On again, off again, on again... or 'how not to give birth'
Sorry I haven't been around over the past couple of weeks - after a textbook, straightforward pregnancy the last few days before Leofric's birth and the week that followed it came as one hell of a shock!
On Monday 20th I woke up with a blinding headache and swelling in my face, so I took myself off to the maternity day unit at Bedford hospital. After being perfectly normal the previous Friday, my blood pressure had gone up to 154/110.
I was kept in and put on medication to try and bring it down. It didn't work!
By Wednesday 22nd, my due date, my blood pressure was still unstable and high and I had protein in my urine, so the consultant recommended induction. I've copied what I wrote on the ward while recovering in an attempt not to forget anything!
06:00 22/2/12 I woke up for the student midwife, Becky, to take my blood pressure - it was back up. I was having tightenings and little cramps every 10 minutes and hoping that he was considering coming out and that if they decided to induce me it would be easier.
Pottered about for a bit doing my makeup, having a wash and getting some breakfast until I was grabbed halfway through a piece of toast and told the consultant was ready to talk to me!
08:00 Mrs Reynolds is happy to send me down to Delivery for induction! High blood pressure and protein in my urine are not things she's prepared to ignore any longer. I call the husbeast, tell him what's going on and he leaves work to go and pick up the bump's bag and carrycot and a few bits for himself from home before coming to the hospital.
By the time he arrived I was in Delivery with Ruth, the midwife who was going to start everything off.
Talked through my birth plan with Ruth and discussed pain relief, priorities and the induction process. Because I was already having tightenings Ruth put me on the monitor for a while and then examined my cervix to find it was still only 1-2cm and quite far back.
10:00 Ruth checked with the doctor to endure she was happy for me to be given my first prostin tablet and inserted it into the neck of the uterus before strapping me back up to the monitor for half an hour, partly to ensure baby was okay, partly to ensure it stayed in place long enough to start working.
Spent the next few hours bouncing on a birthing ball and walking around the hospital while the husbeast read to me, kept me company and fetched and carried for me. Occasionally we returned to the delivery suite for monitoring, each time having to lay in different positions and hold the monitoring pads in place to keep picking up baby's heart rate. Every time a continuous 15 or 20 minute trace was needed it took at least 40 minutes to get it!
16:00 Ruth went off shift and was replaced by Claire and her trainee Doreen. They had me on the monitor for a little while and then called in a doctor to confirm that I could have a second prostin tablet inserted as I was still not dilating. Baby was positioned back to back and this meant the contractions were strengthening and coupling - fun...
The doctor agreed and the tablet was inserted, after which we went and had a quick bite to eat, expecting to be in for a long labour.
19.00 Waddled back to Delivery - contractions were every 3 minutes and getting stronger. Spent the next 45 minutes on all fours on the bed moaning my way through them and demanding backrubs from the husbeast (who obliged completely without complaint).
20:00 Midwife came back and put me back on the monitor - eventually found baby and kept an eye on him through the next half hour of contractions. His heartrate was showing signs of decelerations so the Dr was called back in and examined me to see if she could break my waters. Was given G&A to suck on while she gave me a thorough fisting! My waters broke clear with no meconium, and the contractions became stronger almost immediately but baby's heartrate was still dipping so she explained that if his trace didn't improve we'd be going down for a C section. I didn't care any more. I just wanted him out and healthy .
The anaesthetist came in and talked me through the process between contractions, explaining the anaesthetics used, the risks involved and asked all the necessary questions. I was stripped off and gowned and then taken to theatre.
The next hour was the most painful I have ever experienced.
The anaesthetist, David, sat me on the edge of the operating table with my back to him, swabbed me with antiseptic and started prodding along my spine and hips to try and find the correct point to insert the epidural. He couldn't. I was injected with local anaesthetic, asked to relax my shoulders and arch my back towards him and keep my chin on my chest again and again, all the while breathing through contractions, and having blood pressure readings taken and a canula incorrectly inserted in my left hand. The husbeast was incredible throughout - constantly reassuring and supportive.
Eventually I lost the ability to cope completely. Sitting on the edge of the bed in tears and clutching two fingers of the husbeast's hand* I could hear David explaining something about the anaesthetic site and getting one of his colleagues to take a look. Another anaesthetist started poking and prodding, injecting local anaesthetic and then asking me to keep still, relax my shoulders, arch my back etc. After the fourth or fifth contraction during which he pushed a needle into my back and then told me to stop moving I told him to **** off. No-one seemed surprised.
After 45 minutes of combined efforts by David and the second anaesthetist, he managed to get a needle into the dural sac and started the anaesthetic. I was quickly tipped back onto the bed and David started spraying various bits of me with cold water until he was confident I was numb in all the right places. A registrar inserted another canula in my right hand, properly this time so that it was useable!
The surgeons quickly set up a screen and got on with it.
22:32 22/2/12 I could hear my baby crying for the first time. I was in tears too, pure relief and joy at hearing him. Husbeast could see him as they carried him over so that the Paediatrician could check him over and was describing what a good colour he was, his hair, and his size and length!
