Birth Stories

The birth of Phumi

Due Date: 18 September 2010
Baby Born: 21 September 2010
Time: 04:13am(Tuesday)
Weight: 3535 kg
Head: 35 cm
Height:53
Natural Birth + Epidural

So my due date came & passed, but nothing happened. I was very heavy & tired at that time so couldn`t stand it any more. I got so depressed and people who were calling to ask when baby is coming were now making me cry.

Thursday 16 Sept was my last appointment with gynae. He said if nothing happens that weekend i must come see him on Monday morning. We agreed on an induction since he was going on holiday that week. So he said he`ll rather induce than to leave me with someone else. By that time im only 2days overdue, but it felt like a lifetime.

Monday morning off i go to see him.

10.00 am - He does an internal using his finger to open the mouth of the womb to trigger labour. The he said i should go straight home, take my bags & rush to hospital as something might happen soon Did as he said, called bd @work to meet me @home so that we can go to the hospital together.

13:00 pm - Arrived in hospital. Im feeling mild period pains, but i can still manage.

14: 00 pm - Im given a private room to wait for labour.

16:00 pm - Nothing is happening, no pains no nothing Gynae calls in & instruct the nursing sister to start giving me the induction. Its tasteless water but apparently has something on it. The will give it to me every hour, 6 times.

So now im lying in bed doing nothing, just waiting. From 16:00 pm i was given this mix until the last one @ 9(21:00) By now im nervous as nothing is happening & the gynae keeps calling to ask how its going. Then they tell me that if nothing happens after the last sip they cant repeat the process, so i might have to go to the theatre for a c-section

My blood pressure is fine & so is baby`s heart beat, so there`s nothing to worry about. By now BD is getting impatient and keeps on asking me when is the baby coming. Like i know!! So im irritated by him & his questions and i told him the baby might come the next day so asked him to pls leave and come back the next morning. We agreed and he left.

22:00 pm - The pains started. No warning, no nothing. They just came like lightning. I jumped off the bed, kneeled down, went to the loo. I called the nurse. She did an internal & said i was 3cm dilated.

23:00 pm - The pains are worse now. She did another check & said i im 5 cm dilated. Im very imptressed with the progress I started saying little prayers asking god that everything goes according to plan.

00:00 - Im 6 cm dilated, now i cant take it anymore. The Sister gave me an anema. Worked really fast & helped ease the pain in a way.

00:30 - The sister calls the Anesthetist to come in for the epidural. He still need to drive to the hospital from home. Im getting very impatient & really sore.

01:00 am - The Anesthetist finally arrives & does the epidural. Im wheeled to the delivery room, given the hospital gown to wear & stay in bed & wait for the actuall labour. Didn`t even feel it going in, all i wanted was the pain to go away.Few second after, the pain is gone and im numb from under the breasts to the toes.

02:00 am - Im sitting there thinking about whats going to happen in a few hours time

03:00 am - Sister does the test & says im fully dilated! She will only call my gynae @ 03:30 as she just need to waited for the head to go down a little.

03:45 am - Gynae comes in. Everything is ready & strarted with the birth process. Tells me what to do & to push when he say so. I pushed 3 times & the head was just about out. When i pushed for the 4th time, the head was stuck He asked me to push really hard. I did & still nothing. He then used the Vacuum extraction to help pull out the head. Still nothing, instead it gave baby`s head a scar. He looked very worried but didn`t want me to see. So he asked me to push for dear life for the list time, if nothing happens we going to theatre as baby is getting tired.

I hold my breath & pushed soooo hard & wola! Baby`s head was out. And the rest followed and my nunu was born. Unbealivable! I couldn`t believe what has just happened. Did what they had to do, then placed her on my chest. We were both shaking, like feeling cold. So the nurse put a blanket on us. They tried to latch her immediately but she just refused. Sister took her for a cleanup while gynae gave me a stitch. He told me i just tore a little. While i was lying the, i felt a need to vomit & it just happened.

I was then cleaned up and they inserted a cathederer to help me pee. They told me to stay in bed till 12 midday because i was week & could fall easily. They brought baby back to me after bath & we stayed in the delivery room until 02 as the hospital was full that day. After 02 we were moved to the other room. Pity i did`nt share a room with other moms, i was alway in a private room. I would have liked to share with the others. Phumi was admittd in NICU on the last day but just 4 the injury in her head. They needed to make sure all is well before we left.

