Cinss 1st Birth story

At 5am 38 weeks into my pregnancy I woke up to my first contraction. To me it felt like period cramps and I thought to myself "This isn't so bad". As the day went on my contractions got worse, I rang my mum and said "I think I am going to have a baby today", she came over and told me the story of her first birth, and how she had contractions for 2 days before the labour, she told me I would probably be the same. As night began to fall I was on my bed in the worst pain I could tolerate, mum rang the hospital and I was told to come in.

So I undressed and the midwife checked my cervix.... 4 cm. "Still a long way to go" she said. She decided it would be a good idea to go ahead and break my water to speed things along, so as I was laying on the bed, in goes the long thin instrument and gush out comes my water. I stood up and watched the thick liquid puddle on the floor around my feet, I was still wearing socks and I was pretty uncomfortable just standing there wetting myself like that. I ran off to the shower, cleaned up and came back to the bed. Then the midwife tells me that I have to have a needle drip in my hand, in it goes and the wait begins.

The midwife would come in and out to check how things were going, then she told me that there was a student who had arrived and asked if it would be ok if there was one more person in the room watching, I said that would be fine. In walks a MAN and introduces himself to me and my DP, I was thinking OMG a man great, oh well I guess he has to learn too.

My cervix was not co operating, I really wanted to push but the midwife said not to because I was not dilated enough and if I push now I would end up with a swollen cervix and would end up having a C-section. So every time my body would tense up and contract they would keep telling me to “blow the candle out”, this was the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life, and this went on for hours…

Some time later the midwife came in and was telling me that the baby didn’t like the contractions, she said that the monitor showed the baby’s heartbeat dropping every time I would have one, so we started changing my positions, try laying on your side, try laying on your other side, try this way, try that way, it seemed like nothing was working. A doctor came in, another doctor came in, I wasn’t really sure what was happening at this stage, they were all discussing things and I couldn’t hear, but the look on my mums face said it all. Time for a C-section… They took off all my jewellery and wheeled in a portable toilet. They said I had to go on there first, so I got up and sat on this loo, I looked around the room and counted the people all standing there watching me…8!!! I said “I can’t, I don’t need to go” They assured me that my bladder was full from the drip, and I should try harder. Well I could not do this, 8 people watching me totally naked in the middle of the room trying to pee on a portable loo, this was my worst nightmare.

It didn’t happen so the staff went with plan b… a cathoder… back up on the bed they insert a tube up into my bladder, now I was wishing I didn’t have that stage fright on the loo. While I was there she checked my cervix one more time and said she could now feel the baby’s head. The staff had a quick group discussion, and I was told they were going to give my baby a little help with the vacuum. So in goes the suction cup, and now I am allowed to push. I did that about 3 times and my baby’s heartbeat stopped. In comes the crash cart with the defibrillator and my heart breaks…

The doctor approaches me with a needle and says she is going to help get my baby out, it is local anaesthetic and it goes right into my vjj, I am squeezing my DP’s hand and then I look at his face, he is looking down there and his jaw drops, I look down there and all I see are the scissors coming, I looked away and my mind went blank. The doctor was waiting for the next contraction, and told me to give a big push when I could feel it… here it comes I said, then I felt the cut cut cut, I looked at the doctor and she was pulling on the suction cup with all her might, then pop, my baby was born.

The doctor held her up and there was about a second that felt like an hour, everyone was looking at my baby, waiting for a reaction… one little cough came from her mouth and I could see the doctors relief as she passed her my way instead of the other way onto the crash cart. I held my daughter and kissed her head, I told her she scared mummy.

A healthy 6pound 9ounce baby girl, my first born child. They say you will forget the ordeal of giving birth… But I don’t think I ever will. It was frightening and glorious all in one and when people ask me what it was like I jokingly say “Just like being abducted by aliens and subjected to their tortures”.

Goodness. That sounds like a poor example of managing someone's labor and that midwife should be ashamed of herself. I'm sorry things went so wrong but happy your little girl was okay.

You just can't be afraid to speak up next time and know you have the power over what happens during your labor. I'm sure your next baby will be easier since your body has done it before. My first was a rough recovery but the others were not.

Thank you for sharing!

Gosh, I wish your first birth could have been a better experience than this.
I wouldn´t have been able to pee in front of 8 strangers either lol!
Good luck TTC-ing!

cool