Sam's Birthday
Friday, 10.45pm two days after my
due date, I informed my husband that my waters had broken
with the now immortal words "I think something's happening
in my pants." Monitoring at the hospital showed my uterus
was tightening but as I was in no pain, they were not
considered contractions. They confirmed my waters were
leaking but were reluctant to do an internal due to the risk
of infection. I went home excited but disappointed that my
doctor was away and that I didn't know if I was dilating or
not. At home I was encouraged by a small show.
Saturday was spent alternately
walking and resting to get things going. I felt alot of
tightenings and period-like cramps and prayed that the
painless contractions were doing something. Back to the
hospital in the evening to find out that the contractions
were not regular and I was not considered in labour yet. I
still couldn't get an internal examination. We decided I
should stay at the hospital for rest and further monitoring.
I had some sleeping tablets and was told to ignore the
cramps and try to rest.
The back aches and cramps couldn't
be ignored after 2am but the contractions were erratic. At
8am a shift change and the lovely Lynda came back and did an
internal to find I was only 1-2 cm. How disappointing! I had
some pethidine and told my husband to come back in 3 hours
while I rested. Then we started walking around the hospital
to get things moving - very different to the baths I had
planned to take at home. By 3pm I was huffing and puffing on
the bed. An internal showed I was 3-4 cm - what slow
progress - and that the bag was still intact around the
baby's head effectively slowing the dilation. Lynda broke
the forewaters, I went to 5cm and was so happy I could move
to the delivery suite, I practically ran there.
Another shot of pethidine and gas
and I was all set. I leaned forward on a bean bag on the bed
and didn't move for 7 hours! Hubby managed to watch the
cricket and read magazines in between rubbing my back and
wetting the sponge I was sucking on. So much for the spa
baths and showers. Contractions were 2-8 minutes apart and
by 5.30pm I was 8 cm. At 7pm I was 9cm and wanted to push
but had to wait for the last bit of cervix to move out of
the way. Contractions were 1-3 minutes apart. Two hours
later I was still 9cm and still wanting to push (the hardest
2 hours of it all) but the baby's head was swelling where it
was pushing on the cervix causing it to thicken up again.
They wanted me to have an epidural and to put a drip in to
speed things up. I was so petrified the epidural would take
ages and that it wouldn't be working before the drip went in
(and the contractions got more painful) that I wouldn't even
let them take a routine blood sample until I was
numb.
The epidural was high - I couldn't
feel my chest - my blood pressue dropped and I had severe
shakes. With the drip in, baby's heartbeat starting dropping
and I knew I was having a caesarean. I think I was sort of
relieved as I probably would have had to have an episiotomy
and it's better to have stitches in your tummy if you can
help it. Good news was that by now my doctor was back in
town. At 11.46pm on Sunday, Sam Li-Xiung was born with a
cone-shaped head having been stuck sideways (deep transverse
arrest). I was very disappointed to have had a caesarean and
it took a few weeks to come to terms with the whole ordeal
as I felt so disassociated from the delivery. However
recovering from the caesarean was nothing compared to the
severe engorgement I had but that's another
story.
Sam is now a delightful 19 month
old and while I would like to have a VBAC next time, I am
want to avoid large keloid scars on my perineum.
Best regards
Helena Tosello
|