At around 4am it was confirmed my waters had broken and my contractions had actually begun (finally). With contractions being 20ish minutes apart the nurse suggested we go home and wait it out (in hinds sight they really should have checked to see if I was dilated as I thought I had been in pre-labour for about 5 days, I may have not been dilated much at all, but I also could have been considering). The nurse even booked me in to be induced incase things hadn't progressed by the Friday (which I was very skeptical about....E came within 12 hours of my waters breaking and babies are meant to come quicker arnt they?). Anyway, so we got home, my besty, C, who I wanted there for the birth was waiting for us and I managed a shower, a banana, even some bacon and eggs (bad move, I was burping eggs for days), tidied the house and watched some tv (the netball was on).
My contractions, at about 8am, became super intense, too much for me to handle and the decision was made to call the hospital and tell them we were coming back, they hesitantly agreed. I was convinced I would 'walk' in the door and demand an epidural, I forgot how bad it had been and thought if it was going to go on for hours like it did with E I wouldn't be able to handle it.
On all fours, I went to get up and instantly had the urge to push. Thinking it was way too early to push I tried not to, hoping it would pass so I could make it to at least the car and hopefully the hospital. It didn't pass! C and N both thought the same thing until I asked them to have a look. I remember C saying she could see hair lol. The ambulance was immediately called in a slight panicked state. I defiantly feel sorry for those people on the other end of the line, I do remember yelling, at who I'm sure was a very nice bloke, profanities only to be repeated in a similar situation, when he told me I had roll over and lay on my back; you try going from all fours to your back while being pregnant, then add contractions and the urge to push in there. In the end N and C just pushed me over (funny now). We had the green light to start pushing from the guy on the line. I remember C calling out (trying to be motivational) "woop woop I see a head", three pushes later, C caught my new baby girl (I was surprised since I was convinced I was having a boy). It takes a second for them to cry, seems like a very long second, but as soon as you hear a wail its defiantly comforting! About a minute after that two paramedics walked in, slightly disheartened they missed the birth (would have been their first). C went to hand bubs over to them forgetting we were still attached, that was an odd feeling. The cord was clipped and cut by N, making it time to push out the placenta.
The calls were made to close family and friends and no one believed I had my baby on the lounge room floor, an appatent sick joke, hahaha.
As quick as it all progressed it was over again. I fed my new girl, got dressed and walked down the front stairs into the ambulance. The towels and C's clothes were placed in a bath of water with the door closed for N to deal with later, mmmm I bet they smelt beautiful about 14 hours later.
After arriving at the hospital I was wheeled to the birthing suite to make sure everything was ok and check for taring. The nurses were a little worried I might have retained some membrane and therefore decided to give me the injection that is usually used to help push out the placenta. The nurses kindly gave me some gas to reduce the severity of the pain since I was getting stitches as well.
The gas was great! I tried it while in labour with E but I think my contractions were too bad and I couldn't get it in quick enough and therefore it had minimal effect. This time I wasn't in pain and could get all of that gas in. I don't know if its just the way gas makes you feel but I remember my face going a little tingly and at the time I thought I had passed out. I came to remember hearing people talking and music on the radio (sounded like they were all in slow motion, quite amusing at the time). I told the nurses its like a disco, the music sounded techno and of course I'm laying on the bed, getting stitches, 'dancing' and saying 'ince ince ince ince', the nurses were laughing (rude hahaha). I also remember asking C if she had tried the gas (since she is a nurse and thought they might have so they know what it feels like), she replied with a no, which I then suggested she try some... "its gooooooooooood". For some reason I got a male American accent (again quite amusing), basically the opposite effects of helium. If you get offered the gas, go for it, it is a lot of fun!
My girl was weighed and measured, poked and prodded. She was a wopping 10lbs 10oz, about 4.8kgs (slightly smaller then E) and 53cms long. Nice big girl :).
We have nicknamed her AJ but according to E its 'bubbles'.
About 4 hours post-baby
http://tinyurl.com/c3peqnn
(N hates photos hahaha)
