I'd made the decision to cancel as my baby was not in jeopardy and I had my heart set on a beautiful, natural water birth at the MLU.
I'd been having contractions since Monday 29th September anyway, so I knew things were moving on their own (albeit very slowly) and that I would soon have my baby in my arms.
On Thursday 2nd October, at around 3.30pm, my waters broke and I immediately knew there was meconium in them (meconium is the baby's first poo, which should happen once they're born but often happens in the womb - this can be dangerous). There went my plans of a natural, induction-free birth, but at this stage all I was concerned about was my baby's safety.
Steve was off work unwell so he was resting. We headed to the MLU to be checked over, and they confirmed my waters had broken and contained meconium. They strapped me up to the monitor whilst we waited for an ambulance to take me to the maternity hospital 15 minutes away. Steve followed in the car with my hospital bag.
There was some concern over Birdy's heart rate. 3 people checked the trace from the monitor. Two were worried, one wasn't.
When we arrived at the hospital, a midwife checked me, told me my waters had not broken, and tried to usher me out the door telling me she had patients who were actually having their babies and that I needed to stop wasting their time. Charming! She also told me there was no concern over the heart rate, and that the midwives at the MLU who were worried were simply "wrong." This place was a far cry from the calm, serene and beautiful MLU I'd just left, and I did not like it!
I refused to leave and insisted someone else check me. Thank goodness. A lovely doctor with a portable ultrasound machine confirmed my waters had broken.
I was given a 6 hour pessary and put on a ward with 3 other ladies who were all either screaming or crying in pain.
I sent Steve home to rest - he hadn't been well and I wasn't expecting much to happen anyway. It was only 8pm and my pessary should last 6 hours.
At 2am, two midwives came to collect me and take me to the delivery suite.
Once hooked up to a hormone drip, I immediately started to have strong contractions every few minutes, very quickly turning to every minute, lasting about 45 seconds each, but the machine wasn't picking up on them.
Eventually a doctor came in to check my trace, swapped concerned looks with the midwives and urged me to call Steve back.
I knew I was in labour, but I also knew it would be a while before I had a baby and I really wanted Steve to rest. I was worried about him and wanted him to get as much sleep as possible so he wasn't too tired when things really got going.
His face when he walked into the delivery suite was a picture! It was around 7.30am and he'd gone to the ward where he left me, only to find an empty bed. When he asked a midwife where I was, the midwife gave him a worried look and said "she's been in delivery since 2am, follow me!" They ran down the corridor of the hospital and he burst through the door, out of breath and frantic to find me with the gas and air thingy in my hand.
The doctor had been coming in every 30 minutes to check and sign my trace, and it turns out there had been quite a lot of concern over Bird's heart rate. They'd been telling me to hurry Steve up, not for moral support, but because it looked like I may be rushed to theatre at any moment.
It was still looking a bit iffy, so I was given lots of drugs including an epidural just in case I ended up in theatre.
The epidural failed and I could still feel everything. Birdy was back to back and the pain was excruciating.
The next few hours are quite a blur. I'd been given pethidine but it made me lose all control and I felt awful. I can't describe it. I was acting strangely and part of me knew this, but the other part just couldn't help it. I hated it.
I was finally told I could start pushing, and that if baby wasn't here within 2 hours, I'd probably be taken to theatre for some assistance or a C-Section.
One of the midwives got two hats out of a drawer and laid them on a nearby table. One was blue, one was pink.
1 hour and 47 minutes later, at 2.43pm on Friday 3rd October 2014, Steve said "we're going to need a pink hat, we have a daughter!" and our little girl was placed on my chest.
I will never forget that feeling of overwhelming elation, euphoria and love, it's indescribable. I remember saying "hi baby!" over and over, between little sobs.
I felt, and still feel, like the luckiest woman in the world to have my little girl and my amazing husband in my life.
Love, Gina Xx
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