He’s Here!
Now that I’ve got you all champing at the bit!
I’m too exhausted to write a fully detailed birth story right now, but rest assured it’s a long, dramatic one! So here’s a quick run down of what happened…
1:15am - Waters broke, drove doggie to Mum’s, drove to hospital. Had vaginal exam - 2cm, cervix still thick. Laboured until 5cm dilated, 100% effaced just breathing, tried gas & air but didn’t like it. Transferred to delivery suite after a while (when they had a room), transitioned in the shower area and really couldn’t cope. Gave in and accepted Pethidine shot, had exam at same time - 10cm dilated!
6:00pm - Time to push!
8pm - Doc called in, I was having a lot of trouble trying to get him out so doc asked if I want epi, I said no. Was told that they don’t usually let mums push for over 2 hours so he’d give me a little bit longer then give me my options.
8:45pm - Pushed Indigo out without epi but tore A LOT. Indi was fine but I wasn’t. Bled profusly, tore extensively and placenta stayed where it was.
I can’t remember times after that so briefly, I had to go to theatre to get placenta out and get stitched up. Ended up having 3 degree tears, placenta was out in 5 mins but stitching took over 2 hours.
Laboured for 16.5 hours, pushed for 2.5 hours!
We were in hospital from Tuesday am to Thursday pm. Since waking up Monday morning I’ve had a total of 4 hours sleep! It’s 3.30 am and I’m waiting for Jeff to have a good couple of hours before he takes over looking after Indi. I am absolutely shattered but never been so happy! OK, I didn’t get the birth I planned but in the end we’re both here, happy and healthy and that’s the most important thing.
It was a life changing experience and I’ve learned a lot.
So here is my beautiful little boy…
INDIGO ERIC GARY JONES
Born at 20:46 on Tuesday 22nd April 2008.
9lbs 2oz, head 32cm, length 48cm.
Ummm…..
My waters just broke!!! Well, they started to break about half an hour ago. I actually managed to get out of bed before leaking amniotic fluid all over it, although the wierd half hobble I did going from the bedroom to the downstairs bathroom left a trail all the way haha!
So called the hospital (boo!) and she said to come in to be checked, called Mum to let her know Skylar will be spending the night and now I’m having a decaf coffee while Jeff sorts a few things out.
Still not having any contractions, which is strange… something to be thankful about right now I’ll bet!
Hbacmama - it looks like you might have guessed the right day after all! EARTH DAY Hooray!
And Branka - well I couldn’t let you have your baby before me, haha! Why do we have to do everything together?!
So I guess the next time I write you’ll all be meeting Indigo finally 
Still No Signs!
I guess my full moon prediction was wrong after all! And hbacmama has given me her guess of tomorrow - I hope you’re right hun! How perfect would that be haha!
So it’s now Monday the 21st, I’m 4 days ‘overdue’ apparently. I’m now betting that Indi won’t want to make an appearance until his daddy has to go back to work on the 30th - I’ll be 42 weeks the day after that!
I’ve tried a couple of things to naturally induce but nothing has worked. Went for a walk earlier and I felt so heavy, it was hard to walk back up the hill to our front door!! Still taking raspberry leaf tablets, the equivalent of 100 cups a day 
My uterus will be able to compete in World’s Strongest soon!
So we’ve got the consultant appointment in 14 and a half hours. Jeff was all ready for induction, I can see his point - he’ll have more bonding time with his son and he’s worried that Indi is going to keep growing and get too big. I’ve told him that nothing will be done until I’m at least 14 days over. He’s accepted it thankfully. I’m hoping he realises that it’s my body on the line, my body that’ll be pumped full of nasty drugs and I’m pretty sure Indi is quite happy staying in there for a few more days!
With any luck he’ll decide to join us before then. So we’ve got another date to keep in mind - May 1st!
Indigo is officially going to be a Taurus child now, he’s missed out being a Pisces like his daddy and an Aries like me. I’ve never known a Taurus so it should be interesting!
So yeah, no signs of anything happening soon. Braxton Hicks are a little stronger and my lower belly feels more painful at times but that’s it.
We’re getting well and truly fed up of people saying:
“Won’t be long now”
“He’ll come when he’s ready” and
“Any signs yet?”
I honestly think I’ll scream if anyone says these phrases to us again! I mean, people have been calling/asking my mother & mother-in-law to find out if I’ve had the baby yet! “Oh yes, she had the baby… we just decided to not tell anyone.” Duh! I doubt I even know half the people who are asking!
