Looking back, I wish I'd struggled on without it, but at the time I was so fatigued I couldn't think of any other option.Īll I remember from the membrane rupture is a look of horror on the midwife’s face when the water started gushing, and then they were joking whilst running for extra towels to mop it all up. Totally exhausted and ready to hurl the TENS machine out the window, I opted for the epidural before they broke my waters. When we finally returned for another check, despite the lack of regular contractions I'd somehow made it to 7cm! Baby, however, was still posterior and still high. So despite having to stop every once in a while to do some awful grunting and deep breathing on street corners (and getting some very concerned looks from passers-by), we strolled on, even managing to sit down for a pie and coke along the way! The contractions were crippling by this point, but still only happening every 8-20 minutes. Partly happy that I was thus far still avoiding the c/section but concerned that the intervention was starting, we went for a long walk first to try and give her one last chance to engage by herself. Once we knew baby was still happy, a quick check told me I'd made it to 5cm, but the head was still high, so the OB suggested breaking my waters. So with the contractions still painful but totally sporadic, we headed back into the hospital on Monday afternoon, to get baby checked and to discuss all our options of exactly how we could get her out. So at 8am Monday morning we trudged home, heavy hearted and totally burnt out.Īfter a hot shower, some breakfast and a few hours on the couch, we were both feeling a little renewed.
And by morning they had all but stopped - happening only every 30-40 minutes. But after hours of bouncing on a ball and pacing the floor, the contractions, despite being excruciating, refused to establish in a regular pattern. Devastatingly though, I was only at 3cm and baby was posterior.ĪUCKLAND - JUNE 07 2014:Pregnant woman having contraction in birthing suite of Maternity Hospital.In the 1960s, Igor Tjarkovsky,swimming instructor and midwife, popularized water birth in Russia.Īs it was now 1am, we decided to stay at the hospital overnight and see if we could get labour monitoring and baby turning. Thankfully, it was just cervical changes and the placenta was still intact. And rushing into hospital to get checked, frantically hoping that baby was ok, the reality that the VBAC was dissolving and a c/section was imminent came crashing in. The heat packs weren't helping, the DVD's were annoying, and the fitball was being used more for punching than bouncing on by this point!Īs my first baby was born by emergency c/section for placental abruption, bleeding was a huge panic button moment for us. I'd finished a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle, cleaned the house, watched four Eddie Izzard DVD's whilst bouncing on a fitball, all with an unending array painful contractions at a variety of lengths, and still in no established pattern!īy the time Sunday night came, I was exhausted and really starting to struggle. We dropped our 3 year old at the in-laws on Sunday morning, thinking that surely baby must be close now, and spent all day Sunday doing exactly the same yet again - more contractions, more backache, no regularity.īy now, 48 hours had passed without much respite. right?Īnd so it continued through Saturday night, into Sunday morning - by which point I was starting to get tired. It was certainly getting painful, but I kept telling myself that this can't be 'it' if they aren't regular. Mine were ranging from 3 mins to 13 minutes. The advice I remember from the midwives throughout my pregnancy is 'labour is established when contractions are regularly 5 minutes apart'. Know someone who would like this story? Click the Facebook button above to share it with them.
Throughout Saturday the contractions kept on coming - some were strong, some were milder, all accompanied by an ongoing agonising backache - but none in a regular pattern. Lasting all night, the contractions were just enough to keep me awake but nothing too painful, so I greeted Saturday morning with excitement, thinking today is the day I meet my little girl. Plenty of attempts at natural induction, from acupuncture and hot curries to a stretch and sweep, finally had the niggling pains starting at 7pm on a Friday night. But as 40 weeks came and went, intervention and a repeat c-section began to threateningly loom on the horizon. I had been reading and attending calm birthing classes, I was ready and eager for this natural birth to get started. I had the perfect VBAC planned, and after 9 months of preparation.
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