actually, she has been here! i had her Thursday August 2nd at 10:10 am in Edinburgh's Simpson Maternity Hospital!!! She is perfect!!! 7 lbs 8 oz at birth and 21 inches long, with black hair and mt coloring (thank god, the Scots are pale people)!
Here is the birth story:
so my water broke at 3:15 am on July 31st, and after wondering what to do about it for an hour we headed to the hospital just as a precautionary measure (dh was a little freaked and just wanted to make sure all was well), so we did and everything was ok. They put the fetal monitor on and she was great, i had no temp, my water was clearish pink, my BP was fine and since i wasn't having contractions they sent me home. It was about 2:30 in the afternoon when i got my first contraction, and they started off at about 25 minutes apart. so i did normal things the rest of the day... laundry, walked the dog, read Harry Potter (which i may never get to finish! HAHA). the contractions kept getting more regular throughout the day and when i went to bed they were making it hard to get to sleep.
at about 1 am on Aug 1st I woke up because of the contractions and couldn't get back to sleep. so i took a blanket and a clock and headed down stairs to watch Weeds on TV (anyone see that? pretty good actually) and by about 3 am my contractions had been at 1 every 5 minutes for about 1.5 hours. because my water had broken, they told me to come in when this happened. so i went upstairs and woke my mom and dh up and let them know we needed to head out (it takes about 35-40 minutes to get to the birth center). we already had everything in the car, so it was a matter of just getting dressed and head out. same thing, i get to the triage area (where you go before they put you in your private room, i know it sounds all emergency-crazy, but that is what they call it), they see that i am ok, that the baby is ok and that my contractions are coming as i stated. but then they tell me that my contractions aren't that strong (yeah, screw you!) and that it seems my cervix isn't dialating at all... so they keep me there for a few hours to see what is going to happen before they decide whether i stay or go back home. so i take an hour walk around the hospital (it is like a campus, lots of buildings together), get some food, look at magazines in the gift shop..... and what happens? my contractions peter out to 1 every 10 minutes. at this time they said i could either go home or if i wanted to they would induce me.... we decide to head home so i can try to sleep, take a bath and get my mojo realigned so that my contractions get better. we get home at about 3 pm, and by 5 pm my contractions are back up to 1 every 3 minutes and stronger than before. so we head back to the hospital (dh made it in 20 minutes, and luckily we weren't pulled over) where they decide that i am indeed having contractions and that my cervix is dialating and that i need to be admitted into a room. at this time we also start to see that Ruby's heart rate is slowing down during my contractions, but it is deemed nothing to worry about.
i head up to the room at about 10 pm, and i am exhausted, i hadn't slept since my water broke. they give me the Taj Mahal suite: bed, birth pool, birth ball, huge thick gym mat to lay on the floor, couch, bean bag. and they gave me Annie, this kick ass midwife who reminded me of a scottish version of Carla from cheers if she was stoned
.... they gave me something for my nausea since i couldn't even keep water down and i didn't want to risk the need for an IV. at this point i realized that i could not sit at allstill while i was having a contraction, i needed to be on the move or standing up, or possibly on the toilet. i tried to rest, laying on the floor mat with dh, but i think i slept for 30 minutes. Annie kept monitoring me every so often and checking on the baby's heartrate, and it was still fluctuating while i contracted (from about 140-150 bpm to 60-70 bpm), Annie wasn't worried but she wanted to make sure it didn't get any worse.
at about 3 am i am dialated to 4 cm, and over the next few hours that doesn't change. i told annie to give the cervix a big stretch with her fingers to help me out, and she just laughed at me saying "if only it worked that way!" at about 6 am i am still 4 cm, and my temperture starts to go up along with my BP, and Ruby's heartrate is fluctuating worse with the contractions. Annie and Dh and I have a heart to heart about what to do, and we decide that it is time to turn up the juice and i go for an Oxytocin drip. I was using the TENS now on a higher level and also using "gas and air" with the contractions, neither did much for the pain but sorta gave you something else to focus on when the contraction hit, so i guess that was slightly helpful.
Now with the Oxytocin drip i had to move to a more clinical room because i was to be monitored continually and therefore couldn't move away from the bed.
: they rolled me down the hall to another room/area and luckily Annie came with us, but at this time we also get Joanna (midwife extraordinaire!)
