Birth Story

Hey everyone!

So my last post was a quick explanation of why I was getting induced last Monday. Today I thought I’d give you a run through of how that week panned out. Wow, what a crazy & surreal experience it was! Monday 17th August 2020

After going into hospital at 3am Monday morning, I was examined and given a pessary to help soften my cervix so I was able to dilate quicker and therefore have my waters broke. I was so scared and anxious when I left home, everything just became so real! Arriving on the ward I was settled into my bay and after they inserted the pessary, I was due to be assessed again 24 hours later to see if it had worked. That first day was one of the worst. As the day progressed the pessary did its job and I started with contraction like pains. The only way I can explain this is really intense period pains In both my stomach and my lower back. They persisted all day and created a patten of every 3 minutes for around 30-50 seconds.

Within this time I was trying alsorts to get myself comfy. I am not going to lie it wasn’t nice, especially because you’re in hospital in an unfamiliar environment with people you don’t know. I was on the maternity ward in a room with 4 other people and for the first couple of days no one spoke to each other. You had curtains to give yourself privacy and everyone kept themselves to themselves.

One thing that really helped me that day was getting a bath. I had two that day and it really soothed the pain! Also, cooling mist, a water bottle with a straw and the Freya App by the Positive Birth Company were my essentials this day. I spent most of it either on a pregnancy ball with my ear phones in with the app guiding me through my contractions or sleeping as much as I could.

Throughout the day, a midwife was coming round checking blood pressure, temperature and the baby’s heartbeat every 4 hours to make sure everything was okay. They also offered pain relief and I did have some paracetamol but managed to not need anything else.

At 6am the following morning I was finally examined to see if the pessary had worked. This was extremely painful as they also gave me a mini stretch and sweep. Now I was nearly 2cm I was ready to get my waters broke...as soon as there was a bed available on the labour ward.

Tuesday 18th August

After it was confirmed I could go to the labour ward as soon as there was a bed free, I decided to try and rest as much as possible. I slept most of the morning and only moved to get food. The food in hospital wasnt too bad, considering it’s free you can’t really complain and they had a range of different options every day. They also did sponge pudding and custard every dinner time which were very nice! Visiting hours on my ward were restricted due to Covid so I was allowed 1 person (my birth partner preferably), to come at either 11-12 or 4-5. You could only have that same person visit you every day and they could only come to one of the time slots which I’ll be honest, I thought didn’t make sense and it was annoying as an hour soon passes. Zac came at 4 this day and it was nice to have some company.

By this point, my constructions were still there however they weren’t as bad and were slowly calming down. They were getting further apart, not lasting as long and the intensity of them weren’t bad either. Due to there being 2 people in front of me on the list, I knew it wasn't going to be any time soon that I would be getting moved so I tried settling myself that night watching some YouTube. At 1am a lady left our room to go to the labour ward and then the second lady left at 5am. This was completely unexpected as it usually doesnt work that quick so after the baby’s heart beat was checked at 5:30am, my midwife informed me that I should be on the labour ward that morning at some point.

Wednesday 19th August

I got myself so excited thinking I was going to meet my baby that day and my contractions had completely gone by this point so I felt really good after having a good nights sleep. I decided to get a shower and do my make up and I felt great at 8am just waiting to get the message that I could be moved.

That of course did not happen. The one thing I learnt whilst in hospital is that things do not go to plan 9/10. It got to 11am and I was told an emergency had occurred and therefore it was going to be more likely that afternoon I was moved.

Luckily, that morning 2 other ladies joined me in the induction room and they were very talkative which was nice to be able to talk to someone other than the staff. That day went pretty quick as we were all talking to each other, asking each other advice and just talking about what we was all going through. That afternoon my midwife came to tell us that another lady was joining us and that she was now going to be in front of me on the list to go to the labour ward. This was disheartening as I had told Zac not to come to visiting hours as I was assuming I’d be seeing him at some point as he could come be with me as soon as I got moved to the other ward.

