Soon after my mum arrived, a tea lady popped her head around the curtain to ask if we wanted anything to eat or drink. I literally said "Please may I.." and then got a huge contraction and had to suck hard on the gas and air, it made me really woozy, my eyes were rolling and my neck went all wobbly, I think I was saying "Owww" to myself through that one too. The tea lady suddenly looked a bit peaky, as if she couldn’t wait to get out of there. I think I frightened her. Although you would imagine she's used to it, with that job!
Approximately 8 contractions later she was back, with two slices of toast for me, however I think I managed about 3/4 of a slice between contractions before we were told there was a room ready for me. It just so happened it was the room with a birthing pool. Result!
I think I slipped into a nighty at this point, and then waddled down the corridor as fast as I could to get to my room.
As soon as I got there I practically pounced on the gas and air, with another humongous contraction. I can’t believe how quickly they came on strong this time. Will Isabelle’s birth it was quite a gradual build up, but Squishys just went from nothing to agony so fast!
I managed to find a position which eased the agony slightly, and that was to stand up, and arch my back, so I was almost leaning backwards. I had to have either Adam or my mum supporting me while I did it, but stretching my tummy out like that really helped to take the edge off. We later found out this was because of the baby being ‘back to back’.
A midwife then came in and introduced herself. Her name was Andrêa, she was lovely. She told me she would be looking after me until 5pm, and was confident she would be the one to deliver our little bundle.
She asked me whether I would mind a student just observing my labour. All of the staff were aware of the problems I ‘d had with students during Isabelle’s birth, as the consultant had written about it in my notes, but she assured me that this one would simply be there to observe and take notes. So I agreed. However, my mum then told me that she thought it was a male student, she said that I shouldn’t feel bad about changing my mind if I wasn’t comfortable with it. By now, I was past the point of caring though so I still went ahead and let him come in.
As I hadn’t brought any swimwear, I decided to keep my nighty on in the water, as id got spares in my bag and would like to attempt to keep any dignity I could, intact. However, I ended up in just my bra and the student, who I believe was called Daniel, must literally have seen everything else, the poor kids probably scarred for life.
I suddenly began to feel a tremendous amount of pressure and the contractions got pretty unbearable. The midwife went and got a mirror to check what was happening under the water as she thought I was getting to the transition stage. I tried a few different positions in the water, but was really struggling by this point. I was really high on gas and air, and started crying talking about Miss Cook. I couldn’t stop checking the time, knowing that everyone would soon be arriving at her funeral.
I asked Adam to set a status around the time of the funeral, to let all of the Cantamus girls know I was thinking of them.
After a few hours in the water, I was absolutely exhausted, and really struggling with the pain, so I decided to get out and be examined. This would help me to decide what I wanted to happen next. If I was 9cm – 10cm then obviously id be close to delivery and would have managed to get through the remainder of the labour, but I was worried that I couldn’t carry on if I hadn’t progressed much, and would need to consider other forms of pain relief.
At 12:30pm, 11 hours after my waters had broken, I was 5cm dilated. This felt like a punch in the stomach as I’d been convinced there wouldn’t be much longer to go. Contractions had only been a couple of minutes apart for a couple of hours at this point and were agony. I tried walking to and from the bathroom, standing up, sitting down, kneeling and holding onto the back of the bed, nothing was working. At this point I decided I wanted an epidural, as I knew I could have several hours to go.
Andrêa went to arrange an anesthetist, and came back with bad news. The only anesthetist was in theatre with a very poorly lady. They couldn’t tell me how long he was going to be. So I just had to accept that I’d got to grit my teeth and get on with it.
Shortly after being told this, I was told I’d now got to move rooms. I couldn’t bare the thought of being away from the gas and air during the walk, as contractions now only seemed to be a matter of seconds apart.
We managed to get me across the corridor, wrapped in a sheet, and straight back on the gas and air as soon as I was in my new room. Every contraction was now absolutely unbearable, so much worse than it ever had been with Isabelle.
During my labour with Izzy, I barely said a word. I stayed so calm and quiet throughout the whole thing. This time around, I was far from being a ‘screamer’ but I was a lot more vocal. I just remember repeatedly saying “I’ve had enough now, I’m tired”. It was going on for so much longer than I’d expected, and I just didn’t seem to be making much progress.
At 3:30 I was examined again, and was only 6cm! So in three agonizing hours id progressed only 1cm. However, at around 4:15pm I received the amazing news that I was now able to have that long-awaited epidural!
