Delivery Diaries - Day 1

From what i have heard, giving birth is always going to be a unique experience for every woman, even if you have done it before. This being my first, I was thrilled and nervous at the same time.
It has taken me a long time to pen down my delivery story, my first priority being my baby girl.
But here I am! Better late than never isn't it ?

If you are wondering why am i calling it delivery "diaries" - "Day 1", well I am among those women who had an awfully long labor. If i calculate from the time I started to have my first real contraction at home till baby Elena came out, it went on for about 35 hours to be exact.
I was under so much pain that we didn't think about taking any pictures (hopefully next time :D if that ever happens)

So here it goes

Since I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes in the 8th month of my pregnancy, I was to be induced on the 20th of Feb 2016, we picked that date because it was a Saturday and hubby could be home and such, without wasting any of his paternity leaves.
Last few days had been very difficult to go by for me and my family. We were all excited that the baby will be here soon and I for one, wanted my contractions to start naturally.
I had a disappointing phone call on the 19th of Feb from my hospital saying - my induction will have to be moved to 22nd of Feb due to overbooking and lots of unplanned inductions that happened that day. Since I wasn't as high risk I had to be moved. Since the NHS provides free maternity care and my hospital is considered one of the best ones in the county , I couldn't do much than to say yes.
 But little did i know.... that my wish was about to be granted and granted good !

By late evening on the 19th I felt like having Pizza! Yes ! Pizza !
I told my husband , "This baby isn't coming out until it has had that slice of pizza ! "
And we had it ... Dominoes to the rescue !
Later I went to bed around 10pm British time, slept maybe for a few hours when my contractions started.

20 Feb 2016,

 2:00 AM 

I woke up with a lot of pain. It was probably going on for a while but this was when the real contractions started to kick in and woke me up. My first instinct before i woke anyone up was to record the time and gap between the contractions. I used the mothercare app , which has a contraction timer . At this time the contractions were coming and going , i would fall asleep and suddenly wake up with a lot of pain.

4:00 AM

By this time things got more intense, the pain was a lot more than before but it would last about 8-9 seconds and go away.

9:00 AM

This was when i finally gave in and woke my husband up , he took my hand and together we started counting the contractions. The pain was coming and going in waves like it should but the duration between two contractions was still not enough to go to the hospital.

12:00 PM

By noon I was feeling much better and i could walk normally and I was back to my normal self . The pains still came and went but the duration between two was getting longer. By this point I thought it was a false alarm.

5:00 PM

Had tea and toast , The pains were back again with much more intensity than before.

6:00 PM

It was hard to stand , and I found it difficult to manage the pain.

8:00 PM

I had my Dinner , and now the pains and the intensity was much increased. Little did i know that this was just the beginning ! My husband called the hospital to report my situation we were advised to stay at home and wait it out a bit. I was to continue my day as usual and practice breathing exercises ! Our collective feeling at that time was FRUSTRATION !

10:00 PM

By this time I was in horrible pain, we called the hospital again , they asked me if there was any sign of water breakage and there wasn't , so I was advised to take a hot bath and keep doing the breathing exercises at home. I did take a warm bath and it did feel nice to be honest, but it didn't last, as soon as I came out of the shower all the comfort was gone.

11:00 PM

An hour later it was just unmanageable pain ! I couldn't stand without support and I was constantly bending forward keeping my hands on a table and swaying from side to side to relive the pain , after a few minuets when i went to the loo , I saw the mucus plug going down and I knew it was time. But there was still no sign of water breakage but i couldn't be sure. Hubby called the hospital the 3rd time and said "that's it she is not going to hold on any longer !" and we were asked to come to the hospital.

11:10 PM

A taxi was called , I had no time to change, thankfully I was in my yoga pants and a large comfy Tee. I could see the panic in my husbands eyes... as i mentally prepared myself that this is going to happen now and by morning I will be meeting my darling Elena !

11:30 PM 

We reached the hospital and went to the labor ward , where I was taken into a assessment room . After a few assessments and about 30 mins of monitoring of contractions with baby heart beat It was determined that I was ready to be admitted! I was almost 5 cm dilated already, half way there.
I was already on Gas and Air to relive the pain. It was quite helpful.

12:00 AM

It was time to move to the Delivery suit.


To be continued .....
The rest of the story is coming soon with an introduction of Baby Elena ! :)

Cheers
PJ