Zahlia & Baby George
I was convinced I was going to have a short, uncomplicated (if that even exists) birth because my mum and grandmother both only labored for 4 hours. That could not be further from the truth for me. I finished work at 35 and a bit weeks on a Thursday thinking I would have four weeks to relax, watch tv and prepare everything. I went into labour 3 days later at 36 weeks meaning George was premature. I was in and out of the hospital for monitoring and by Wednesday the contractions started getting more intense. I was admitted to the ward again and by 9pm my contractions were really intense and close together so much so I actually vomited. I was then sent down to birth suite where I had some lovely midwives looking after us.
They checked me and I was only 4cm dilated and was already in a fair amount of pain. They offered IV paracetamol and my husband said he has never seen me look so disappointed. I finally decided I would get an epidural, which wasn’t originally in my birth plan but definitely made life easier. I was then able to sleep. I woke up and an hour or so later I was 10cm dilated and ready to push. After a few pushes my son’s heart rate was dropping and the medical team was called in. We then decided to use a vacuum to get him out quickly as he was no longer tolerating the contractions. After 15 minutes of pushing he was born at 2.4kg (in the 6th percentile) this classified him as having fetal growth restriction which means he likely wasn’t getting enough nutrients in the womb (to this day I’m still not sure why). He was immediately put on my chest but after a minute or so the midwife noticed something wasn’t right when they were listening to his chest so he was taken for resus and given oxygen and cpap. Everyone was really good there was one midwife who explained everything that was happening and was very reassuring. After what felt like the longest 10 minutes of my life he was put on my chest again and immediately took to breast feeding. It was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever experienced.
The way I look at it is I may not have had the birth I envisioned but I have my son who is healthy and that’s all I need. After the birth my son had to have 3 hourly blood glucose levels done for the first 24 hours and if he failed any he would’ve had to go to special care. I was incredibly lucky to have my milk come in fairly early so his BGLs were always within range, though it was incredibly stressful. We were part of the MGP (midwife group practice) program so I had the same midwife all the way throughout my care and at my son’s birth. They even come out to your house for a few weeks after the birth for weight checks and to check on you which I think is amazing (especially because this was funded publicly).