Sandra tells her birth story: 'I wanted to share my birth story in the hope it may help future mothers when they have their babies. I will be as honest as I can, as some of the labour came as a shock to me as no one told me about the whole experience of birth!
I was overdue by 10 days and so had been booked in to be induced on 4th October. This being my first baby I did not really know what to expect. My community midwife explained that I would be given a pessary to induce labour first, if this was unsuccessful they would insert a gel later that day, if also failed they would put me on a drip and break my waters the following day.
I arrived at the hospital at 8am and was shown to a bed in a 4-bed ward where I awaited the doctor to start the process. My mum came with me to keep me company, as my husband was working that day and we were advised it may not work straight away and so could be a long day. The pessary was inserted at 10.00am by the doctor, this was not too unpleasant an experience similar to having an internal examination.
Then I just had to wait. This is a new procedure they are currently trialling at the hospital so they were unsure whether it would be successful or not. The midwife came and checked on me regularly and asked if there were any signs of labour, each time I said no.
At 2pm I had incredibly strong pains in my back and mild period type cramps in my abdomen. The pains in my back made it hard for me to be comfortable on a bed or chair so I spent half an hour walking around the ward. I told the midwife, who suggested I take a bath and 2 paracetamols to ease the back pain.
I went in the bath but after 20 mins of back pains getting stronger and more frequent I had to get out. My mum timed the pains and they were 3 mins apart so we called the midwife back and after an internal examination it appeared I was 5cm dilated. I was moved to the delivery suite.
There I used gas and air for pain relief during each contraction which worked very well for me at the start. I did feel a little dizzy for the first few breaths but then it passed and this helped me cope for several hours. I spent a lot of time during labour standing up and leaning on the foot of the bed during contractions but this made me very tired so I had to sit down between contractions.
After the next internal my husband was called and he arrived at the hospital at 6.30pm and my mum went home. I was so pleased to see him even though I made an obscene finger gesture at him when he asked for some gas and air!
The labour was not progressing as quickly any more and so they broke my waters for me. The midwife advised that we may both get a little wet. I felt no pain when my waters broke, just a gush of warm liquid. What no one warned me about was that I would then leak fluids for the duration of the labour.
I wanted to stand during contractions but was very conscious of making a mess of the floor. The midwife was very understanding and lay down some sheets of absorbent material for me to stand on.
As labour progressed, I tried various positions but none of them were as comfortable as lying on the bed propped up with pillows and squeezing my husband's hand, or standing and gripping the foot of the bed.
As the pain became a little harder to bear I asked for pethidine which I found very effective, although I did feel a little bit like I was drunk and began to say things that everyone else found very amusing; they seemed perfectly reasonable to me at the time, and I could deal with the pain if I still used the gas and air. I had two shots of pethidine throughout the whole labour.
At the next internal check, I was 10cm but there was a small lip of the cervix that was not fully dilated so I had to stand again to let gravity take effect to help this last part dilate. I stood for the next 5 contractions or so and this did the trick.
I was then told I could start pushing. I found this a little difficult as although everyone had advised the push you need to do is similar to trying to have a poo, the difference was I could not feel anything moving. I had expected to be able to feel the baby moving down with each push but I couldn't tell if I was doing it right. The midwife was very supportive as was my husband but after an hour of pushing there was no sign of baby.
The doctor was brought in and she advised that the baby was not in a favourable position as he was facing left and also his head was not moving when I pushed, instead his body was just being moved but his head was staying in the same position. I was told I would need an emergency caesarean section.
After a 15-hour labour I was extremely tired and now, to be completely honest, terrified of the C-section. I had never stayed in hospital before the birth, let alone had an operation, and had no idea what to expect.
I pleaded with them to put me to sleep whilst they operated but this is no longer hospital policy; they use a spinal block to numb you from the ribs down and you remain awake throughout as this is considered a safer option. As soon as I signed the consent form, there was a rush of people around the bed, which my husband found quite alarming.
I was fitted with a drip and dressed in a robe and wheeled to theatre. My husband was taken by the midwife to dress in scrubs. In the theatre the anaesthetist inserted the spinal block between two contractions and I can honestly say I did not feel it at all.
He checked I could not feel anything by spraying a freeze spray on my legs and I was completely numb. I was moved onto the operating table and they put up a sheet to shield me from viewing the operation. My husband arrived in his scrubs and sat next to me looking at my face and smiling at me all the way through and telling me I was ok. he was so brave, I am not sure I would have done as well as him, if I had to sit through an operation on the one I love.
The first I knew of Joshua being born was when I heard him crying across the room, (I had not felt any of the operation at all). He was checked by the midwife and then handed to my husband as I was shaking (due to the shock and adrenaline).
He was perfect, so beautiful, and I would have gone through it all again right then if I had to, to have him there with me. The anaesthetist had asked before the operation what song I would like playing when baby was born and as he did not have any Take That (don't laugh, I was serious!) he was born to a song called All I Need by Air Supply. The next song was Corin Bailery Rae and then What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong. I am going to go and download the songs to keep for him to hear when he is older.
My advice to anyone who finds themself in a similar position is:
1. Take whichever pain relief you need, don't struggle on trying to brave through it.
2. Try your best to not to worry about the indignity of it all.
3. It is all worth it and you do forget any pain incredibly fast when your little one looks at you for the first time.'
Sandy T and Joshua - born 5th October 2007, 05.45, weighing 9lb 5 and a half ounces
