Evangeline was born on Thursday the 10th March, on her due date. In the days before her due date, my blood pressure had risen and was being closely monitored by my midwife, Karen. The obstetrician and midwife thought it was best for me to be induced, as my blood pressure was remaining somewhat elevated, even though I didn't have any signs of pre-eclampsia yet. I had a stretch and sweep procedure on Monday, then on Tuesday had some cramps and lost the mucus plug. On Wednesday night I went in for an appointment with the prospect of being admitted and having the cervidil balloon inserted to induce labour. The doctor examined me and determined that I was already in early labour, so the plan was for me to come in Thursday morning for an artificial rupture of membranes then syntocin drip if needed. Early Thursday morning I woke at 2am with contractions happening every 7- 10 minutes, and too painful for me to sleep through, so I got up and timed the contractions, had a cup of tea and tried to prepare myself mentally for labour. By 4am my contractions were every 5 minutes although not consistent.
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| Heading into hospital to be induced |
My husband and I headed to the hospital early in the morning, nervous and excited.
By the time I got to the hospital my contractions had petered out, which my midwife said was fairly normal due to adrenaline and being in a less familiar environment.
They gave me IV antibiotics as I had tested positive for Group B Strep, then the midwife broke my waters. After this I walked the corridors outside the labour ward to use gravity to hopefully get my contractions started. By 11am my contractions were coming every 2 1/2 minutes and were very painful, with not much of a respite between. I got my TENS machine out and used that to help with the contraction pain, but my back was really sore and the TENS didn't seem to help a whole lot. After another hour I was in a lot of pain, writhing through each steady contraction, and felt like they never really stopped, each one coming on top of the other. I was standing leaning against the bed and trying to sway and move and release the tension. Soon I felt hot, nauseated and unable to cope with the pain and I remember saying I didn't want to do this anymore. Karen suggested to try some gas and air, but I declined the first few times as I didn't find it helped in my previous labour. Eventually I relented and the gas and air really helped calm my breathing and made the pain a little more bearable. Before long I was starting to feel the urge to push at the end of each massive contraction and my midwife suggested I use a standing squat to birth my baby. My husband was on the other side of the bed, holding my hands and I started to feel vague urges to push but it felt like another 10 or 15 minutes before it was an urge I needed to go with.
Once I started pushing things got a little scary as my baby's head emerged but her shoulders got stuck - for over 4 minutes which I found out later. At one point the midwives pushed the emergency button and the room suddenly filled with the emergency medical team, another 10 or so people. I had an awareness that she must be stuck and that it was getting bad, and seeing all the emergency personnel rush into the room with concern on their faces scared me, and I felt a determination to give the biggest possible push to get her out. The midwife lowered the bed and I ended up in a very deep squat and used all of my power to push, whilst a midwife must have inserted her hand to help guide my baby's shoulder out. Such a huge sense of relief when my baby's body slipped out. Her skin was a dark purple colour and she wasn't moving much or making any noise, and they immediately cut her cord and took her to the resuscitation trolley. It felt like forever until we heard a little cry and I kept asking "is she ok?" The worry and fear on my husband's face frightened me.
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| Newborn Evangeline |
Eventually our precious girl was breathing and stabilised, and she was placed her on my bare chest, wrapped in a towel, for skin to skin contact.
As I stroked her cheek and felt her nuzzle against me, and saw her eyes opening and taking in her new world, the relief and happiness was overwhelming.
We felt the name Evangeline suited our beautiful little baby girl, meaning "good news" or "bearer of good news". At birth she weighed 9lb4oz / 4.2kgs, was 53 cms long and her head circumference was 35cm.
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| Big brothers having their first cuddles with their little sister. |
So happy it all went well! She is beautiful and growing so fast!
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