If anyone has any good ideas about natural induction I’d love to know. So far I’ve tried walking, bouncing on my birth ball, taking hot baths, getting intimate 
and using a clary sage oil mix on my bump. And the other ones I know of but don’t want to attempt are castor oil/hot curry, eating up to 7 fresh pineapples and a membrane sweep. It’s really hard just sitting around watching the clock, wishing each day away. I don’t feel too bad today but the past couple of days it was really getting me down, which is stupid because I’m barely overdue, if at all! I know myself that due day could be anytime between 38 and 42 weeks! So why am I getting all depressed about it?
… Could it be something to do with the daily “any signs yet?” questions? Hmmm…
Anyway, enough of that. I’ll be back tomorrow after seeing Ms Goddard the consultant!
(Just wanted to add, I had a really cool dream last night… I was sat by a lake for some reason and was joined by a beautiful, tall African woman who was in labour. She sat down next to me and asked for my help, we had a look and the head was already crowning! I caught her baby and handed ‘it’ to her. Then I woke up. It was a very peaceful dream, if a bit too short.)
Going to take a little break…
… from blogging, just until Tuesday when I go to see the consultant :evil: for the first time. Not looking forward to that - I’m having visions of her saying the word INDUCE over and over again!
Obviously, if this little man decides to make his grand entrance before that I will post immediately… would really appreciate labour vibes for this weekend or Monday or Tuesday before 9am!
So until then, I hope you all have a fabulous weekend
Want The Good News or Bad News?
What a day it has been, I really don’t know where to start.
At the beginning I suppose…
Went into the clinic this morning to have the scan, was told that Indigo is measuring around 10lbs and that the waist measurements are off the scale (meaning shoulders could be large too and lead to shoulder dysoctia). I’m also carrying A LOT of amniotic fluid. Chris (the sonographer/midwife) said there’s no way she’d be happy to let me give birth at home or even the birthcentre so she’s referred me to the hospital 
Jeff drove us to B & Q where we sat in the car park for a while to discuss our options. I cried, a lot and to be honest my head was so messed up at this point I didn’t know what to think. Instead I told Jeff to open the envelope Chris gave us containing Indigo’s gender. He didn’t want to know until Indi’s arrival but it really softened the blow for me (find out boy or girl later 
). Jeff is really concerned and just wants me and Indi here safe and sound. I wanted to carry on with my homebirth plan but this is my first baby and to be honest I’m scared now! I’m still confident in my body’s ability to birth our baby but I’m scared of anything going wrong and not getting to the hospital in time - the hospital is 30-40 minutes away. I’m feeling like a complete failure about this now, succumbing to ‘their’ protocol. Anyway, we went into B & Q to buy some herb seeds and pots. After waddling around for 10 minutes I started to get immense backpain and then it travelled around to the front. It got so bad I had to go to the bathroom to breathe through it! Needless to say we got out of there sharpish!
On the way home we stopped at Nancy’s (MIL) for a quick cup of tea. We didn’t mention the whole having to go to hospital thing, just that baby’s going to be big and they’re going to keep an eye on it. While I was sat there my backpain got worse, then it went to the front again. I just tried to keep talking and smiling through it! We didn’t spend too long there! Straight home, straight upstairs on the birthing ball and on the phone to Mum. The pains I was having were constant at that point, there was no break in between like I expected contractions to be. After talking to Mum for a while I went downstairs to moan and weep at Jeff! Ran a bath but it didn’t help, I actually felt worse because of the heat so out I got out spent a while groaning through pains in the bathroom. I decided there and then to call the midwives to find out what I should do. The ‘contraction’ went away and I called them, getting an engaged tone everytime! By the time I finally got through to someone I was getting another ‘contraction’. I was told to call the hospital because they can’t help me now I’ve been referred :roll:. I intended to wait until this ‘contraction’ was over before calling them so went upstairs and laid on the bed. Jeff came up to join me (all this time he’d been getting the house and animals ready so we could leave if this really was labour!) and talked me through it. It passed and we stayed up there for a bit. After a while it was obvious that my ‘contractions’ had stopped. Dammit! I had an idea that they weren’t the real thing as I’ve had no show and my waters are still intact.
It’s all an anti-climax now. We really thought this was it for a while there. 