I then got it in my head that i wasn't going anywhere that day so just decided to forget about it.

Thursday 20th August

At 1am, I got woken up to be informed that I could go to the labour ward and for me to ring Zac to let him know. 40 minutes went by and i had packed everything up and was sat waiting but no one had come to collect me. My midwife came back into the room to then tell me I wasn’t going anymore as there had been an emergency. This was of course extremely infuriating and I was so tired, annoyed and just fed up. Luckily Zac doesnt live too far so I told him to just go back to sleep as I wouldn’t be going anywhere until the morning.

Half an hour later I was woken again to say a midwife had come to collect me to take me to the labour ward now and that they would wait to do anything until Zac came.

As I walked into my private room I remember feeling so weird knowing my baby would soon be born in that room. I wasnt really scared at this point as I just wanted to get on with it but I was nervous.

The plan was to monitor me for half hour to make sure the baby was okay and then break my waters and to then go on the hormone drip which would speed up contractions. I had no pain at this point either everything felt like it had come to a halt. Zac finally came and the lady came to check on my CTG monitor. She picked up that there had been a drop in the baby’s heart rate and that she needed to go get someone to confirm it was okay to break my waters. She came back into the room with a specialist doctor who didn’t even say hello to me which made me feel uncomfortable. And then the next minute there were more doctors and nurses in my room and from that point everything was just one big blur. A lady asked if she could examine me and everyone was talking amongst themselves rather than talking to me. I had to ask them to tell me what was happening and at that point I was very disappointed in the way things were handled. It went from 0-100 in seconds and the next minute I was being told I had to go for an emergency c-section. I heard a lady tell Zac that they might have to put me to sleep and my anxiety sky rocketed. I started to have a panic attack and it just felt like a dream. Everyone was talking but not directly to me, they were trying to undress me and get me on another bed all whilst a lady was telling me the risks of a c-section and what the procedure was. I couldn’t tell you anything she said because I couldnt concentrate. It was the most scariest time of my life, I can’t get over how surreal it was and I just got rushed away. Zac got taken to get changed and when I was in theatre it was just such a weird feeling. I couldn’t stop shaking. This was all due to the fact that no one was reassuring me, no one was even talking to me really and I just felt like I wasn’t important and I was just another c-section. Which of course I know in theory that is what I am but I just felt so scared and couldn't calm down.

Finally, a lady helped me calm down and was lovely to me which enabled me to relax rather than tense up so they could give me the spinal block (epidural). She told me if I couldn’t relax they would have to put me to sleep so I just focused and tried my best to calm down knowing I wanted to be awake. From this point onwards I can honestly say it wasn’t scary any more. It was a strange feeling when I started to go numb, but it wasn’t scary. A lady was telling me what was happening and explaining to me that I would be able to feel things but that it wouldn't be painful. And it was such a weird experience because yes I could feel them touching me, I could feel them moving things but it wasn’t hurting at all. Its crazy what type of drugs they have these days that can enable that.

From that point on I had calmed down, kept going slightly dizzy so they were hydrating me through a drip and Zac was sat right next to me holding my hand. When they finally showed us our baby, he cried and everything was just like a dream. Zac went through to another room as they confirmed that his cord had got wrapped around his neck slightly and that explained why he had got distressed & his heart rate dropped. He needed some oxygen so the surgens worked their magic and Zac went to cut the cord. Then he finally brought him to me and even though.I was high as a kite, I had never experienced a feeling like it before. Seeing his little face for the first time was the most magical thing on earth.

Oakland Robert - Born 4:07am - 20/08/2020

They soon took us to a recovery room where the staff were amazing. They weighed him, checked him over and helped me get a wash and get changed. I felt extremely nauseous and was sick a few times after they wanted me to try eat some toast but other than that, after a few hours the feeling in my legs came back and I felt great. Zac unfortunately then had to leave but I was taken back to the maternity ward of which I was then taken care of by various midwives. Oakland was with me in his cot and everything was still just like a dream.

