My completely unperfect labour

The beginning of August a few weeks before my due date we went into hospital as I thought my waters had broken. Looking back, it’s hard to believe that I could have ever mistaken this.. when they go you know. The Midwife told me at the time that she thought perhaps I’d wet myself.. not my finest moment ever.

They did a routine swab test though which unfortunately picked up traces of Group B Strep or GBS as they like to call it. At the time I had no idea what this was having never heard of it. I instantly googled ‘Group B Strep’ which brought up a lot of different articles and webpages each one sounding more and more scary. I decided to stick with the NHS website as I knew this was likely to be the more reliable. It said that Group B Strep was a harmless bacteria which lives on many women but can be passed on to your unborn baby during the birth if fluids and bloods pass across. I read further and it advised that anyone who is found to carry Strep B will need to be given intravenous antibiotics throughout their labour. My natural water birth seemed to be slipping further and further away. I had questions but had no idea who to turn to… my other Mum friends were as clueless as me and I didn’t find this all out until I was already overdue and had had my last Midwife appointment.

Back to the evening of Thursday 4 September 2018, I called the Maternity Triage number to tell them that my waters had broken. Due to the Group B Strep, we were told to come into the hospital straight away. Thankfully the first Midwife who looked after us was lovely and told me that my dream of a natural water birth wasn’t out of the question at this point. A canula was popped in my arm and I was hooked up to what was going to be the start of my 4 hourly intravenous antibiotics.

The contractions started coming thick and fast and we both began to get excited that we’ll very soon get to meet our little boy. He had made us wait nearly two weeks extra and we were both impatient. We wandered around the empty hospital corridors during the night whilst feeling every painful contraction. It was quiet, there was no one around and it was the perfect environment for me to be in. We headed back to the Day Unit on the Antenatal Ward where we had been since arriving at the hospital to find that without warning the pain I was feeling had completely stopped. No more contractions and the excitement was quickly replaced by confusion. The Midwife told us that this happens a lot and was completely normal. At 5am on Thursday 5th September 2019 we were transferred across to the Delivery Suite and I was told that I would need an Oxytocin drip to encourage the contractions to get going again. As I had GBS they were insistent on getting the baby out as quickly as possible. I realised at this point that my dream of a wonderful calm water birth was over and I broke down with Mr N. Instead of the rooms on the Birthing Unit which looked more like spas with cosy chairs and bright wallpaper, we were in a clinical delivery room. As per usual Mr N was amazing; he tried to recreate a nice calm environment and make the best of what we had. He pulled the blind down on the window and we dimmed the lights. He switched on the Playlist that I had spent months compiling.. a mixture of old school Garage, 70s and Disney songs. Sounds like a crazy collection of music but it put me at ease and the Midwives loved it too.

I had technically been induced and therefore was told that the contractions will be more painful as I won’t have the steady build up associated with a natural labour.

My Birth Plan was ‘perfect’ as I’d been told by my Midwife. It listed what I did want and also what I didn’t want but I made it quite clear that I would be driven by those in charge and those who know best. Little did I know when I was writing the Birth Plan how useless it would be.

The Oxytocin drip meant that my contractions started up again and quickly and with a ferociousness that had not been there before. The Sciatica that I had been suffering with meant that I was feeling all my contractions not only in my lower back but also across the top of my legs and the pain was unbelievable. I remember screaming at how much they were hurting and they were coming fast with very little break between them. My Midwife decided to lower the dose of Oxytocin for a bit so my body could get back in control of the contractions.

I decided that considering I am the biggest wimp in everyday life that I was going to try and be brave and try for a natural birth for as long as I could. I held off without any drugs until 10am when it all got too much and I gave in and accepted the gas and air. Unfortunately, this didn’t give me the relief I was looking for but it did take a slight edge off the pain for a small amount of time.

Even though my waters had gone whilst I was at home the night before, my Midwife didn’t feel as though I was making enough progress and so decided to do an examination. She thought that maybe there were some waters intact. I remember thinking “How is that even possible after seeing the amount of fluid I lost before”. She then confirmed that her suspicions were correct and she need to break the remainder of my waters. This was an unbelievably excruciating experience and I was amazed when I saw how much extra water was still left.

Thanks to my Midwife’s decision to examine me and find the hidden waters, I dilated from 2cm to 3cm instantly. I finally felt like we were making some progress and hopefully would be meeting our Son very soon.

Not only was I still attached to the Oxytocin drip, I now had had my waters broken and was warned that unfortunately things were going to get a lot worse very quickly. Within minutes the pain got immensely worse and I remember thinking that I couldn’t go on with this for much longer. My Birth Plan specifically said no Epidural… it was something I really didn’t want. I didn’t like the idea of being numb and not being able to feel anything… the thought terrified me but I had also prepared Mr N that things may change in labour and that if I decided I wanted one then to go with that. It was at this point that my Midwife suggested some further pain relief and really my only option was an Epidural. She told me I was ‘hardcore’ for surviving this long without one as most women that have been induced would have had one long ago. It was a big decision for me as I really didn’t want one but I couldn’t see myself getting through the rest of the labour without some stronger pain relief.

It was then that I decided to go ahead with the Epidural and I suddenly became very impatient and wanted it done right that second. I was told by the Anaesthetist that I needed to bend my head into my chest and let him know when I wasn’t feeling a contraction. The only problem at that point was my contractions were barely giving me a 30 second break so they didn’t have much time. I remember this part not being pleasant and I did scream at the poor man at one point. Once this was given, the contractions in my legs and lower back eased to the point where I felt that I could get some rest. Up until this point I was desperate to keep changing positions on the bed much to Mr N’s annoyance. Every change of position was basically a military exercise as I was connected to all sorts of machines… I was hooked up to the Oxytocin drip, I was receiving antibiotics intravenously every 4 hours and me and the baby were constantly monitored with straps across my tummy so it wasn’t easy. Once I’d had the epidural I was resigned to being on my back as I had only some feeling in my legs by that point.

Throughout the day we were visited by the lady in charge of bringing meals round to us lucky ladies in labour. It became a bit of a running joke that she would choose the most unfortunate time to pop her head in and either ask if I was ready for something to eat or just by being there with a tray of food. She disturbed the doctors whilst they were introducing themselves not long after I had moved over to the Delivery Suite, she appeared whilst I was having my waters broken and as if that wasn’t enough she even appeared at the point I was having the epidural. If I wasn’t in so much pain I would have found it hilarious.

Mr N decided that he was going to head down to the canteen to get some lunch. I’d had the epidural by this point and was resting and at my last examination a short while before I was still only 3cm dilated so there was no chance of the baby appearing any time soon. However, within 30 minutes of Mr N leaving I suddenly felt an immense pressure and felt like I wanted to push. My Midwife was on her break as she too was under the impression that there was no urgent sign of the baby. I told the Midwife in the room with me about the pressure and she said she would examine me. To both our surprise she found that I was 9cm dilated.. in the space of 90 minutes I had dilated 6cm. I grabbed my phone and frantically texted Mr N to hurry back.