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Sunday 16 October 2011
Friday 14 October 2011
Grow Baby
I swear every time I turn away Layla grows a bit more! I had to take these photos to remind my future self how tiny she was not so long ago!
Saturday 1 October 2011
Layla's Birth Story
Well I finally have two minutes where I can sit down and write about Layla's birth, it's a long one so grab a cuppa, here goes:
I woke up on Monday morning (29th Aug) in a puddle in bed, yuk! Thinking maybe Layla had pressed on my bladder while I was sleeping and I'd wet myself, I got up to go to the bathroom and experienced another gush that kept going. My waters had broken! It was like an instant panic and burst of excitement at the same time. So I went to the bathroom and cleaned myself up then called the labour ward to let them know what had happened. The midwife said I should come in just to get a check up and make sure the baby's heartbeat was ok and she wasn't in distress.
So I went for a shower and had some breakfast, all the while leaving little puddles wherever I went. It was like Niagra Falls some times! That is one thing I really wish someone told me - that when your waters break they don't just go in one gush, they keep going! You're fine until you or the baby moves then some of the remaining water that's behind the baby leaks out. Ugh. We arrive at the hospital and get our checks, baby is moving often and the heartbeat is good. I'm told to go home and wait to see if things progress naturally but I'm also booked in for an induction on the 31st in case nothing has happened by then.
We go home and chill out for the rest of the day. Those puddles are still following me. Tuesday arrives. Then leaves without any change. We wake up Wednesday morning and get ready for the big day! Showered, dressed and eaten breakfast by 7am. I check and double check my hospital bags to make sure we have everything. Scott's Dad arrives at 7.30 and gives us a lift to the hospital. We get checked in and shown to our private room where I'm strapped to the machine to monitor baby's heartbeat and my blood presure. After an internal exam we find that I'm not dilated at all and my cervix is still too high for me to be induced straight away.
So at 9am the midwife gives me a gel that will soften my cervix and hopefully bring it down and she attempts to sweep around my cervix. I only cursed twice during my whole labour experience and this was one of those times! The midwife who administered the gel was so rough and forceful I was screaming for her to stop, it was agony! We have to wait six hours for the gel to work before I can get the hormone drip that will induce contractions. Once I've been given the gel I get up and walk around the room in circles, trying to move things along quicker. After about an hour I start to get some cramping that gets stronger as time goes on. Come 3pm it's time for another internal to see how things have progressed. Turns out all that walking and bouncing on the gym ball did some good - we're 2cm dilated and my cervix has come down!
All systems go now and I'm placed on the drip. Pretty soon after that the cramping starts to get stronger as contractions start. Come about 5pm they're quite intense so I ask for the gas and air. Good Lord that stuff is amazing!! I wish I could have brought a tank home! It really does take the edge off the contractions but I can still feel them. Another exam at 8pm tells us we're 6cm dilated! We're doing well! Contractions are strong and painful and regular, so much so that it feels as though they're on top of each other. I held out on the gas and air until 10pm when I couldn't handle it anymore and asked for the pethidin injection. I'm told I'm only allowed three of these maximum and they can only be given two hours apart.
Come 11.30pm the pethidin has worn off and the gas and air isn't enough, yet the midwife can't give me another until midnight! It feels like forever until they finally give me the second one. This time it only lasts an hour and by 1am it is agony each time a contraction hits. Forget the pethidin, it's time for the epidural! Between gulps of the gas and air I manage to ask for it, only to be told the anaesthetist is in surgery with an emergency. My epidural has to wait until she's out! I somehow manage to get to 12.30 and the anaesthetist arrives to see whether I'm eligable for an epidural or not. Luckily I am! At this point I had gone through three and a half tanks of gas and air (tanks bigger than scuba ones!), it'll be good to get some fresh air once the epidural is in!
Next to contractions, getting an epidural put in is the most painful thing I have ever experienced in my life! I donb't remember exactly what the worst parts were but I was in tears, screaming and holding onto Scott as tightly as possible. He had nail marks and scratches in his arms afterwards. I eventually got to lie down again and waited for the epidural to kick in. What a relief when it did! I felt nothing at all!
