Zander's Birth story

Just copied and pasted it from the preggo lounge...took me forever to find!!



I suffered throughout my pregnancy from Sciatica, which is when the baby pinches a nerve in your back and you end up with a spot on your leg that either burns like fire; stabs with pain or just go numb all the time. So come Sunday 15 Feb 2009 I was finally in tears because I was just emotional and my leg was driving me crazy and we set off to hospital to see what could be done.

Got there and the doc put me on the foetal heart monitor again (even though I reminded him my LEG was the issue here and that Zander was his usual kicking self) and he decided to do an internal while he was sommer at it. @#$%! my leg obviously, but I thought maybe the leg pain is an unsual sign of labour and he might find something. It was totally funny, as the doctor was from the Netherlands (for a second there I couldn't help remembering that this is the country where weed is legal, hopefully he was sober during lectures) and he was trying to make himself understandable during the internal examination and was not succeeding (when your leg aches this bad Afrikaans and Dutch does not sound alike). It finally came across that I was still, at 42 weeks 4days only a tip of a finger dilated, baby still 3/5 engaged and something about my weight I chose to forget. I was prescribed pain pills from the pharmacy which was closed on the Sunday (hooray for government health hospitals! Imagine that: No pills on Sunday, so are all the patients going cold-turkey or what?)

Anyhoo, pitched up there on Monday, ignored the pain tablets for my leg, as I spent the entire Sunday night devising a plan to get this baby out. By now it all I could think of was my leg, nothing else, nevermind that its GOOD for baby to cook in the sauce till kingdom come apparently. Finally got another doctor to see me, and she was brilliant. She took one look at my chart and said she sees no reason for me to waddle around any longer and that she would schedule an induction, as I haven't dilated and probably won't dilate naturally anyway. I said good, because if she doesn't make a plan, I'll start pushing right there and then in the room whether I am in labour or not. I was DESPERATE and the fact that it was 34 degrees outside did not help. So my induction was scheduled for 18 Feb 2009 at 07:00 at Karl Bremer hospital (yip naming and shaming the bastards).

TRIED sleeping that Tuesday night, no success, I was super excited and scared and nervous and my constipation was gone in a flash I tell you, spent half the night on the loo.....which did not help that other situation I posted about previously. Repacked my little suitcase (only realised after how much unnecessary shit I packed) and was at the hospital in this long virginal white dress, stereotypical pregnant woman like I felt I was. I even had "linte" in my hair, like that was suppose to excuse the absence of a wedding ring on my finger.

I took my first dose of Misoprosil at 09:00 (I had to queue for the bed I actually booked the previous day). Misprosil is use in early pregnancy as an abortion drug and late pregnancy as a method of induction. How it works is you take one tablet with water, if nothing happens you take another four hours later and so forth until your sixth dose where you need to make another plan as te stuff seems to be candy to you system. Karl Bremer is a public hospital and though clean and hygienic it does not have private rooms so you spend your time with three other women in the first stages of of labour. I was the only woman not in labour in that room. Everwhere around me was a woman moaning and grunting and here I was sitting on my bed (with that STUPID freaking blue hospital gown) reading Jackie Collins and popping pills. I tried to look sick because I started worrying if I don't they might send me home and give my bed to someone that is doing some moaning and groaning. I had no pain, not a twinge, not even my leg was going at it..........I wasn't even tired. My mom sat with me all day, continuosly asking me "No Pain?". I was going crazy because I wasn't even sure what the pain was suppseod to feel like.

And then 00:37 19/02/2009 came. I will light a candle at this very moment for the rest of my every year because this was truely the most painful thing I have ever experienced and the fact that I survived the very first one means I am superhuman. It is like very bad backache but to make sure you don't mistake it for something else your body donkeybites your kidneys and pulls your uterus towards your spine at the same time. Its pretty sore. I called the nurse, explained what was happening and they realised I was in labour and called my mom to come (she was my doula btw). The next four hours was mostly pain, endless internal examinations with no dilation whatsoever. At 07:00 this really fat nurse came in for yet another internal (which by the way was just as painful) and decided since I seem to be nicely in labour she will sommer break my water for me. Obviously by then I realised she was there to torture me so the oain wasn't a surprise but not telling me what she was going to do was. And then she left me in the wet bed for another two hours. And as we all know, once your waters break, your ontractions become stronger and stronger. And then a nurse pitched up with a syringe.....filled with Pethadine. The painkiller of painkillers....