So, here I am now. I’m getting a hospital bag ready and Jeff just reminded me to sort the MP3 player out with my favourite music. I’ve got my head around the idea of going to hospital and although I’d like to try for a natural birth there, those pains I had were excruciating and I don’t know if I’ll be able to cope being out of my own environment. We shall just have to see how it all goes.
If you would like to know if Indigo is a boy or a girl…
What ’should’ be my last midwife appointment.
Yep, earlier this afternoon I went to the clinic and saw Carol. Once again, my BP is normal, Indigo’s HB is normal and strong. S/he isn’t quite back to back… rather back to side, the same position s/he’s been in for weeks and weeks. I mentioned the contradictions between baby positioning and SPD exercises and she agreed that Indi’s not likely to turn before labour now and it’s more important that I’m comfortable and not in pain at this time.
She had a good feel of her/his position and size and has booked me in for a scan tomorrow morning! Her guesstimate of Indigo’s birth weight is 9lb and she said they usually ask women to go have a scan when it seems their baby’s going to be rather big. I could’ve declined obviously but it’s something to pass the time! And it’ll be nice seeing our little one inside me for one last time. It doesn’t make any difference what the scan says, I’ll still be having a homebirth with no pain relief… I’ll take their weight predictions with a pinch of salt, after all, they told my sister-in-law that her baby would be 14lb and after a cesarean she ended up being just 6lbs!!
Anyhoo, I’ll be back tomorrow morning to let you all know how it went. I really hope they give us a picture again! Fingers crossed!
Oh, and I’ve got a new page… a weekly calendar! It started of being a two week plan but I got stuck for ideas! If you can think of anything (not too strenuous!) please let me know!
For Once, Jeff…
… Was wrong! His prediction of having the baby yesterday didn’t come true.
Now, any sign of impending labour has all but disappeared.
*stomps foot!*
That’s all for now
‘TMI’ Post
For those of you not in the know, TMI means too much information - usually of a bodily sort when related to pregnancy.
And for this reason I have seperated this entry. Those who can stomach reading about my bodily functions may proceed and hit the ‘Continue Reading’ button… those who can’t - are related to me and/or are male (this means you, Dad) can happily go about your business safe in the knowledge that you still don’t know much about my bodily functions!
Right, with that out of the way…
Re: Chiro
Now then Mrs Hbacmama! You’re awfully insistent about getting me to a chiropractor aren’t you?! Here’s a short list of reasons why ‘I don’t wanna!’…
- Really can’t afford it at the moment.
- If I asked to be referred to one, by the time I get to the chiro’s office I’d be on my 2nd pregnancy!
- Being touched by strangers seriously freaks me out!
- It’s not that bad and I’d feel like a fraud pestering a chiro when there’s other women who can’t even walk!
- I know a couple of ways to ease it myself.
- Hopefully, I’ve got just 3 weeks left until Indi arrives so there doesn’t really seem much point.
If I’m lucky enough to get pregnant again in the future, rest assured that I plan to do a lot of things differently and will most certainly insist on seeing someone as soon as the SPD starts (start of 2nd tri for this one).
Thanks for your concern and suggestions Hbacmama, it’s not been wasted I promise
(P.S. Hope you had a fun playdate )
Ow Ow Ow!
Just two days of trying to get this baby into a good position and bouncing on my birth ball has brought back the SPD three-fold! Everything that ‘optimal fetal positioning’ says to do seems to contradict what they say you have to do to ease SPD… eg. SPD - keep legs closed as much as possible and put your feet up, OFP - Keep legs open so pelvis is wide enough for baby to turn and never lie back or put your feet up!
Now which is more important?!
The nights are worse. After about 3am my hips start to ache so I am constantly changing from left to right as each hip gets painful the more I lie on it. I’ve found a way on being able to lie on my stomach (thanks to Spinning Babies) but can’t sleep in that position ‘cos I’m afraid of squishing the baby! S/he had fun kicking and punching my abdomen this morning when I attempted to get some rest! Yep, definitely back to back!
Anyway, me and Jeff are starting our days with the line “What shall we do today?” and the answer is always the same - “Wait!” It feels as though we can’t move on with anything because we’re waiting, waiting, waiting! Is that normal?
I’m going to try taking a bath with Clary Sage essential oils later… I hate baths but I’ll give it a go then shower off after. Perhaps it’ll help with my aches and pains and perhaps it’ll induce labour… Oh I hope so!
