The Birth Story, Part Two...

I started getting very mild contractions at around 2:15am. They weren’t really painful and i was easily able to carry on with what i was doing. Once everything was ready, Adam went and scooped Izzy out of bed. We managed to put her coat on, and get her bundled into the car without her even waking up. We nipped briefly to Adams mums, i waited in the car while he nipped to get a card for the hospital  car park. We then headed straight to Abi’s to drop Izzy off, at around 2:35am. I shed a little tear knowing that it was the last time i would see her before she became a big sister. It was weird to think she knew absolutely nothing of what was going on. She’d gone to bed after a lovely family day, and would be waking up in a different house on the day her baby sister came into the world, and her life would change forever.

After giving her an extra special squeeze, we headed back to the car. My contractions seemed to get stronger really quite quickly. We were both quite hungry as we hadn’t had much to eat the previous day so we decided to nip through the Mcdonalds drive through before going to the hospital, in attempt to gather some energy for the hours ahead. We sat in the Mcdonalds car park eating, but i barely managed to eat anything, my tummy was in knots.  I remember sitting there in the car park, and telling Adam he should hurry up as the contractions were starting to get pretty strong. By about 3am they were starting to take my breath away a bit, just 45 minutes after they had started.

We then drove round to the hospital, as soon as i set foot out of the car i felt a huge gush. This was a lot more like my experience with Isabelle’s birth. I was absolutely wet through, my jeans were so heavy with water i could hardly keep them up. I waddled my way into the hospital, i was having to concentrate on breathing through contractions, but still managed to walk through them at this point.

After trailing water all the way through the hospital, we finally got up to the reception area and told them who we were. I headed straight for the bathroom. Stupidly, we hadn’t grabbed any of the bags out of the car as we’d just been concentrating on getting inside.

The midwife brought me a load of really thick pads, and i asked her to send Adam to the car to get me a change of clothes, as there was no way i could have put those jeans back on. She said that they should get me in, and checked and that he could go out and get me something clean to wear before we went home again. So they wrapped me in sheets and i waddled my way to the bed.

They wired me to the monitors again, and the midwife commented on what good contractions i was having. They had told me all along that we were only going in to check that my waters had definitely gone, which of course by now, we knew. She explained that her shift finished at 8am, but she was pretty sure judging by the strength of my contractions, we’d be back before then. I remember telling Adam i thought the baby would be here by the time he needed to ring and inform work that he wouldn’t be going in, at 8:30!

So Adam nipped out to the car to fetch me some leggings, and we set off home again. I remember the car journey home, i just concentrated on the thought of getting into a nice warm bath. We got home at around 4:10am and i went straight to the bathroom. I asked Adam to fetch me a notebook and pen, a glass of water and some paracetamol, then i told him he should attempt to get some sleep. He went down to the living room and went back to sleep and i sunk into an amazingly warm bath.

I began to write down each contraction. They were about 5-6 minutes apart and lasting for about 25 seconds at this point. I still have the notebook with them all written down! I put some relaxing music on my phone, and also listened to a few birth affirmations. With each contraction i poured warm water over my bump, and took deep breaths, as i remembered this helping to ease them last time. I stayed in the bath for about an hour and a half, just occasionally topping up the warm water. I then got out, went down into the lounge where Adam was fast asleep, i dimmed the lights, put my music back on and bounced on my ball. After about 15 minutes i was desperate to get back in the bath, so headed back upstairs.

I remember laying in the bath, feeling really emotional, knowing that i was going to bring my baby into the world on the day that Miss Cook was laid to rest. At around 6:15am, i shouted Adam. The contractions were now getting pretty strong and i wanted him to come and help me concentrate through them.  He helped me with my breathing and took over with pouring the water and writing down the contractions.  At around 6:55am i decided i was getting ready for some gas and air, so i rang the hospital and told them i was ready to come back in. Contractions were now around 4 minutes apart.

Adam helped me out of the bath, and got me dried and dressed, we grabbed a few extra supplies and headed downstairs. I scrambled around for some shoes that would fit my swollen feet, as i had filled my comfortable ones with water.

At about 7:20am, we were on our way back to the hospital. The car journey was far from fun.  I had about 9 contractions in the car, and i was still leaking water with each one! By this point i was grabbing hold of Adam each time and having to really concentrate on my breathing through them. I was convinced Squishy would be with us by lunch time. 

