A few days later a midwife examined her and also confirmed that her waters had not gone and that she could perform a membrane sweep to help things along. In hindsight knowing what I do now I would have not allowed the midwife to perform the sweep and instead would have taken my wife to the hospital. Anyway that night my wife had another uncomfortable night, in the morning she really looked concerned so we called the hospital. This time we was told to come in for a check up. At the hospital my wife was examined by a midwife who said that her waters had not gone, she organised for a consultant to examine her for a second opinion.
The consultant was a nice friendly lady who obviously had years of experience, she not only made my wife feel comfortable as she examined her but also gave words of reassurance as she could see we were concerned. It only took the consultant a few seconds to come to the conclusion that my wife’s waters had broken and that she could feel the membrane had gone. She then explained that since the waters might have gone three days ago when we first called the hospital we would need to stay in now and my wife would need to be induced.
Even though we were waiting for things to kick off this was still a bit of a shock to the system, we hadn’t looked into induced labour much, it’s funny how at times like this everything you seem to know goes out of your head. Whilst we waited for them to take us into the labour ward I had the chance to nip home and grab a few items that I hadn’t put into the hospital bag, this included the tens machine, iPod and flask full of ice.
At the hospital after an hour or so wait we was taken into the labour ward. There was a strange calm about the place, which at the time seemed nice and relaxing. Whilst my wife was hooked up to some monitors to check the baby’s heart beat and also given antibiotics via IV I had time to think about what we was going to do for the next few hours before they started her on the drugs (Syntocinon) to induce labour. My first decision was to go and grab some sandwiches for us both, this proved to be a good move as when things start to kick off eating becomes the last thing on your mind. I also made a few phone calls during this time just to let our families know what was going on.
At 5:30 pm they started the Syntocinon which was administered through an intravenous "drip" which would allow the hormone to go straight into the blood stream.
Syntocinon what exactly is it?
Syntocinon is a synthetic version of the naturally-occurring hormone oxytocin and works in the same way as the natural hormone. Syntocinon is used to induce labour for medical reasons, or if labour has not started naturally. The dose of the medicine is adjusted until the contractions produced are in a similar pattern to that of normal labour. Syntocinon can cause strong contractions which can start fairly quickly and put your baby under stress, so you will need to be monitored continuously. Many women say that contractions brought on by syntocinon are more painful than natural ones and it is worth considering an epidural for pain relief. There is also some evidence that instruments such as forceps or ventouse may need to be used to help deliver your baby, following an induction (MIDIRS 2008: 10)
It only took about an hour for the contractions to start and the pain to hit my wife. For pain relief she started on the tens machine and even on the lowest setting she found it uncomfortable. As time went on the midwife increased the dose and soon the contractions where coming thick and fast and my wife was becoming more and more uncomfortable. After a few hours my wife started on the Entonox (gas and air) which seemed to help at first but made her feel a bit light headed and sick. As the contractions got stronger the midwife turned and said to me have you considered an epidural, at first I didn’t understand why she was asking me this now as she failed to explain that the Syntocinon would bring on stronger and more painful contractions, had I known this at this stage I would have told them to go ahead with it.
What is Entonox?
Made up of half oxygen and half nitrous oxide Entonox (laughing gas), or gas and air as it is commonly known, is colourless and odourless, It can have a calming effect which can take the edge of labour pain but will not block it out completely and since it does not cross the placenta it is safe for both you and your baby.
Next was my wife’s waters that seemed to just go during a contraction, we was told that this was ok and that the baby’s head could have prevented the hind waters from leaking out earlier. So on a bed, tired, wet, in pain my wife was not having a good time, and although trying to hold it together I was becoming more and more concerned that she would soon not be able to take any more. Finally about 8:30 I told the midwife to go ahead with the Epidural before it became too late. The decision had to be made since my wife was 6cm dilated and in so much pain, she was trying to push on every contraction and the tens machine was on full power and she couldn’t feel it.
“I have since tested the tens machine on my own back for a back condition I have and even on the first setting it is painful, so I can’t even imagine the pain my wife was in to not even feel this on full power.”
Thirty minutes later the anaesthetist arrived and after explaining a few things about the procedure and the drug she continued. The anaesthetist first gave an injection of local anaesthetic into her lower back and then guided a hollow needle between the small bones in her spine. A catheter was then passed through the needle, once in place the needle was removed and the catheter was taped over her shoulder. Luckily for my wife the epidural seemed to work well and she couldn’t feel the pain from the contractions much once it had kicked in. The next few hours went by and at 11pm there seemed to be more midwifes in the room and more examinations. My wife was now 10cm dilated and we were told she could start to push in the next hour. A few minutes later the same consultant that we had seen in the morning turned up and started to look at all the monitors and graphs and then explained that the baby’s heart rate had started to drop and that they would have to try and deliver the baby now.
I can’t tell you the sense or worry that came over me, it’s tricky to not get in the way at this stage with the number of people in the room and a feeling of being helpless suddenly swept across me. The next issue for my wife was with the epidural, since it had worked so well she could feel the contractions and definitely could feel if she was pushing correctly. Whilst the consultant assisted a midwife had her hands on her tummy and would tell her when to push, she tried this for about 15 minutes before the consultant got up and started to talk to a few people, then turned and said we are going to take you into theatre as a precaution in case they would need to perform an emergency Caesarean section. I was taken to get changed into a surgical gown etc, and by the time I got back to the room they were ready to take us into theatre.
The thing the struck me most was the bright lights, and the noise of machines beeping, this had quickly gone from calm to panic. They didn’t hang around getting my wife ready and after topping up the epidural the consultant tried the ventouse first. She managed to get the baby’s head partially out but said she would need to use forceps as the baby had become transverse. They had to cut my wife in order to help stop a major tear from occurring and then out came the forceps. My initial reaction was shock, the size of them, surely they can’t be safe to put around a baby’s head. The consultant attached to forceps and then looked to use a lot of force, things didn’t look like they were going well and then out she came, our beautiful baby girl. They quickly showed her to us and then took her to clean her up and check her. Whilst this was going on I could hear the consultant say she had suffered a third degree tear and my biggest mistake at this point was to get up and have a look, what a mess.
Before our baby was born I thought of how I might react to the birth and just thinking of it I would well up, surprisingly here I was in what I would call a state of shock, emotionless, I couldn’t cry, I couldn’t smile. My main concern was my wife and as I sat by her she kept saying go and see if our girl is ok, but I was frozen to my seat. It was now that the effects of the epidural started to show, my wife began to shake uncontrollably and I started to worry, I called over the anaesthetist who said it was normal and a side effect from the drugs. As I held her hands I gave her a kiss and smiled, “you didn’t it baby, you did it”.
I was then called over to cut the cord, and got to have a good look at her, she still had the marks across her face from the forceps but I was told this would go away. I was then handed the baby and was told I would be escorted to the recovery room whilst my wife was stitched up. The wait for her seemed to take ages, when they finally wheeled her in she looked exhausted, still shaking from the drugs I tried to put the baby on her skin as we wanted the skin to skin contact as soon as possible.
My wife ended up choosing the name Amber for our princess, and since she had done all the hard work I told her she had earned the right to name her, besides I was chuffed with the name she had chosen.
So that’s the story of how little Amber came into this world, not the natural birth we was expecting but I’m truly thankful that both my girls came out of it in one piece.