The midwife asked for guesses before weighing him - the husbeast guessed 8lb 8, I guessed 9lb. He weighed in at 8lb 14.5oz! He was bought over wrapped in towels and I asked the husbeast to take him - I had canulas in both hands, a blood pressure cuff, a finger clip and assorted monitoring leads attached to me and didn't stand a chance of holding him at that point! He was the most amazing thing I had ever laid eyes on. We decided to name him Leofric - Anglo Saxon for 'beloved ruler'.
We were taken through to recovery and left in the care of two lovely midwives who got me comfortable, stripped down and ready for skin to skin. I couldn't wait to get my hands on Leo and he was rooting like crazy trying to find a nipple to suck on! We were transferred to the maternity ward skin to skin, cuddled up and trying to persuade Leofric that he couldn't feed with his fingers in his mouth as well as my nipple!
03.30 Asked the midwife to check Leo's breathing as it seemed a little laboured while he was feeding. She checked his temperature and pulse and agreed his breathing wasn't quite right so asked the Paediatrician to check him over. Heel prick test and temp check showed he was a little cold and his blood gases weren't great so they've taken him to neonatal to put him under a heat lamp and start him on IV fluids, possibly antibiotics depending how he responds. Am sitting on the ward with no bump and no baby.
4.30 23/2/12 Paediatrician has started Leo on IV fluids and oxygen to try and improve his blood sugar and sats. Blood gases are improving already just from being under the heat lamp. No bump, no baby, and I can't get out of bed. I know he's in the best possible care but I feel like he's been stolen from me.
~*~*~*~*~
Leo spent four days in the neonatal unit being treated for an infection, then a further three days with me on the ward finishing his antibiotics. Between expressing, trekking back and forth to neonatal and trying to get my own recovery on track, I didn't sleep for three of those four days...
By the time we left the hospital he had gone from nil by mouth with an IV drip for fluids, to formula via a nasal tube to up his blood sugar and get him off the drip, to sucking EBM from a syringe, to taking EBM from a bottle. Since getting home he has got the hang of breastfeeding with nipple shields and I'm hoping with the help of the health visitor and breastfeeding support worker to get rid of them and get him latching on without the shields!
*Top tip for birth partners - you're much less likely to end up with broken or mangled fingers if you only offer two fingers to hold and squeeze, not the whole hand!
On Monday 20th I woke up with a blinding headache and swelling in my face, so I took myself off to the maternity day unit at Bedford hospital. After being perfectly normal the previous Friday, my blood pressure had gone up to 154/110.
I was kept in and put on medication to try and bring it down. It didn't work!
By Wednesday 22nd, my due date, my blood pressure was still unstable and high and I had protein in my urine, so the consultant recommended induction. I've copied what I wrote on the ward while recovering in an attempt not to forget anything!
06:00 22/2/12 I woke up for the student midwife, Becky, to take my blood pressure - it was back up. I was having tightenings and little cramps every 10 minutes and hoping that he was considering coming out and that if they decided to induce me it would be easier.
Pottered about for a bit doing my makeup, having a wash and getting some breakfast until I was grabbed halfway through a piece of toast and told the consultant was ready to talk to me!
08:00 Mrs Reynolds is happy to send me down to Delivery for induction! High blood pressure and protein in my urine are not things she's prepared to ignore any longer. I call the husbeast, tell him what's going on and he leaves work to go and pick up the bump's bag and carrycot and a few bits for himself from home before coming to the hospital.
By the time he arrived I was in Delivery with Ruth, the midwife who was going to start everything off.
Talked through my birth plan with Ruth and discussed pain relief, priorities and the induction process. Because I was already having tightenings Ruth put me on the monitor for a while and then examined my cervix to find it was still only 1-2cm and quite far back.
10:00 Ruth checked with the doctor to endure she was happy for me to be given my first prostin tablet and inserted it into the neck of the uterus before strapping me back up to the monitor for half an hour, partly to ensure baby was okay, partly to ensure it stayed in place long enough to start working.
Spent the next few hours bouncing on a birthing ball and walking around the hospital while the husbeast read to me, kept me company and fetched and carried for me. Occasionally we returned to the delivery suite for monitoring, each time having to lay in different positions and hold the monitoring pads in place to keep picking up baby's heart rate. Every time a continuous 15 or 20 minute trace was needed it took at least 40 minutes to get it!
16:00 Ruth went off shift and was replaced by Claire and her trainee Doreen. They had me on the monitor for a little while and then called in a doctor to confirm that I could have a second prostin tablet inserted as I was still not dilating. Baby was positioned back to back and this meant the contractions were strengthening and coupling - fun...
The doctor agreed and the tablet was inserted, after which we went and had a quick bite to eat, expecting to be in for a long labour.
19.00 Waddled back to Delivery - contractions were every 3 minutes and getting stronger. Spent the next 45 minutes on all fours on the bed moaning my way through them and demanding backrubs from the husbeast (who obliged completely without complaint).