We arrived at the hospital at around 7:45am. I had about 4 contractions from getting out of the car to reaching the labour ward. With each one, i stopped and clung to Adam. The hospital was considerably busier now, and i was still pouring with water every time i contracted. I remember one contraction, just outside the hospital entrance. There was a group of four men stood a couple of metres away as i hung around adam, breathing and drenching the floor. I burst into tears through embarrassment at this stage.

It was awful, walking through a reasonable busy public place leaving a trail of water behind me for all to see. Between each contraction i was walking as fast as i possibly could, all i could think about now was getting that gas and air!

We got to the reception desk and booked in once again, we were informed that there weren’t any beds! This was not exactly what i wanted to hear. So we were left sitting in the reception area for about half an hour. I asked Adam to ring my mum and tell her to start making her way to us. I was sent into the toilet to do a urine sample, then we were taken into the triage area where i was offered a bed, they examined me at 8:15 and i was 3cm, which was a bit of a disappointment. I was then offered gas and air at around 8:50am.

At around 9am we found out that Kate Middleton was also in labour. I became quite excited about the thought of Squishy sharing her birthday with royalty! My mum arrived at around 9:05 and i was already supping hard on the gas and air.

Once again, its ended up pretty late, so i’ll continue with a third part tomorrow night J x x x

Squishy.. The Birth Story. Part One.

Its taking me so long to write this birth story, i have decided to do it in two parts. So here is your first instalment....

In the couple of weeks leading up to my due date, i had several episodes of Braxton hicks, which was really frustrating as there were several occasions where i convinced myself it may be show time.  Sleep, once again became a thing of the past and i was getting increasingly uncomfortable. I spent most nights in the bath, as i did when pregnant with Izzy, as i was in so much pain with my legs and back. I began to get pretty fed up, praying i wasn’t in for another 13-day-late-induction sort of birth.

These photos were taken in July 2011 (right hand side)

 at 31+4, with Izzy. July 2013 on the left at 38+3 with Squishy.

Exactly a week before Squishys due date, i had a funny turn, which was pretty frightening. I was sitting on my birthing ball,watching telly with a little table with the laptop in front of me.  I was just chatting to a couple of friends on facebook, feeling absolutely fine one minute. All of a sudden i just went incredibly confused, normally i can type really quickly without even looking. Suddenly i was spelling everything wrong, unable to type properly and just generally writing a load of rubbish. I posted about 4 things on facebook which made absolutely no sense, but i couldn’t even figure out how to delete them. I wrote a quick message blaming the computer, then shut the lid of the laptop down and tried to snap out of it. Minutes later i lost my vision, i could just see colours, completely fuzzy and blurred, i then began to panic. Izzy was having a particularly unsettled night, and Adam had been in her room trying to get her to sleep for about an hour. It had only just seemed to go quiet so i really didn’t want to burst in and set her off again. Within minutes i lost the feeling in my arms and legs and so was completely petrified by this point. I staggered round the house, confused and in a mad panic, searching for my phone.

Unable to find it, i decided my only option was to go in to Adam. I opened the door to Izzys room and mumbled at Adam through the tears. He passed me his phone and asked what was wrong. I told him i just felt really ill but that i was going to ring my mum, so he should continue to concentrate on Izzy. I wobbled my way back down the stairs, and was now so confused i couldn’t even figure out how to dial my mums number. Eventually i managed to get hold of her. She immediately told me to call the emergency doctor, which i did. By now i was crying almost hysterically.

Adam came back downstairs with Izzy, worried and trying to figure out what on earth was going on, as i’d been absolutely fine the last time he saw me.

The people at the emergency centre said they needed to get help to me asap and that i needed to keep talking to them. They said that an ambulance and paramedics were on their way and that i would more than likely end up in hospital. I was still far from organised with my hospital bag, so attempted to rush round and grab a few bits.

Minutes later, my Sister Abi, and brother in law, Paul turned up. My mum had rung them and said i needed help, knowing that as they only live around the corner, they could be here within minutes.

The paramedic turned up first, he was doing a few basic health checks when we saw the blue flashing lights coming down the street. The ambulance arrived with two further paramedics. Abi and Paul gathered a few bits together for Izzy, and took her back to their house, as it was clear by now that we were going to be heading for hospital.