Oh and gynae called bd just after birth to let him know that his girl has arrived! He said he couldn`t sleep. Im glad he was not the, i wouldn`t have wanted to witness that. He would`ve fainted or worse traumatised.

My gynae said we shall meet soon, i said not in the near future

I love my baby soo much!

The birth of Amara Nyiko

Wow what beautiful births. Chris enjoy your bundles, they are nothing less than perfect indeed.

Well here is my birth story.
I had an dr appointment on monday the 23 Nov 09 , My asthma was getting worse as i could hardly breath properly so when i told him this he said he will book me for a cs the next day! I said "hell no!'' the nerves just kicked in and i asked to be admitted the following tuesday on the 1 Dec 09 but to be induced and try natural first.

1 Dec 09 , dh and i arrived at 6.05am at St Augustines Hospital maternity ward and they started doing the paperwork dh went to reception to get me admitted. Dr Ngotho came in before 7am and told them to insert the gel at 8.00am .
8.00am gel was inserted and I had to rest for an hour then was i allowed to get out of bed and walk.

9am mild contractions started and We started getting excited. 12pm my contractions were getting worse but still not dilated.
4pm dr came to check me and still not dilated and then inserted anothe tube of gel. Nurses kept checking the monitor which was put at about 9am that morning and checking if i had dilated but nothing.

10pm dh left as we realised that lo was not ready to come, by this time I had asked for pain relief as the pain was unbearable. At about 10.30am they gave me pethadine which made me sleepy and tired. I slept till 3am , as I was woken up by the pains.

6am the dr came to check me and I still hadnt dilated ( after all that pain). He then told me he is taking me in for a cs at midday, I phoned dh and he arrived at about 7am , he sat with me while i walked up and down the maternity ward trying to decrease the pain , which didnt help. then i had a shower.

9.30am dh decided to go and get himself something to eat.

9.35am the nurse came and said that i will be taken to theater in 2min, i phoned dh to come back and at 9.40am I was wheeled into theater. The aneathetic was so wonderful , he was talking with me trying to make me feel comfortable. After my spinal block the put the catheter in and dh was brought in.

9.59am I felt a great relief in my tummy as they took out amara. I heard cry and I just cried. I couldnt believe that this little person who was mine had finally arrived. Weighing 3.30kg.

BIRTH STORY OF EMILY
by Yvette (in the Jan/Feb 2011 group)
History:
2000 – LB Cameran was born via normal birth at 40w+4 and epidural. Weight 3.6kg.
2009 – LG Ashley was born via c-section at 36 weeks. I went into labour at 35 weeks probably due to me being very ill with kidney infections and hydronephrosis right through the entire pregnancy. Ashley’s weight was 3.2kg.
2010 – 29 december, little Emily made her way into the world at 38 weeks, weighing 2.84kg / head circumference 32.5cm / length 48cm.

On May 10th, I was tired of feeling ‘naar’ for about 4 days. I thought I was getting sick… DH and I had a chuckle about the possibility of me being pregnant again  later that morning, the two little pink stripes came up fast and furious! I laughed in shock as Ashley was only almost 8 months old!

This pregnancy was probably the most emotional for me in a good way, because I felt so blessed to be able to have another baby, without the stresses of trying to conceive one. My cycles were not right yet so I had no idea of ovulation dates and conception dates. I had just given up breastfeeding due to work constraints.

I had a few kidney infections throughout the pregnancy but I caught them in time before they got out of hand.
From 36 weeks I lost the mucous plug, had bad lower backache and the baby dropped very low into my pelvis and I ‘knew’ that birth would be soon. I had a c-section scheduled for the 5th jan – a few days before the 40-week mark. On Christmas day, I had my folks here for lunch and ran around from 6am right through the day. I was absolutely exhausted and felt like the baby was going to fall out. I had pretty hectic BH contractions all day on the 25th/26th/27th December.

Then I decided that I was going to try castor oil on the 27th dec… what a big mistake! I took less than the recommended starting dose, the same amount as I took before (and nothing happened). I honestly thought nothing would happen again. I was wrong! I had the most awful gastro for 6 hours and intense nausea.

