This week is up there with weeks we will never forget. It
all started during a routine visit to the midwife to discuss booking in for an
induction because I was already 3 days over my due date. During the visit the
midwife examined me and said that she thought I might be 1 cm dilated (at
8.50am). For this reason she took Mark and I to the Women’s Assessment Service
(WAS). At the Women and Children’s Hospital to check whether I had, from what I
reported broken my waters on Thursday 23rd January 2014. The team
from the WAS team began their tests, which they told me could take half an
hour. That was until my membranes ruptured sin style half way through the test. Test conclusive
it was established that I had been in per labour for the last four days. This
could have been dangerous to Felicity, as she had been in broken waters since
Thursday night with the risk of infection. For this reason they put a line into
my hand to give her and me some penicillin and I was put on a monitor to watch
mine and Felicity’s heart beat and to look for contractions. On further
examination from the doctor at 11am I was 2cm dilated. By 11.30am I was beginning
to feel the contractions. The doctor then admitted me to the labour ward from
here as there was blood in my waters and they said that they needed to get the
baby out.
We arrived up at the labour ward at 12.45pm and was told
that at 1.30pm once the new shift of midwifes were here I would be given a drug
to speed up labour, because they needed to get the baby out. They could only
give me the drug once there was a midwife that could stay with me. For this
reason I sent Mark off for lunch and to call our student midwife. As they didn’t
want me to eat I was given an ice pop, like the ones you were given as a kid
(brought all the memories back).
Once up on the labour ward my contractions were getting more
and more painful and I was putting my mother’s advice into action. At 2.10pm
contractions were becoming more regular and painful and I was told I was now in
labour. I smiled and told Mark that I could now open my present from mum. Here
I will have to explain for some of you. For my birthday my mother had sent me a
labour pack which I was to open once I went into labour. The pack continued 7
small parcels for me and 1 for Mark. For those of you that don’t know my mother
is a certified midwife. This kit brought smiles and laughs to all in my delivery
sweet. Especial for one doctor when he saw the white and blue flannels with the
note that read, when I was training it was white for the face and blue for
below. Thanks Mum.
Anyway getting back to the labour, by 5pm the contractions
were becoming so painful I needed some pain relief. At this stage I was given
the gas and the midwife examined me further to find that I was 5cm delicate. Just
after this my student midwife Marie arrived. I was so pleased to see her
because my hospital midwife was agency staff and though she was lovely she was
a little stress about my situation and not know where things were in the suite.
She asked Marie how many deliveries had she been at? Marie answered this is my
36
th. She appeared to relax and gave Marie a leading part in my
delivery from there on.
Marie checks Felicity over
By now I had been on the gas for about 30 minutes ( I think,
but I think it would be best to ask Mark details from now on) and all I can say
is that I was feeling very spaced out and told Mark and Marie that I was
experiencing an out of body experience. During this stage I remember Marie and
the midwife reporting to me that during each contraction the baby’s heart beat
would drop dangerously low, but come back up after the contraction. For this
reason I had to do a juggling act with an oxygen mask and the gas. On further progress the midwife, Mark and
Marie told me that I was not handling with the pain (sorry mum I think I let
the pain take over and had stopped concentrating on my breathing. My imagery of
walking on Rhoscolyn beach with a pushchair and Granny had also stopped working)
and with the baby’s heart beat dropping I needed to be given oxygen more and
more, which of course would be easier if I was given an epidural. The midwife
did ask me if I wanted one but if I’m honest by this stage I didn’t minded what
happened I just needed some stronger pain relief and I was worried about the
baby.
The decision was made that I would have an epidural and the
doctor was called for. This, may I say, seemed for some reason to take forever.
Anyway he arrived and I asked if it was Jason (our friend who works as a consultant
anaesthetist, Mark said no but said that the doctor knows him. As far as I was
concerned he was called Jason for the rest of my delivery. He also looked like
a doctor out of Holby City which Mark and Marie found funny (Marie by the way
has been in Australia for 2 years and before that she lived in ManchesterJ). Just before he
arrived I remember laughing to myself when I heard my midwife (agency) say to
Marie (student Midwife who had not delivered a baby at Women’s and Children’s
Hospital before), ‘it’s like the blind leading the blind’. When asked why I was
laughing I said I work for Guide Dogs. Mark and Marie seemed to understand my
humour, but it was lost on the midwife.
