It took us three and a half years to conceive our first son. My pregnancy and birth were textbook, and we welcomed a nine-pound, 2-ounce healthy boy at 40 weeks. Fast-forward to three years, and we decided to try for our second baby - thinking it would retake a long time. We were so excited to find out after two months we had conceived.
It took us three and a half years to conceive our first son. My pregnancy and birth were textbook, and we welcomed a nine-pound, 2-ounce healthy boy at 40 weeks. Fast-forward to three years, and we decided to try for our second baby - thinking it would retake a long time. We were so excited to find out after two months we had conceived.
The early days of the pregnancy consisted of the usual morning sickness and fatigue - nothing really to note. My whole pregnancy, I was highly emotional and would cry all the time. At around 25 weeks, I started to get comments about how big I was, and people would often ask if I was carrying twins or gasp when I said I still had over ten weeks to go. My gestational test was negative, but my blood test showed low iron. However, they indicated that there were no worries here and that I should take some supplements to get this back to the right level.
Unfortunately, the risks were too high as they could not secure bub's head. It was decided that a gel would be put in and they would try to break my waters again in a few hours. A few hours later, they tried again, but the risk was still too high. They thought an electrode on bub's head to monitor him would be best, but this failed. My baby had so much fluid in there that he was moving around too much. It was a running joke between the midwives of who would come and monitor him because nobody could get a good reading. My obstetrician tried to put the electrode on but didn't get it on. She did, however, put a small hole in my waters, which was perfect. I was leaking slowly, which is precisely what they wanted - the water to trickle out and the baby's head to come down slowly. As I stood up, I said to the midwife that something was leaking and it was confirmed it was my waters. I wasn't getting any pains at this stage, so I was allowed to walk the corridors and try to bring it on faster. The leaking got heavier, and I started to get some back pain. My midwife called my obstetrician, and she came back in. She said it was time to either break the waters or to give me the drip to get things happening. This time she was successful in breaking my waters and boy did it flow. It took about 10 to 15 minutes of letting it out bit by bit, but I could feel my ribs becoming free, and my heartburn disappearing with every gush.
Everyone was laughing because the water just didn't stop. By the end, it was over four litres, on the floor and took two midwives with nine big towels to try and soak it all up. I was hooked up to wireless monitors and asked if I could hop in the shower. The pain in my back was getting worse, and I felt like I needed to poo. It was getting too much, and I asked for some pain relief. My obstetrician checked me and said, "your over half way so why don't you try some gas while I organise some morphine." I remember saying "so you're telling me I'm 6cm dilated, I need something now because I can't keep going." She obviously thought I still had hours to go and said: "I'll go organise the morphine, get a drink of water, and I'll be back." As she was walking out, I said "I'm pushing.'"
No one believed me and the obstetrician said you couldn't be, don't push too early. When she had a look, she said okay, something is happening. The problem was, my body was telling me to push, but my cervix was still only 6cm. My midwife pushed the emergency button to get more help and was trying to organise things, so my husband had to help the obstetrician open some things and gown her up. Before I knew it, there were two more midwives by my side, and it was go time. I pushed for awhile and was getting nowhere. I remember gritting my teeth together and saying "you aren't listening to me and I'm getting angry. It's fucking stuck." I was pushing with all I had, and nothing was happening. My obstetrician checked again, and they discovered the baby was direct op and deflexed, which is why they weren't going anywhere and why all the pain was in my back.
He had so much room in there that he just moved constantly. She said she was going to help me and they would use the vacuum. It was put on bub, and as I pushed, she pulled. I felt this sense of relief and said: "thank fuck it's out." But it wasn't, the vacuum had popped off, but it was enough to flex babies head, and in the next push he was out. They put him on my chest, and he just laid there. No movement and no sound.
I asked why he wasn't moving. They quickly cut the cord, and he was taken off me. He wasn't breathing and needed 100% oxygen. It took seven minutes before he took his first breath. His heart was strong and never missed a beat. The midwife working on him said "come on, dad, talk to him. Touch him. He knows your voice." My husband started touching the palm of his hand and talking to him, and he took his first breath. Our baby was taken into the special care nursery, and my husband went with him. After his birth, I was shaking uncontrollably. I couldn't talk or move, and I didn't know why it was happening. All I could do was shake my head yes or no. When the midwife came back to update me she said he was five-pound seven-ounce, he had been canulated, was having antibiotics and needed some formula because his sugar was low. He was born at 5:42 pm and I got to see him at about 11:30 pm. He spent five days in the nursery and was allowed to come and room with me for the last two nights of our hospital stay.
The timeline for me was a blur. It all changed so quickly from no pain to pain to I need to push. But I believe it only took two hours from my waters breaking to our beautiful baby boy joining us earthside.
