I woke up in the morning and bub hadn't been moving much. I rang our midwife Leanne, who told me to come in to be monitored. They weren't happy with the movements, so after an ultrasound and other tests, the doctors decided it would be best to induce me.
My partner Kurt wasn't with me, so I was feeling scared, and like I had done something wrong. But I was assured it was the best thing for bubs. Leanne checked me at 11 am, and I was 1cm dilated! My mum was with me and could tell I was getting scared, so she called Kurt and told him it was time. I was induced with the gel and was able to return home for an hour, where Kurt was waiting for us. When I got home, we had a good cry together.
My sister-in-law Kizz and best friend Tish were also there waiting when we arrived home. God love them, they tanned me, braided my hair and shaved my legs for me. We had a couple more visitors before we left and at about 1.50 pm Kizz and Tish dropped Kurt and me off at the hospital. We were ready to meet our bub.
We arrived at ward 4, bed 23 and settled in. I started contracting at about 2.35 pm - at first, they were really irregular and bearable. Between 6.30 pm and 7.30 pm, they got dramatically worse. I wasn't in the birth suite as this stage, so Kurt wasn't able to stay - I was so sad. I contracted on my own all night, with them being about three minutes apart, lasting 50 seconds. I had about 30 minutes of sleep altogether. At 7 am, Kurt arrived back at the hospital - followed by our midwife Leanne at 9 am. She examined me, and I was 3cm dilated after only being 1cm 22 hours prior.
Leanne decided it was time to go to the birth unit, which was down a floor. We slowly made our way down with all of our bags, as I contracted the whole way down. My contractions were now two and a half minutes apart, lasting one minute. We arrived at the birth unit and were in suite 5 - it was now 10.30 am. Leanne offered me gas, to begin with, and mum came and joined us in the birth suite. My contractions were becoming more intense, but I felt like I was coping well, so decided to hold off on the epidural.
At 11.30 am, the doctor came in and broke my waters and put in the Pitocin drip to help induce me. They soon realised that bub wasn't coping very well with the drip and decided to remove it. I was contracting at this point in a coupling sequence where I was having two contractions back-to-back then a short rest. This quickly became quite unbearable. Mum and Kurt thought I was coping with them really well, but it was the most painful thing I have ever felt.
I decided to order the epidural at midday and got the epidural at around 1 pm. I began to feel relief but still a lot of pressure down below. Kurt was so supportive and helped me through every contraction. We were hoping I would be able to rest now we had the epidural, but they put the drip back in top help speed things along. But again, bub's heart rate wasn't coping, so they turned it off.
The doctors were called to check-in, and they weren't happy. They decided to monitor me over the next hour. During this period, Leanne had done about 3 stretch and sweeps to help things progress, and at 3 pm, when I was examined again, I was 7cm dilated. At this point, Leanne told me there might be a chance of a caesarean as bub just wasn't coping. The doctors came back in, looked at the monitor machine and told Kurt and me, that we had two options. We could continue to go naturally and try a vaginal delivery - they would monitor baby every hour with a blood test from his head. At this point, they already had a clip attached to the top of his head so they could get a more accurate heart rate from him. But if we were to continue until I was 10cm dilated, and I tried to push, there was a chance they'd have to push him back up and perform an emergency caesarean as they thought he might be stuck, since he was in a posterior position. They couldn't guarantee his safety.
Kurt and I decided to go straight to a caesarean and not wait it out as we just wanted the bub healthy and safe. Leanne and the doctors took us down to the theatre - we said goodbye to mum, who only went across the road to wait to hear from us. By now, it was 4 pm - Leanne was starting to get frustrated and worried about the baby's heart rate and that it was deteriorating. They ended up rushing us through. Kurt was panicking while they prepped me and joined me once they were about to start. He sat behind my head and held me.
They started operating, and it was a strange feeling. I couldn't feel pain but could feel them pulling and moving my skin around. The doctor's said the baby was about to the born - they dropped the curtain and held up our bub.
I straight away looked at Kurt and burst into tears and said it's a little boy. Kurt balled his eyes out - we had just seen our son for the first time. He was born at 4.28 pm, and our heart was instantly filled with love.
Bub was taken straight to see the doctor - Kurt went with him and cut the cord. I anxiously waited for him to return. Once he had the all-clear, Kurt and Leanna brought him to me and laid him on my chest. Kurt and I sat there staring at him - we couldn't believe how gorgeous our baby was. We had never cried so much in our lives. We decided straight away to name him Carter.
I then got stitched up and taken to recovery. Leanne helped me feed him, and we stayed there for about an hour. I had some apple juice and was then taken to the postnatal ward, bed four and mum came, and we introduced her to her grandson Carter. He then got his needles and weighed 7lbs 9oz his head 34cm, and his length was 49cm.
We then face-timed other friends and family, told them we had a son, and they all balled their eyes out. It was so special.
