Don't get excited...It's probably just another false alarm! (my birth story)

So i know i'm a little late writing this (10.5 months) but i think it's great for us to share our birth stories to show that no two are the same and there is no "normal"

As far as pregnancy goes i didn't have the best time...but it could have been a lot worse. My PAPP A hormone levels came back low so we had an extra scan scheduled for 34 weeks, I was throwing up until about 18 weeks and then i suffered with headaches, I became anaemic, had mild spd and terrible hip pain (from sleeping on my side) and the worst of it all, from around 36 weeks i had PUPPS (Pruritic Urticarial Papules and Plaques of Pregnancy), also known as PEP (Polymorphic Eruption of Pregnancy) an incredibly itchy rash that takes over your body! Mine improved slightly upon delivery but didn't go away until approximately 1 month post-partum.

I had braxton hicks from very early on in my pregnancy (around 16 weeks) but they really ramped up when we hit 30 weeks. i had lots of lightening (fanny daggers) and was carrying extremely low from around 36 weeks. (we were sure i would go early). Well i had 2 false alarms (early labour contractions) both times they were through the night, i had tightenings in my back and lower stomach coming 7-4 minutes apart for a couple of hours before they fizzled out to nothing.

I had my midwife on my due date (14th August 2017) where she performed a sweep (so glamorous) i was already approximate 2 cm dilated (thank you false alarms), She could feel the baby's head and my waters bulging. She booked my induction in for 10 days later (as per protocol) but we were pretty certain i wouldn't need it. After the sweep i put my big pants and pad on and we went out for a walk up the farm track to see if we could help things along.

On the 15th August 2017 at approximately 5am i woke up to mild cramps in my stomach (here we go again i thought) they kept coming and i knew they weren't braxton hicks as i was so used to how they felt. i got in the bath and took some paracetamol but neither really did anything. When the contractions came they were strong and lasting approximately 40 seconds but they were nothing i couldn't breath/sway through. The thing that was throwing me was that they had no pattern at all! everything tells you they will come in pretty even intervals gradually get closer together. Not for me. They were random but getting stronger. I spent the whole day on my gym ball/pacing up and down the garden. By around 5pm they were finally regular (4 mins apart) and getting stronger all the time. We now believed this was the real thing so we quickly had some food (as much as i could stomach) and i rang the labour line. (they told me to wait until 3 mins apart and get on all falls to help with any back pain) so off my husband went to take the dog for a walk and i moved upstairs and got on all fours...WHOOSH...yes my waters burst with an almighty gush. i had a slight moment of panic and then composed myself and called my husband. Once he arrived home we called the labour line back. (after id put my big pants and pad on of course) They told me they would make an appointment for me to be examined in the morning...(Erm no you wont, this baby is coming before then) so they said fine come in but if you're not in active labour you'll be sent home (i knew that wouldn't happen).

So the hubby grabbed our bags and put them in the car and i waddled out between contractions (the pain had really intensified by this point and it was getting harder to just breath through them) When we got to the hospital i had to stop in the corridor a few times before we reached our destination. We were shown to a room (yes one with a pool) It was around 8 pm when a midwife came, asked for a urine sample and my pad (to check the waters) well i couldn't wee as there was an insane amount of pressure down there but i noticed my plug had finally come away. I clambered on the bed to be examined. "Are you feeling pressure in your bottom?" asked the midwife. "yes" i replied, "well you're 8 cm dilated". Oh so that why it hurts! "would you like some gas and air?"...ERM yes please! from this point on i didn't move from the bed (it was to late for a water birth and my contractions were to strong and fast to even think about moving to my preferred all 4's).

When the midwife listened in to the baby's heartbeat with the handheld doppler she caught the tail end of a contraction and a raising heartbeat. She decided to pop me on the monitor to check what was happening. Well it was very clear to hear the heartbeat was dropping significantly low with every contraction. The midwife decided to call a doctor in to check. She came, took a look at the stats and stated baby needs to come out now! Luckily i was already fully dilated and my body had been pushing naturally for around 20 minutes. The Doctor decided the safest and quickest way was to perform and episiotomy (big old cut down there) and use a ventous (suction cup on baby's head).

I'm not sure how many contractions it took, (not very many) but my baby was born in 9 minutes! He was been strangled by his cord! When the head was delivered she stated the baby had blonde hair and was looking around and told my husband to go and have a look! With the next contraction the baby was born and passed up to me..."It's a boy!" i stated in shock and sheer joy. (There was no mistaking those swollen balls). Baby Mark (he didn't have a name) was born at 22:19pm. Another midwife popped in and stated in a surprised tone "you got him out!" I think they were preparing to whip us off to theatre anytime.

I only had a brief cuddle with him as when they did his stats his oxygen levels were low and he had lots of fluid on his chest so they took him away from us for a good 30 minutes. During this time i was stitched up and then the doctor left (me still in stirrups, blood everywhere and everything hanging out for the world to see). Our baby was eventually brought back to us and we were advised he had to stay on my chest to try and clear the fluid naturally and they would be checking his stats often.

I eventually had a shower. (i thought i was going to faint standing up for the first time) put a comfy shirt night gown, huge pants and flip flops on and came back to my now dressed baby boy. (he was 7lb 8oz) and we made our way down to the ward. (i was clinging onto his trolley to steady myself). It wasn't until the next day we settled on his name! Reuben Arlo Douglas (after my grandad).

Reuben refused to feed for around 20 hrs (probably due to the trauma of his delivery) so we had to stay in hospital for 2 nights. His stats were fine thankfully and he did a lot of sleeping (lured us in to a huge false sense of security). He eventually started feeding (and he hasn't stopped since). The next day we were discharged. (Shit...what do we do now)?!