Eventually by early evening I was fine again. During the early hours of the morning of the 28th dec, I woke twice to sore ‘BH’ contractions. I went to the local government hospital for a fetal monitoring test. The baby’s heartrate was fine but the contractions band thing was not working. The nurse could see that I was having contractions when there were changes in the FH, but obviously could not tell me how strong they were. This was 9am.
During the whole day, they were regular but not too painful. They felt different though but I was not convinced. By the time 7pm came, they were regular as 15 minutes apart and sore enough for me to stop what I was doing to breathe them away. DH is a paramedic and he went on night shift at 7pm. By 10pm, the contraction were 5-7mins apart and lasted almost 60secs each. I was still not convinced as they were not sore.

Eventually I called DH to come home, we packed Cameran and Ashley into the car and took them to Granny (about 50mins away) then drove to the hospital. Of course, the contraction seemed to filter off. But as we drove in through the gates, I had a major major one and felt my hips opening and serious things going on with my cervix. I was hoping for a VBAC, and felt extremely excited at the prospect!

Went into the labout ward and got very scared. The nurse put me on the monitors and I was having 2 in five minutes for an hour. She looked at me in shock as she read the numbers – they were measuring between 104-116 for every one. The graphs measure to 100. I was talking to her and craig throughout the whole time. I was in active labour and for a long time obviously.

They couldn’t believe my high pain threshold. She did an internal and low and behold, my stupid cervix was high, hard, uneffaced and closed. I got angry with my body and began to stress. The time now was 1:30am on the 29th December.
Gynae/paed/anaesthetist were called out for an emergency c-section and I had been in labour for 24hrs and they were worried about my scar on the uterus.

As I was sitting on the bed in the theatre while the anaesthetist was prepping my back for the spinal, big hot sad tears poured down my cheeks. I was leaning onto Craig’s shoulders sobbing my heart out. I cried because I felt that my body had failed me; I was scared of the pain afterwards; it was all happening too fast for me to process and that it was my last chance to birth naturally that was disappearing right before my very eyes. They battled to get the line in as my back muscles were very tight. I felt awful. Not sick, but so deeply saddened and disappointed.

More so than I have ever felt in my life.

Then Emily was born. She was a surprise. We didn’t know the sex. Recovery has been 100% - she is one week old today. The pain has been minimal. I think God has blessed me.

besides the stress of this birth for me, Emily is really the sweetest thing. she doesn;t cry - just makes a squeak sound when she's ready to feed. breastfeeding her is a pleasure. she looks like a combination of both her siblings. i am loving her to pieces and really enjoying this beautiful innocent newborn stage. it really is my favourite part.

oh well... maybe in 2 yrs we'll try for another little man!

Hi all

Not much to tell really.

On the 28th Dec had a appointment with Dr and found out im about 3cm already. The suggestion was made that if i havent gone into labor then im to go for an induction on the 1st Jan, if the one thing i was holding on for was a baby that could be born in the new year so it was a pleasant suprise to find out she would be a new years baby.

The whole week i had pushing feelings in my ribs thinking it was the baby only to find out that they were contractions if it carried on like this it was going to be a breeze.

New years eve came and still no baby hubby and i stayed up till 12 and then decided to go to bed, which at that time was impossible, so i landed up only falling asleep at 2, got up at 5 had a bath and it hit me im going to have another baby how am i going to cope??

We go to hospital hubby booked me in while i went to the ward, it was so nice to have the same staff that helped deliever my 1st baby girl. Was still having contraction which were messering quite high on the monitor and still it only felt like the baby pushing my ribs.

The came the worst part of the whole thing that dreaded enima!!!!! Well that was given and kicked in at 7am by the time it was out the system it was 8am and active labor had set in.
As the pains got more painful the less optimistic i was feeling at this stage i was still 3cm.
The sister suggested that wonderful big spa bath since i missed out on it the 1st time its now 9am, hubby ran off to the shops and i was thinking i can relax, HOW wrong i was the contractions were kicking in at 2min intervals for 45sec each my idea of a nice soak went out the window.

After 45 mins of water and pain i decided the pain meds now would be a good idea, got myself out the bath without breaking my neck and went to find the sister. At about 10am i was 5cm cervix had dropped, hubby was back and contractions where coming regulary at 2 mins, i got my meds and hoped they where going to help, NOT a chance.

At 11am i was crying from the pain thinking i was the biggest pissy on this side of the world even after i already had one child i think with her i was to dump to know what was going to happen.
I told the sister to please check how far i im coz i didnt want to miss my chance for my epidural and i was 6cm Dr was called and the sister decided that my water needed to be before the Dr got there o the joy.

