Birth Stories

On the 11th of May my little man made his appearance via emergency c-section.

Bearn and I checked into the hospital at 8:30pm on the 10th of May for them to start my induction. We ended up waiting in the emergency unit for about an hour heaven knows what for. Then we were taken to our room, yes our’s as Bearn decided to stay the night incase anything happened, I was hooked up to all the machines so we could listen to Graeme’s heart beat and to see if I was already in labour, his heart was fine but pity no labour.

At 12:00mn a nurse walked in with a massive syringe, I mean horse size one, filled with liquid. I sat thinking where are they going to put all of that. But she proceeded to put about 2 drops of it in my mouth. And then she left. I was left a bit disappointed, I had visions of that syringe getting stabbed in my bum.

A little later a nurse brought a jug of water and a sleeping tablet. I opted not to take the pill as I thought I would not have an issue sleeping with Bearn in the next bed. I counted sheep all night. By the time I considered taking the pill It was 5am, so doubted sleeping through labour would be productive.

The nurses monitored for contractions and for his heart beat for about half an hour again. No contractions, so to start them I had about 6 pills popped up, I already started losing count of how often I was violated. Once they were happy that the pills were in place we made our way down to the maternity ward. Where yet another monitoring session was done. At this stage I could feel mild period type pains while lying down.

After about an hour of pacing, bouncing and walking up and the stairs, I was hooked up to the monitors. Only to find no contractions at all. That made me a bit nervous. The doctor came round to check up on me and decided I needed a second dose of the pills. There were done and the monitors were put on again. This time I could feel them a lot more than the first time, that was while I was lying down.

I started pacing again to get these ones going. About an hour later a nurse gave me an internal to check how far I was dilated, I was only about 3 cm and his head was not dropping. The nurse said that they may look at breaking my waters. After another hour of pacing and bouncing I was in exactly the same place. But I must just say while I was up I did not feel the contractions only when I had to lie down. The nurse then tried to break my waters this was very uncomfortable and she did not manage to do anything.
The doctor then came in and checked what was happening. He then broke my waters. It was the strangest feeling having the water rush out, but then I noticed that there sudden tension in the room. The doctor then told me that Graeme had passed a lot of meconium (poo) in the water, he contemplated out loud for me to wait for an hour to see if he comes but he then decided it would be best if Graeme came out right then.

I was booked into the surgery, another lady was even bumped out of the way for me (I felt important for a second, then remembered where I was). It was hard for me to come to terms with the fact I could not have my natural birth. I battled to get my composure. It all happened so quickly from this point. Bearn got his scrubs on. The spinal block was put in. I was still spilling water every where. The screen was put up. I was cut open. And my boy was pulled out. I was stitched up.

Seeing him alive and well was best moment of my life. And the entire time I had Bearn there comforting and supporting me (could not have asked for more). They showed him to me and then took him to clean and check him (all with in my view). They stuck the naked little man on my chest and wheeled me into recovery. Once I was back in my ward the nurse helped to latch him.

After all this I was told his umbilical cord was over his shoulder, hence why he had not dropped.

I wanted a natural birth with no drugs at all, and ended up with an emergency c-section and lots of drugs. But what counts is my baby is healthy and happy. Oh I already have plans of a VBAC and I am not too cut up over it. hehe

I didn't expect to go into labour, I was 37weeks and still working up until 4 days before I gave birth.

We had a braai on 30 January with all our friends over and had a wonderful evening, at around 6pm I started feeling slight pains but at that point thought it was the stupid B.H kicking in again for some fun. I ignored it and still went on entertaining and playing the good hostess. At around 8pm after my friends left I told my husband I'm going to bed as I wasn't feeling well. 2am I started tossing and turning with back pains. at 3am I felt like peeing but decided to wait ( out of pure laziness - not easy getting out of bed with big tummy) and after a while could not hold it anymore, I quickly got out of bed only to realise I was dripping already. At that point I thought I had just wet my pants but when I looked down and noticed little blood I realised that my water just broke. I immediately woke my husband who in turned firstly phoned my mother and then asked if I'm okay. We quickly got the bags into the car and away he sped like a crazy person to the hospital. On my arrival at the hospital they immediately took me to the delivery ward and at the internal exam found I was already 3cm dialated. This was now 3:30am and the wait began. My contractions came quick and were 5 minutes apart, I declined the pethadine but after two hours nicely asked the nurse to give it to me. It didn't help! I did my breathing and stayed calm, my husband and I kept the family up to date by sms and calling them. At 11am I could no longer take the contractions and begged the nurse for an epidural, it took the aneathetist half an hour to get to me and by then I was highly agitated. The Epi took 5minutes to come into effect and thereafter I had a very nice time.