Once the epidural had been given (it hadn’t even been given
time to kick in) the midwife examined me again and I remember shocked voices (I
was well out of it by now) saying oh my god she’s fully dilated (10cm). So I got
to 10cm on breathing and gas alone (a fact that I am very proud about as I have
never hidden the fact that I am not good with pain, which my family know all about).
Now onto the baby, with this entire action Felicity’s heart
beat continue to drop and drop and after some pushing on my behalf I was told
that we had to get this baby out. Mark remembers hearing conversations about a caesarean
or forceps delivery and the doctor saying we don’t have time for theatre. On
that note Felicity’s heart beat downed again so it was decided to give me a
double block through the epidural and go for forceps delivery. The next thing I
remember was Felicity being born at 7.50pm and Mark cut the umbilical cord and
she was put under oxygen. In total my labour time was 5 hours and 50 minutes. At
delivery Felicity weighted 3.46Kg or 7lbs 8 ounces.
Whilst Felicity was given oxygen my placenta was delivered.
On delivery of the placenta it was found that the placenta was a Velamentous insertion
of the umbilical cord. The best way I can explain this is by using Wikipedia.
Wikipedia explains that a
‘velamentous cord insertion is an abnormal condition during pregnancy.
Normally, the umbilical cord inserts into the middle of the placenta as it
develops. In velamentous cord insertion, the umbilical cord inserts into the
fetal membranes (choriamniotic membranes), then travels within the membranes to
the placenta (between the amnion and the chorion). The exposed vessels are not
protected by Wharton's jelly and hence are vulnerable to rupture. Rupture is
especially likely if the vessels are near the cervix, in which case they may
rupture in early labor, likely resulting in a stillbirth. This is a serious
condition called vasa previa. Not every pregnancy with a velamentous cord
insertion results in vasa previa, only those in which the blood vessels are
near the cervix’.
This basically means that if I had bleed at any point during
my pregnancy I would have lost her. The labour it’s self could have also killed
her, but thank goodness we didn’t. J
This and the fact that I had an epidural and forceps delivery were the reason
why we were kept in and monitored for three days. Marie took a photo of my
placenta as she had never seen it before and wanted to look it up when she got
home. So for theses of you that are medical interested (Mum) I can email you
the picture. Doing my research on the placenta afterwards I have found that if
it had been detected during pregnancy on a scan I would have been given to
choice but a caesarean.
Once the doctors had completed all their checks I finial
meet my daughter and we had our first mother and daughter time whilst we waited
for the epidural to where off. This took some time as they had given me a
double amount. At 1am I sent Mark home and Felicity and I rested until being
taken up to the ward at 3am. This is where we stayed until Friday 31
st
January. During our stay we received some fantastic care and advice around
breast feeding from the staff at the Women and Children’s Hospital.
View from my hospital window
Whilst I
remember for those of you in the United Kingdom may be interested in knowing
that on the day that I went into labour the weather was very hot in Adelaide at
43°C, all I can say is thank goodness for air conditioning.
This week has been a roller-coaster of emotions for me and
Mark is being a fantastic support and domestic god.
Felicity and I continue to learn the breast
feeding skill together and I can say that at the end of her first week, we are
slowly getting it. Still a long way to go but we are feeling better about the
whole thing.
Mark is loving being a dad and has enjoyed some long
hugs with his daughter (once he got over the shock. Thanks for the tissues mum, but I used them in the end). Last night we bathed her for the first time and I
showed Mark a technique that I had learnt whilst in hospital. So it will be
Mark’s job on Wednesday night.
J
Mark is making my week by making me all the meals that I have missed during my pregnancy
(sea food pasta, runny boiled and poached eggs and tonight I hope for raw
steak) and enabling me to enjoy a long hot bath (it’s been 4 months since I was
last able to get in the bath), and afternoon and early evening naps, to help me
get through the long nights.
I big thank you to everyone for the good wish messages, cards, flowers, ballons and teddy bears and a prompt to put Felicity's birthday in your calendars for 2015. 28th January !!!!!
