Juliette made her debut this past Monday, 18th June, although I was having contractions since Thursday night! They got consistent Friday morning, then stopped, then started again Friday night. By Saturday, I thought for sure we were having a baby, so when my contractions were about 5 minutes apart at 9 PM, the hospital told me to come in and get checked out.
We walked the mile to the hospital (to speed things up in case I was in full blown labor) and poor Andrew had to carry both my bags. After waiting an hour and a half to be seen, the midwife determined that I was only a little over 1 cm dilated and 70% effaced. And with that disappointing news, we were sent home to labor some more until I was further along.
By Sunday morning, the labor had almost stopped...AGAIN. Andrew and I went for a walk in Holland Park, I would get the occasional super intense contraction, but nothing consistent so I just powered through. We went about our day as usual. Andrew made me a yummy dinner and then the contractions started getting more intense and regular again. I didn't pay too much mind to it, because for the last few days they seemed to pick up in the evenings. So after a bath and monitoring them a bit with our handy contraction timer, I was having them about every 6 minutes and they were lasting 45-50 seconds. I was literally feeling them in my bones. But I decided to labor a bit more because I didn't want to get sent home from the hospital again - the next time I went I would be having my baby!
Around 3 am, I had a contraction and then felt a little gush of warmth come out of me... FINALLY, my water broke! After that though, my contractions slowed a bit and weren't very painful... so I waited to call the labor ward until almost 5:30 am. They said if my water broke I should come get checked out but since the contractions were back to 6 minutes apart (they were as close at 4 minutes apart pre-water breaking!) they would probably send me back home.
We got to the hospital around 6 am (cabbed it this time because it was raining) and when I got examined around 6:30, I was 5 cm dilated! Unfortunately, during this exam, the midwife also thought she saw a bum instead of a head. An ultrasound a few minutes later confirmed this and everything changed - the surgeons were called because I needed an emergency C Section. Breech babies = automatic c section.
At this point I burst into tears because I much as I had been mentally preparing for this moment since Thursday, not once did I think about what would happen if I had to have a C Section!
I couldn't stop shaking, but everyone was really nice. They were SUPER impressed with how I handled my contractions. The senior midwife told every other woman she's seen on her shift was screaming about how they couldn't do it. I honestly didn't they were unbearable... then again, I wasn't quite to the end yet!
So after the surgeons came, I was whisked into the operating theatre, given my spinal/epidural and then the next thing I knew, I couldn't move from the chest down! It was the oddest sensation. They asked me to lift my legs, I couldn't. I couldn't feel the cold spray they used to test if it was working. It was the most bizarre feeling! After about 10 minutes, when it REALLY kicked in, I seriously felt like I was flying.
I was still shaking uncontrollably because I was so nervous (I was SO nervous I was going to feel something!), but thankfully Andrew was there. He talked to me throughout the entire thing to calm me down - honestly he did a beautiful job distracting me. Other than Andrew, the Anesthesiologist was my next favorite person. She talked me through EVERYTHING - I think she saw the terrified look on my face and felt bad for me. She let me know what the were doing and when the baby was coming out and told me I was doing great. There were two midwives who were supposed to be doing this, but it was Emily, the Anesthesiologist, who made it a great experience for me.
They were supposed to drop the screen and show me the baby when she came out, but instead they whisked her away to the pediatrician standing by. They rubbed her and ended up putting the little CPR oxygen mask on her. I started crying and asking Andrew "why isn't she crying?!" Emily assured me that her heart rate was fine, that C section babies can get a little confused since they don't go through the birth canal. The doctors took out a baby intubater but she caught her breath right before they inserted!
Our first night in the hospital was a bit stressful with 5 other babies around in our bay and me not being very mobile with the c section. But after a little convincing on Tuesday, I was reviewed and approved to go home with my beautiful, healthy baby girl!
