As the title of this blog suggests, today's tale is my labour & delivery story. I don't know if you guys even want to hear about this but I've read a great number of other people's stories online and really wanted to have my own memory of the events to look back on. I would promise to keep it short & sweet but I know I can easily ramble on and on. So without further ado, let's get going!
I guess the best place to start is the beginning, no not that far back!, but with my due date. This was predicted from my ultrasound to be the 5th of May 2020 [wish Jensen had got that memo 🙄]. I was nervous but excited as the date approached, carefully watching for any signs of impending labour but nothing happened.
So, off I went to my 40 week appointment. Blood pressure, temperature & urine were all normal and I was quite a way off from going into labour. Before I left, my midwife wanted to book me in for an induction just in case it came to that and to ensure that I would be able to guarantee a space. I hoped to go into labour spontaneously but it was nice to have, what I thought would be the latest date I'd be meeting my baby boy: 16th May 2020.
I met with my midwife again the following week, now 41 weeks pregnant and losing patience. Again all checks were normal and she tried to carry out a 'membrane sweep'. This is when the midwife carries out an internal examination and sweeps their finger around your cervix in order to release the hormones (called prostaglandins) which may kick-start your labour. This process was more uncomfortable than painful, although everyone has different levels of pain tolerance. It is easier for the midwife to do it when you are already beginning to dilate and is also more likely to be successful at that point. Unfortunately, as the midwife put it, my "cervix was unfavourable" and so my chance of labour was low.
Over the next few days I tried everything I could think of to bring on labour, from eating hot Mexican food to walking up and down the stairs and simply willing him to come out. But nothing worked and before I knew it, it was the day of my scheduled induction.
My mum drove me to the hospital at 8am on the Saturday morning. Due to the current pandemic regulations, Joseph was unable to be with me throughout the induction process and I would not be seeing him again until I was in established labour. After I arrived, I was shown to my room and waited to be seen by the midwife who would be looking after me that day.
The first thing she did was an internal examination, which was only the first of many that were carried out during my stay. Then she decided that the first thing to try would be using a pessary called Propess. This was described to me as "a very small tampon that is inserted into the vagina for 24 hours and will slowly release the hormone prostaglandin." Having the pessary inserted was only slightly more uncomfortable than the examinations but still bearable. After it was done I had to be hooked up to the CTG machine which measures the baby's heart rate. This was to ensure that it wasn't causing him any problems. Nothing else happened on that first day.
At 9:30am on the Sunday morning, I had to remove the pessary and wait to be examined. Sadly there had been no changes from the previous day and the next step was to insert a gel which contained the prostaglandin hormone and to be re-examined after 6 hours. Again, the baby's heart rate was monitored throughout the day to make sure that he was coping well with it.
After the 6 hours had passed and there was only slight changes, another gel was inserted. This one seemed to make a difference and by late Sunday night I was experiencing some contractions and in a fair amount of pain, so much so that I had to ask for some painkillers. Sadly though, I wasn't in labour and in the early hours of the Monday morning, a third gel was inserted. Another day spent on the monitor and being examined by the different midwives & even a doctor. It was decided that as there had been no significant changes with the gels that they would leave me for 24 hours to see if nature would take its course.
By this point I was well and truly fed up, and seriously considering asking them to perform a Caesarean section as I was convinced that he just wasn't going to come on his own. But something inside me just wouldn't let me give up and I decided that I would wait until the next day before making any choices. Instead I took the opportunity to have a good nights sleep and, after the events of the next day, I was certainly glad that I did.
It was late on the Tuesday morning before I was seen by the midwife as they were pretty busy but I wasn't too fussed as it let me have more time to sleep and enjoy my breakfast. When they finally got round to examining me, there had been big changes and I got the great news that I had been waiting for: "we can now break your waters." I was over-the-moon to hear this but the nerves quickly set in, even after all this waiting about, I didn't think I was ready to become a mum.
They were not able to get a midwife to be with me throughout the labour until later that night which allowed me to have my dinner, prepare myself and most importantly, for Joseph to come and join me. I was taken to a delivery room which was massive compared to the room which I had been in since Saturday and it was now Tuesday. I had an IV put into my arm through which they would give me fluids and the Pitocin to bring on my contractions.
At 8:15pm my waters were broken using an amnihook which resembles a crochet hook and ruptures the amniotic sac. This caused a huge gush of water and made me feel like I had wet myself. Then the Pitocin drip was started and the contractions got more & more intense. As the pain got worse, I felt myself losing control and had to ask for an epidural around 1am.
The anaesthetist who did it was amazing and I only felt the tiniest sharp scratch as the needle was inserted but not any more painful than a regular injection to the arm. He must have been in the room with us for at least 30 minutes and we ended up having a discussion about the different types of anaesthetic and what they are used for. Such a random conversation for that early in the morning. After he left and I was no longer in a great amount of pain, myself and Joseph managed to grab a good few hours sleep.
In fact, it was after 6am before I woke up. At this time, another midwife was coming on shift and they were discussing my case. The midwife who had been with me from the previous night wanted to carry out a final examination before she went off shift. To all of our surprise, I was actually fully dilated and ready for the pushing stage to begin. She quickly woke up Joseph and told him what was happening whilst I got myself prepared.
As I couldn't really feel the contractions due to the epidural, I was relying on the midwife to tell me when to push. After several pushes starting around 6:45am, baby Jensen arrived into the world at 7:17am kicking & screaming and weighing 8lbs 11oz. It was the most magical experience of my life and I was overcome with emotion when he was placed in my arms.
I could not believe that I was hours away from having a Caesarean section and that by some miracle, my body decided to get a move on and allow me to have the somewhat natural delivery that I had desperately wanted from the beginning. After 4 days in hospital away from my family and being poked & prodded, I finally had my beautiful baby boy. Also, in case you lost track, it was now the 20th May and I was 42 weeks and 1 day, a whole 15 days past my due date. Jensen was certainly in no hurry to come but I sincerely hope any siblings he has will not share the same plan. ☺️
Well I hope you have enjoyed reading all about the long awaited arrival of my little guy and that it wasn't too long winded and dull. I'm sure he will appear in future posts so watch out for them if you want to keep up-to-date with his progress. As always, leave your comments and suggestions over on my Instagram page and I will get back to you!
Hugz N Crafts, Sarah xoxo
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