Sharon tells her birth story: 'Wednesday, week 41+0: Appointment at the hospital for a scan, monitoring and for the consultant to assess me to see if the natural birth I wanted is possible. Consultant ended up doing a stretch and sweep and said that baby was 3/5 engaged but she could move her head up and down in my pelvis and this wasn’t good, as baby’s head should be fixed in place.
Told to come back on Fri with the possibility of my waters being broken. All that bouncing must be doing some good.
Friday (41+2) Baby monitored – all is well but she is only 1/5 engaged now so can’t break my waters because it’s too dangerous. Told to come back on Monday.
Monday (41+5) Back to the hospital again. Another scan – baby is still only 1/5 engaged despite me trying everything to start labour off and get her engaged. Consultant said that things probably wouldn’t change much between now and Wed. This was my deadline at 42+0, so she advised us to book in for an elective c-section.
I just sat on the bed and sobbed – this was the one outcome I didn’t want but my body had let me down again as there was no real sign of me going into labour.
C-section was booked in for mid-morning on Wed. I was so upset. Every time I stopped and thought about it I just cried. H was brilliant though. He rang work and said he wouldn’t be in because he was taking me home to look after me because I was so upset.
Tuesday (41+6) I rang the hospital at 9am to see what time I could go in for blood tests etc. I had to be there for 3.30pm and then I could go home for the night but had to be back at the hospital for 8.30 am the following day. OMG it was all starting to feel a bit real now!
Arrived at the hospital where the anaesthetist came and spoke to me and had blood taken etc. I was feeling ok about the c-section by now – I was going to meet my baby tomorrow and couldn’t wait. After about an hour I was told I could go home and to get some rest. I did manage to get a good night’s sleep surprisingly. Probably the thought that it would be my last full night's sleep for a while.
Wednesday (42+0) I think I woke up about 5.30am – couldn’t sleep any longer. I was too excited and nervous by now so I had time for a shower and got ready. We had to set off at 7.30 to get to the hospital in time through the rush hour traffic. We arrived at the hospital and I was told that there was a tablet and gown waiting for me.
Tablet was an antacid and actually tasted quite nice. The gown wasn’t quite so nice and it took H a couple of attempts to get it fastened properly so I wasn’t showing the ward my bum. Then we just had to sit around and wait until we were told it was time to go down to theatre. This seemed like forever but finally at about 12.30 the midwife came and said it was time to go and I needed to take a nappy, hat, vest and babygro with me.
Bit of a trek downstairs to the theatre with a midwife and nurse but I felt fine. Sat and talked through the procedure with the anaesthetist and went over the bits of my birth plan with the midwife whilst H went off the get changed into his lovely theatre gown and hat. Then it was time to go into the anaesthetic room for my spinal to be set up etc.
This is when the nerves really kicked in, I think, because I started to feel a bit scared at this point. I was sat on the edge of the bed and the anaesthetist put a canular in the back of my hand and then sprayed my back with what I can only describe as ice-cold water – not pleasant. Then I had to sit perfectly still whilst he inserted the anaesthetic into my back.
After a bit of pushing etc the drug was in and my bum and legs started to go really warm – this was so nice after that cold spray. My legs were immediately lifted onto the bed and strapped down so they could tilt the bed. This felt very odd. After a few minutes my feet started to tingle and go numb. The anaesthetist kept checking me with the cold spray to see how numb I was until he was happy it was high enough. If it had gone too high I would have had problems breathing.
Once I was numb I had a catheter fitted. It’s really weird knowing someone is moving your legs about but not be able to feel anything.
Then it was time to go into theatre. I had calmed down by now but was really glad H was there with me to hold my hand. The consultant and her team were there and soon got to work covering me with sheets and cleaning my bump ready to start the section. A screen was put up and H was given a seat at the side of me.
Then the operation started and I soon felt some very odd pulling and pushing sensations but no pain – again a very weird feeling. Everyone was great and kept asking if I was ok. Then there she was – my little (well not so little as it turned out) girl. I couldn’t believe it was finally over and Isabel Olivia was here at last at 12.59pm absolutely perfect.
All I wanted to do was give her a cuddle but they needed to check her over and clean her etc. H went over to the cot/incubator thing to see her and I could see them both. He looked in a state of shock but so happy – I even thought he was going to cry, something I have never seen him do.
Then Isabel was given to her daddy and I finally got a small cuddle – not an easy thing when you are on an operating table covered in green sheets and having someone stitching you up. Then she was off to be weighed – the nurses were taking bets. 8lb exactly – no wonder my bump was so big.
Once I was stitched and cleaned up I was lifted onto my bed and taken to the recovery ward with Isabel lying skin to skin on my chest – the best feeling ever. I was supposed to stay on the recovery ward for about an hour and then be moved back up to the maternity ward but every lift in the hospital decided to stop working and so I had to stay where I was until the lifts were working again. Luckily both my parents, my kids and H’s parents had asked where I was and came down to see me. The side effects from the anaesthetic had started to kick in too by then and I couldn’t stop shaking.
Then the itching started – OMG I didn’t think anyone could itch that much. The midwife gave me an injection and it soon stopped but it didn’t help the shaking.
Finally the midwife got me a coffee and a sandwich – I didn’t think I was hungry but I hadn’t eaten for about 15 hours so must have been starving. At about 6pm they said the lifts were working and I could go back to the ward. Yippee!!
So off we went. Me and Isabel in the bed and all my visitors trailing behind. I felt so special and proud every time someone looked at her. It was the best feeling in the world.'