At 12pm the Gynae came and said if I'm still not dialated he will give me an induction but when he checked I had progressed from 4cm to 7cm in just over an hour! Now we were cooking! I knew I had to get myself ready for the pushing and it wasn't long after that when the urge to push really came. I begged the nurse to push but she wanted me to hold out for as long as possible. Then I couldn't take it any longer I had to push. The Gynae then finally came and then we started the party. Halfway through I could not push any longer and the Dr had to put the vacuum suction on. After 5 minutes of pushing Ethan popped his head out and then after two more pushes Ethan Luke made his way into the world.I was so tired, my husband went with them to take Ethan to the nursery and I just laid there with the biggest smile on my face.

Lorelai Charlotte Coetzee - 27 January 2010

Lorelai was due 8 February 2010, but on 27 January i did not want to be pregnant anymore, but i had an appointment at the gynecologist that day, so i packed my bags and decided that today is the day for an induction!!! Got to the doctor he said that we can maybe have an induction, but then we need to have it immediately because he does not really want to work late into the night. LOL

I walked over to the birth unit at Louis Leipoldt, signed in an while i waited to be taken in i went to have my last coffee and cigarette before the induction started!!!!

10:30 Docor came and gave me the induction and said he'll be back in an hour to give me my epidural...

11:00 The pain started i asked my BF countless times to rub my back and he just reacted that my epidural will be there soon!!!!!! Heartless asshole.

11:30 The gynecologist came, gave me the epi and i screamed (just like i did with the first 1). After the epidural the doctor told the nurse that i am only 3cm dilated and that she should give him a call at 13:15 if i'm not at least 6cm. i told the nurse that im going to sleep and to wake me up when it is time!!!!

12:00 the nurse came to feel how far i was dilated, and told me that i don't waste any time!!!!! i was fully dilated!!! it took an hour from 0 to 10. she called the doctor and we waited until 12:30 for him.

He sat up all the equipment and then he told me to push, 3 pushes and she was out... she gave 1 little scream and that was it.

12:57 it was all over.

My first daughter took 3.5 hours and the second took 2.5 hours!!!!! Just love being me!!!!

Hello to everyone... so - I AM A MOM!!! Tayla was born at 1842 on Friday 23 April... 3.085kg and 55cms in length...

The birth story is as follows:

Arrived at hospital on Friday morning at 0715 by docs orders if I did not come in overnight. We checked in - well sort of - everyone was very hesitant to check me in saying I didn't appear to be in labour and I could not be at full term! So proceeded up to labour ward and again was met with hesitant midwife who would not believe I was in labour and insisted that we go back home and go for a walk. I dug in my heels and said Doc wanted to meet me at 0800 and that is that. So we got comfy and doc came to have a look - he said I was 4cm dilated and membranes were bulging. He offered to break membranes - but i chose to wait it out and bounce around a bit to take it the natural route. He returned at 12:00 for another check up and we were still 4cm and no ruptures... so he ruptured membranes for me and said he'd be back at 5pm.
All this time the one midwife kept saying that I should have gone back home and walked on the beach - not very motivating! And was more concerned with her daughter in labour in the UK...
Anyhoo - contractions started getting more regular and a lot more painful - although managable while bouncing on the ball and using my hypnobirthing breathing techniques. Every hour I was popped onto the foetal monitor to check that baby was doing well. At 3:30 the midwife told me the foetal monitor was showing baby in distress because during each contraction the babies heart rate dropped. The cause of this could have been the cord being squashed in the contraction - but who knows. She proceeded to tell me that I need to keep an open mind as a c-section may be imminent. This and the news of baby in distress put me in a panic - and this is where my hypnobirthing went pear shaped. I had to lie on my back from here on out too which also didn't help much... So the contractions became unbearable At 4:00pm I succumbed and requested the epidural.
This took approximately an hour and a half to arrange and for the aneasthetist to arrive. As soon as I sat up to have the epidural all i could feel was immense pressure - like i needed to go wee really badly... They administered the epidural and waited 25 mins for it to work and then Doc did another internal.
Amazingly I had fully dilated from 4cm at the time of the epidural to the time of the internal. And I was given 10 minutes to prepare for pushing!
It took 3 contractions/pushes to get baby out... and again here i used my hypnobirthing technique rather than pushing.
I managed to deliver her without tearing at all which was the best news ever.
Unfortunately due to the speed of the dilation and my body not having sufficient time to prepare for the birth my cervix tore in 3 places. So an hour and a half after giving birth I was still bleeding and had to be rushed into emergency theatre to be stitched up. I must say this is the part that is still sore and uncomfortable.

