Sullivan (Sully)
Due date 24/05/2019
Birth date 03/06/2019
My due date came and went and I was starting to get uncomfortable, frustrated and tired of being pregnant! At 3 days overdue I had my first sweep at home by my lovely midwife. The next day I had a slight show but nothing else. I felt wiped out and just....weird!
At 7 days over due I had my second sweep, again at home but the same midwife. This was on a Friday morning. As I was getting out of bed I felt a little trickle and was convinced I had wet myself! I called my sister and asked her what her trickle was like when her water broke but even after talking to her I still didn't know if it was pee or my waters! I called the labour ward and they advised to wear a pad and keep an eye on it. Nothing came of it and I resigned to the fact that I'd wet myself! Sunday morning I had the same thing again and was again advised to wear a pad and see. We spent the day with Family at a 1st birthday party, my maternity notes safely tucked into the boot of the car just in case! Again nothing game of it......until we got home.
8.32pm (I remember exactly as we were watching The Antiques Roadshow!) I start getting quite strong contractions. No slight period type pains this time! At about 10.30 my husband phoned my mother in law and said labour had started, she was on hand to look after our eldest whenever I went into labour.
We arrived at the hospital at 2am and after an examination and my story of 'wetting' myself 2 days previously, I was given a test to see if my waters had gone. The test is similar to a smear test and feels about the same, The results come up like a pregnancy test, 2 lines for yes one line for no. That's when all our plans for a midwife led unit, pool birth went out the window. My waters had in fact gone on the Saturday morning (almost 48 hours before labour started) and I was deemed high risk for infection. We had to labour and birth on the high risk ward. This also meant they couldn't check me as often as usual in case I got an infection, and that meant they didn't know how dilated I was so couldn't give me any pain meds.
At 10.45, they examined me and said I was ready to push!! This was quickly followed by my husband asking for gas and air for me! YES!!
Sully was born at 11.34am on 03/06/2019 at 10 days late. At 11.53am I successfully birth his placenta on my own (with the guidance of the doctor and at 10.45pm the same day we headed home to begin live as a family of 4!
This picture is of me in labour with Sully. It's probably my favourite picture of myself to date! ❤️
