Mexican Bola Blog

My Birth Story!

Finally i've got a sec to write my birth story... It's a really long post which i apologize for, but a lot of ppl have been asking what happened as i didn't have a BP problem & then suddenly i was admitted & induced & why, etc, etc... So i thought i'd put it all down for those of you who are interested.

So on the 1st of January 2010 I started having my "problems"... That was the first night i had a TERRIBLE sleep! My abdominal area was very sore, especially my left side, my back was sore & i had a blinding headache. I had had swollen feet for about 3 weeks & being in Durban (SA) had worsened them. They looked like feet shaped out of balloons that clowns make.

So anyway, on the 7th of Jan @ 34w4d I had a check up at the doc's. She noticed i had high BP & along with some of my other symptoms was concerned that i was developing/had developed pre-eclampsia and so asked to see me again in a week instead of 2 weeks. So the following Thursday the 14th of Jan @ 5pm (35w4d) we went back to the doc. On arrival i was weighed & gave the usual urine sample... I was a bit naughty & took one of their "dip sticks" to check my own urine... (I had since the previous appt researched pre-eclampsia & had read the symptoms are if there is protein in the urine with high BP). So before even seeing the doc i was pretty sure i had developed it. Anyways, it turned out my BP was 161/114 and according to the Baby Centre website a normal BP is 110/70 to 120/80. So the doc admitted me immediately to hospital for overnight observation & pre-warned me that if my BP wasn't better in the morning we would either have to induce or do an emergency C/S. Hubby & I luckily live close so she let me dash home to pack a few items before going in.

So Friday morning after a night in hospital, BP meds, pain killers & a sleeping tab my BP still wasn't better so @ 9am I was given the first round of induction gel and i was moved into a labour room. (They insert a gel to ripen your cervix). This didn't have much effect except make me sleepy. I asked the sister how long before contractions, she said some ladies are lucky & i could deliver same day & some take longer & it could only be Saturday. So by now i had contact my parents & told them to come up. They jumped in their cars & headed our way, which was a 6 hr drive for both of them.

At 12:30pm they gave me more of the gel (i think because the first hadn't really made me dilate at all). Again, i felt sleepy and dozed off on the bed. About an hour & a half later I woke up from a whack kind of sound & feeling in my uterus area. I got up & walked to the nurses station. I told them "something up"... Not sure what's happened, but something's changed. The sister Molefe who was looking after me came to do an internal, at this stage i was about 2 cm dilated & suddenly my waterbroke... Wierd feeling let me tell you. They were happy about this as they broke on their own as apposed to them having to "manually rupture the membrane".

THEN MY CONTRACTIONS STARTED!

Boy oh boy... I had heard that being induced takes labour longer & worse & I have nothing to compare it to but it was hectic... but manageable & i'm glad i didn't miss out on that as it's a part of the whole process. I've read that the contractions start off with like 5min in between, well this was not the case with me. I barely had a minute in between. Hubby was very good & massaged my back really well with every contraction (even though we'd only been to one antenatal class). I struggled with the breathing thing though, very hard to concentrate on breathing properly when your stomach is going beserk.

By this stage i realised there was no way i was going to make it without an epidural as i was only 2cm & a bit dilated & had to make 9-10cm dilation. They could only give me an epidural once i was 3cm dilated & eventually @ 5:30pm i got my epidural & was in heaven. I could still feel the contractions, but hardly had any pain (less than average period pain). I was also strapped to a BP machine which was checking my BP every 5minutes as well as a machine checking the baby & my contractions. When you're not contracting the number is between 1-10 & then when you're in full contraction it goes up to like 60-70 & sometimes the bad ones go up to 80. (Well in my case anyway).

As i was only dilating 1cm per hour on average we knew i had quite a few hours ahead. So hubby & parents went home to pack a baby bag & have a braai. Just before 7pm (1.5hrs later) Molefe did one more internal exam so that she could do her hand over. She immediately looked at me with a serious face & said; "Can i tell you the news?" I panicked & said yes of course. She came to stand next to my bed, took my phone & held my arm & said you better call your husband as your now 9cm dilated & your baby is coming. So hubby rushed back.

My doc was in the middle of a C/S so i had to hold on a bit, but Tori was born @ 19:35 on Friday the 15th of Jan weighing 2.5kg's. (Doc had estimated 2.8kg's on the sonar). Due to being 4 weeks prem she was admitted to NICU & is still there. She had to have oxygen & then got jaundice & is still under the lights. But finally after 12 days in NICU Tori was able to come home...

The Epidural
The epidural wasn't half as bad as i expected. When you're contracting that epidural is nothing. First they give you a local aneasthetic which works instantly. When the epidural is put in you don't feel it at all. I sat on the edge of the bed with my feel braced on a chair with my hubby watching over my shoulder. By the time i was about to deliver the epidural was nearly wearing off. I could again move my legs & used the contractions to push. I did about 4 sets of pushes with about 3 pushes per set & she was born. Once delivered I had a few shivers & shakes which they assured me was normal due to the epidural. Labour was hardly sore at all... I wasn't pushing correctly & i could feel the difference, it was just hard to concentrate on pushing properly, but managed. There was such a rush of relief, not when Tori was out but when my placenta came out... I had a kind of whooshing feeling...

Natural Delivery
I'm so glad i had a natural birth because at 7am the next morning i was up & walked across to the Neonatal ICU to go & see my baby girl... If i'd had a C/S i doubt i would have been able to do so. I was in no pain the next morning & only felt like i had run a marathon the day before. I slept quite a bit the next day. The bleeding isn't that hectic (nothing a few pads can't sort out). They also give you pain killers that first night which is cool, i also still had the catherter in the first night as well as a drip, niether of which was sore only slightly uncomfortable. I didn't end up needing to be cut, but did tear on my own which i'm happy about as i hear it heals better & faster when you tear naturally as apposed to having being cut. I only needed one stitch.

Anyways, so that is my story... I thought the whole birth process was great, it all happened to fast it seems a bit of blur now & it's only 3 weeks later... I would do it all again tomorrow...

Mexican Bolas are here!

The Mexican Bola is taking the world by storm. The soft chime that the Mexican Bola makes while you get on with your daily activities carries on right through pregnancy and after which is believed to have a calming effect on your baby during and after pregnancy. We'd like to know whether you think that playing music for your baby is beneficial... please take part in our poll below.