Come 2am it was time for another internal. We're now fully dilated! Although this ecitement is short lived when we find that I'm not getting contractions anymore. Nothing is showing up on the monitors. The midwife decides to give us a couple of hours to see if they start up again. Come 4am nothing has changed but they realise Layla's heartbeat is dipping slightly every so often. It's decided that she has to be delivered sooner rather than later and they tell us they're going to attempt a forcep delivery for her. Everything is set up quickly and the midwife gets the forceps ready. I'm told when to push as the midwife pulls. Nothing happens. We give it another try. Nothing again. Next thing my bed is tilted backwards so my head is lower than my butt and the midwife gives a huge pull, bringing a screaming Layla out at the same time! Our Little Lady is put straight onto my chest, all purple and gooey looking!
I'm too happy to even notice what anyone else in the room is doing but Layla is quickly taken away and an oxygen mask is put on my face. Next thing I remember is about 4 or 5 other nurses coming into the room. A couple of them help the midwife who delivered Layla, another is sitting with her in the corner giving her a feed and there's one on either side of me. One of the nurses at my side starts rubbing my tummy really hard and pressing down. Then she starts using her fist and making a grinding movement in my tummy. It is so painful I start shouting at her. This is the only other time I curse during the whole thing! There's a lot of commotion going on in the room, in my drug-induced haze I don't really remember much else.
I do remember looking for Scott and seeing him crying in the corner. Mum has Layla. Finally the midwife straightens my bed and gives me a couple of injections. Immediately I start to feel queasy and end up being sick. Although I do feel better afterwards. The drugs seem to have worn off and I start to feel a bit more normal. The midwife comes back into the room and explains to us that my placenta tore as they were trying to deliver it. The midwife had to give me an episiotomy so that she could get in to pull out the other pieces. She's given me stitches because of this. She also explains that my uterus failed to contract immediately after Layla was delivered and because of this I started to bleed excessively. When the nurses were using their fists in my stomach it was to help my uterus contract and stop bleeding. In total I lost 2.3 Litres of blood before the bleeding slowed and she said that she had put gauze in me to soak up the last of it and prevent it bleeding any more.
At the time I thought nothing of the blood loss, knowing we generate more blood anyway. That was until I found out the human body contains around 4.7 Litres of blood in total. I had lost almost half my body's blood volume! This fact hit me pretty hard. I'm exceptionally lucky that they managed to stop the bleeding when they did, if it had been much more I could have been in serious trouble. Needless to say this has freaked me out and it looks as though Layla will be our first and last baby. I can't put myself or Scott through something so traumatic again.
I woke up on Monday morning (29th Aug) in a puddle in bed, yuk! Thinking maybe Layla had pressed on my bladder while I was sleeping and I'd wet myself, I got up to go to the bathroom and experienced another gush that kept going. My waters had broken! It was like an instant panic and burst of excitement at the same time. So I went to the bathroom and cleaned myself up then called the labour ward to let them know what had happened. The midwife said I should come in just to get a check up and make sure the baby's heartbeat was ok and she wasn't in distress.
So I went for a shower and had some breakfast, all the while leaving little puddles wherever I went. It was like Niagra Falls some times! That is one thing I really wish someone told me - that when your waters break they don't just go in one gush, they keep going! You're fine until you or the baby moves then some of the remaining water that's behind the baby leaks out. Ugh. We arrive at the hospital and get our checks, baby is moving often and the heartbeat is good. I'm told to go home and wait to see if things progress naturally but I'm also booked in for an induction on the 31st in case nothing has happened by then.
Getting baby monitored
We go home and chill out for the rest of the day. Those puddles are still following me. Tuesday arrives. Then leaves without any change. We wake up Wednesday morning and get ready for the big day! Showered, dressed and eaten breakfast by 7am. I check and double check my hospital bags to make sure we have everything. Scott's Dad arrives at 7.30 and gives us a lift to the hospital. We get checked in and shown to our private room where I'm strapped to the machine to monitor baby's heartbeat and my blood presure. After an internal exam we find that I'm not dilated at all and my cervix is still too high for me to be induced straight away.
So at 9am the midwife gives me a gel that will soften my cervix and hopefully bring it down and she attempts to sweep around my cervix. I only cursed twice during my whole labour experience and this was one of those times! The midwife who administered the gel was so rough and forceful I was screaming for her to stop, it was agony! We have to wait six hours for the gel to work before I can get the hormone drip that will induce contractions. Once I've been given the gel I get up and walk around the room in circles, trying to move things along quicker. After about an hour I start to get some cramping that gets stronger as time goes on. Come 3pm it's time for another internal to see how things have progressed. Turns out all that walking and bouncing on the gym ball did some good - we're 2cm dilated and my cervix has come down!
