Birth story.

I am lazy so here is my birth story :) 

It's long..............
Henry’s birth story
08.08.10 12:30- Philip and I are at a bag pipe event two hours away from home because I figured the baby was never going to actually come out! I then go to the bathroom and realise that I have had a bloody show. I decide to wait for contractions before leaving the event.
08.08.10 23:30- I decide to go to bed as I only got four hours sleep the night before. Unfortunately I start having a bad stomach ache that feels like bad gas. They don’t seem to be coming in any pattern but they are definitely coming and going. I have a poorly stomach all night and the pains don’t go away.
09.08.10 morning- My midwife shows up during the few minutes of sleep that I manage to get that morning. She is supposed to give me a sweep but decides to do it later so I can hopefully get some sleep in case I am in labour. (Doesn’t happen...)
09.09.10 13:30- My midwife comes back to do a sweep. She examines me at the same time and we realise that I am 5 cm dilated!!! WOW. I really hadn’t had any strong contractions, just slight tightenings. She decides to go about her day which I am fine with and leave me alone (Philip is in London getting some work in case today isn’t the day).
09.08.10 16:35- My midwife rings me to see how I am doing. My contractions are about 3-4 minutes apart and lasting 40-50 seconds. I have called my lovely friend Harrie over to stay with me because Philip is stuck in traffic!!!!! Bless her, she just had a baby the week before and she was brilliant. She set me up with my tens machine and I bounced on the birth ball.
09.08.10 17:40- Philip is home!! YAY. I am still contracting every 3-4 minutes and lasting 40-50 seconds. We decide I can go into the birth pool as I am still coping well. Another vaginal exam shows that I am 7 cm dilated and fully effaced. I can get in the pool!! My friend Rachel comes over as well for support!
09.08.10 18:00- 20:00- I continue to contract well and they are getting stronger. I decide that now would be a good time for me to make use of all that gas and air they brought!! I also decide that it would be a good idea to video skype my Dad!
09.08.10 20:50- The second midwife shows up with more gas and air! I am starting to feel some pressure at the height of the contractions and things look like they are progressing really well.
09.08.10 22:45- The contractions are starting to make me want to push. I am still coping with gas and air and am breathing through them. My MW decides to do another vaginal exam to see what is going on. She finds a thick anterior lip of my cervix and decides to rupture my waters. When she breaks my waters she sees that there is meconium and I will now need to be transferred to hospital via ambulance .
09.08.10 23:11- The ambulance arrives. I put on a bathrobe and dry myself off. I am desperately clinging to the gas and air mask as I do not want to be transferred and would like to be as high as possible!!! The ride is pretty tough and my poor MW has to hold my bump the entire time. It takes about 30 minutes to get there but being strapped to a stretcher when you want to push and can’t makes it feel like a year!!
09.08.10 23:45- I arrive at the hospital after sucking down an entire canister of gas and air and am well out of it! The first thing I ask for at the hospital is an assisted delivery.
10.08.10 0:00- I consent to having a vaginal exam and they find that I am fully dilated but have a lot of meconium in my waters. I still feel the need to push and try to do so desperately. I can’t find a comfortable position to save my life and am in a lot of pain from the ambulance ride over. I try to lean on the sink and then try to crawl on the bed on all fours but nothing is working. My contractions are extremely painful and I am getting really tired.
10.08.10 00:35-They perform an ultrasound on me to see which way the baby is lying. It is discovered that baby is back to back with his face sunny side up. That is very discouraging to me and further spurs me on for my desire to have an epidural. I am pretty sure I start begging for one at this point because I am very disappointed that I am in hospital, on my back and having no luck with pushing. (OK so maybe I am begging for a c-section as I just want baby out and don’t really see how it is going to happen vaginally).
10.08.10 1:00- They FINALLY call the anaesthetist.
10.08.10 1:30- The anaesthetist FINALLY shows up. That is fun. I am having back to back pushing contractions and they want me to lie still on my side with my knees up to my chest. Thanks to Mum and Philip and the MW they get me into position!! Now all the monitors start and I am stuck with all sorts of tubes. I have a catheter, a BP monitor, a foetal monitor and an IV drip giving me sintocinon (2:00). (Not exactly the home birth I had imagined!!) The epidural is a super strong one but I still feel lots of pressure.
10.08.10 2:20- They decide to half the amount of sintocinon as it is too high. I am told not to actively push as they were hoping baby would turn on his own. (Again- fun times!)
10.08.10 2:35- I request a top up as the pressure is becoming very uncomfortable again!!! (15 minutes later I get my top up.... my patience is running thin!)
10.08.10 3:00- The doctor comes in. She does a vaginal exam and sees that baby is starting to come down a little bit. They also notice even more meconium in my waters (if they only knew that’s all Henry does is poo!!!)They then tell me that baby is going to be delivered in the operating theatre with either forceps or a caesarean section. This is scary as I need to be prepped for a c-section and sign a consent form. (A FAR cry from my nice home birth!)
I am at least told that I can push with my contractions and I do so to the best of my ability. I was hoping for some kind of miracle that the baby would just pop out on his own!! I also pray to my mother at this point for at least a forceps birth and not a c-section!!!
10.08.10 3:35- I am wheeled to the theatre. Philip is in scrubs. I notice that he looks hot in his scrubs even though I am rather scared and preoccupied.
10.08.10 3:43- Epidural topped up. (THANK GOD!!!!!!!!!!!)
10.08.10 3:47- They do that one two three push me onto the other bed thing and then strap me into these ski boot stirrups. VERY uncomfortable. It is super bright and there are FIFTEEN people in there. I feel like a wounded animal at the mercy of all these people. Thank goodness that Philip could be at my side the whole time. Mum had to stay in the other room.
10.08.10 3:54-After 4 pushes with a lot of help from good old Keillands forceps Henry William Mason is welcomed into the world at 8 lbs 12 oz YAY. I feel loads of pain when they are pulling him out and am so relieved that he is crying and appears to be completely unaffected by the meconium. They put him down on my belly and I give him a kiss but I can’t really hold him due to the position I am in. He goes to be with Philip
10.08.10 3:59-4:45- I deliver the placenta and all that good stuff and am sewn up for the next 45 minutes........ FUN TIMES!!!! I can feel pretty much everything even though they keep shooting me with local anaesthetic. They keep telling me it will only be another 5 minutes but I know that they are lying. The nice anaesthetist holds my hand as Philip is holding Henry (and has gone next door to show a very anxious Grammie that all is well!)
10.08.10 4:45- I FINALLY get to hold my baby boy and have cuddles.