But I have to say after all that - I am very very pleased that i went the natural route and I have experienced natural birth...

We battled with feeding with her latching - but I went to the breastfeeding clinic this morning to get some help and feel a lot more confident and happier today. One day at a time!

Tuesday 21 July: We arrived at the hospital at 4am. It was freezing cold and I was already tired but thought to myself “that’s ok; you’ll sleep now while waiting.” They settled me in the ward and I told my husband to go home as this could take a while. (My dr. had said that I probably wouldn’t go into labor until the second gel insert at 12.) He left to go get some sleep. I rolled over and tried to do the same. Unfortunately, the nurse arrived to give me an enema. Not fun. Some of you may remember that I’ve been really suffering with piles and an enema with piles is really painful. She told me to try to wait 10 minutes before going…well, after 5 I ran for the bathroom.

At 6am, the nurse came back and started the induction with gel. She was pulling mucous out and telling me she thinks I would have started labor on my own as my cervix feels good. Was told to lie on my side for an hour and a half. This was absolute torture! Contractions started about 10 minutes after she put the gel in and the last thing I wanted was to lie still on my side! But I kept thinking “this has to work, I don’t want a c-section. Suck it in and breathe, you’ll be fine.” At 6:30am I sms’ed my husband to come because I was in pain. He told me he was on his way. There were things he needed to bring and by now it was peak traffic time so I knew he would be a while.

At 7 my midwife, Catherine, arrived in the ward and asked me to move to labor and delivery so I didn’t start upsetting the mothers in my room. I told her I was supposed to lie for another 30 minutes and she said fine she’ll see me there. 7:30 finally arrived and I hopped up to the bathroom. I was really beginning to feel pain but thought it was maybe just in my head. My sister and her husband arrived; my sister had a gynae appointment at 8:30 so they popped in first. I was in the process of getting my stuff and moving to labor ward. My midwife asked what form of pain management I wanted and looked at me as if to say “we’ll see” when I said I wanted to try and do it without pain medication. Contractions were coming about every 2 minutes (at least that’s what I thought – turned out later I was having contractions about every 10 minutes, the rest of the pain was from uterus activity) My brother in law was panicking saying they shouldn’t be coming so quickly. I told him to calm down…an induction is very different to normal labor.

My husband arrived – he had raced there and was out of breath…it was so cute. He hadn’t had breakfast or anything. Neither had I. I started asking the midwife if I could have breakfast and to my despair she said no! My sister and husband left. The midwife hooked me up to the fetal monitor (I came to hate this evil machine. It forces you onto your back and if you move at all the baby’s heart rate goes down because the machine doesn’t read properly. It truly sucked!) She then told me I was in labor and the baby was fine. I asked if I could walk around and she agreed. I also asked for a birthing ball which she reluctantly agreed to. I really think labor was successful because of that ball. I was getting contractions but sat on the ball against the wall and hubby and I watched Heroes off his laptop. Then we decided to go and get him some food at the café. I told the midwife we were going to walk and she said that’s fine…I must be back by 11:30. My dr. was coming in at 12 to check me. It was around 10:30.

We went to the café and I had milo. I also bought some panado for my piles which I can honestly say were more painful than the contractions. We walked up and down the hospital hallways. My brother called to say he was on his way (I have a strange family! They all wanted to be there while I was in labor!) I needed the loo again. So I dashed into a toilet. When I wiped I saw my show. That was really exciting! I began to think that something might actually happen! Went back to the labor ward and was hooked up to the fetal monitor again. The midwife made me take my pants off…I was still in the clothes I had arrived in. I lay on the monitor covered with a blanket. My brother arrived and we all chatted for a while. I had to be on the monitor for 20 minutes. They (DH and my brother) kept watching for contractions. The midwife came in and said my contractions were slowing down. Not good news. My dr. arrived and did an internal. He announced with jubilation that I was 2cm dilated and instructed the midwife to insert more gel. I will never forget this moment. As she left, he looked at me…his hands still covered in my goo…and gave me the hugest grin and 2 thumbs up. I think he really didn’t believe that I would do this on my own and was now amazed that it was working. My dr. said he would be back at 6pm to check my progress and we would decide whether to use a drip and hormones then.

