Jessica's Birth
Well after getting to that I'm sick of being pregnant stage at 38 weeks and
then resigning myself to having to have an induction on the 4th Feb because I
was convinced I wouldn't be lucky enough to go into natural labour I was woken
at 4:39am on the 1st Feb (w39d5) with stomach cramps. Not feeling like the last
2 I then waited & attempted timing while still being half asleep. I decide
to get up at 5am and fill my jar for the OB appointment and again attempt to
time. At this stage they were anything from 3-4-5-7 mins apart and only lasting
20 seconds. So back to bed I go still trying to decide whether this is the REAL
thing. It's alot of hassle to put not only myself but DH and babysitters through
for a false alarm.
Well at 5:47am I decide that this must be labour. By now the contractions
are around 2 mins apart. So I FINALLY get to do the "it's time dear".
The first comment my DH makes is "your fibbing, your just trying to get me
out of bed". Anyway, I jump into the shower while dh times when I shout
now. By the time I'm finished the ctx are 1 min 55 secs apart and lasting for 20
secs. So knowing that both kids are still asleep and that they have to be woken,
dressed & dropped off before I can even think about heading off to the
hospital which is about 25 mins away. We ring the hospital, they say I'm in
labour. We then decided to go in at 6am (my second labour was really quick
and I didn't know if this one would be quicker). We eventually arrive at 7am. In the meantime
my contractions slowed way down to become every 5 mins and lasting for 45 secs.
The big conversation on the drive was what are the names for each sex. We decided on James Alexander for a boy and since I was convinced I was having a boy we would
"discuss" :0) later on using Jessica (Dh's choice) or Jennifer (my
choice) if we had to.
When I finally get to the hospital with smiles on my face and chatting away
with dh (in between ctxs) the receptionist asks if I'm here for an induction.
Well after telling her I'm actually in labour she leads the way to the labour
ward. So dh and I wait a good ten mins or so for a midwife to come in, you could
hear them in their reception area which was just out from the door of my labour
ward but we were being ignored. Mind you there were 4 delivery suites and one
woman was moaning/screaming away. When my midwife did come in she was a bit
surprised to find out I was in labour.
I did manage to avoid the routine CTG monitoring apon admission which I was
really pleased about, mind you I would have refused treatment if they had
insisted, especially if there was no need for it. I ended up with Doppler
monitoring the whole labour which is what I wanted.
So we finally settled down ready for labour, I still think I shocked some
midwives when we decided to head back to my room, the executive suite (boy was I
lucky to get that :0), to ring our parents and let them know that things were
happening. Unfortunately being on the other side of the country meant that we
are 3 hours ahead so we had to wait for a decent time their time before ringing.
We did however head back to the delivery suite at 10am when I wanted to use heat
packs for the ctxs.
By this time the ctx are still 5 mins apart, except for the odd exception,
and lasting for over a minute. With Josephine I was squatting on a bean bag,
with this labour I tried squatting on a stool but it seemed to slow down the
contractions and since I want things to get going I was standing with a hot pack
on my stomach and on my back and rolling my hips. This worked well for the next
1.5 hours. I had the classical music playing, the oil burner going with the
lavender oil and I would focus on the music and view of the Brindabella Ranges
out the window when a contraction hit.
Around 11:30am the midwife suggested I hop in the bath, I was handling the
contractions really well and didn't feel like I needed it but thought "what
the heck" since I wanted to try labouring in a bath this time anyway (I
didn't have one available with my other 2 labours). Boy was that the best thing
I've ever done. It took the edge off the contractions and being able to have
both my stomach and back in the warm water really made a difference.
By 12 pm the ctx's were still 5 mins apart and now over a minute. Some were
quite intense although I was still able to joke with Dh and when a ctx started I
would roll in the bath, have the shower outlet on my stomach and close my eyes
focusing on the music. There were some lovely pieces of music that I hadn't
really appreciated before. Poor Dh kept telling me he was pretty useless for
this labour, reckoned I didn't need him.
At 12:30pm my OB came to check up on me before starting his afternoon OB
appts. So I had my first internal for the pg. I was 5cm dilated. He offered to
break my waters but I refused so he didn't push the issue, wouldn't have done
him any good anyway. He took off and I jumped back in the bath. At that stage I
didn't think I would have handled a ctx out of the bath so I was keen to get
back in before another started.
After the OB left my ctx were getting quite painful but I was still handling
them, again they remained at 5 mins apart for 1.5 mins. I was now starting to
feel pain in the back. We then discussed what I would do should I start pushing
in the water. I knew from my previous labours that as soon as I started
experiencing searing back pain that I would be pushing 15 mins later. So the
plan was I'd squat and dh would pull the plug and push the "Dh panic
button", I say this because I knew that he would in that situation :0). He
reckoned he lift me and throw me back on the birthing bed by that stage :0).
By 2pm the pain was severe enough in both my back and stomach that the bath
was no longer working and we discussed getting the gas ready. I joked about
using it in the bath but the hose wasn't long enough and we thought it would be
better on the bed. The midwife did try to accommodate me which was quite
surprising. By now the ctx's were coming in hard and fast, I think they were
about 3 mins apart and long enough :0). At 2:30 I had my first searing back
pain, I knew I was in transition so I jumped out the bath and got on the bed
before a ctx would hit again. I then had my 2nd internal, I was 8-9cms dilated,
so the midwife called the OB. Two more contractions and the OB walks in as I
start pushing.
So 4 pushes, 10 mins later, and a couple of small tears and Jessica Rose made
her appearance into the world at 2:48pm. The biggest surprise for me was seeing
the girl bits, I really thought that I was having a boy, sometimes the gut
feeling can be WAY off LOL. I remember declaring to Dh that she would be Jessica
and Dh saying are you sure. The funny thing was that we had both changed our
minds. DH was now leaning towards Jennifer and I Jessica. He however went with
what I wanted :0).
So inretrospect Jessica was my longest labour 6 hours 38 mins. William was 4
hours and Josephine was 1.5 hours. But this was my first completely natural
labour and given the choice I would happily have another Jessica labour where I
was in complete control able to chat etc than the hard, fast and induced labour
I had with Josephine. The only time I ever felt out of control was during the
Transition ctxs but I still managed not to scream and moan. I was able to
listen to everyone around me too. The only noise I did make was the grunting into my
gas mask during pushing. Oh and I was very short with the OB when he wanted me
to push and I was waiting for a ctx. So you could say I had my dream labour, not
that labours are a breeze LOL, now I look forward to the next one LOL.