Wasn't sure whether to post this here or not, but some people have asked to read it and they aren't MDers so am posting..will remove if people wish just message me!!
"So Monday 14th Jan, 2 days before D Day I had a sweep. The nurse said everything was as it was, cervix was soft and I was 1cm dilated and she was very positive, I was overjoyed , hoping that the sweep would work and baby would come along 2 days later. Apart from some pain, discomfort and 'the show' that evening, nothing became of it and I spent the week bouncing on my ball, wandering around as best I could and generally being a bit fed up. Knowing I was booked in for an induction on the 22nd was a comfort though as I knew I'd get to meet baby flow soon!
Tuesday 22nd Jan - Induction Day!
Rocking up to the hospital at 830am we didn't know what to expect, we hadn't been told anything about what would happen, or any time scales or processes. To be honest, I imagined id go, have the induction and then be sent home for a couple of days..little did I know what lay ahead!!
We were sent to the ward where 3 other women were being induced at the same time, and only us four were booked in that day. Shown to my bed, I was advised id have blood tests, baby monitored, blood pressure monitored and then an internal. It seemed like HOURS to do all of this but when the internal exam had been done and the midwife exclaimed I was 3cm dilated already from my own doing, I could have cried with happiness!! Amazing news! I was given the pessary and told to move about after 45minutes. We wandered about and had a Costa then Mr F nipped home to pick up some bits and left me with a trashy mag and some mini eggs, that's love for you ha!
He was no longer then 90minutes and as soon as he got back things kicked off rapidly..id set a contraction app on my phone to time them and they were coming as frequent as 4-5mins but not lasting very long. Mentioning this to the midwife they said that's fine, they'll check me in 4hours and break my waters if needed...FOUR HOURS you say!?!? like I'm going to last that long! She looked at me thinking 'yes dear I hear that every day!!'...
By now it was about 4pm and out of the four of us on the ward, I was the only one who seemed to be having hard and fast contractions constantly..the pain was like a rubber ring of god awful period pain around my stomach and back. The girl opposite (who I may add, would have been a perfect Jezza Kyle candidate!) was whinging that nothing was happening for her and she was going to 'cut the f**ker out herself' if they didn't give her more drugs. The midwife came to check on me and saw my discomfort and offered an internal. After doing so, she called a registrar who said they'd need to break my waters but warned me this would increase the pain and things would move pretty quick. I didn't realise just HOW quick!!! I was 5cms by now and they broke my waters whilst I was hooked up to a blood pressure machine meaning I couldn't move anywhere...it seemed to be a sudden flurry of people and voices and the next thing I knew I was being advised to have an epidural so they could keep my BP down. Mr F KNEW how much didn't want one, and I got very upset at the prospect. I was crying to him telling him not to let me have it, I didn't want to have that kind of labour. I was worried about harming baby and not feeling anything and generally working myself up, which for someone with high BP isn't good! Eventually, after a straight talking midwife had words, basically telling me that my BP would be too high to deliver safely, I agreed. BEST. DECISION. EVER
It was 6pm ish by now and we were moved across the hallway to our delivery suite and told to make ourselves comfy. Contractions were apparently coming 4mins apart but to me they felt like they were all rolled into one. Nothing prepared me for the intense pain..the MW kept telling me it was because it was a forced labour so they were bound to be more intense and painful rather than going into labour naturally. Frankly I wanted to punch her face in with every contraction!
I was gowned up ready for the epidural and the anaesthetist , who was over exuberant Indian chap called Dr Alcatraz (I kid you not) came in telling me I was one of the lucky few, I could have two babies this year and he would see me in October / November time..was he kidding?!?! The thought of the epidural going in made me sick, so along with intense contractions I had nausea to contend with. I can honestly say I had never felt worse!!
Once the epidural was in and had taken effect things started to calm down...I felt disappointed but happy the pain had gone and I couldn't feel a thing. I could hear the jezza kyle women next door effing and jeffing whereas we had a radio with music on, Mr F was tucking into a KFC (when he'd gone to get that I don't know!) and I was making sure my hair looked ok!!! (this again, I don't remember!!)
Before I knew it, and it happened all of a sudden as things seemed to have relaxed and calmed down, the midwives were telling me I was 10cm dilated but my contractions weren't strong enough to assist baby out and he was uncomfy and in possible distress..all sorts went through my mind...I panicked, flapped about as they moved me from side to side to try and read baby's heartbeat better, they hooked me up to some drip to pump me with hormones to increase the length of contractions...and that the moment it hit me, I was having a baby pretty soon!! The midwives helped me recognise the pressure of a contraction in my back as the epidural has numbed the sensation..and once recognised I could feel it creep up on me every minute or so. I felt nauseous again, Mr F did his best at keeping me cooled down and reassuring me it was nearly over as I pushed when told and held as long as I could. It felt like hours, seriously, when all in all it was only 50minutes and Dylan was born. The relief afterwards, well, unimaginable!! The student midwife held baby up and told us it was a boy and apparently, in all the babies she had delivered shed never seen a reaction quite like ours..total and utter shock! He was pink straight away, gave a dinky cry and was checked over...everything was perfect I can't describe how happy I was to give Mr F a son, seeing him in tears, just in awe of his boy was the most precious moment ever (fluff)
We never found out the sex but were convinced, along with 90% of our friends and families that it was a girl, so much so we'd not had a boy's name agreed on or even thought much about it!! ! It wasn't until a couple of hours later , whilst I was sat in the bath and Mr F was washing my back I suggested the name. Id bought it up months ago but nothing was really thought of it..but now it seemed perfect. We agreed to sleep on it and almost 16 hours after he was born he was named Dylan Thomas
Its true about what people say that you forget the labour and the pain afterwards, the way I see it as it being 8hours of indescribable and excruciating pain and look what I get in return (don't quote pics, will be removing!)