The midwife inserted more gel. She told me to lie on my side for 30 minutes. Those 30 minutes were absolute hell. My contractions started coming non-stop. All I wanted to do was walk and bounce on the ball. I was in agony. I was also beginning to feel really dirty now. I decided that when the half hour was up I would go and bath. 1pm arrived and I got up and started pacing. My DH disappeared to find a toilet. The contractions were really painful now and I was squatting every time one hit. At 2pm I got into the bath. It was heavenly. My contractions still came but they were much easier to deal with. The bath was nice and big and I could squat or sit or do whatever I liked. After 30 minutes I decided to get out cos I needed the loo again. As soon as I was out of the water the contractions hit hard. I was doubled over and battling to focus…trying to breathe…moaning.

I made it back to the labor ward. My DH suggested more heroes. I sat on the ball again and leaned against the wall…but now I was struggling. The contractions were coming 6 at a time with about a 2 minute rest. I was rocking back and forth on the ball. The midwife was back and wanted me on the monitor. She left me there. Absolute torture. I couldn’t keep still…the pain was so bad. Eventually I started moaning out loud. She came running into the room. Asked me “Are you in pain?” She then wanted to do an internal. I battled to keep still. It was 3:40pm. She announced that I was 8cm dilated. At this point I didn’t care, the contractions were too painful and I was now worried that my dr. wouldn’t make it on time. She called him and fortunately he was already on his way. She wouldn’t let me off the bed. So I got on all fours on the bed and started breathing through the contractions. She was setting up the room…and she kept saying that I was very good at this. Who had trained me? I was laughing to myself because I didn’t go to antenatal classes…I was just following my body.

At this point my DH was not aloud to touch me during contractions. They were constant now and I was getting really tired. Suddenly, I wanted to push. I called the midwife and she told me to wait. I started panting through the contractions. My husband called the dr. He said he was almost there. I was offered pethadine but said no as I thought I was ready to push. Finally my dr. arrived. He walked in and said “No crying baby?” They hooked me up to the fetal monitor and he checked me. He said I was only 7cm but then when I had a contraction I moved to 8cm. He decided to break my waters. At this point I was exhausted. I hadn’t eaten since the night before. I had been drinking energade and sucking on sweets but was afraid of throwing up so didn’t eat more than that. I kept thinking; please tell me I can’t do this. Please tell me that I need a c-section. He broke my waters (there wasn’t a lot of water and there was a small amount of meconium) and I had about 10 minutes of no contractions.

The midwife started putting in a drip which I complained about but she said I was getting dehydrated. He also asked me to please have pethadine and anterax as it would help the cervix. I agreed because I was exhausted. My dr. and DH then sat and talked for a bit. I remember my dr. saying to my DH that in about 5 minutes I would go into a trance and everything would disappear around me. That’s exactly what happened. I sat flat on my bum and started swaying and moaning. Then the contractions started again. I was now hooked up to a drip and a fetal monitor. The midwife kept telling me to lay back…I completely ignored her and did what I wanted to, which was up on all fours rocking and breathing through the pain. Eventually the dr. told her to leave me alone to do what I needed to. I kept moving all over the bed and my DH apparently was running all over to stop me falling off the bed. The dr. did an internal which I practically screamed through. He said my cervix still had a lip so with the next contraction he would move it. The next contraction came and I have never felt pain like that before. He was moving the lip over the baby’s head and it was torture.

I then got back up on my fours (which was really hard to do with a drip in my hand) and he told me I could start pushing if I wanted to. I didn’t want to. I was still hoping that he would say it wasn’t possible. I was exhausted. But despite this, with the next contraction I started to push. He said he was giving me 30 minutes to push the baby out. Apparently, my DH said that the dr. was winking at him at the time. It was an antic to get me to carry on. Pushing did not feel like I thought it would. I was expecting something completely different. Pushing felt like the whole universe was emptying its power into you from your head all the way down. My whole body was taken over and I felt completely separated from myself. It was an incredible feeling…but not a good feeling. I felt out of control and exhausted. Every time I pushed the baby’s heartbeat dropped. I thought “Yes, now I can have a c-section” Instead they put an oxygen mask on me, which I really didn’t want. Now I had a fetal monitor, drip and oxygen mask. I kept taking it off and my DH kept putting it back on. Apparently the baby was fine as long as I had it on. I didn’t care.