20:00 Midwife came back and put me back on the monitor - eventually found baby and kept an eye on him through the next half hour of contractions. His heartrate was showing signs of decelerations so the Dr was called back in and examined me to see if she could break my waters. Was given G&A to suck on while she gave me a thorough fisting! My waters broke clear with no meconium, and the contractions became stronger almost immediately but baby's heartrate was still dipping so she explained that if his trace didn't improve we'd be going down for a C section. I didn't care any more. I just wanted him out and healthy .
The anaesthetist came in and talked me through the process between contractions, explaining the anaesthetics used, the risks involved and asked all the necessary questions. I was stripped off and gowned and then taken to theatre.
The next hour was the most painful I have ever experienced.
The anaesthetist, David, sat me on the edge of the operating table with my back to him, swabbed me with antiseptic and started prodding along my spine and hips to try and find the correct point to insert the epidural. He couldn't. I was injected with local anaesthetic, asked to relax my shoulders and arch my back towards him and keep my chin on my chest again and again, all the while breathing through contractions, and having blood pressure readings taken and a canula incorrectly inserted in my left hand. The husbeast was incredible throughout - constantly reassuring and supportive.
Eventually I lost the ability to cope completely. Sitting on the edge of the bed in tears and clutching two fingers of the husbeast's hand* I could hear David explaining something about the anaesthetic site and getting one of his colleagues to take a look. Another anaesthetist started poking and prodding, injecting local anaesthetic and then asking me to keep still, relax my shoulders, arch my back etc. After the fourth or fifth contraction during which he pushed a needle into my back and then told me to stop moving I told him to **** off. No-one seemed surprised.
After 45 minutes of combined efforts by David and the second anaesthetist, he managed to get a needle into the dural sac and started the anaesthetic. I was quickly tipped back onto the bed and David started spraying various bits of me with cold water until he was confident I was numb in all the right places. A registrar inserted another canula in my right hand, properly this time so that it was useable!
The surgeons quickly set up a screen and got on with it.
22:32 22/2/12 I could hear my baby crying for the first time. I was in tears too, pure relief and joy at hearing him. Husbeast could see him as they carried him over so that the Paediatrician could check him over and was describing what a good colour he was, his hair, and his size and length!
The midwife asked for guesses before weighing him - the husbeast guessed 8lb 8, I guessed 9lb. He weighed in at 8lb 14.5oz! He was bought over wrapped in towels and I asked the husbeast to take him - I had canulas in both hands, a blood pressure cuff, a finger clip and assorted monitoring leads attached to me and didn't stand a chance of holding him at that point! He was the most amazing thing I had ever laid eyes on. We decided to name him Leofric - Anglo Saxon for 'beloved ruler'.
We were taken through to recovery and left in the care of two lovely midwives who got me comfortable, stripped down and ready for skin to skin. I couldn't wait to get my hands on Leo and he was rooting like crazy trying to find a nipple to suck on! We were transferred to the maternity ward skin to skin, cuddled up and trying to persuade Leofric that he couldn't feed with his fingers in his mouth as well as my nipple!
03.30 Asked the midwife to check Leo's breathing as it seemed a little laboured while he was feeding. She checked his temperature and pulse and agreed his breathing wasn't quite right so asked the Paediatrician to check him over. Heel prick test and temp check showed he was a little cold and his blood gases weren't great so they've taken him to neonatal to put him under a heat lamp and start him on IV fluids, possibly antibiotics depending how he responds. Am sitting on the ward with no bump and no baby.
4.30 23/2/12 Paediatrician has started Leo on IV fluids and oxygen to try and improve his blood sugar and sats. Blood gases are improving already just from being under the heat lamp. No bump, no baby, and I can't get out of bed. I know he's in the best possible care but I feel like he's been stolen from me.
~*~*~*~*~
Leo spent four days in the neonatal unit being treated for an infection, then a further three days with me on the ward finishing his antibiotics. Between expressing, trekking back and forth to neonatal and trying to get my own recovery on track, I didn't sleep for three of those four days...
By the time we left the hospital he had gone from nil by mouth with an IV drip for fluids, to formula via a nasal tube to up his blood sugar and get him off the drip, to sucking EBM from a syringe, to taking EBM from a bottle. Since getting home he has got the hang of breastfeeding with nipple shields and I'm hoping with the help of the health visitor and breastfeeding support worker to get rid of them and get him latching on without the shields!
*Top tip for birth partners - you're much less likely to end up with broken or mangled fingers if you only offer two fingers to hold and squeeze, not the whole hand!
Oh God, sounds lke a bit of a nightmare birthstory. I'm so sorry it didn;t go to plan, and very happy to hear that you now have a happy and healthy baby and you are both at home.
ReplyDeleteAs a former student of Old English, I feel rather embarrassed to even ask this, but how do you pronounce Leofric?
It wasn't quite what I had in mind! But as you say, he's here and he's happy and healthy, so the important bits are all taken care of!
DeleteIt's pronounced 'lay-o-frick' more or less, although we do shorten it to Leo...
Congratulations on the arrival of Leofric. I love the name.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry that you had a very rough time of it with the birth. I hope you feel better soon. I hope everything is much easier from here - easier as in things are happening that are suppose to be happening not that parenting is easy.
Apologises if this posts multiple times but google is being painful