I got my epidural yet again after much crying, but was the happiest person there after, the pain meds had hit my between the eyes and with only 3hrs sleep that night i made the most of my hour i unknowingly had left. 11:45 i told the sister the baby is going to come soon, had another check up and i was 9cm.

The prep for the birth started and Dr was called again, by 12pm the pushing started and i really didnt think i had the heart for it while hubby was telling me i could do it. When the head could be seen and me wanting to cry i knew i needed to make a plan.
So i got myself together told hubby to grab my leg on his side and me the other i pushed for all i was worth, the head the shoulders the body, i knew i was finished.

I half sat up watched them clean my angel and heard her 1st cry and i let myself go and just cried. Baby was measured and all i got two stitches for a skin rupture at least not a tear.

Baby Vanya Rosemary was born 01/01/2011 at 12:10

Weight 3.96kg
Length 54cm
Head 36cm

i know it is very late but i have only now come back to work and have proper access to a computer and internet.... so here goes.


kassandra - born 20 july ( c- section) 3.218 kgs and 56 cm at 12.59am


okay so anyway here goes....

at 32.5 days i was at work and started getting cramps, worse than normal- anyway at a stage i was in tears.. decided to go to the labour ward ... got there they put monitor on to check baby heart beat showed that i was having light contractions. ranging between 70-100 with contractions in between of about 40. contractions were not comeing often enough at this stage.. but because of the pain i was experiencing- they did an internal too.. was 2cm. anyhow did a urine test urine test showed i had a severe bladder infection. nurse phoned dr that was on call as mine was on holiday - dr said i should be admitted.. was put on a drip which i was given meds to stop the contractions and i was given pethadine injection... also meds for terrible nausea. anyways to cut story short they managed to stop the labour. if i had left the pains i was told i wouldve been in full flung labour by that evening - anyways.. 3wks went by ( had normal checks inbetween) i battled high blood pressure..

at 35.6 days i had my mucous plug makes its show. from then on started having bh a lot and quite sore. i was put on bed rest the following week. anyway the friday before going for csec on the tuesday. i started experiencing bad pains again - went off to the labour ward... to be told not dialated anymore than previous time.. still 2cm and that they were picking up mild contractions. i could stay over if i wanted to... but because we stay reasonably close to hospital i decided to go home and lie in bath... the next day i had decided to go and get the last one or two things i needed before going in. on the way to the shopping centre while waiting for the robot to change , a guy skipped the robot behind us hit another car which hit us. sat waiting for ambulance ( was already having contractions- so couldnt tell if anything was wrong) sat waiting for 20 mins eventually my husband seeing that i was in a state( i think from shock) decided to drive to the hospital. got there and they put me again on the monitor luckilly all was okay... stayed for 2hrs in hospital. was told to go home and get sleep.

anyways finally d day arrived got up at 5am to be at hospital at 6am. i was told i would be done first... expected to be done by latest 8.am . anyways around 9.am anaethatist came around seeing everyone i think there were 5 c secs . only for us to be told that they had other day procedures that needed to be done first.. the nurses came around to put in the catheters ... omg how sore was that... this around 10ish sat until 12 waiting and waiting eventually they came to fetch me to go to the theatre... sat outside the theatre waiting for them to get ready for me- went in at about 12.45 did the spinal tap.. oh my word i had an excellent anaethatist , my hole pregnancy i had been scared the most for that... in the end he told me to push backwards into the needle and its the best thing had it in within 30 seconds. kassandra was born at 12.59. my little angel got 10/10 apgar . the dr joked and asked me if after having such a beautiful little girl was i sure i wanted a sterilisation.. . they finished up with me and i was pushed into recovery, i wasnt getting enough oxygen so they gave me oxygen. about 30 mins later i was back in the maternity ward breastfeeding.. i had a reaction to the anaesthetic i was itching terribly and was vomiting. i was in terrible pain after the spinal wore off, but because it was the 3rd time i had done this i thought i could handle it. boy oh boy was i wrong.. the 2 nd night i ended up having to send kassandra to the nursery cos i could not lift myself in bed in order to pick her up. by the 3rd morning i was in tears iwas so sore i had never experienced this with my other 2 csecs. i eventually realised it was the sterilisation.. they tied my tubes so tight that it stretching and pulling each time i tried to stand or move. i was in tears and the gynae didnt seem to care.. he just told me i was discharged because i was a third time mom i could handle it. when the paed came to see my daughter he told me i should override the gynaes decision and stay on an extra night.. anyways on discharge he gave me a suppository to make my stomach work , which once that was done i felt so much betta. i left the hospital and went home. allthough not all of my birth story was good , i am happy with the present i got at the end