Once we got to the hospital, they attached me to all the monitors, and came and took more blood. I was having really strong Braxton hicks by this point, which the doctors were picking up on the monitors. They decided to examine me, and i was 1cm dilated. The midwife gave me a sweep and they decided  to keep me in, because of the contractions and because a lot of my symptoms were signs of preeclampsia. It was an awful night in hospital, i was contracting all night until 6am, and then it all just stopped. They let me go home at around 11am, when my mum came to fetch me.

I had some incredibly sad news a couple of weeks before Squishy was due. One of my old singing teachers, Miss Cook, had passed away. She was a huge part of my life for many years and a massive inspiration to me. She taught me so much and will always have a special place in my heart. There was an afternoon of dedications to her on the radio, and tributes were made in the local newspapers etc. She changed the lives of so many girls and my heart aches whenever i think about her passing.

Miss Cooks funeral was going to be on Monday 22^nd July (two days after my due date) so i knew i wasn’t going to make it, as i didn’t want to risk causing drama by my waters breaking while i was there or something, plus i didn’t have childcare for Izzy. I was absolutely gutted to be missing my chance to say goodbye to the lady who had such an impact on my life. This photo was taken in China, just after we had won two gold medals in the world Choral Olympics.

My due date came and went, and i started to prepare myself for it ending as an induction again. We had a lovely day out at a charity fayre on the Sunday (day after due date). Adam, Izzy and I, with my mum and step dad joining us for a while too. We did loads of walking, which i knew would help to get the little lady moving.

That night, like so many before it, became a pretty restless one. I laid in bed chatting to my sister in law, Kelly, on facebook.  We started saying how we would just love my waters to break, so we would know for a fact that it’s the real deal. No uncertainty. That conversation ended at 23:48 and i attempted to get some sleep. I think i finally nodded off at about 12:30.

At 1:15 i was woken up by a little ‘trickle’. I jumped out of bed, wondering if this could be it. It was such a tiny amount, i was really unsure. My waters had gone ‘Hollywood style’ with Izzy, so this didn’t seem to be anything in comparison, but my heart was pounding, and i so so hoped it was the start.

I woke Adam up and told him i thought my waters had broken, his reply was ‘They wont have’, and he rolled over to go back to sleep! Charming! I gave him a little shake, and stood there trembling for about ten minutes trying to decide what to do. When i’d been in hospital the week before, they told me to ring as soon as my waters broke. I was so unsure, i didn’t want to look silly, ringing if id actually just slightly wet the bed or something, but i decided to ring anyway, just to be sure. I walked down the two flights of stairs to get to my hospital bag which was waiting by the front door. (This was Squishys bag, mine was still incomplete). I got my pregnancy notes out and dialled for the midwife. I explained i was really unsure whether it was anything or not, and that i felt really silly. The midwife was lovely and told me not to feel daft. She said for me to keep really active, get on my ball and walk about lots to see if i lost any more water. She also told me to put a pad on, so that i could check the colour of the water (as it had been mainly blood with Izzy). She instructed me to ringer her back in an hours time and tell her how i was.

By the time i got back up to the top floor of the house, i had more water steadily trickling down my legs. I knew at this point that it was the real thing. I felt a sudden rush of panic for what i knew i was about to go through. I had a few tears, and a little shakey moment in the bathroom, then managed to quickly pull myself together. I rang the midwife back and told her that i was now sure it was my waters, and she told me to leave it around 45 minutes, (as she already had three ladies to look after) and then set off for the hospital so that they could check me over. I rang my mum at around 1:55am and told her that things were starting, but that she probably wouldn’t be needed for quite a while, as i wasn’t having any pains yet. I then rang Abi to tell her that we’d be dropping Isabelle of in about half an hours time.

Then the mad panic began, i was rushing round the house, still trickling water everywhere, desperately trying to get the last few bits together for my hospital bag. Adam went into the kitchen to get me a couple of pairs of clean leggings, as it was clear i was going to need them. As he got into the kitchen, a moth which was literally the size of my hand span came in, so he spent a good ten minutes dashing around the kitchen in his pants, chasing a moth with a spatula! That was certainly a moment i wont ever forget.

Finally, we were ready to leave for the hospital...

Both of these photos were taken one day after my due date. Izzy on the left, Squishy on the right. What a difference in bump size! It's hard to believe i carried Izzy for a further 12 days after this photo was taken!