Elsie's birth story (part 1)

I said I would speak a bit about my bonding experience in my next post but my labour and delivery was probably a major contributing factor of my delayed bonding so it feels relevant to write about that first.

I was 40+6 when I started feeling the first twinges. It felt like mild period cramps, and whilst I was fully aware of my gestation, I was in complete denial that this was labour starting. It was a Friday and I had a growth scan booked in at 3pm so I went along to this as normal. The exact details of this appointment have faded with time but the jist of it went a bit like this...

"We can't tell you that we think you're going to have a big baby. But we've had a look and we're pretty sure that your baby will be over 10lb. But we can't be sure. So you're eligible for a planned C-Section tomorrow morning. If you want it. We don't think you should necessary, but you should definitely consider it."

Yes, the advice was as clear as mud. 

As far as I could make out, the baby was measuring very big and with that came the risk of shoulder dystocia causing the baby to become stuck during delivery. I was told the recovery of a natural birth is much easier so I could try this route first but I should be aware that the birth may result in a C-Section anyway.

I told the consultant that I had been feeling light cramping and she examined me to find I was already 3cm dilated. I decided to let my body continue labouring and see what happened.

We went home and had a pretty normal evening. We joked that the baby better hold on until 11pm as it was the final of 'The Circle' on Channel 4, a reality TV show we had unintentionally got ourselves hooked on. By late evening, the cramps - or contractions as I was starting to accept they were - were coming quite regularly but they were still manageable at home. I took some paracetamol and had a warm bath to try and ease the pains.

I went to bed as normal around midnight but I was tossing and turning. I wasn't able to get comfortable or ignore the pains enough to get any sleep. I got back up about 1am and sat on my birthing ball in the dark. Jeff joined me several moments later and phoned the labour ward. I'm not sure how the conversation went but whatever he said to them convinced them it was time for me to come into hospital.

I was left in a waiting room for nearly an hour before a midwife came to get me. I had been sat on a hard plastic chair, writhing around in silent pain with a family of another expectant mother sat behind me. I tapped my feet on the floor and counted ceiling tiles to distract myself. I've never been one to show weakness in public! I was examined around 2.30am and the midwife seemed impressed to find I was 5cm dilated. I think she expected more howling and swearing or something! 

The following 18 hours are a bit of a blur, and aside from wanting to do the story justice, I also want to understand the timeline of events in my own mind. So I am going to request my labour notes and come back to finish the story. 

To be continued...