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Birth Story by DH (long!)
My due date was July 16th and after quite an ordeal of an induction, little Joseph David was born on August 1st at 3:14 pm, 7# 15oz, 22.5 in long.
At around 14 hours they decided to put a clip on the babies head to better monitor his heart rate.. this was great as the pad on Mary's stomach had been rather problematic and for a lot of the time one of Mary, myself or the midwife had needed to hold it in place to continue getting a trace.
Just before we reached the 16 hour examination the baby started to get more distressed, with his heart rate dropping significantly with contractions. The registrar discussed the situation with her consultant and it was decided that Mary should be taken for an emergency C-Section.
Throughout all this, although I was utterly wracked emotionally... and frequently sobbing with what Mary was going through, my weakness to medical situations never materialised... I never once felt feint, despite the hospital surroundings and all the equipment... cannula; IV; Epidural etc. I never once felt feint. The only time I left the room as a precaution, which was at Mary's insistence, was when the Epidural was inserted into her spine...
So Mary was moved to the Operating Theatre for surgery and I was asked if I would sit with her while it was performed and was told there would be a screen between us and the operation so I couldn't see... I had about 30 minutes to think/prepare for it, while the anaesthetic was administered. Since the epidural was not completely successful, the anaesthetist (aka Anaesthesiologist) had to instead perform a spinal block which numbed her from the chest down (I did not see this, but I was told there had been some difficulty in doing it).... Then I was brought in to sit with Mary. Possibly because of the complications, or perhaps it was forgotten, there was no screen and so while the 3 Surgeons, Anaesthetist and sundry nurses performed the Caesarean Section... I watched in the flesh, what I have always felt feint watching on TV... I watched them open up my dearest wife, pull out our baby boy, and then suture her back together again... and once baby was checked and cleaned I got to hold him in my arms and show him to my wife as they finished and closed her up. An absolute miracle!
I was then taken to a recovery room with baby Joseph while they cleaned Mary up after surgery, before she was brought in and was able to have the all important skin to skin contact with her son.
Baby Joseph was born at 3:14pm on Sunday 1st August 2010 (01/8/10) after an ordeal that had started 5 and a half days previously.
Despite all the delays and problems, I cannot fault the team in the delivery suite at Stepping Hill... the 3 midwives who looked after us over the course of Saturday night and Sunday morning were so kind, and very professional.. thanks Charlotte, Debbie and especially Helen... the doctors, though seen less frequently, were also very good... As were the surgeons (I only remember the names of Alice the registrar, and Doctor Eyong), and especially Anaesthetist Doctor Wilson who managed pain relief with the Epidural (inserted by her colleague before Dr Wilson's shift started) and who performed the spinal block for the C-Section. Along with all the other midwives who looked after us during the week, not all of whose names I can now remember, but included Janet, Joyce, Lesley and Jean.
Thank you all from a very proud father.
DH wrote a pretty amazing birth story so I thought I'd post it here. Warning: it is very long!
Finally our son Joseph David has been born and we are so grateful to have him with us... however this last week has probably been the most traumatic of my entire life.. and I can't begin to imagine what it has been like for my wife Mary. This is the story of how the last week of our Pregnancy went and what we went through in the end to meet our son. Please bear in mind that I do not normally deal well with medical situations.. I am highly prone to feinting in such circumstances like the sight of a needle, or even the thought of having blood taken etc.
So, at 7 days overdue we had an appointment at the hospital to see one of the consultants. At that appointment we booked another appointment for an Induction of Labour (IOL) the following Tuesday, at 11 days over... normally this would have been at 12 days, but Mary's sister, Kristina, who was over from the US and who was going to be a birthing partner along with me, was leaving on Thursday, at 14 days over, so they had agreed to bring forward the induction by a day.
On the Tuesday we arrived at 9:30am for our appointment, where we were seen in the Maternity Triage (this is just what they call the initial assessment department in the UK). We had some preliminaries done including a foetal heart trace, but were then left in Triage because an emergency had come in and the Delivery Suite was busy and short staffed... eventually they took us down around 1:30pm when the afternoon shift staff arrived.
In the delivery suite that afternoon one of the midwives (who, in the UK, are part of the hospital staff and work side by side with the doctors in the maternity unit) started the IOL with Prostogladins... This is a gel used to encourage dilation of the cervix to a point where a doctor can then manually break the waters. (also known as an ARM or amniotomy) In the UK this is done before any Syntocinon (aka Pitocin in the US) can be given using an IV. Three is generally the maximum number of doses of Prostins that can be given, and they have to be done 6 hours apart, with foetal tracing for 30-50 mins before and after the dose, to ensure Baby stays happy... Mary was given a dose on Tuesday evening, and a further 2 doses over the course of Wednesday. By Wednesday evening, Mary's sister was getting quite anxious because her flight was scheduled for Thursday morning...
