On the morning of 27th May, I woke up feeling nervous after not getting much sleep. I was ready to call the maternity ward eagerly at 7.30am, to be told my time I would go into the ward for my induction. After having on/off painful tightenings for 5 weeks which ended up causing issues with my epilepsy my consultant agreed I could have an induction 2 days before my due date. I was given a time of 10am, so I had a relaxing bath, did my hair and repacked mine and babies hospital bag for the millionth time.
On arrival, I was taken by a midwife to the antenatal ward where all my obs were taken and I was given a covid-19 test. An hour later I was examined, as I was 2cm dilated I was told they would go straight to breaking my waters but I needed to wait for a bed on labour ward. So I settled into the quiet ward and enjoyed some well deserved peace and watched a few films and enjoyed a nice salad lunch.
I was called down to the labour ward at 5pm and was allowed to call my husband Darryl to come down to join me. Just after 7pm my waters were broken but by 11pm I wasn't progressing. I was then put on a hormone drip to get things going, within an hour the contractions were constant and relentless, I started to feel a lot of pressure and I was re-examined but hadn't dilated any further. An hour later I felt I needed to push so the midwife got her equipment ready but again on checking I wasn't progressing but the pain was horrendous. I asked for an epidural as I couldn't cope with the intensity, I'd never had an epidural in my previous two labour's and had not experinced this beofre so was unsure what to expect and unfortunately due to back issues when the anesthetist set up where an epidural would normally be placed I couldn't have it so it was placed slightly higher up, although it took the edge of the contractions I never had the feeling of complete
numbness.
After an hour I noticed the midwife kept watching the babies heart rate monitor and then doctors came into the room to do the same, the doctors looked concerned and I was told to Keep changing positions due to baby not recovering after each contraction, I could see the concern on their faces and could feel myself panic. I really started to panic!!
Again I had the feeling of pressure to push but again on checking I hadn't progressed any further then 4cm.
The doctors spoke to me and explained that baby did not appear to be happy and baby was struggling to recover after each contraction. We were then told they would observe for a further 15 minutes but if it continued then we would need an emergency C-section to make sure she arrived safely. I was overcome with fear that she wouldn't be OK and started to panic, my midwife took control and got me to slow breathing down and focus but again the pressure became overwhelming and I told her I had to push but this time it was time and baby was coming, I had gone from 4cm to fully dilated in the space of 15 minutes and baby was already crowning. Within 11 minutes later she came into the world in only a few pushes arriving at 6.32am.
After she arrived and lots of precious cuddles my husband was allowed to stay with us until 11am where I was then taken to the postnatal ward, I was desperate to go home but had to meet certain checks due to having the epidural but luckily as Freya was OK and I met all the checks in the afternoon we were able to go home the same day and Darryl picked us both up at 6pm to go home to our other two excited girls. What a wonderful feeling!!
Love Natasha x