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MY DAUGHTER ( MY KIDS ARE MY LIFE)

Wow, chris. All 3 of them are absolutely gorgeous. Congratulations,may the 3 little ones bring much joy and happiness to you and your hubby

I just want to share my birth story of my 1st born 2 years ago,which still blesses my heart and I cannot wait to bring my 2nd princess into the world...............

Vukona Sizothile’s birth story (30 June 2008)…….

Contractions started very strongly on 22 June 2008, which was a Sunday, I remember I was from the lounge to my mom’s bedroom and my younger brother Themba and baby daddy to be Jeffrey helped me into the room so that I can relax, I was then 39 weeks. Everyone panicked just like I did, then my mom woke me up the Monday to go see my gynae (Dr Maluleke) who sent us back with only medication for discharge treatment. Went home and nothing happened the whole week until I was so tired of waiting, the heat and the heaviness and the baby was not even making way. Her EDD was 3 July and I just couldn’t wait any longer, the pains were coming slowly. Sunday afternoon took my hospital bag and that of baby and off we went to medi-clinic in the company of my parents and Jeff. They gave us a bed and the nurse were monitoring the contractions and said they will only induce me in the morning of 30 June 2008 at 6:00 as it is hospital policy, okay Jeff was tired of waiting so he called my mom who came to pick him up and off he went to sleep yet calling me number of times . I do not know what time he arrived but he was there by 6:00 and they took me to the labour room inserted the pill and waiting for action. hmmm the morning passed and still nothing, the pains were like period like not that intense. My mom was getting worried(asked the pastors to pray for me )and the nurses too as they were thinking of a c-section as I was not dilated and the contractions were increasing fearing that my baby will get tired and die and the fact that my cervix mouth was too small to deliver naturally,they told me that I have bones that of men . My Dr came to check up on me and kept saying I am 1cm dilated, he then left and told the nurses that there is no need for c-section. Jeff and I were busy talking and giggling while he was notifying my mom of everything, the pains were bearable but the toilet trips were more frequent. The nurses will come more often to check on me and give me an epidural shot for the pains (not that they were too much). At 2:45 pm I fell asleep while Jeff was looking at me and at 3:00 pm I felt water running down and I woke up rushed to the toilet and was very embarrassed that I peed on myself, Jeff ran to get the nurse who said I must quickly come out of the toilet as that was my waters breaking, she checked and I was 4 cm dilated then she started panicking but the Dr told them to relax as all will be fine. I fell asleep again after I was feeling more pains then the nurse suggested that Jeff helps me breath in and out using a machine, while exercising the breathing technique I fell fast asleep and all I heard was Dr’s voice at 6:00 pm saying “it is time to push”…Woke up and started pushing funny that I was doing it all wrong until Dr told me what to do then walla baby’s head was coming out and he helped me take her out with a vacuum and baby girl came out at 6:20 pm weighing 3.4, height 47cm. Dr placed her in Jeff’s arms after he (Jeff) had cut the umbilical cord then he sat down with her as Dr was stitching me…Jeff handed the baby to me and I just held her proudly against my skin and I breast fed her with the help of a nurse of course. Jeff took her to be cleaned as he wanted to make sure that they do not mix our Chinese eyed little girl He came back to the delivery room and I told him I need to clean myself up then I got out of bed and went to my room and the nurses were not amused, screaming and kicking, got there went straight to the bathroom then I started feeling numbness from my waist down and when Jeff talked to me got a very rude answer. My mom and her friend arrived and mom said the baby will be Vukona bya Xikwembu(God's presence) as the Lord saw us through the whole complicated long labour period. I said no I do not want that name, my mom's friend said they must go and will come back tomorrow. When they came back to fetch us, Jeff dressed the baby as I was scared, I did the paper work then finally I loved the name Vukona Sizothile (name came from me).My baby girl is my joy and pride and she still continues to be.