I’ll be honest, I don’t remember much of the rest of the day. It was a hectic few hours and Zac came back but I had to stay in at least 24 hours after due to me having a c-section.

Friday 21st August

This was one of the hardest days. I had a really good night with Oakland and got plenty of help from the midwives. However, Oaklands blood sugar levels were low and it was very hard work trying to get them up. I wanted to breast feed and I got a lot of support from the midwives & nurses on the ward wirh that however it wasn’t enough for my little one so I had to top up wirh formula. This was completely fine however they had to check his sugar levels every 3 hours after each feed and one minute they were high and the next they weren’t.

I felt very overwhelmed this day and just wanted to be home. I was very emotional and found myself having abit of a breakdown in the afternoon and got myself very upset. I also experienced the pain you get when you first start breastfeeding which were probably the most painful part of my whole experience. (no one had told me about this so research it if you’re planning on breastfeeding!). They were contraction like pains but wow, they were horrible. I just couldn’t control my emotions and I was very lucky to have a lovely lady on my bay that night who helped and reassured me. However, after multiple checks and assessments made by various paediatricians and midwives, Oakland had to be taken to the Neo Natal Special Care ward as his Jaundice levels were too high. This of course was such a horrible feeling as I couldn’t go with him and having him taken away from me was so upsetting. I was however allowed to go visit him at any time and Zac was on his way back over to the hospital so I could go out and get some fresh air with him. I managed to calm myself down and knowing they were going to help sort his blood sugar levels and his jaundice out just made me very happy.

That night I had a really good nights sleep and just took some time to relax. I went round to go see him which was heartbreaking but it looked a lot worse than it was. He was having phototherapy and he did look very content but it was so upsetting to see knowing I couldn’t help him.

Saturday 22nd August

That morning I went straight round to the Neo Natal Ward to see my lil cutie and was allowed to give him a feed from my breast. It was so good to just hold him and give him a cuddle. I was hopefull that he would get discharged from that ward that day but unfortunately, even though his levels of jaundice had dropped and his blood sugar levels had balanced out, he was still just boarder line on phototherapy guidance so they wanted to continue to monitor him.

Zac came to visit him that day but we couldn’t go in together and again I just took the day to relax and eat properly. I had also managed to express some milk to give to the neo natal nurses to feed him alongside some formula.

In myself I had felt a lot better. I had gotten a shower and had good food. I had kept topped up with paracetamol but I didn’t have much pain. I was slightly sore around my scar and found it hard to walk/get out of bed but it wasn’t too bad.

That night I woke up at 3am and couldn’t sleep so went round to see Oakland. I managed to see the doctor whilst i was there who informed my that the phototherapy could stop and that Oakland would more than likely be back with me the next day at some point but that they just wanted to double check everything over.

Sunday 23rd August

My midwife came and woke me at 8am with the best news that Oakland was getting brought back to me and 15 minutes later he was back with me. We had loads of cuddles and I was then informed that we was getting discharged from hospital that morning! I was so happy and excited. I did my make up, got myself some breakfast and started packing. Zac came to get us and it was such an amazing feeling leaving the hospital with Oakland. I was over the moon to leave as I had been there just a few hours short of a week!

I left the hospital with 10 injections to give myself every night which were to help prevent blood clots due to me having a c-section. I was discharged with nothing else and was told to just relax and take things steady for around 6 weeks to allow my body to fully recover and heal. I couldn’t do the injections to myself so luckily my mums friend has been doing them for me. They aren’t great but time flies so they will be over before I know it!

So that was my hospital / birth story! It was a long one so thank you for reading! Overall, everything was crazy, hectic, stressful and sometimes lonely but I’d do it all over because it was all worth it!

I cannot wait to continue with motherhood as I’m loving it so far and I have learnt so much and I’m sure there is so much more to learn too!

Thank you for reading! Any questions please don’t hesitate to ask!! 🤍🤍

Until next time,

Chloe X