When Little S Came

On Tuesday,  19 October 2010, I was 5 days overdue and starting to feel impatient.  Everyone always says not to worry and that the baby will come when she’s ready, but that is little comfort to an excited first-time mom who is also done being big and pregnant.  We went to the mall to get in more walking and encourage gravity to help things along.  We were told that pineapple helps kick start labour, but we decided to go with the standard curry and picked one up on the way home.

Early contractions started later that night.  I went to sleep hoping that I would wake up to full blown labour and have a baby in my arms soon.  Unfortunately, I woke up without being in any pain whatsoever.  Wednesday was full of anticipation and the contractions returned in the afternoon.  These contractions also went away with the help of some paracetamol.  It was frustrating that my body couldn’t seem to make up its mind whether or not it wanted to start labour.  Late Wednesday night the contractions were back and more frequent, so I called the labour ward and was advised to come in.  The midwife’s examination revealed that I was fully effaced (cervix was flat and moved out of the way), but no more than 1 cm dilated.  So, I was given stronger pain relievers and sent home to try and sleep.  I managed to get 2 hours of sleep before the pain was back, and so much stronger.  Back to the labour ward we went!

The hot bath that worked before to relieve some pain did absolutely nothing now (making me doubt the effectiveness of a water birth for pain relief).  I was now 2 cm dilated, which is only significant when you’re in pain and are told that stronger pain relief (gas & air or an epidural) can be given when you’re at 3 cm (classed as active labour).  I didn’t want to return home to wait for the last 1 cm before additional pain relief could be given, so I was moved to a different ward.  My concept of time went right out the window, but I know I spent the better part of Thursday on this ward.  I cried, I lamented, I was generally miserable, as any woman in that much pain would be.  First pregnancies often stall during pre-labour and mine was no different.  The midwife said that the contractions would feel “different” after 3 cm, but I didn’t understand what she meant.  Then, I must have hit 3 cm, because OH MY GOD, there was a vast difference between this new pain and what I had been experiencing previously.  There is no way for me to describe it.

I asked for another examination from a reluctant midwife and had to beg, plead and cry for this one, but I knew it was different and I would be past 3 cm, which the midwife confirmed.  I was moved back up to the labour ward where I happily accepted the gas & air that was offered to me.  I continued to labour with increasing pain (which I was later told was due to Little S being in a back to back position) and asked for an epidural at around 6.30 PM (I vaguely seem to remember that I was 6 cm by this time).  An epidural usually takes 15 minutes to be placed, but the doctor apologized to me after an hour of needle-poking and said that he’d never had so much trouble getting an epidural in.  Once it was in place, my waters were broken for easier monitoring of Little S and I was able to doze off from the wonderful relief.

There was a midwife shift change and I ended up with the most wonderful midwife, named Lucy, who was there until the end of the birth.  At some point, there was a concern over Little S’s oxygen reading.  They said it was normal to have dips, but that hers wasn’t returning to normal or spiking back as quickly as they would have liked.  The midwife and an assistant consultant were explaining the procedure, when the “real” consultant arrived and in his arrogant bluster cut them off to explain the exact same procedure in the same way.  So they took some blood from her scalp and everything was OK, but this problem returns later as you’ll read.  Labour continues…

Then, out of nowhere, I am at 10 cm and feel the overwhelming need to push.  The atmosphere in the room changes to a combination of controlled chaos and excitement.  The arrogant consultant returns and keeps having my bed put closer to the ceiling (I swear at one point I could have reached out and touched it) and doing exams with nearly every contraction.  I begin to feel stressed out and a bit like a yo-yo.  At this point I am told Little S is in a back to back position and that the oxygen problem has returned.  The consultant wants me in stirrups (completely ignoring that I had SPD) and feels an assisted delivery is needed just in case Little S is in distress.  For some reason I was willing to compromise and accept being put into stirrups, but assisted delivery was apparently the last straw, probably because he wanted to have this discussion while I was trying to push with the contractions and follow the midwife’s instructions.   I made it clear that the POSSIBILITY of distress was not enough for me to warrant an episiotomy and forceps/vacuum delivery; that if there was a REAL danger that I would do whatever was needed, but until then, I was continuing my labour “normally”.  My husband says he’s never seen me so determined and fired up like that, but I could see the light at the end of the tunnel and I was going towards it on my terms.  I was told later that the consultant quietly sulked out of the room before Little S’s head crowned.

I became very excited and knew we were very close when a 2^nd midwife was sent for (Little S’s midwife, Chris).  At 2.25 am on Friday, after 45 minutes of pushing, I had my gorgeous 7 pound 4 ounce baby girl…without an episiotomy or assisted delivery. Chris placed Little S on my stomach and blew gently into her face to encourage breathing.  She placed a little hat on her head while she was still blue.  My husband got to cut the umbilical cord as I had hoped he would.  Lucy helped Little S find the breast and she fed for 45 minutes.

I originally hoped to have a water birth and only need gas & air, but I am not disappointed.  How could I be?  I had a supportive husband and midwife and a healthy baby girl at the end of it.  The experience was overall one that I will remember fondly for the rest of my life.