They then put in the gel insert to try and bring on contractions. They then told us to try and get some sleep. James slept on the couch (which he actually got a fair bit of sleep) and I slept on the bed but only got a couple of hours as my brain was racing for most of the night. In the morning I got to have some breakfast and then they gave me a 2nd gel injection. At that point I started to feel some light contractions. After a couple of hours we were told to go for a walk to try and encourage the contractions. We went for a nice short walk around the hospital grounds. When we got back they tried to break the waters, however, had no luck. Our baby's head was in the way. After a couple of hours they sent us on another walk which took around an hour. Contractions were coming pretty frequently at that stage. When we got back they were going to try and break the waters once more but if not successful, they were going to give me another gel injection. Fortunately the dr was able to get around Bubble's head to make a small hole in the waters. Man, that felt gross! Pretty quickly the contractions started to get stronger and a lot more painful! Then the strategies came into play. Shower, bath, gym ball, music. Each distracted me for a little bit but then the pain was too much. I started asking for an epidural. It was suggested that I try gas first, so I did. It made me feel so gross. Not spacey like others have said, and not quite sick, just yucky. I didn't like it at all so only used it for 3-4 contractions. The pain was getting a lot more painful. Soon after they checked and I was 4cm dilated. By this point in time I was demanding an epidural (fortunately they were listening to me). The problem was that the anesthetist was in surgery so I had to wait for him. After an hour he arrived. By this stage I was screaming through each contraction. I really didn't know how I was going to do it! All the while James and Tanya were such an amazing and encouraging support. They stayed so calm the whole time! Just before he arrived they did another check and I was 8cm dilated. I was very quick to check that I could still get the epidural and fortunately it was still doable. The hardest part was having a contraction while they were giving me the needle and needing to stay still for it. It was SO hard to do. Again, so grateful for James and Tanya, as well as Sue the midwife who helped me through that. Around 30mins later the epidural began to take effect. I still had really bad pains down my left side of the back with each contraction - even with the epidural. I was checked and was still at 8cm so they put in the catheter. The bonus of having the epidural was that I got to watch the Block - highlight of labour I think!
After the Block Sue did another check and she told me it was time to start pushing. She noticed that Bubble was posterior so she managed to turn his head the right way. Problem with that was that my contractions eased a bit (the pain down my back wasn't as bad). I told her she broke me. With team work, them holding the monitor on me to see when a contraction came and me feeling pains, we started to push. Wow, that was hard! Giving birth is like a marathon. Andrew was there for the pushing and he too was very encouraging with each push. They commented early on that it was a blonde haired baby - neither James nor I were blonde as babies. With the pushes I was told to do 3-4 each time. They problem was that I felt like I was going to be sick after the 2nd push each time. And if you know me, you know that I don't like being sick. Fortunately I kept it all down. After an hour of pushing and being told 'you are so close' for most of the pushes, the Dr decided that I needed an episiotomy. I was so tired and sore by then I just told him 'I trust you, do it'. Then with the next contraction, and push, our baby was born. James got to cut the umbilical cord which was a special experience for him. We have a son - Daniel Malachi Noble. He is so cute! And very blonde.
After a short amount of skin-to-skin time where I was told to blow lightly on his face to encourage a reaction, he was taken across to the resuscitation table to get some air and oxygen to try and encourage his lungs to work. Tanya was talking with James and I while this happened and Sue and Dr Booker were working on Daniel.
After 7 mins they were happy with his heart rate and his breathing and he was brought back over to us. Daniel had his first feed which was such a special experience! He was such a quiet boy though, he didn't cry until he got his injections.
So on Wednesday 27th June, 2012, at 9:58pm Daniel Malachi Noble was born. He weighed 3.79kg and measured 52cm long.
James then got to have some cuddles when I got to eat my dinner (finally - this is at midnight) and have a shower (felt much better after the shower).
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| First family self shot |
We then moved down to the maternity ward. Once settled James headed home to get some much needed sleep and Daniel and I tried to get some sleep. I was up for that, he wasn't. At 1am Daniel was taken to the nursery so I could get some sleep. He was brought back at 4am for a feed but he wasn't up for that either. It was hard to know what to do. The midwife, Bronwyn, was very helpful and calm. She helped me with trying to feed him and settle him. Fortunately the SAN offer classes to learn different strategies and I went to a breastfeeding consultation which was very helpful. We learnt the importance of skin to skin time and then how to attach him. Daniel fed happily after that which was nice.
What an experience! Would I do it again? Yes, I think I would. Would I do anything differently? Yes - I'd get an epidural earlier so that I didn't have a contraction during the middle of it getting inserted. Do I feel prepared? As prepared as I can be but also quite overwhelmed. It is pretty crazy to think that I am a mum, James is a dad and we have a son!
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