The dr. then told the midwife to empty my bladder. Here I am, on all fours, bum in the air, pushing every contraction and now she wants to stick a pipe in me to empty my bladder. I got a contraction and started pushing but she just carried on - it was so painful. I remember gripping my husband’s hand and screaming. Then I pushed some more. I pushed for about 10 minutes and then said that I couldn’t anymore. My dr. was a champ. He told me I’m doing so well and then directed my hand so I could feel the head. That felt great. My DH felt the head too. The dr. said a few more pushes and he would be out. I continued to push. Dr felt the head and said he would have to help me because the head was angling the wrong way and the heartbeat was getting worse. I thought “Finally!!! HELP ME!” They set up the stirrups. I had to go on my back…which was a mission because of all the wires. I was really unhappy on my back; the dr. was explaining how he was going to help me.

He was using a kiwi, which is a glue pad they stick on the baby’s head and he helps to maneuver the head into the right position. He said I would still need to push…he couldn’t pull him out with the kiwi. He attached the kiwi and we tried again. Baby still wasn’t coming. My perineum was not budging and the dr. was worried about the heartbeat. He said he would have to do an episiotomy. I would have agreed to anything at this point. He injected local anesthetic. I kept trying to push. My DH took a picture of my perineum. There is no way I would have done it on my own. He cut me and then told me to push. I pushed. I felt like nothing was happening but suddenly I was crowning. I thought the head was out but everyone kept telling me to push. I took a deep breath and pushed and pushed. I started screaming. It felt like my insides were being torn out. I thought I was dying. His head came out and the dr. maneuvered his shoulders out. He kicked me one last time as he came out.

Suddenly, there was a baby in my hands. I looked down at him in disbelief…exhausted and so relieved it was over. He was covered in blood and a bit of meconium. He started crying. I was still in shock. I felt overwhelmed but not exactly happy…just extremely exhausted. They took him from me. I looked at the clock – 6:50pm. The midwife injected me in the thigh and put something in my drip which really burned. I could feel the blood gushing out of me and the dr. started messaging my uterus – which was really painful. He delivered the after birth and showed it to me. It was huge and gross. Then I really started bleeding. My DH got worried and the dr. said it was normal. The blood was just gushing. He stuck a huge tampon looking thing in to stop the bleeding. I lost a lot of blood. Then he stitched me up. I have about 12 stitches which I can see. DH says there are more under those ones which I can’t see. The stitches were really painful.

All this time, my son was screaming and being weighed and evaluated. His Apgars were 9 and 10. He weighed 3.82kgs, 54cm long and head 36cm. They took him away and put him in the incubator because it was really cold in the labor room. My brother had arrived again and went with my DH to look after the baby. They gave me a suppository and covered me in blankets. I was exhausted and shaking and fell asleep immediately. My brother and DH woke me up, I think my brother said goodbye and I slept again. I kept getting contractions and I was shivering. My midwife had stayed for the birth, it was her last day at the hospital, but was now off duty, so a nurse came in and put more blankets on me. At 9 I decided to try to get up to shower. I made it to the bathroom but the moment I was under the water, I felt like I was going to collapse. They had to carry me back to the normal ward. I was too weak to walk.

My DH got to bath the baby at 10pm. He was also exhausted and wanted to go home. After bathing him, they brought him to me. For the first time I really looked at my son and felt a great deal of emotion. I was upset about the birth, upset that it had left me so drained. It was magical looking at him though and suddenly very worth it. I took him back to the nursery and slept. I would wake up every 2 hours to check on him. I was worried about feeding him. I could hardly make it there and back though and eventually gave up and just slept. I only cleaned myself the next morning when I could have a bath. I couldn’t believe the pain. I fetched him from the nursery and for the first time he latched and started feeding. It was amazing. We were released a day later – Thursday, 23 July. He had a big bruise on his head from the kiwi but that went away pretty quickly. First night back, I started feeling terrible…nauseous and shaky. We rushed to the ER and they admitted me thinking it was kidney stones. They wanted me to stay alone. I refused and said that I would go home if my son couldn’t stay with me. They gave in and put me in a private room so he could stay with me. Turned out I had an obstructed colon. Stayed 2 days in the hospital then we finally came home – Saturday, 25 July.

oooooh! I love sharing my birth story...

It can be read here:
mexicanbola.co.za/mexican-bola_blog/