Labour and Delivery story | 27 hours, unplanned c-section & baby blues

Hi Cherubs!

During my third trimester my favorite thing to do was read other bloggers birth stories and also watch birth vlogs on youtube. It definitely gave me a sense of what was to come, whether good or bad. I thought I would talk about mine here on the blog in the hopes that it will prepare or help others and I guess it's good for me to look back on and maybe compare with future births (way in the future births 😂)

If you follow me on Instagram you could probably tell I was done with pregnancy, I was really feeling it towards the end and I was a little stressed out that my baby was measuring on the big side. Honestly, the thought of pushing out a 10lb baby was terrifying, so going into labour a week or so early was the ideal situation for me. With that in mind on Monday 27th November I had booked in for my second acupuncture session to try and induce my labour, I was approaching my 39th week of pregnancy at this point. I didn't really have high hopes for it working but I was willing to try anything. That evening I went to bed around 9pm and at 11:15 pm when I got up for my 3rd toilet trip of the night my water broke. Pretty damn convenient being on the toilet I must add! I remember opening the bathroom door and flooding the bedroom with light and just waiting for my husband to look over, eventually he did and he just knew straight away it was baby time! 

In a recent birth class the teacher told us that if your water breaks not to go in to hospital straight away and just to labour at home until the contractions become intense. We called the hospital anyway and they told us to come in so I could get checked out, we thought we would get sent home because I was having zero contractions but once I was seen by a nurse she informed us that I was going to be admitted due to the fact I wasn't laboring yet and once your water breaks you are at high risk of infection. 

Our labour and delivery room was absolutely huge, with our own bathroom, tv and a bed for my husband. We did try to get some rest in the early hours of Tuesday morning as nothing was happening yet. After 4 hours of being at the hospital I was given pitocin to induce my labour and eventually I started getting contractions every 7 mins. At first I was surprised at how manageable the contractions were but that swiftly changed and I was in agony. (FYI worst pain ever) After 10 hours I finally gave in and asked for an epidural, the reason I waited so long was because I didn't want to be stuck in bed especially with having had a bad back during most of my pregnancy. But there are only so many breathing techniques and rhythmic yoga ball movements one can make before it just gets too much. I have so much respect for mamas doing labour drug free, you are heroes!! 
I was so nervous about having the epidural especially because you have to stay still whilst they are placing the needle and that's easier said than done when you're having a contraction. Once it was in though I had relief straight away and I felt like a new women, I think even my husband was relieved to not see me in pain anymore. I would 100% have another epidural even though I felt like a dead weight afterwards.

After being on pitocin for 20 hours and my contractions being 4 mins apart my doctors finally checked me and I was 9.5cm dilated and ready to push. The pushing part wasn't as bad as I had anticipated, I could feel my contractions again but they were mild so I knew exactly when to start pushing. Everything was going well, I was pushing in the right place and feeling motivated but after 3 hours I had made no progress, my contractions were still only 4mins apart and I developed a fever which is a sign of infection. At this point my doctors thought a cesarean was the safest way to deliver my baby. 
I didn't have a strict birth plan but a cesarean definitely wasn't an option for me, I felt extremely gutted about the situation but I was exhausted and because of my fever there was a risk to my baby so I just went with the doctors recommendation. Everything went pretty quickly then, my husband got changed into scrubs and I was being wheeled off to a bright sterile operating room. I was on several different antibiotics for my fever and given another epidural to make sure I was completely numb for the procedure. I was extremely drowsy at this point and I could not keep my eyes open and this was where my first bouts of baby blues kicked in. I was about to meet my baby and I couldn't even keep my eyes open. I was also shaking uncontrollably maybe from the drugs or maybe from being cold but it was an unpleasant experience. The cesarean took around 30 mins and then my baby girl Mina was here, born on November 29th at 3:53am, she had her cord wrapped around her neck and a heart rate of over 200bpm probably due to my fever. I could hear her crying but still all I wanted to do was sleep. It felt like a lifetime before they brought her over to me and it was crazy to finally lay eyes on the little lady who had been kicking me in my bladder just a few days ago. 

They wheeled me back to my room with my newborn baby in my shaky arms and I just remember wishing someone would take her off me for fear of dropping her. It was a surreal few hours I probably managed 20 mins of sleep before having to try and nurse and that was another emotional task as she wouldn't latch at first and when she did it was extremely painful. Breastfeeding has been a rollercoaster ride but I will probably talk about that in a separate post.

After a few hours we were moved to the mother and baby ward where we had our own room again  with a bed for my husband, I don't think I would have coped if he wasn't allowed to stay the night. The nurses in my hospital were so amazing and helped me out a lot with nursing and just generally making me feel good about myself and looking after Mina. Looking back I was definitely a little hard on myself for not bonding straight away with my baby but the exhaustion and multiple drugs I was taking probably exacerbated my emotions.
One of the policies at my hospital is to get the mother up and walking in the same day as having a cesarean and I think that has been one of the main factors of my speedy recovery. My scar sometimes feels a little tight but I am able to go on daily walks now being at home. Taking Mina home after 2 nights in hospital was another surreal moment, like 'are they really trusting me with this tiny life?'.

Once we were back at home thats when I really started to fall in love with her, every time I looked at her little face I would smile. She has us both wrapped around her little finger and we couldn't be happier about that!

The first few weeks with Mina my emotions were all over the place, I constantly felt like I was on the verge of tears. However the past few days I have felt more myself and maybe thats because I'm just getting used to being a mom and have my shit together, finally! There is nothing that can quite prepare you for being a parent and the constant guilt and worry you feel. But seeing Mina change from day to day makes all the stress worth while. Being a mother means basically never drinking a hot cup of tea again and googling crazy things in the middle of the night; I wouldn't have it any other way!!

Meet my beautiful little girl, Mina 😍

Baby girl, Labour and delivery story, New mom, Cesarean section, Baby blues


Feel free to leave your labour stories in the comments or email me, I would love to read them!

Merry Christmas

Love Sarah & Mina

5 comments

  1. Your baby girl is lovely. Thank you for sharing your story. I follow you on Instagram and delivered my baby a week after you. I too was induced with pitocin and found the whole labour quite horrific. My baby turned as she was coming through birth canal and I ended up being taken to theatre to try a forceps delivery with an episiotomy before a cesarean. The forceps worked and she was out very quickly. It is a very surreal experience. I too am enjoying my baby's changes each day. Love and health to you both - Jo

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    1. Thanks so much for sharing Jo! Congrats on your baby girl, I'm so glad she arrived safely! I hope your both doing well and enjoying the holidays <3

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    2. Also let me know who you are on Instagram so I can follow you back <3

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Thank you for reading, I absolutely love reading your comments <3

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