I had a fantastic pregnancy with very few issues. We did have a fright after his first ultrasound, as my OB/GYN had trouble finding a heartbeat, and when found it was very low. We were advised to come back in two weeks, and either the heartbeat would be stronger.. or it would not be there. You can imagine the agonising wait, as I stressed and shed many tears. Thankfully, our next appointment revealed a very strong heartbeat. He was already living up to his namesake, and reminding us how 'fortunate' we were.
My only other issue was I had to have clexane injections through the pregnancy, due to developing a DVT the year prior. I remained active through my pregnancy, and worked hard to keep off as much weight as possible. However, from 30 weeks my belly grew at an alarming rate, and my OB/GYN started mentioning that I was going to end up with a large baby.
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| A 38 Weeks |
As I was using Clexane injections my OB
suggested that I may want to consider an induction date. It was revealed that
if I went into spontaneous labour within 12 hours of my last injection I would
be unable to have an epidural should I want it. Given that my Dr was expecting
at least an 8 pound baby, he suggested I may want the option. I readily agreed, although I had not used an epidural with my Daughter, however I was unsure how different this labour would be.
As my induction date neared I felt very nervous. The baby
was still high and not showing signs of moving down. I was questioning whether
I should be forcing bubs out if he was not ready, and was worried about having
an induction as my last labour was spontaneous. I reread my birth skills book 'Birth Skills' by Ju Ju Sundin and chose a few coping tools that I would use should I be induced.
Finally the night before my induction came around. I was to
go in the night before and have tape inserted to soften the cervix. Once we were settled into the delivery room a
midwife completed an internal. She informed me I was actually already 3cm dilated,
and said she would call my OB to see what he wanted to do. 5 mins later we were
told to go home and come back in the morning!
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| The delivery room |
As we already had arranged for our Daughter to have a sleepover at my Parents place, Hubby and I decided to enjoy the evening and go out. We stopped off at our local town centre and enjoyed dinner and gelato, before heading home to relax. I was actually really lovely to spend that quality time together.
The next day we arrived at the hospital again at 7 am and
were again set up in the delivery room. I was checked again, and had the syncatocin drip
inserted. My OB arrived to break my waters at about 8:20 am, and within 20 minutes
the first labour pain started.
At first they were mild, however the gained in intensity
rather quickly and I started using my birth skills. I found when I had my daughter that if I could distract myself from the pain and focused another sensation then I could cope with pain much better. As a contraction built I tapped my fingers on the side of my
monitoring machine, concentrating on the sound and the pattern of my tapping. Contractions were
consistently 2 minutes apart and lasting for 30 seconds for the next hour,
while building in intensity. I started using more tools, such as a rattle that
I would softly shake with one hand and shake harder as a contraction built, concentrating
on the noise. I found standing was most comfortable, especially because my
waters leaked continuously throughout. I later moved onto my knees , resting my
head and arms on the bed and closing my eyes to rest between contractions. This
stage of my labour had been going for about an hour and a half hours, before I realised I had not used any gas yet!
As I was nearing transition stage the labour pains became
very strong. I used the gas, shook the rattle near my ear and had Mike rub my
lower back. I finally got to a point where I told Mike I really could not take
much more pain, and I needed to know how far I had progressed. He called the
midwife and she checked me. I had progressed to nearly 8 cms, however bubs was
still not engaged and was too high. She told me we were going to have to start
working really hard together to get him down and we would need to start the
pushing stage.
This stage I struggled with the most. As a contraction would build she would push my
cervix down in an attempt to get it below Bub’s head. I had to help by pushing
. The pushing sensation was incredible but painful, and I struggled with
getting the push right at times because the pain got the better of me. She told
me I was going to have to keep working very hard, and I heard her call for
another midwife and inform them she felt there would be issues with birthing
the shoulders.This concerned me a bit, but I tried not to think about it.
At points the pain overwhelmed me and I was telling Mike that I
was scared and that I needed to know it was going to be over soon. He pointed
out that it had been very fast, that it was nearly 11:30 and that I was doing
so well to be at this stage already.
Once he was down far enough the Midwife called for my OB to come, so I knew it was near
the end. This part is very much a blur for me, even though I had not used
anything other than gas, and had stopped that a while ago, I was in a bit of a
daze. Several midwives were called in to assist, and there was more discussion
about the head and shoulders. My midwife told me I had to really really push,
and really concentrate on it. She mentioned how it would be best for them not
to have to use forceps so I had to work hard.
The midwives were helping me hold
my legs my by this point, and with each contraction pushed my knees up almost
to my shoulders while I had to push down really hard. Again, I started to feel a little overwhelmed and needed encouragement to concentrate on getting the pushing right. I tried to visualise how my pushing would be moving my baby down and out, and I found this helped.
I kept going until they told
me the head was coming out, but then I was told I had to stop pushing. I know things were a bit frantic around me as
they held my legs, and I asked them to guide me in what to do. My OB was
reassuring telling me I was going great just to not push, that I was doing
incredible. All I am really aware of at this point is the pressure and the
intense burning sensation as Bub's head was partly out but they had me stop.
Mike later told me my OB had to use his hands to
reach in around the head and hook into the shoulders to twist and tug him out. I
just felt the burning sensation and pressure build and then finally an almost popping relief as my baby was pulled
out.
Baby was put instantly on my chest and rubbed, and I looked
to see that I had a baby boy! Marcus was breathing but was a bit dazed and in
shock himself. They quickly weighed and checked him then gave him back for me
to cuddle.
Meanwhile my OB was also having to tug out the placenta and
he commented he hadn't had one that difficult to remove in a while. He then
told me I was ‘incredible’ and that I had only one minor graze and that I had
been very brave. Truthfully I still was not fully aware of what had happened
other than there was a bit of trouble with the shoulders.
Physically I felt sore, my hips in particular really hurt,
but after an hour I was able to get up and was escorted to the shower. I felt sore all over, but was on such a high. I was proud that I had achieved another epidural free birth, without any tearing.
Marcus did get a fractured collarbone due to getting stuck
and being pulled out. However he seems fine and other than being understandably
sore I am also fine. Best of all, I have a BEAUTIFUL baby boy to squeeze and
enjoy!
Marcus Fortunato Xerri was 4.3 kg when born, his head 38cm , and was
born at 12:08 after about 3.5 hr labour