We walked the mile to the hospital (to speed things up in case I was in full blown labor) and poor Andrew had to carry both my bags. After waiting an hour and a half to be seen, the midwife determined that I was only a little over 1 cm dilated and 70% effaced. And with that disappointing news, we were sent home to labor some more until I was further along.
By Sunday morning, the labor had almost stopped...AGAIN. Andrew and I went for a walk in Holland Park, I would get the occasional super intense contraction, but nothing consistent so I just powered through. We went about our day as usual. Andrew made me a yummy dinner and then the contractions started getting more intense and regular again. I didn't pay too much mind to it, because for the last few days they seemed to pick up in the evenings. So after a bath and monitoring them a bit with our handy contraction timer, I was having them about every 6 minutes and they were lasting 45-50 seconds. I was literally feeling them in my bones. But I decided to labor a bit more because I didn't want to get sent home from the hospital again - the next time I went I would be having my baby!
Around 3 am, I had a contraction and then felt a little gush of warmth come out of me... FINALLY, my water broke! After that though, my contractions slowed a bit and weren't very painful... so I waited to call the labor ward until almost 5:30 am. They said if my water broke I should come get checked out but since the contractions were back to 6 minutes apart (they were as close at 4 minutes apart pre-water breaking!) they would probably send me back home.
We got to the hospital around 6 am (cabbed it this time because it was raining) and when I got examined around 6:30, I was 5 cm dilated! Unfortunately, during this exam, the midwife also thought she saw a bum instead of a head. An ultrasound a few minutes later confirmed this and everything changed - the surgeons were called because I needed an emergency C Section. Breech babies = automatic c section.
At this point I burst into tears because I much as I had been mentally preparing for this moment since Thursday, not once did I think about what would happen if I had to have a C Section!
I couldn't stop shaking, but everyone was really nice. They were SUPER impressed with how I handled my contractions. The senior midwife told every other woman she's seen on her shift was screaming about how they couldn't do it. I honestly didn't they were unbearable... then again, I wasn't quite to the end yet!
So after the surgeons came, I was whisked into the operating theatre, given my spinal/epidural and then the next thing I knew, I couldn't move from the chest down! It was the oddest sensation. They asked me to lift my legs, I couldn't. I couldn't feel the cold spray they used to test if it was working. It was the most bizarre feeling! After about 10 minutes, when it REALLY kicked in, I seriously felt like I was flying.
I was still shaking uncontrollably because I was so nervous (I was SO nervous I was going to feel something!), but thankfully Andrew was there. He talked to me throughout the entire thing to calm me down - honestly he did a beautiful job distracting me. Other than Andrew, the Anesthesiologist was my next favorite person. She talked me through EVERYTHING - I think she saw the terrified look on my face and felt bad for me. She let me know what the were doing and when the baby was coming out and told me I was doing great. There were two midwives who were supposed to be doing this, but it was Emily, the Anesthesiologist, who made it a great experience for me.
They were supposed to drop the screen and show me the baby when she came out, but instead they whisked her away to the pediatrician standing by. They rubbed her and ended up putting the little CPR oxygen mask on her. I started crying and asking Andrew "why isn't she crying?!" Emily assured me that her heart rate was fine, that C section babies can get a little confused since they don't go through the birth canal. The doctors took out a baby intubater but she caught her breath right before they inserted!
Our first night in the hospital was a bit stressful with 5 other babies around in our bay and me not being very mobile with the c section. But after a little convincing on Tuesday, I was reviewed and approved to go home with my beautiful, healthy baby girl!
Oh sweetie, I didn't realise you had a C-Section, but I am glad to hear everything went well in the end.
ReplyDeleteI am dying to see you and have a nice chat with you. Let me know when you feel up for it (no rush, whenever you feel good!). Please know that I have been thinking of you a lot! Love xx
Thanks for sharing the video! What a beautiful girl! So glad that everything turned out well after the change in plans. You are so strong! Be sure to give her a kiss for me!
ReplyDelete