All systems go now and I'm placed on the drip. Pretty soon after that the cramping starts to get stronger as contractions start. Come about 5pm they're quite intense so I ask for the gas and air. Good Lord that stuff is amazing!! I wish I could have brought a tank home! It really does take the edge off the contractions but I can still feel them. Another exam at 8pm tells us we're 6cm dilated! We're doing well! Contractions are strong and painful and regular, so much so that it feels as though they're on top of each other. I held out on the gas and air until 10pm when I couldn't handle it anymore and asked for the pethidin injection. I'm told I'm only allowed three of these maximum and they can only be given two hours apart.
Come 11.30pm the pethidin has worn off and the gas and air isn't enough, yet the midwife can't give me another until midnight! It feels like forever until they finally give me the second one. This time it only lasts an hour and by 1am it is agony each time a contraction hits. Forget the pethidin, it's time for the epidural! Between gulps of the gas and air I manage to ask for it, only to be told the anaesthetist is in surgery with an emergency. My epidural has to wait until she's out! I somehow manage to get to 12.30 and the anaesthetist arrives to see whether I'm eligable for an epidural or not. Luckily I am! At this point I had gone through three and a half tanks of gas and air (tanks bigger than scuba ones!), it'll be good to get some fresh air once the epidural is in!
Next to contractions, getting an epidural put in is the most painful thing I have ever experienced in my life! I donb't remember exactly what the worst parts were but I was in tears, screaming and holding onto Scott as tightly as possible. He had nail marks and scratches in his arms afterwards. I eventually got to lie down again and waited for the epidural to kick in. What a relief when it did! I felt nothing at all!
Come 2am it was time for another internal. We're now fully dilated! Although this ecitement is short lived when we find that I'm not getting contractions anymore. Nothing is showing up on the monitors. The midwife decides to give us a couple of hours to see if they start up again. Come 4am nothing has changed but they realise Layla's heartbeat is dipping slightly every so often. It's decided that she has to be delivered sooner rather than later and they tell us they're going to attempt a forcep delivery for her. Everything is set up quickly and the midwife gets the forceps ready. I'm told when to push as the midwife pulls. Nothing happens. We give it another try. Nothing again. Next thing my bed is tilted backwards so my head is lower than my butt and the midwife gives a huge pull, bringing a screaming Layla out at the same time! Our Little Lady is put straight onto my chest, all purple and gooey looking!
First photo!
She has a little squished nose cos she was stuck at my pubic bone
First family photo
I'm too happy to even notice what anyone else in the room is doing but Layla is quickly taken away and an oxygen mask is put on my face. Next thing I remember is about 4 or 5 other nurses coming into the room. A couple of them help the midwife who delivered Layla, another is sitting with her in the corner giving her a feed and there's one on either side of me. One of the nurses at my side starts rubbing my tummy really hard and pressing down. Then she starts using her fist and making a grinding movement in my tummy. It is so painful I start shouting at her. This is the only other time I curse during the whole thing! There's a lot of commotion going on in the room, in my drug-induced haze I don't really remember much else.
Fist feed from the syringe
I do remember looking for Scott and seeing him crying in the corner. Mum has Layla. Finally the midwife straightens my bed and gives me a couple of injections. Immediately I start to feel queasy and end up being sick. Although I do feel better afterwards. The drugs seem to have worn off and I start to feel a bit more normal. The midwife comes back into the room and explains to us that my placenta tore as they were trying to deliver it. The midwife had to give me an episiotomy so that she could get in to pull out the other pieces. She's given me stitches because of this. She also explains that my uterus failed to contract immediately after Layla was delivered and because of this I started to bleed excessively. When the nurses were using their fists in my stomach it was to help my uterus contract and stop bleeding. In total I lost 2.3 Litres of blood before the bleeding slowed and she said that she had put gauze in me to soak up the last of it and prevent it bleeding any more.
At the time I thought nothing of the blood loss, knowing we generate more blood anyway. That was until I found out the human body contains around 4.7 Litres of blood in total. I had lost almost half my body's blood volume! This fact hit me pretty hard. I'm exceptionally lucky that they managed to stop the bleeding when they did, if it had been much more I could have been in serious trouble. Needless to say this has freaked me out and it looks as though Layla will be our first and last baby. I can't put myself or Scott through something so traumatic again.
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