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I was quite happy in mummy’s tummy so at 10 days overdue mummy went to St John’s hospital to be induced. Mummy was planning a water birth but I didn’t like the idea of that so put a stop to it by staying put. Friday 19th Nov Mummy had 2 pessaries (one in the morning and one early evening) and after each one mummy was put on a CTG monitor for an hour so she could hear my heartbeat and so any contractions could be seen on the chart. Each time mummy had some contractions but they stopped after a while. At 10pm daddy went home to get some sleep as nothing was happening. Sat 20th Nov Daddy came back at 9am. Mummy was examined at about 11.30am and was told her cervix was still high, 1cm dilated and 50% effaced. The midwife explained that whilst things weren’t progressing quickly, it was progress and she gave mummy her 3rd and final pessary. Mummy and daddy were a bit disappointed though. The midwife said she would attempt to break mummy’s waters early evening if she could. A different midwife came to see mummy at 5.30pm, she was very stern and said there was no point in doing another examination as mummy wasn’t getting any contractions. Mummy was a bit upset and so mummy and daddy went out for a walk. Mummy had constant tummy pains all day, she had been given some paracetamol but they didn’t help so she had a hot bath when she got back to the hospital. At about 8.30pm, mummy’s waters broke, by which time a different midwife was looking after mummy and she came and examined her, there wasn’t much change. Mummy starting getting stronger contractions so mummy and daddy went and sat in the day room watching tv and timed the contractions. They were a bit irregular, mainly about 14 minutes apart, sometimes more often. By 11pm it was obvious that nothing was going to happen very quickly with the contractions so mummy sent daddy home at 11pm to get some sleep. Mummy went to bed also. Sun 21st Nov Mummy woke up and the contractions had stopped so she was taken down to the labour ward at about 1pm and was put on a drip that would start her contractions. Each time the dosage was increased it had little effect until mummy got to the one down from the maximum dosage. This was when things really kicked in. The midwife had left the room with mummy happily bouncing on a birthing ball coping with the contractions and came back to find her in lots of pain and in tears. The dosage was now too high and mummy was not getting any breaks in between the contractions, which were now very strong. Another midwife came in and recommended mummy have some pethadine, she was in so much pain she would have said yes to anything! Mummy was given some gas and air whilst waiting for the pethadine but it didn’t help at all. I also didn’t like the dosage of the drip and my heart rate started dipping so they kept adjusting it until I was comfortable. Mummy doesn’t really remember much about the next few hours until the pethadine started to wear off. Mummy was examined and had only progressed to about 3cm so an epidural was offered as it was going to be a long night! Mummy hadn’t slept for 3 nights being on a maternity ward so happily said yes! The epidural was one that meant that mummy could still feel her legs (and examinations!) but took away the pain of the contractions. She was able to change positions on the bed and kneel up against the back of the bed, but she couldn’t stand or get off the bed. Mummy managed to snooze between examinations but it felt like it would never end. Mon 22nd Nov It became obvious that mummy wasn’t dilating past 9cm so the doctor somehow managed to manually open up the rest of the cervix so that mummy was 10cm dilated. It was at this point that the doctor realised that I may be too big for mummy to deliver me and a c-section and assisted delivery was discussed. I think mummy was so fed up by this point she didn’t care and just wanted me out so she signed the forms to agree to an assisted delivery and if that failed an emergency c-section would be performed. About 10 minutes later mummy was taken to theatre and her epidural topped up so that she had complete pain relief and could not feel her legs. Mummy was very nervous, she couldn’t stop shaking and the epidural made her sick so the doctor gave her an anti sickness injection. Things moved quite quickly from here, the doctor tried to get me out with the ventouse and mummy pushing but that didn’t work. Mummy was told when to push as she could not feel her contractions. I didn’t like what was happening and my heart rate dropped quite rapidly. The doctors performed an episiotomy (cut mummy) and used forceps whilst mummy was pushing to get me out quickly. My heart rate had gone from 140-150 bpm down to 42. I was born into the world at 8.42am on 22nd November. I was very distressed from the birth and the doctors took me straight to the resusitation unit. Mummy and daddy didn’t get to see me straight away but after about 5 minutes one of the doctors went to tell them that I was breathing but in shock and needed some oxygen. After 15 minutes, daddy was allowed to come and take some pictures of me and then shortly after I had a picture taken with mummy and daddy, our first family photo. Mummy was taken into the recovery room and daddy watched the midwife dress me. Daddy asked mummy what I was going to be called and was very shocked when mummy said ‘Zak’, as this was daddy’s 1st choice. Mummy originally said if I was called Zak she would prefer a different spelling so daddy was even more shocked when she said to spell my name ‘Zak’. Daddy says it’s because mummy was as high as a kite and didn’t know what she was doing but mummy says she just knew the name was right when she saw me. Mummy and daddy had also liked the names Jacob and Max but mummy wanted to wait to see me to choose the right name for me. So that was how I entered the world. I think my birth may have put mummy off having any more children (all the more mummy and daddy for me). But I am now making up for it by being a good boy for mummy and daddy, they are both very proud of me and love having me around.
This site was last updated Friday, 30 June 2006 |