2nd Birth, Different Story
After having a first birth/pregnancy
that was full of surprises I expected that my second pregnancy would be nothing
but surprise after surprise. This time around I had come to terms that although
the Low Risk Clinic had agreed to take me on as a patient I would likely be
getting kicked out to the city due to low platelets again. Surprisingly enough
my platelets did drop but not as quickly as with my first child and I ended up
being given the approval to deliver in my small rural hospital. I was so happy
as my daughter and parents would be able to come and see me and my husband and
new baby in the hospital (something that was against the policy in the city
hospital when I delivered my daughter). This time around I was not working full
time, having decided to work casual so I could be a stay at home mom to my
daughter and I ended up being 39 weeks pregnant when I went in to labour. After
having to have a Oxytocin drip with my first I was determined to not go to the
hospital until I was in “good” labour. I also didn’t want the disappointment of
having one of my coworkers telling me I wasn’t in enough labour to be admitted.
My contractions began at 3am and
after an hour of regular contractions I decided to wake my husband as I
realized I was in labour and decided to
call my Mom who lives 2 ½ hours away to come watch my daughter. After having
almost 15 hours of contractions/labour with my daughter I assumed I would have quite
a bit of time to go seeing as though my contractions were regular but not super
painful. As my contractions increased and got closer together I spent time
labouring in my shower and breathing and rocking and walking around my house
and up and down the stairs. This time around the contractions felt more
manageable or maybe I was just less scared!
At about 630 they started getting more intense and I started getting
less patient with my poor husband, I remember snapping at him because he was
drinking a cup of coffee (in hindsight I can‘t really blame the guy as I had
woke him up at 4 and he wasn‘t having the adrenaline of labour running through
him). By 7 when my mom pulled up to my house I was not so sure if I was going
to make the hospital for delivery, at this point I was kind of kicking myself
for labouring so long at home, but I truly thought that it would take a while
before I would be in “good labour“.
Thankfully my husband was a fast driver
(although I would definitely not recommend speeding to get to the hospital). We
arrived at the hospital just after shift change at around 715 and my midwife
was finishing up paperwork from a previous delivery. I walked into the triage
area and started to get changed, half assuming that I would be 5cm at most and
have a bit of labour to go, until I felt the urge to push and was quickly moved
over to the labour rooms. When they checked me I was fully dilated- I was
scared again, I had thought I would be labouring for a bit in hospital and here
it was that other than my membranes being intact my body was ready to deliver.
The midwife ruptured my membranes and after 8 minutes of pushing and some Entonox
my little boy was born with 2 of my co-workers, my midwife, and my husband in
attendance in my small rural hospital just as I had planned.
I am so thankful
that they were all so encouraging- I remember being in the middle of pushing
and thinking I couldn’t do it and wanting drugs. I was so scared that I didn’t
have the strength to push through my contractions and deliver my baby, I was
exhausted and excited and every possible feeling imaginable. I will forever be
thankful for the encouraging words and voices of these amazing women and my
husband during the longest 8 minutes of my life. When I got home even after
everything went as planned I was just as happy as I had been with my first when
everything didn’t go as planned. The end result of coming home with a happy,
healthy baby and beginning a journey with my family is what makes me feel truly
blessed in life.
No comments:
Post a Comment