This would be the third epidural I’d had, so I knew exactly what to expect, but there was even more pressure on me the stay incredibly still this time, as it was the movement id made with the first one (because they went into a nerve) that caused me to be so ill afterwards, and I still have problems because of that, now. It was also added pressure because I was struggling so much more with the pain this time. It ended up being a female anesthetist, and she was lovely. I remember babbling something about Miss Cook, through a face full of tears while they were doing it, and mum had to tell me to be quiet, and to concentrate on being still.
By around 4:30pm the epidural was in, and I was in heaven. I just kept thanking that amazing lady over and over again for taking my pain away. I asked if I could give her a cuddle before she went, and she willingly came over and gave me a big squeeze.
To begin with, the epidural worked wonders. They had to tell me when I was having contractions, as I couldn’t feel a thing. I even managed a little sleep. But before long, the pain was back, and it was a struggle once again. They kept coming to top it up, but it just didn’t work, so once again the gas and air was getting a battering.
Andrêa left, at the end of her shift at 5pm, which I was completely devastated about. She had been amazing, and there was no way we’d expected me to have still not delivered by the time she left. We had a cuddle, and she wished me luck, she was also disappointed about not being able to meet our little lady.
At 7pm I was examined again, and told that I was finally fully dilated! However, with the good news also came a disappointment. I was so excited to be told I was almost there, but they then told me that even though I was 10cm the baby was still a long way back. They said I needed to sit upright, to allow her to drop, before I could start pushing. They wanted to leave me like that for an hour. They told me I needed to try not to use the gas and air for a while as I was getting too ‘out of it’ and I needed to start being aware of what was happening.
I ended up in tears, trying hard to not use the gas and air, but struggling so much, in complete agony. An hour felt like such a long time and I remember crying to my mum saying “I can’t cope with another two and half hours of pushing” (as that how long it had taken me with Izzy).
At around 7:30pm there was yet another change over of staff. ‘My’ midwife had gone from being Andrêa, to Sarah, to Kate. They were just handing over, and explaining my details to the new staff, when I started to be aware that I was pushing. It’s the weirdest feeling, the only thing I can even slightly compare it to, is being sick. That weird surge of involuntary muscle spasms. It’s something you have absolutely no control over. I suddenly said to my mum “I think there’s something there”, but nobody really rushed to check, as I had said it once before during labour, and had been told the pressure was just due to baby being back to back. But my mum wandered over and had a peek under the sheet, and it’s a good job she did! “Oh my gosh, there’s a head”. Her words kind of echoed in my head, I couldn’t believe after such a long wait, this was finally it.
It was then a mad panic, as the midwife hadn’t even got her gloves on, and all of a sudden, this little girl had decided she wasn’t waiting for anyone. In a blur of adrenaline I remember hearing my mum warning Adam that the baby might be a funny colour. As he’d been really upset when Izzy was born, she was blue and there were a few moments where we were convinced she wasn’t alive.
After around four pushes, this bright pink, fluffy headed little person appeared, and once again I was overwhelmed with that familiar feeling of complete and utter love and pride. My mum was supposed to be cutting the cord, but the midwives had to do it quickly and whisk baby Elce away. She was completely silent. I could see her being rubbed like crazy with a towel, over at the table, while I pushed again and delivered the placenta. It felt like the whole room was echoing, people were moving quickly all around me and all I could focus on was whether that little girl was ok. Those few moments felt like a lifetime. They gave her the vitamin K injection, expecting this to make her cry, but it didn’t. Eventually, we heard that little cry and my heart felt like it suddenly started beating again.
Chloe Olivia Elce was finally placed into my arms. She was simply amazing. All the fear I’d had about having enough love for a second child just melted away, I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. After a few minutes, I tried breastfeeding her, which she took to like a pro J
Our little sweetie was finally born at 7:44pm; 18.5 hours after my waters had broken. She weighed 8lb 13oz. Prince George was also born that day.
Chloe and I were in the local newspaper, along with all the other babies who were born at Kings Mill that day. And I did a little interview with the local radio.
Isabelle’s reaction to her new baby sister, the following day, was one of the most amazing moments of my life. She loved her instantly, and has been incredible with her ever since. I’ll go into more detail of their relationship, and life over the past 11 weeks, in my next post.
So, to sum it all up, we are now the perfect family of four. All completely besotted with each other. That labour was by far the hardest thing I have ever done, but I would do it a million times over for this amazing little girl. I literally can’t believe how lucky I am.
Unfortunately, my computer is now not allowing me to upload any more photos, so i'm afraid you may have to wait until the next post for pictures. But this will include images from the first few moments of her life, introducing her to Izzy, and how she has grown over the past 11 weeks. (Maybe a couple more labour pics too, if i get brave).
Lots of Love,
X x Loved up mummy of two!! X x
