When sarah met hazel
At 26 weeks, I was at work and thought that I had a small gush of watery discharge. Thinking that it was just one of the joys of pregnancy, I didn’t think much of it until I had another small gush an hour later. I called the MAU at Calvary and was asked to come in for a check-up. Everything looked all good on the monitors and cervix examination seemed uneventful. After doing an amniotic fluid swab, our day was turned upside down. I had tested positive for amniotic fluid and was then rushed over to Canberra Hospital via ambulance for further assessment.
I was given antibiotics & steroid shots in case I progressed into active labour. After remaining in hospital for 2 days and several scans later, we had been diagnosed with Pre-term Premature Rupture of Membranes (PPROM). I had a hind-water leak in the amniotic sac. During this time, we were faced with the difficult decision of deciding what the plan of action would be. If I went into labour, how would I get to hospital & which one. Depending how fast the labour was, there could be a possibility of me remaining at one hospital whilst Bub was transported to the other. What my partner would (or could even do)during this time . We had to think about our resuscitation directives, I was told that I would no longer be able to return to my job as it was deemed too high-risk. To top it all off, as we were waiting to be discharged from the hospital, the first Canberra case of Covid had also been notified in the community.
For the rest of my pregnancy, I had to attend the hospital 2 times a week for blood work and ultrasounds during the peak of Covid. My partner was no longer allowed to attend any appointments or ultrasounds. I had to literally waddle through the hospital alone, hoping that we also wouldn’t get sick, endangering the pregnancy further.
At 36 1/2 weeks. I tested positive for strep B & my CRP markers had started to rise. We were reaching the end of the pregnancy as my body was no longer able to withstand the exposure to infection. My partner was finally allowed to be in the hospital with me once I was “officially” admitted to the hospital. At 37 weeks on the dot, they attempted an induction which didn’t progress. My CRP markers started to rise quite significantly and I was getting checked for potential blood clots. We met with a wonderful specialist who advised us it was time for a c-section, as continuing with a natural birth could put me & Bub at risk of massive infection.
Our wonderful midwife at the time bought in a bag of hand knitted beanies and we all chose a purple one together (which would later become her favourite colour). We giggled together as she then also had to shave me in preparation for the operation, but it was a nice way to have a small break in the midst of a very stressful time.
We proceeded with the c-section with the support of another beautiful midwife and medical team. It was calm, comforting and everyone held my hand the whole time (including the anaesthetist and nurse), especially while my partner was making sure our daughter was okay whilst they were finishing the procedure. They sat next to my head and whispered calm words of encouragement and reassured me that everything was going okay.
Baby girl was born weighing 2.7kgs and she was so tiny but strong. My baby girl had fought to be here and we were so happy to finally have her in our arms. She is 3 years old now, turning 4 in May and she is so beautiful, kind & brave.
What do you wish you knew before birth?
To be kind to yourself about breast feeding once baby is born. To be grateful for what you can do & accept what you can’t!
The level of sleep deprivation was so hard in the first 3 months. I was either having to pump or breastfeed bub every 2 1/2 hours all day and night. My milk never fully came in and I pushed my body to try and get every drop of milk as possible. But for my own mental health, I wish I had supplemented with formula earlier so I could have gotten a little more sleep. Once we did introduce the bottle, bubs weight increased, she slept more, I slept more and it was the best thing for both of us. Learning from this gave us the confidence, ease and peace of mind to have a more successful feeding journey with our second Bub.
If you could, would you do anything differently?
Not. At. All. We are so grateful for the medical team: midwives & doctors who supported us on this journey. For my work at the time for the understanding and support.
What did your partner do that really helped during labour/birth?
My partner was amazing and I am so grateful that he was there to have so many special moments with our Bub whilst I was recovering. He gave her the first kiss & cuddle. He changed her first nappy, gave her the first bath. He showered me, helped me to the toilet, dressed me, kissed me, wiped away my tears. Whilst I would have loved to have done all these beautiful things myself. The memory of seeing him do them was so beautiful and we are now able to tell this to our 3-year-old and show her the pictures. She loves hearing the stories of her daddy cuddling her in hospital and wearing his “doctor clothes”.
What advice/honest truth would give a mama-to-be about birth?
Be willing to be open to the unexpected. Whilst we would have loved our pregnancy and birth to go differently, I think having an open mindset to how the birthing experience was going to go, really helped us to feel a sense of comfort in the way it ended up going. I am proud to be a c-section mama, with our second pregnancy being an elective c-section as well.