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Labour and Birth
 

Read stories written by other mums and mums-to-be about pregnancy. You can also post comments or even submit a story of your own.

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Hard but Fast...

Date written 07/06/2011 23:54:18

Well i've now got 3 boys and altho i couldnt have any pain relief during labour the pain has been worth it. All labours being 3hrs and my babies got SMALLER, i just wanna say we only ever hear about labour and births gone wrong or bad but there are alot of people like me who have good and easy labours too! its not always scarey but there are options if you want them when they are needed 3

posted in Labour and Birth  |  0 Comments

A positive labour story

Date written 10/03/2010 14:54:09

I think its nice to add a positive brith and labour story as you read and hear all about the not so nice ones all the time.
Our little girl was 4 days over due when she decided to grace us with her presence on Jan 12th 2010.
I had been feeling very tired and had extremely severe scatica (lower back pain), so my midwife suggested a stretch and sweep (the tried and true ancient and natural method for getting labour started). I went to see her in the morning on the Monday and she discovered I was 2cm dialated anyway, so she suggested that I probably would be going into labour sometime soon regardless of having the stretch and sweep. Anyway I had the stretch and sweep and felt nothing all day, started to feel a bit tight in the evening, but since I had been feeling rather tight for a month or two didn't really register that this could be labour, but in hindsight I was a bit naive to it, I guess you always will be your first time! My husband needed to send some money to his parents in Samoa urgently, so at 8:30pm we travelled to a dairy in Mt Roskill, which we knew was open late (we live in Henderson). While waiting for his sister to complete the transaction I started feeling pain and found it difficult to sit in the car, also really needed to go to the toilet (or so I thought!!!). Driving home I told Simon thta he would have to stop at my Mums as I desperately needed to pee! At 9:30pm as I got out of the car at my mums my water broke all over her front doorstep, and continued to break all over her (luckily) wooden floors as I hobbled inside to the toilet. I noticed the waters were green and knew that this was micconium (baby had pooed, and this can mean baby is in distress, it didn't in our case, but they are always hyper-vigilant with micconium) so after ringing the midwife it was off the hospital. Arriving at the hospital at 10pm I was set up in a room and at about 11:30pm I was given some pethidine and tramadol and told to sleep ~ HAHA! My midwife went off the catch some zzzz's and my husband was given a massive beanbag in the room to rest on. I laboured all night unable to lie down or sit down and spent most of my time sitting on the toilet or leaning on the bathroom sink while having contractions. At about 5am Tuesday my midwife came in to check on me and strap me down to monitor babys hearbeat and contractions (only downside to the birth was getting these belts strapped on because of the micconium ~ they were normal and good the whole labour). At 6:15am I felt the urge to push and after about 5 or 6 pushes little Norah Maselina Malia emerged 15 minutes later!!! Giving birth is never going to be delightful but our birth was straight forward. I hope this helps some of those women who're either waiting to give birth and feeling a bit anxious or those women who've had difficult labours. Remember if you're giving birth anytime soon, that it is inevitable that it will painful and challenging but that it is going to happen so there is no point in stressing about it, I told myslef this all through my pregnancy and found it really helped ~ a little bit of mind over matter.

posted in Labour and Birth  |  0 Comments

Elective Caesarean???

Date written 16/10/2009 19:56:54

I want to let those of you opting for an elective caesarean know that when it comes time for your supposed "elective" caesarean, it may not actually happen!