After the third dose of the Prostins late on Wednesday night, her sister and I came home to see about delaying her flight, but unfortunately due to the start of the UK holiday season in August there were no seats on any flights to the US. Meanwhile at the hospital they needed the room in delivery suite and so moved Mary into the maternity ward, since her Labour was not progressing. This also meant we could not go back to visit her that night, and a very real fear that she would not get to say goodbye to her sister!!! Fortunately I was able to take her up the hospital at 6am and Mary came down to the door to say goodbye... I then took her sister to the airport for 6:30...
Throughout Thursday Mary was kept on the ward, constantly being told that she would be seen by a doctor when one from delivery suite was available, and then not being seen.. finally late on Thursday she was seen by one of the doctors who said that she was not dilated enough for the ARM procedure and unless there was a change overnight would be scheduled for a C-Section on Friday... she was asked to sign a consent form and told to fast from midnight in preparation.
However on Friday morning Mary was seen by the registrar (in the UK this is a senior Doctor who is junior to a consultant) and she said that dilation, although only 2cm, was now favourable for an ARM... She was then told she would be taken down to delivery suite later that day. But of course the delivery suite continued to be overrun with urgent cases and short of staff, and because Mary's Labour was not progressing she was not an urgent case so was not taken down for the procedure.
Later on Friday the registrar came to see us again... there was some disagreement between the Obstetric and Anaesthesia departments over Mary's case... Obstetrics were pushing for the Induction to start because at this point she was 14 days overdue. However Anaesthesia were concerned that at the weekend there were fewer staff and they did not want to rush Mary in for an emergency C-Section with reduced staff. We were also told that if the IOL was not progressed then she would be sent home over the weekend... I was not impressed by this is it felt we were being sidelined even further... nor were the 3 other girls she was sharing a room in the ward with. Obstetrics won, since by Monday Mary would have been 17 days overdue, so we were told that the ARM and the rest of the induction would continue on Saturday.
Saturday was another really busy day on delivery suite and Mary stayed on the ward most of the day... in fact by 9pm, when partners had to leave, nothing had happened.. I was just about to go home for the night when a midwife who was just coming on for the late shift came to see us and something quite rare had happened... The Delivery Suite at Stepping Hill Hospital (which apparently now has a reputation for being one of the best maternity units in the country) had closed it's Delivery Suite to incoming patients until Mary was taken down for her IOL. As we left the ward, the other girls from our room cheered and cried all at the same time.
Late on Saturday night, after several days of waiting and being disappointed, The ARM was performed, and we finally started on the full induction with Syntocinon... this was given by IV, and Mary had to be hooked up for a Foetal trace the whole time to make sure the baby was not in distress. This meant she was not very mobile and had to be disconnected a re-connected if she wanted to move positions etc. The dosage of Syntocinon was started at 0.12 (though I forget the units) and increased by 0.12 every 30 minutes. Mary was examined every 4 hours to check the amount of dilation and length of the cervix, which needed to be at least 4cms dilated to be considered Active Labour.
After almost 7 hours of induced labour, poor Mary could no longer bare the pain of these forced contractions with just Entonox and asked to have an Epidural... we had discussed other forms of pain relief in labour, such as Pethidine (aka Demerol) but discounted them due to their potentially harmful effects on the baby. Unfortunately the Epidural was not completely successful, with some pain relief on her left side, but not as much on her right... so short of taking it out and re-inserting it (with potentially even less successful results) the only option was to continue, with the Anaesthetist topping-up the dosage regularly. There was some more relief if Mary was lying on her right side, but baby become more distressed in that position so it could not be maintained.
At the 12 hour examination there was not significant progress and the registrar said that if there was not sufficient dilation at 16 hours then Mary would be taken to the Operating Theatre for a Caesarean.. By now the dosage of Syntocinon was at 0.84 which was the maximum that a midwife could set it to without further authorisation from a doctor... this was obtained and it was set to 0.90... this we were told was the maximum... however a bit later we were told that a further final maximum of 0.96 was available with another authorisation.. this was again obtained and poor Mary was put into the grip of these most fierce artificial contractions with an only partially-relieving Epidural... She was however unbelievably grateful for the pain relief it did afford her.
So, at 7 days overdue we had an appointment at the hospital to see one of the consultants. At that appointment we booked another appointment for an Induction of Labour (IOL) the following Tuesday, at 11 days over... normally this would have been at 12 days, but Mary's sister, Kristina, who was over from the US and who was going to be a birthing partner along with me, was leaving on Thursday, at 14 days over, so they had agreed to bring forward the induction by a day.
On the Tuesday we arrived at 9:30am for our appointment, where we were seen in the Maternity Triage (this is just what they call the initial assessment department in the UK). We had some preliminaries done including a foetal heart trace, but were then left in Triage because an emergency had come in and the Delivery Suite was busy and short staffed... eventually they took us down around 1:30pm when the afternoon shift staff arrived.
