put in as this is the first kind of post I have written like this. Obviously I won't give you TMI but if you're reading this and want a post that won't beat around the bush telling you how it is, this is the one for you. I also want to mention everyone has a completely different experience. You wouldn't be able to read this or a perfect labour post and say 'yeah that's how my labour is going to be'. Also people have different pain thresholds, so keep that in mind.

I also want to start by telling you if you have a picture in your head of the perfect labour, having a full face of makeup, eyebrows on fleek. Think again. Labour is NOT glamourous. Unless you already have a full face of makeup prior to everything kick starting, trust me it will be the last thing on your mind. I had this picture in my head and I even told my boyfriend I would have makeup on.

Makeup in labour story:

'You must be joking if you think I will be going into labour without any makeup on!' I said to my boyfriend. 'You may not have time.' He said to me looking at me a bit funny. I got on my high horse and replied, 'I'll make time. I'll be putting it on before going to hospital.' He then looked at me and laughed, 'Trust me that will be the last thing on your mind.' Again, on my high horse and slightly irritated I say, 'It won't be. I'm not having pictures taken after without makeup on.'

I hate to admit I was well and truly WRONG. I could not have cared less what I looked like.

Anyway, as you may know my due date was 3rd December 2016. Well this day came and went and I started to get annoyed. I had a date to be induced booked (15th December) and it seemed so far away. I had also had the sweep (if you don't know what a sweep is there is a video on it here. If you are offered one and want to have it with blinkers on don't watch the video, read this instead.) on the day my induction was booked (6th December). People are right in saying it isn't comfortable but everyone thinks differently. It took about 5 minutes and it may have got things moving. The midwife wasn't certain but thought there may be no need for me to be induced. She also mentioned about it taking 24 to 48 hours to notice things happening. 24 and 48 hours passed, nothing. You can only imagine how frustrated I had become, I just wanted to meet her. Especially when I keep getting back pains and knowing she was back to back.

On the 12th December at around 5:30pm I had started to get a lot of back pain. The only way to describe them would be period pains, strong period pains. Thinking nothing of it I phoned my Grandma. I was on the phone to her for quite a while trying to tell her what pain I was going through. Tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable, she tells me I should time the pains. I was adamant I didn't need to as it was probably another false alarm (I'd had plenty of these). She also kept mentioning about phoning the hospital, to which my reply was 'what are they going to do? They won't take me in. I'm not in labour'. Oh the irony. We did decide to take my Grandmas advice and the pains were around 5 minutes apart. My boyfriend had made me a hot water bottle and the only affect this had on me was making me feel more relaxed. At this point I knew something wasn't right. Before when the pains in my back had come the hot water bottle had soothed them and gradually got rid of them, but not this time. That was it I phoned the hospital. I was right they wouldn't take me. My contractions had to be 2-3 minutes apart, go on for so long and have so many ( can't remember the exact amount, possibly 3) in 10 minutes. They had told me to relax, run myself a warm bath and take paracetamol. I went along with it despite my pain. When in the bath my contractions increased to every 2ish minutes. I couldn't tell you how long they were, the last thing I could do whilst they were going on was count. All I know is they went on for long enough. My boyfriend then phoned the hospital. They didn't sound to convinced as we had only phoned them about 20 minutes ago. However, they invited us in to the triage ward to examine me. This was at about 4:30 am on the 13th December.

When arriving at the hospital at about 6am I didn't feel great, I felt sick. We got to the second floor where the maternity unit was. We couldn't get into the triage room as we didn't know you had to hold the bell in rather then just press is like a door bell. So there was me standing outside saying to my boyfriend 'I'm going to be sick.' He was trying his best and saying hold on but I couldn't. I pretty much projectile vomited everywhere and almost all over my boyfriend (sorry for this information and sorry to my boyfriend for almost vomiting all over you). Thankfully a nurse came through, I felt so guilty and embarrassed, I wanted to clean it up myself. No time for that though. I was taken into a room where I was put on a bed and examined. At this point I was 3cm dilated with some of my cervix over half of her head. She advised me to get up and walk because of her being back to back and it would help bring things on faster (my waters still hadn't gone). I didn't want to get up because of the pain. I just stayed on the bed for a while drinking water. I had my boyfriend encouraging me to get up, I had to bite my tongue.

I didn't need to get up to get things going about 15 minutes of laying there, my waters went. This felt like someone had stuck a water balloon up me and popped it. My conversation with my boyfriend went a bit like this:
Me: 'Umm babe, my waters have gone.'
Boyfriend: 'Are you sure?''
Me: 'Err yes...' as I lifted the sheet I had covering me and revealed the water I was now laying and covered in.

