My birth story, A POSITIVE induction.

People are always quick to tell you how horrendous giving birth was or how they had an induction or know someone that had one and it was the most horrific thing in the world but they are never quick at giving you the good stories so I wanted to share mine because although it was long it was a lot less stressful than my spontaneous labour..and ALOT less painful. 

In the last month or so of my pregnancy Archie decided to be very lazy just like his big brother but it started a lot earlier than when it did with Albie. So I was in and out of hospital being monitored and having scans. Everything was always ok and as usual as soon as we were put on the monitor to listen to his heartbeat etc. he would kick off like he was having a dance off. In the end it was decided it was much safer to have him out then in as we couldn’t work out what was going on. I was 38 weeks pregnant and by the time the induction would come around I would be at least 39 weeks. I went into hospital eventually on a Thursday when I was 38+6. 

When I received the phone call ash did what the most important thing was and went and got us all a KFC so we could have some food with Albie before he went off with ash mum as she was going to look after him for us while I was in hospital. Was the best KFC ever as I knew I probably wouldn’t be eating much (how wrong I was! haha). When we got in we went straight to our bed and there was 3 other women on the ward being induced too. I was given the first pessary and left to see how we progressed. Within a couple of hours I was getting contractions which were coming slowly but I wasn’t dilating very much when I was checked. It got to about 6 and ash went and got us a subway and we went for a little walk to see if we could get things moving. (More food!) The contractions started coming quite thick and fast so I went and took a shower which felt like the longest shower in the world but it was the only thing helping me. I went back to bed and tried to get a little nap in. They started to die down in the night but I couldn’t sleep because my anxiety mixed with excitement was just sky high! So I managed to watch a film on Netflix which eventually made me fall asleep. Poor ash hardly had any sleep because he was sleeping on normal hospital chair which didn’t recline may I add haha. Everyone else on the ward was asleep and luckily for us one couple snored like they were dinosaurs so that was nice to be woken up by haha. My contractions started to slow down early morning but when I was checked I was told they could break my waters and I wouldn’t need any more pessaries which were a bonus. The worst part of it all for me was the amount on internal exams. They were not comfortable and now I was starting to get some pain. 

 We had to wait until there was a midwife available and then I would be taken for my waters to be broken. It got to about 11:45pm on Friday when I eventually got taken down to get my waters broken. I had gas and air for my waters to be broken only because of the amount of internals I couldn’t cope with anymore and what an experience that was. It was my first lot of gas and air since getting in there and it was hilarious. The drunk I’ve felt in 10 months. When they burst my waters to me I was on another planet it was like this piece of wire was being fed round my whole body SO WEIRD. Once this was done contractions started up again but not as frequent as we needed and there was NO dilation. Now it was decided I would be put on a hormone drip which ramps things up massively. By now it felt like I had been awake for a good 2 days and really needed to sleep I had 0 energy so we decided to get an epidural before the drip was put on so I could get some sleep. EPIDURALS ARE SO GOOD. I managed to get an epidural and the drip fitted at about 3/4am which meant I could finally sleep! My mum arrived at the hospital at about 8:30am on the Saturday which is just what I needed! And this meant ash could finally try and sleep or at least or for a walk and get some food. I was so hungry and all I could have was water so nobody was drinking or eating around me otherwise they would have probably got a mouthful of abuse haha! 

It felt like everything was progressing so slowly but we were going in the right direction. I was woken up about 1:30/2pm for another internal exam so ash said he was going to walk and get some lunch in town. When I was checked the midwife said I hope he’s taken his phone because you need to start pushing in the next few minutes! My mum called him and luckily enough for some reason he got so far and turned back and was already walking into the lift! As soon as he came in the room that was it! I was pushing for around an hour, I am so glad I managed to get some sleep. I was oblivious to the next part as I was just concentrating on getting him out as I kept looking at the monitor and seeing his heart rate go up and down so my eyes were shut and I was just listening to the midwife. Lots of doctors and extra midwifes came rushing in and also a resuscitation table. Archie had the cord hooked under his head and round his neck so they needed to get him out so carefully, but quickly! Luckily the midwife was incredible and did it all without worrying me once. Thank god for Ash being right by my side and my mum for being the calming voice again haha! 

My beautiful baby boy was born on 20th October at 3:31pm weighing 8lbs 7oz, so he was a pound heavier than his big bro! 

Once he was born I had the tea and toast that tasted like heaven and then 20 minutes later I ate a plate of green beans (don’t ask they tasted amazing!)

Although it was a long 3 days it was worth it and for me it wasn’t any more painful than Albies' spontaneous labour, there weren't any complications and i didn't need any intervention like forceps or cutting etc. 

Hope this helps someone that’s got to be induced or has the option and has only heard the bad stories! 

Lots of love 

Xxx