lkj

posted in Labour and Birth  |  0 Comments

My story stated with my stressed husband taking a sleeping tablet at around 7pm

Date written 18/12/2008 14:01:36

My story stated with my stressed husband taking a sleeping tablet at around 7pm! I then went into labour about an hour later. My due date was the next day and David wanted to get plenty of rest for the big moment. I realised that the baby was on the way and organised David to time the contactions - unfortunatly he was falling asleep between my 3 minute contractions. Mum drove me to the hospital to meet the midwife and David took our daughter next door to stay with a friend as organised. He then drove the 15 minutes to meet us at the hospital - neither he nor I am sure how he made it! All was progressing well with the labour but my poor husband could not keep his eyes open - I wished I had that same problem. Fortunately for him and I had a close friend at the birth along with my mother, so my very tired husband went to sleep in what he thought was the waiting room, but what was, in fact, the hall way of the maternity ward - he got some very strange looks form midwifes, nurses and new parents! I even managed the short walk to the hall to take a look and have a giggle! A little much needed light relief!
My labour progressed well and the support I received from my mother, friend and midwife was amazing! At 3.30am I was ready to push and more than ready to get that baby out! It was at this point that David was roused from his slumber and helped with the momentous job of giving birth to our daughter. Keita was born at 4.01am on the 11 Jan 2006 - a healthy wee girl - and not nearly as tired as her father!

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On 13th of August 2007 I woke in the middle of the night and felt contractions

Date written 18/12/2008 13:59:35

On 13th of August 2007 I woke in the middle of the night and felt contractions. This was not expected as I was only 24 weeks gestation. My husband and I had only been to one Ante Natal class so weren’t sure what to do so off we went to the hospital, pretty casually with only my handbag thinking it was probably only a false alarm…
Once we arrived at the delivery suite I was examined and then within an hour my husband and I were in a helicopter being flown to Wellington. I was given a series of drugs to control my contractions and steroids to help the baby’s lungs in case they were born prematurely.
Upon arrival in Wellington I was monitored for several hours and once the contractions had subsided I was sent off to the ward. That same evening while I was lying in the hospital bed I felt a huge contraction. I woke my husband who was lying on a stretcher beside me and told him to call the nurse while I went to the bathroom. While I was standing in the bathroom my waters broke and I felt a sudden rush of liquid and then another push and Jaycob dropped into my hands crying ever so weakly. He was little and pink and so beautiful! I called for help several times and my husband leapt from his stretcher and saw me standing in the corridor with a baby between my legs and suddenly the nurses arrived and cut the cord and whisked Jaycob away. 20 minutes later and back in my bed I gave birth to our beautiful second born son Gabriel who was stillborn. Meanwhile Jaycob was rushed to the neonatal intensive care unit and my husband and I spent time with our precious angel Gabriel.
And so Jaycobs fight for survival began with incredible highs and lows. An emotional journey that hit us hard as every parent knows who has a premature baby. Jaycob weighed in at only 675gms, 1 pound 6 ounces and the outlook was grim. Jaycob stayed in the intensive care unit for 8 weeks and was ventilated for over 4 of those weeks before finally advancing to the midline CPAP with high levels of oxygen. He was incredibly sick for many weeks with skin infections, jaundice, anemia, chronic lung disease to name a few! We stayed across the road from Wellington Hospital at Ronald McDonald House for the 3 months we were in Wellington and then we were transferred to Palmerston North Hospital where Jaycob stayed for a further 2 months in the Neonatal Unit.
The whole time while Jaycob was in hospital I expressed my breast milk as the nurses assured me this would help build his immunity. So I expressed religiously with the hope that one day I might be able to breast feed him although I was told not to hold my breath. In the meantime he had my breast milk through an oral gastric tube and then later through a nasal gastric tube. I finally got to breast feed him when he was 4 months old although it wasn’t easy as he had his OG tube in his mouth and neopuff oxygen through nasal prongs up his nose. Still, we persevered and a month later he was fully breastfeeding at 5 months old. This was such a precious time for us as he had had so many artificial and negative experiences due to his early arrival so it was wonderful to be able to give him comfort and to be close to him. 6 months later I weaned him onto the bottle and I am so proud to say he is now a healthy and active one year old boy.
Being a mum hasn’t been the easiest road for me so far but Jaycob is worth every anxious moment, every tear shed, every sleepless night and all the hours of hoping and praying he would survive. Jaycob is loved and cherished in every way and I am so grateful to be a mum and would do it all again in a heartbeat.

posted in Labour and Birth  |  0 Comments


 
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