Without the ability to move and with the Oxytocin i was in so much pain that i started to pass out during the contractions, which obviously is NOT good. so at this point i turn to Annie and Joanna and say "get me a fucking epidural" (one of 3 curse words i said the whole time, and i never screamed either) and annie says "right on it!" so the doctor comes in and gives it to me, and it actually didn't hurt that much to get (maybe because the contractions?) and it was done fairly quick. dhhad to leave the room for the epidural, but who could blame him? i bet it looked horrible although it felt freaking AMAZING once it kicked in!
from then until about 9:30 i was amazing the staff with my wit and jokes, talking to Sarah (this med student that asked if she would watch the birth, her first ever!) and basically let them monitor me and wait for dialation. Ruby's heartrate was still wacked out and at one point a OB/GYN was asked to come in and look at the monitor tape.... i think this was the point where i freaked a little because i knew that if things didn't kick in that a c-section might be suggested.... but at 9:30 i was fully dialated and they started to get everything ready for me to push. i was up on my side, dh up near my left shoulder, my left leg on the bed with my foot pushing into Joanna's hand. my right leg was bent with my foot in my mom's right hand and her left hand behind my knee. dh was holding my left hand and my right was holdng on to the back of my right thigh. i started to push at 9:50 and Ruby was born at 10:10! everyone watched (except me, i was pushing too hard to make sure she came out quick to bother looking) and all i could hear was "there is her head, look a hand!" and i was wondering "what, no body?!??!" but it seems that ruby's right hand was on her right cheek when she came out.... Ruby was howling and they put her right to my chest where she stayed for the next few hours while we all gazed at her and cried a little. it was amazing! Dh was crying, i was crying... there she was all beautiful, perfect and covered in goo... i have never seen anything so gorgeous in my entire life!
It seems that her heart rate fluctuating was due to the fact that her cord was super long and getting compressed when my uterus contracted. My placenta was also a little "raggy" looking accoring to Joanna, and had nodules on it that are normal for a woman that smokes or lives in a really polluted area (which is neither do i do). weird.....
I tore a little, so i had to have some sutures, but nothing too horrible. i was back to normal about 3 days later....
life has been hectic, breastfeeding wasn't going to well at first, but it seems as if i have cracked it. days are so full with Ruby bliss that it is amazing that she is already a week old!!! it is hard, i am so tired from feeding her every 2-3hours, but i am so happy that i barely notice!
Here is the birth story:
so my water broke at 3:15 am on July 31st, and after wondering what to do about it for an hour we headed to the hospital just as a precautionary measure (dh was a little freaked and just wanted to make sure all was well), so we did and everything was ok. They put the fetal monitor on and she was great, i had no temp, my water was clearish pink, my BP was fine and since i wasn't having contractions they sent me home. It was about 2:30 in the afternoon when i got my first contraction, and they started off at about 25 minutes apart. so i did normal things the rest of the day... laundry, walked the dog, read Harry Potter (which i may never get to finish! HAHA). the contractions kept getting more regular throughout the day and when i went to bed they were making it hard to get to sleep.
at about 1 am on Aug 1st I woke up because of the contractions and couldn't get back to sleep. so i took a blanket and a clock and headed down stairs to watch Weeds on TV (anyone see that? pretty good actually) and by about 3 am my contractions had been at 1 every 5 minutes for about 1.5 hours. because my water had broken, they told me to come in when this happened. so i went upstairs and woke my mom and dh up and let them know we needed to head out (it takes about 35-40 minutes to get to the birth center). we already had everything in the car, so it was a matter of just getting dressed and head out. same thing, i get to the triage area (where you go before they put you in your private room, i know it sounds all emergency-crazy, but that is what they call it), they see that i am ok, that the baby is ok and that my contractions are coming as i stated. but then they tell me that my contractions aren't that strong (yeah, screw you!) and that it seems my cervix isn't dialating at all... so they keep me there for a few hours to see what is going to happen before they decide whether i stay or go back home. so i take an hour walk around the hospital (it is like a campus, lots of buildings together), get some food, look at magazines in the gift shop..... and what happens? my contractions peter out to 1 every 10 minutes. at this time they said i could either go home or if i wanted to they would induce me.... we decide to head home so i can try to sleep, take a bath and get my mojo realigned so that my contractions get better. we get home at about 3 pm, and by 5 pm my contractions are back up to 1 every 3 minutes and stronger than before. so we head back to the hospital (dh made it in 20 minutes, and luckily we weren't pulled over) where they decide that i am indeed having contractions and that my cervix is dialating and that i need to be admitted into a room. at this time we also start to see that Ruby's heart rate is slowing down during my contractions, but it is deemed nothing to worry about.
