Bluebabe75
17-02-2010, 09:34pm
Was typing this up for the Feb / March 2010 thread but have decided to post it here instead as it got a bit long :lol:
Our little girl, Emma Sheila was born on 16/02/10, weighing 6lbs 13oz - photos to follow.
Woke up on Monday morning at 2am feeling wet and by morning it was pretty obvious that my waters were leaking so I called the hospital and they said it was fine to stay at home as long as I went into labour within 24 hours. Started getting contractions at about 4pm and by 10.30 I thought they were long enough / close enough together to go in.
However, the contractions stopped completely by the time we arrived. They said that because my waters had gone I would have to be induced on Tuesday morning so we went home and got a pretty good night's sleep (due to contractions still not happening).
Went back in at 8am on Tuesday morning and was offered either the gel or a drip - they thought the drip would be more effective so I went for that, although the midwife said it could take up to 24 hours :shock: Started drip at 11am and DH went off to Westfield to get a few bits (like a present for M from his sister, another book for me in case it took ages and lunch for himself) and the contractions started at about 12 but were very mild. DH returned at 1ish and by that point the contractions were getting harder but the monitor wasn't really picking them up. By 2.30 I was demanding an epidural which took ages to get in as contractions were coming every two minutes and getting stronger all the time... eventually epidural kicked in at about 4pm and the midwife examined me only to be really shocked that I was already 10cm and the head was low :smile: (had not had internal examination before that point due to infection risk with broken waters).
After that, she said I had to wait an hour to push (something to do with the drip and / or the epidural - can't remember which) and I tried to chill out and read my book for a bit... at 5pm she started getting everything ready, started pushing at 5.15 and the baby arrived at 5.27 :shock: I literally pushed through about four contractions before she crowned, then the midwife told me to stop pushing for a minute, then a very small push and the whole baby came out in a big rush, not just the head :lol: After that, she came straight on to me for a big cuddle until the cord stopped pulsing, DH cut the cord and we had lots of time to bond while the placenta was delivered :lurve: I ended up having to have stitches again as she came out with a hand next to her head which caused a tear, but not as bad as last time :happyno:
Overall, it was a really positive experience and so different to Matthew's birth. Despite the induction, I felt pretty much in control the whole way through and had enough sensation to feel when to push without having any of the pain which was fab :grin:
She looks so tiny compared to what her 9lb 6oz big brother did but she is doing really well - am managing to breastfeed at the moment (which didn't happen last time) and she's latching on well... we got home at lunchtime today and Matthew is a very proud big brother :grin:
Haven't got round to uploading pictures yet but have got a couple off DH's Facebook page
Emma - 2 hours old
http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs386.snc3/23590_337481637124_774582124_4608621_6871612_n.jpg
Me and Emma
http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs426.ash1/23590_337481612124_774582124_4608620_7131004_n.jpg
Our little girl, Emma Sheila was born on 16/02/10, weighing 6lbs 13oz - photos to follow.
Woke up on Monday morning at 2am feeling wet and by morning it was pretty obvious that my waters were leaking so I called the hospital and they said it was fine to stay at home as long as I went into labour within 24 hours. Started getting contractions at about 4pm and by 10.30 I thought they were long enough / close enough together to go in.
However, the contractions stopped completely by the time we arrived. They said that because my waters had gone I would have to be induced on Tuesday morning so we went home and got a pretty good night's sleep (due to contractions still not happening).
Went back in at 8am on Tuesday morning and was offered either the gel or a drip - they thought the drip would be more effective so I went for that, although the midwife said it could take up to 24 hours :shock: Started drip at 11am and DH went off to Westfield to get a few bits (like a present for M from his sister, another book for me in case it took ages and lunch for himself) and the contractions started at about 12 but were very mild. DH returned at 1ish and by that point the contractions were getting harder but the monitor wasn't really picking them up. By 2.30 I was demanding an epidural which took ages to get in as contractions were coming every two minutes and getting stronger all the time... eventually epidural kicked in at about 4pm and the midwife examined me only to be really shocked that I was already 10cm and the head was low :smile: (had not had internal examination before that point due to infection risk with broken waters).
After that, she said I had to wait an hour to push (something to do with the drip and / or the epidural - can't remember which) and I tried to chill out and read my book for a bit... at 5pm she started getting everything ready, started pushing at 5.15 and the baby arrived at 5.27 :shock: I literally pushed through about four contractions before she crowned, then the midwife told me to stop pushing for a minute, then a very small push and the whole baby came out in a big rush, not just the head :lol: After that, she came straight on to me for a big cuddle until the cord stopped pulsing, DH cut the cord and we had lots of time to bond while the placenta was delivered :lurve: I ended up having to have stitches again as she came out with a hand next to her head which caused a tear, but not as bad as last time :happyno:
Overall, it was a really positive experience and so different to Matthew's birth. Despite the induction, I felt pretty much in control the whole way through and had enough sensation to feel when to push without having any of the pain which was fab :grin:
She looks so tiny compared to what her 9lb 6oz big brother did but she is doing really well - am managing to breastfeed at the moment (which didn't happen last time) and she's latching on well... we got home at lunchtime today and Matthew is a very proud big brother :grin:
Haven't got round to uploading pictures yet but have got a couple off DH's Facebook page
Emma - 2 hours old
http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs386.snc3/23590_337481637124_774582124_4608621_6871612_n.jpg
Me and Emma
http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs426.ash1/23590_337481612124_774582124_4608620_7131004_n.jpg