Now, and this may come as a shock to some, but in my wild youth I was a raver and I have dabbled in illicit narcotics (never heavy stuff) so I know how to make things last. When that nurse injected me I was riding that painkiller wave like there was no tomorrow, not moving a muscle, trying to breathe through one nostril only as oxygen ometimes diminishes the effect of Pethadine. I could still feel the contractions but they were much more bearable now. By then I dilated 4cm already, felt like shit, looked even worse and trying my best not to swear in front of my mom (which puts a damper on things, it seems like the "f" word is a painkiller itself and by that stage I would have chowed an entire box of myprodols if I thought it would work) was then moved to the labour ward so I could "start labour"....they made it sound like I was making breakfast for the pas ten hours instead of howling at everyone to please kill me. In the labour ward I was giving a catheter. Now my mom tells (I don't remember this) that I was fighting with them not to put it in and even kicked the Hollandse doctor. After it was in and they left, I would yell: "Can someone take this bloody catheter out?Helloooooooooooooooo?" Like I said, no recollection from my side, the entire day was a blur of pain to me.

Skip most of the day where I was mostly yelling and screaming and breathing Ethanox (I did my course of pethadine and that was all they had to offer, apparently I also told my bf to try it when he came to say hi) so by 20:00 that night I was exhausted and 6 cm dilated. I will honestly say that I was comepletely demotivated by that stage, in agony, worried sick about my boy (who btw, was doing fine on the monitor...day in the park for him), pissed off, tripping on ethanox and the last stages of the pethadine and I looked like that crazy woman from The Ring from all the sweating. The doc only THEN decided that maybe, just MAYBE a c-section should be considered......and when I heard that word I started begging like I have never begged before. Unprogressive labour does that to you. It makes you behave bad, lose your looks and makes you beg for you life and thelittle bit of dignity you may have left after shouting HELLOOOOOOO at the nurses. I was givin a spinal block and Lee was born 20:22 on 19/02/2009 via emergency c-section. And no he did not scream his lungs off, he sqwauked like a sea gull then promptly went quiet and just stared all around, exept for another squeak when he got his vtamin K injection. His Apgar score was 9/10 and 5 min later 10/10. Up untill today he cries very little, and prefers to sit propped up to see whatever is going on (not that he can see much but let me not try and convince him otherwise. I can say this, for the ladies having a c-section, make sure you have someone at home to help you, I would not have been able to make it without my mom to help out asit is painful and it is HELL on your body. I would also like to add that I only found out afterwards that my contractions throughout my entire labour were 2 minutes apart, and that induction should always be accompanied by proper pain relief, which was not given in my case so the natural birth moms should not be put off by my story please!

My tips for the first time mom's here? Jeez where do I start!

1) Don't worry about dressing up. Day 1 you will change clothes every time you get puked on, day 2 you don't change clothes cause chances are you'll get puked on again, day 3 you wear day 2's clothes again because you'll smell like puke no matter what you wear.

2) Eat during labour even if you don't feel like it. It helps with your energy levels and Powerade is more valuable during labour than anything else. O yes, and if you feel like no one cares that your in pain say the words "I feel like pushing". They will rush to your side, and faff over you and that is sure to make them listen. It worked at least three times I can remember of.

3) If you had a c-section, move about alot. Stand, sit, walk whatever. Just don't go to the toilet for a number two, laugh, sneeze, cough or blink your eyes too hard. It's bearable after day two and by day si I took out my own stitches. For the ladies with a little flab (that's me too) Put a little foot powder on the scar if you sweat alot and it smells weird. Baby powder don't work.

4) Breastfeeding is HARD! Lee is on half formula as my nipples cracked to bleeding point and I was forced to stop feeding for a while. I now express half his feeds and half comes from a tin. An no, giving your newborn formula does not make you a bad mom. Don't let anyone make you feel guilty for feeding your child

Goodness gracious!! What a story!

xxx

Goodness gracious!! What a story!

xxx

Wow, that sounds quite hectic

What made you change his name from Lee to Zander?

I put my hat off for you.

WOW I take my hat off for you!!

Riana, his slapgat father chose to name him Lee. So when the loser disappeared I chose another name lol

Honey I loved reading this story before and I am laughing again as I read it, this time being through the labour process myself I take my hat of to you for enduring it soooo long....

My daughters fathers name is Lee, so happy u didnt go that route. Sorry but that name makes me cringe (I have issues )

Goodness Honey! I cringed througout your story! I spent more than a year as a medical officer in Obstetrics and the mistakes they made with you are terrible!!!! I am just very glad your little boy was OK, and of course that you survived what I can only call an ordeal.

WOW!! What a story!! Im sure nurses in Maternity wards must have killer stories to share ! ha ha

All the best!!!

Good one!!

LOL honey.
I like the part where you started looking sick so they would not send you home.