Super Stephen
2013
First baby
Lived in: Whangarei, Northland
WHERE WAS YOUR PLANNED PLACE OF BIRTH?
Whangarei Hospital
WHERE WAS YOUR ACTUAL PLACE OF BIRTH?
Whangarei Hospital
STEPHEN'S BIRTH
I had no major health issues while pregnant. No serious morning sickness. I did have very bad fluid retention and heart burn over the last few months, and I got thrush at 38 weeks which wasn’t too pleasant.
Signs of Early Labour
I felt like fluid was leaking between my legs at about 38 weeks along. My midwife checked me out and discovered I had thrush. Indeed I did have thrush, though in hindsight I think this was also my waters leaking out. A few days later, still leaking, I started to have abdominal cramps. Like really bad period pain. I had one bout, for what felt like a few minutes on Sunday about 1pm. Then I felt nothing until Monday when I had another one.
On Tuesday, they started more frequently and I started having them once an hour, one every half hour etc. By 10pm Tuesday, they were so painful that I couldn’t talk and couldn’t sit still while having these cramps and they brought me to tears almost each time. I kept feeling like going to the loo and I had the urge to push. I called my midwife who said to call her back when they became more frequent and when they lasted a bit longer than about 30 seconds each! By midnight, they seemed about 20 mins apart but still pretty short durations. I called my midwife again, who suggested I come to Whangarei Hospital now. But she did say, I may not be in labour, and to expect to come home. I remember thinking if this isn’t labour then holy f***k the real thing was going to be excruciating!!
My husband and I gathered together our overnight bag – which included food for both he and I, I-pod, kindle, toiletries, clothing, drinks, clothes for baby, sanitary products, lots of old pairs of knickers… We drove to the hospital and got there about midnight (we only lived 5 mins from the hospital at that time of night). Even though the security guard at the door gave me directions, we got lost trying to find the Whangarei Maternity/Labour ward. In the meantime, these bouts of cramps were coming more frequently and the pain spread from my lower tummy into my back. My husband got mad at me for getting lost, which wasn’t very helpful. I was in pain and couldn’t remember what the security guard had said. I was crying again, and I got mad at him for being such a ‘you know what’ (it was all nerves and adrenaline from both our parts!! But make sure you know where you’re going before you need to be there!!). It was dead at Whangarei Hospital, but luckily we found an orderly who set us in the right direction.
My midwife was waiting for us when we arrived and she took us into an examination room (only used as a delivery room if the others are full as it is small and no windows). She examined me and was shocked to discover that I was 9 cm dilated. My water hadn’t broken and I never had a show, also she didn’t think I seemed like I was in very much pain (trust me, I was!!). She asked me if I wanted to go to a nicer suite, but I didn’t care. Here was fine. She then hooked up the foetal monitor and I took all my clothes off as I just didn’t want anything on me at all. I’m normally quite modest but at that moment I just didn’t care. Very pleased that these weren’t just cramps or Braxton Hicks and were actually contractions!
As I have knee problems, positions I could be in were limited, but I did use the birthing stool quite a lot. I remember doing a tiny little pooh as I was pushing and it did embarrass me but I had been warned about that at antenatal classes. The contractions were coming more and more frequently now but the baby just wasn’t progressing as he should. My midwife thought that the baby’s shoulder might have been stuck in my cervix and she got me to lie on my back and put her hand in there to help him pass. It was so painful, especially in my lower back area. She offered me gas, which I agreed to take, and it did help. A hospital midwife was also there helping out. I remember vomiting and the contractions slowing, so I was hooked up to a drip.
Birth
I remember the pain of contractions seeming to last forever and I was so tired! Crazy as it sounds, I was falling asleep between them. I just couldn’t keep my eyes open. So exhausting. I remember asking for an epidural only to be told it was too late! On the birthing stool, finally the baby’s head came out. But I just couldn’t get him all the way out. My midwife said firmly, ‘Go back and lie on the bed now’. It was a weird feeling walking with a head between your legs.
The next thing I remember the room was full of people. Someone with a surgeon’s gown and mask was preparing the baby resuscitation area. My midwife said ‘We need to get the baby out now, we’re giving you an episiotomy’. Then two ladies on either side of me held my legs back and without any hesitation my midwife cut me. It did hurt, but wasn’t yet over. She instructed me to push again and she manoeuvred somehow the baby out and this really hurt! He was out. He was blue. There was no noise. The baby was passed to this person dressed as a surgeon (who actually was a surgeon, I think I was just too tired to think straight as that should’ve been obvious!) and she started resuscitating him. I asked if he was okay, no one said anything. After a while, we heard a cry and the surgeon said we’re taking him to SCBU. I had barely seen him. He was born at 6.50am on Wednesday, 39 weeks + 1 day.
The whole thing was very surreal. I got stitched up (30+ stitches), had a shower. My midwife helped me express colostrum, then finally we could go to SCBU and see our son, Stephen. I cried when I saw him lying there with all these wires. I wasn’t allowed to hold him to start with, but I could touch him. A day later, I was able to hold him. He had a very sore shoulder from where he had got stuck, luckily not dislocated. Later we were so grateful to discover that he suffered no brain damage (from the lack of oxygen). With no one-to-one chest time immediately after birth and a very very tired baby, we struggled with breast feeding, but we persevered and we managed.
Official labour started at midnight Tues night/Wed morning and I delivered at 6.50am on Wednesday. Though I think I had been in labour a lot longer and just didn’t realise it.
My support person was my husband who was totally amazing. I was astonished to see the bruises on his wrists that I left from all the squeezing of him I was doing!
Stephen was in the ultimate position for an uncomplicated birth, but for some reason his shoulder got stuck. It is called ‘Shoulder Dystocia’.
Things you would do the same?
I am so glad we had a hospital birth. I had never heard of shoulder dystocia before. Had we been at home we may have been in very serious trouble. Also very pleased I never had an epidural. My midwife said that an epidural might have stopped me being able to push as well as I had and any further delay in getting Stephen out doesn’t bare thinking about.
Things you would do differently?
Be more assertive about thinking I’m in labour to my midwife and wanting to come to the hospital. And if I had have known in advance about the seriousness of our particular type of shoulder dystocia and the complications I have had since then, I would have requested a c-section to avoid the trauma for all of us.
What advice would you reccommend to other Northland mums / families?
Choose your midwife very very carefully. If your labour isn’t within ‘normal’ you need to know for a fact that they can handle emergency situations. I would also recommend all first-time births take place at hospital as there are many things you just cannot predict. Better safe than sorry.