i head up to the room at about 10 pm, and i am exhausted, i hadn't slept since my water broke. they give me the Taj Mahal suite: bed, birth pool, birth ball, huge thick gym mat to lay on the floor, couch, bean bag. and they gave me Annie, this kick ass midwife who reminded me of a scottish version of Carla from cheers if she was stoned
.... they gave me something for my nausea since i couldn't even keep water down and i didn't want to risk the need for an IV. at this point i realized that i could not sit at allstill while i was having a contraction, i needed to be on the move or standing up, or possibly on the toilet. i tried to rest, laying on the floor mat with dh, but i think i slept for 30 minutes. Annie kept monitoring me every so often and checking on the baby's heartrate, and it was still fluctuating while i contracted (from about 140-150 bpm to 60-70 bpm), Annie wasn't worried but she wanted to make sure it didn't get any worse.at about 3 am i am dialated to 4 cm, and over the next few hours that doesn't change. i told annie to give the cervix a big stretch with her fingers to help me out, and she just laughed at me saying "if only it worked that way!" at about 6 am i am still 4 cm, and my temperture starts to go up along with my BP, and Ruby's heartrate is fluctuating worse with the contractions. Annie and Dh and I have a heart to heart about what to do, and we decide that it is time to turn up the juice and i go for an Oxytocin drip. I was using the TENS now on a higher level and also using "gas and air" with the contractions, neither did much for the pain but sorta gave you something else to focus on when the contraction hit, so i guess that was slightly helpful.
Now with the Oxytocin drip i had to move to a more clinical room because i was to be monitored continually and therefore couldn't move away from the bed.
: they rolled me down the hall to another room/area and luckily Annie came with us, but at this time we also get Joanna (midwife extraordinaire!)Without the ability to move and with the Oxytocin i was in so much pain that i started to pass out during the contractions, which obviously is NOT good. so at this point i turn to Annie and Joanna and say "get me a fucking epidural" (one of 3 curse words i said the whole time, and i never screamed either) and annie says "right on it!" so the doctor comes in and gives it to me, and it actually didn't hurt that much to get (maybe because the contractions?) and it was done fairly quick. dhhad to leave the room for the epidural, but who could blame him? i bet it looked horrible although it felt freaking AMAZING once it kicked in!
from then until about 9:30 i was amazing the staff with my wit and jokes, talking to Sarah (this med student that asked if she would watch the birth, her first ever!) and basically let them monitor me and wait for dialation. Ruby's heartrate was still wacked out and at one point a OB/GYN was asked to come in and look at the monitor tape.... i think this was the point where i freaked a little because i knew that if things didn't kick in that a c-section might be suggested.... but at 9:30 i was fully dialated and they started to get everything ready for me to push. i was up on my side, dh up near my left shoulder, my left leg on the bed with my foot pushing into Joanna's hand. my right leg was bent with my foot in my mom's right hand and her left hand behind my knee. dh was holding my left hand and my right was holdng on to the back of my right thigh. i started to push at 9:50 and Ruby was born at 10:10! everyone watched (except me, i was pushing too hard to make sure she came out quick to bother looking) and all i could hear was "there is her head, look a hand!" and i was wondering "what, no body?!??!" but it seems that ruby's right hand was on her right cheek when she came out.... Ruby was howling and they put her right to my chest where she stayed for the next few hours while we all gazed at her and cried a little. it was amazing! Dh was crying, i was crying... there she was all beautiful, perfect and covered in goo... i have never seen anything so gorgeous in my entire life!
It seems that her heart rate fluctuating was due to the fact that her cord was super long and getting compressed when my uterus contracted. My placenta was also a little "raggy" looking accoring to Joanna, and had nodules on it that are normal for a woman that smokes or lives in a really polluted area (which is neither do i do). weird.....
I tore a little, so i had to have some sutures, but nothing too horrible. i was back to normal about 3 days later....
life has been hectic, breastfeeding wasn't going to well at first, but it seems as if i have cracked it. days are so full with Ruby bliss that it is amazing that she is already a week old!!! it is hard, i am so tired from feeding her every 2-3hours, but i am so happy that i barely notice!
from the expat thread!
