On Thursday 2nd April I had a few twinges in my abdomen but I thought it could possibly be the baby head butting my bladder so I didn't mention this to Steve. The next day was Good Friday so Steve was off work. We walked down into Bath to get some lunch and I told him that I had felt a few pangs. That evening I del restless so we went to see an early showing of 'We're still young' at the Little Cinema and afterwards we had pizza at the Real Italian Pizza Company. When we got home it was quite late and we went to bed.
I couldn't sleep as I still was having intermittent twinges about every 20 - 30 minutes. I lay on my side and breathed through them, visualising 'my happy place' as we had been taught in yoga. At 2am I woke Steve up as the pain was getting quite bad. He was really surprised that I was in labour and really excited. We got up and watched a bit of telly but then we went back to bed. The contractions continued, I was having one about every 10 - 20 minutes but they were quite irregular. This continued through the rest of the night.
On Saturday I phoned the hospital in the morning to cancel my stretch and sweep and to let them know I was in labour. They said to call back later when the contractions became more frequent. Throughout Saturday they continued fairly consistently at 5-7 minutes apart but we didn't reach the magic '3 in 10' to go into hospital. In the evening I became a bit uncertain that we were not making progress but I still felt we were coping well with changing positions, massage, hot baths etc. We decided to go into the hospital to be checked out at 9pm.
We drove to the RUH and were admitted into the triage area. The ward was busy but we were examined by Ellie. She said that we had reached 3 cm dilation but that we had made really good progress as the cervix was full effaced which takes time during a first birth. She offered to admit us but we decided to go home again. Ellie said she expected us to return in the next few hours.
We continued labour at home. I found the birthing ball very useful as well as leaning over the kitchen side. Steve massaged me throughout, I was really surprised at the big difference this made to the pain. I tried to do ten deep breaths throughout a contraction, I found that most of them would take eleven or twelve breaths to get through. I also started to have the sensation of wanting to push. Still the contractions did not get closer. The most intense time was between 1am and 2am but after that it did ease off again.
At 4 am although the contractions were still four minutes apart we decided to go back to the RUH. The pain was becoming very bad and I was getting tired. I felt anxious about needing to push. We were admitted straight away into a delivery room on arrival, the ward was much quieter at this point. We were in room 3 which was a fantastic room with birth pool and brand new labour bed. Donna the midwife gave me gas and air and the contractions continued at the same rate. I was 5 cm dilated.
Aisling was our midwife on Sunday and started at 7.30am. I was still 5cm dilated and so Aisling broke the membranes. I liked the gas and air very much, you have to inhale it as a contraction comes so that it is working during the contraction. I found this useful to have something to concentrate on whilst contracting. I continued the counting and the contractions still required the 11 or 12 deep breaths to pass. At the peak 6/7 I was unable to resist pushing although instinctively felt this was wrong. The baby was lying on the right side which is why I had this sensation. Aisling stayed with us all day. We managed well with the gas and air and the birthing pool.
At 11am I was re-examined and was 9cm dilated. Aisling said that she would examine me again at 1pm and hopefully I would be fully dilated. I kneeled on the labour bed and hung my head and elbows over the back of it. I liked this as it felt like my head was dissociated from my body and made the contractions easier to bear. This was the hardest 2 hours and I was counting the minutes to 1pm when I hoped we could reach second stage. The desire to push was unbearable.
Finally 1pm arrived and Aisling re-examined me. I was still at 9 cm because the baby was not applying the correct pressure to my cervix. Aisling suggested an oxytocin drip would be beneficial to help progress the final centimetre. The idea of the contractions coming even harder after all this time was a low point and it was suggested I have an epidural to which I agreed. I had to endure three contractions whilst we waited for the anaesthetist and this was hard because I knew the pain was now not beneficial to me.
The epidural was given and it was immediate and complete relief. Steve said the difference was like night and day, I was back to my old self and able to chat and smile with the staff. Bizarrely my parents dropped in, they had left Devon because they thought I would deliver soon! The oxytocin drip was then started and I reached 10 cm that afternoon. We tried a few pushes but the baby was not turning and so I agreed to a forceps delivery. We were wheeled into theatre at about 6pm. Sarah and Claire were the two surgeons doing the delivery and the anaesthetist was looking after me. There was a very cheerful atmosphere in theatre and everyone was really encouraging.
The doctors managed to turn the baby and I was told to push. I pushed with everything I had because I really didn't want a Caesarean if possible and within about 8 pushes (2 contractions) I was told the head was out. I was lifted to see the baby's head. I then gave a final push and the baby was born. 'What is it?' everyone was asking as the baby was held up for me to see but I couldn't see because of the cord! 'I don't know, I can't see' and then Wendy the midwife said 'It's a girl' and I was overwhelmed with happiness. After delayed cord clamping she was laid on my chest, she had a good healthy cry and I cried too. Wendy asked 'what will you call her?' and I said 'Ruby'.
Wendy weighed her and then Steve held her whilst I was stitched up and moved into recovery. We had a foreign lady looking after me who chatted away whilst we recovered, I expect I was there for about an hour. Aisling came to say goodbye as it was the end of her shift. Sarah the surgeon was writing up my notes at the computer and I heard her say 'I'm shattered'. I said 'me too' and she looked a bit surprised but then everybody laughed. It was a lovely atmosphere, a wonderful happy surgical team. Hayley the midwife came and helped Ruby feed on my chest. After this we were wheeled up onto the Mary Ward. I have very hazy memories of this time but I do remember doing FaceTime with both my parents and Steve's parents and then I think we all went to sleep.
We spent the afternoon with Rob and then he met up with his friend Kate.
