When miranda met conor
Miranda was induced at 41+5 weeks after two stretch and sweeps didn’t quite do the job. Around 18 hours after her induction, things started to ramp up and within 3 hours of labour and 20 minutes of pushing Miranda got to meet her first baby, Conor.
Miranda tells her birth story in her own words…
Much like a few of the other first time mums, I did absolutely everything on the doctor approved list of things to bring on labour including 2 stretch and sweeps, but my little guy was (and still is) as stubborn as they come.
I ended up having to be induced at 41+5 wks which I was really hoping to avoid as I had read that induced labours were known for being more intense and carried a higher risk of ending in a c section.
I was very fortunate to have had a fairly easy pregnancy with no complications. I had pretty bad sciatica for the majority of the last two trimesters but outside of that I was feeling pretty good and was even able to continue working right up to 38wks which I now look back on and have no idea how the hell I managed that as I worked in a nursery so plenty of lifting/moving/getting down on the ground and struggling to get back up haha.
On the morning of my induction my husband took me out for a lovely long walk around the lake and a nice big breakfast then we headed home to grab our stuff and headed to the hospital.
We were admitted and all formalities completed by about 5pm then they placed what I called 'my tea bag' in and we were advised that it would likely be a while and that they would come and check in 12hrs time and if nothing had changed within a 24hr period we would move on to the next step of induction.
So my husband and I got comfortable, he ran out and grabbed us a coffee and we settled in for the night to watch a few episodes of New Girl on the tablet which I luckily had thought to download so we could watch without the internet.
One of the midwives came in to check me at about 6am the following morning and I had made zero progress so she said they would be back to check me again at 6pm. They were in no rush to hurry me along as I had heard a few of them say that the ward was full and they were super busy and most likely understaffed which I'll admit made me begin to feel a it uneasy.
Midday rolled around and finally I was starting to feel something. I described it as mild period cramps so they hooked me up to the monitor to check and confirmed that I was having contractions. From there things began to move VERY quickly. I was now in quite a bit of pain and talking was becoming difficult but was apparently only 2cm dilated. I remember think holy shit if this is what 2cm feels like there is no way i am going to be able to do this.
I was ready to go to birth suit but I had to wait as they were still cleaning the room from the birth before me so they had me in a wheel chair and wheeled me off as soon as the room was ready. By the time we made it in I was screaming and begging for an epidural but there was some issue with that as there was only the one anaesthetist and they were already with another patient so the epidural i so badly wanted never came.
They offered me gas but it made me feel dizzy and sick so i discarded that pretty quickly. I could hardly speak as I was getting next to no break between contractions but I managed to tell the midwife that I wanted to push. She checked me and said I was only 7cm and that I couldn't push. I tried so hard to fight it but the urge was too overwhelming and I couldn't stop it so I just yelled out that I was pushing and they kind of just had to role with it. Once I actually started pushing i remember feeling way less helpless as I had something to focus on. I don't recall that part being so painful but I do remember having a brief thought to myself as the midwife told me his head was coming out that the ring of fire was a perfect description for what I was feeling in that moment.
The relief after that final push when he came out was instant and my baby boy was placed up on my chest after a a short 3hrs of labour and 20mins of pushing. It was both the longest and shortest 3 and a half hours of my life! As soon as it was over I remember feeling really embarrassed because of all the screaming I had been doing (i honestly didnt know i could make the noises i was making) but about 2mins later I heard another mum in the next room over screaming just as I had been and felt instantly better about myself lol.
The next 2 hours that followed were beautiful. I was very lucky to have not suffered any tearing so after the placenta was delivered we were left alone in the room to bond with bub. They bought us in some dinner and I was able to get up and have a shower. I was feeling really good and was even able to walk back to our room from the birth suit! Something that I was actually really grateful for having not been able to get the epidural meant that I could get up and move around almost immediately after.
What do you wish you knew before birth?
I did ALOT of my own research in the lead up to birth so I felt about as prepared as I could have possibly been.
If you could, would you do anything differently?
I maybe would have encouraged my husband to do a bit of his own research into what to expect during the actual birth as I feel like he was more traumatised by it than I was. He came to the birth class at the hospital and everything and he watch the birth video that they showed us, but that birth was a very clam and very quiet birth which ours definitely was not lol
What did your partner do that really helped during labour/birth?
He was so calm and supportive and advocated for me when I couldn't. He was honestly amazing and took such great care of me through it all, I couldn't have asked for a better birth buddy.
What advice/honest truth would give a mama-to-be about birth?
That you will poop and you won't care and neither will anyone else in the room lol