We called the midwife in she helped change the pads on the bed. The only problem was, I had no hospital bag with me. My top was soaked where I had been on my side at the time of them breaking and had gone up my back. I was told there wasn't a chance of me being kept in so we left it in the back of my boyfriends Dads car. Thankfully he was coming back with his Mum as we wanted someone else in the room and my Mum was trying to make her way up from where I used to live. So I had no clothes, I ended up throwing the hoodie on I wore to the hospital which I had taken off prior to getting on the bed. I went to lay down again as the pain seemed to have got worse. That was it about 10 minutes of her leaving the room I wanted to push. We called her in and she thought it was too early and didn't want to examine me in case of infection. Fair enough. She then added before leaving 'I want to see you up on your feet the next time I come in'. I really had to bite my tongue as I knew she was only doing her job but I thought you try being in this pain. My boyfriend then helped me up and I started pacing the room I was in. The need to push was still coming. It honestly does feel like they say, a strong need to go for a number 2 (sorry only way I can put it). A midwife then knocked on the door and asked us to stay in the room until advised we can come out. Minutes later we heard a baby cry coming from outside. That was it I lost it. I gritted my teeth and said I need to push to my boyfriend who could tell I meant it and called someone in (despite the fact we had been told to leave the door shut). The midwife who said about leaving the door closed examined me. I was 8cm and my cervix was still over half of her head. She went and got me a wheelchair and took me to the birth centre.

So we arrived in the birth centre just across the hall. They helped me up and sat me up on this odd looking pinkish chair. The urge to push was still so strong. I kept telling her every time I needed to push and she would examine me but the problem was my cervix was still over half of her head and I couldn't push. The only way to stop myself from pushing was by biting on the gas and air pump and taking in little bits. I was told to get on all fours on the chair as the gravity would help pull her round. It got to the point where enough was enough and I was just told to go with my body. I was so tired I'd been up ages at this point and my pushes just weren't strong enough. After about 15 minutes the beautiful Darcie arrived in the world, still back to back. Darcie never cried. However, I knew she was okay as she was passed straight through to me and I could see her little lip quivering about to let out a little whimper. My boyfriend on the other hand, couldn't see so panicked. He dashed from the end of the chair where he had watched Darcie being born. I then gave birth to the placenta a little while later.

As soon as Darcie was born she was given a bottle to check how she would take to the bottle (we had the SMA starter pack in our hospital bag.) and to check her suction. She took to it really well and I was the first to feed her. That was short lived though as the midwife wanted to check all was okay down below.

The midwife examined me and wasn't saying anything. I felt fine, just warn out. When she finished she explained to me it looked as though I had been torn however, couldn't be certain and told me not to worry and would get a specialist to have a look to make sure. After a little while the specialist came in and he explained he was just going to examine me if that was okay. Obviously I accepted, I just wanted to spend time with my little bundle of joy. However, that wasn't going to happen. He informed I had torn and to some extent. The tear was 3rd degree. So according to the baby centre this only effects 'about 4 percent of women that deliver vaginally' and I happen to be in that minor 4 percent. (If you want a post on a 3rd degree tear let me know below.) He told me it would be done by epidural. Honestly, I was horrified! I'd given birth with no pain relief, besides the gas and air at the start, and now I have to have an epidural! That was part of my birthing plan as well, if I asked for an epidural, do not give it to me. I'd got that far and then I had to have an epidural for the sake of a tear!

Soon I was back in a wheelchair and Darcie was put into a cot and we were taken to surgery ward. Just as I got round into surgery ward my Mum arrived. I was so glad she got there just in time for me to be wheeled off to the operation room. They ran through everything with me the possible side effects etc. He also asked if I would take a blood transfusion if it came to it due to the fact I had already lost more blood then what I should have. My legs were put into stirrups, I had an injection in my thigh and a cannula in my right hand.

They gave me the choice of who would come with me. My boyfriend said he would and my mum said she would look after Darcie (as she wasn't allowed down there). I'd never felt such an odd feeling, I had just given birth and then I was to be parted from my new born, my beautiful daughter, for at least a good hour and more. I know it doesn't seem a long time but all I wanted to do was hold my baby. In the surgery room I was prepped for the epidural and introduced to the lovely team.

The time passed (I fell asleep during the surgery) and soon I was taken back round and reunited with  my baby. Due to me losing too much blood and having the operation we had to stay overnight. I was given a box full of medicines to take, including iron tablets as my iron levels had dropped significantly (I have traces of anaemia anyway).

In the hospital

Sorry for this post being long. As I explained at first I wasn't going to tiptoe around the subject, I was just going to tell it how it is.

Beautiful Darcie

If you want to know more or have any worries or questions based on pregnancy and labour, feel free to message me on my new Facebook page: It's a Tasha Thing or on Twitter: @itsatashathingg.

Tasha x