In the delivery suite that afternoon one of the midwives (who, in the UK, are part of the hospital staff and work side by side with the doctors in the maternity unit) started the IOL with Prostogladins... This is a gel used to encourage dilation of the cervix to a point where a doctor can then manually break the waters. (also known as an ARM or amniotomy) In the UK this is done before any Syntocinon (aka Pitocin in the US) can be given using an IV. Three is generally the maximum number of doses of Prostins that can be given, and they have to be done 6 hours apart, with foetal tracing for 30-50 mins before and after the dose, to ensure Baby stays happy... Mary was given a dose on Tuesday evening, and a further 2 doses over the course of Wednesday. By Wednesday evening, Mary's sister was getting quite anxious because her flight was scheduled for Thursday morning...
After the third dose of the Prostins late on Wednesday night, her sister and I came home to see about delaying her flight, but unfortunately due to the start of the UK holiday season in August there were no seats on any flights to the US. Meanwhile at the hospital they needed the room in delivery suite and so moved Mary into the maternity ward, since her Labour was not progressing. This also meant we could not go back to visit her that night, and a very real fear that she would not get to say goodbye to her sister!!! Fortunately I was able to take her up the hospital at 6am and Mary came down to the door to say goodbye... I then took her sister to the airport for 6:30...
Throughout Thursday Mary was kept on the ward, constantly being told that she would be seen by a doctor when one from delivery suite was available, and then not being seen.. finally late on Thursday she was seen by one of the doctors who said that she was not dilated enough for the ARM procedure and unless there was a change overnight would be scheduled for a C-Section on Friday... she was asked to sign a consent form and told to fast from midnight in preparation.
However on Friday morning Mary was seen by the registrar (in the UK this is a senior Doctor who is junior to a consultant) and she said that dilation, although only 2cm, was now favourable for an ARM... She was then told she would be taken down to delivery suite later that day. But of course the delivery suite continued to be overrun with urgent cases and short of staff, and because Mary's Labour was not progressing she was not an urgent case so was not taken down for the procedure.
Later on Friday the registrar came to see us again... there was some disagreement between the Obstetric and Anaesthesia departments over Mary's case... Obstetrics were pushing for the Induction to start because at this point she was 14 days overdue. However Anaesthesia were concerned that at the weekend there were fewer staff and they did not want to rush Mary in for an emergency C-Section with reduced staff. We were also told that if the IOL was not progressed then she would be sent home over the weekend... I was not impressed by this is it felt we were being sidelined even further... nor were the 3 other girls she was sharing a room in the ward with. Obstetrics won, since by Monday Mary would have been 17 days overdue, so we were told that the ARM and the rest of the induction would continue on Saturday.
Saturday was another really busy day on delivery suite and Mary stayed on the ward most of the day... in fact by 9pm, when partners had to leave, nothing had happened.. I was just about to go home for the night when a midwife who was just coming on for the late shift came to see us and something quite rare had happened... The Delivery Suite at Stepping Hill Hospital (which apparently now has a reputation for being one of the best maternity units in the country) had closed it's Delivery Suite to incoming patients until Mary was taken down for her IOL. As we left the ward, the other girls from our room cheered and cried all at the same time.
Late on Saturday night, after several days of waiting and being disappointed, The ARM was performed, and we finally started on the full induction with Syntocinon... this was given by IV, and Mary had to be hooked up for a Foetal trace the whole time to make sure the baby was not in distress. This meant she was not very mobile and had to be disconnected a re-connected if she wanted to move positions etc. The dosage of Syntocinon was started at 0.12 (though I forget the units) and increased by 0.12 every 30 minutes. Mary was examined every 4 hours to check the amount of dilation and length of the cervix, which needed to be at least 4cms dilated to be considered Active Labour.
After almost 7 hours of induced labour, poor Mary could no longer bare the pain of these forced contractions with just Entonox and asked to have an Epidural... we had discussed other forms of pain relief in labour, such as Pethidine (aka Demerol) but discounted them due to their potentially harmful effects on the baby. Unfortunately the Epidural was not completely successful, with some pain relief on her left side, but not as much on her right... so short of taking it out and re-inserting it (with potentially even less successful results) the only option was to continue, with the Anaesthetist topping-up the dosage regularly. There was some more relief if Mary was lying on her right side, but baby become more distressed in that position so it could not be maintained.
At the 12 hour examination there was not significant progress and the registrar said that if there was not sufficient dilation at 16 hours then Mary would be taken to the Operating Theatre for a Caesarean.. By now the dosage of Syntocinon was at 0.84 which was the maximum that a midwife could set it to without further authorisation from a doctor... this was obtained and it was set to 0.90... this we were told was the maximum... however a bit later we were told that a further final maximum of 0.96 was available with another authorisation.. this was again obtained and poor Mary was put into the grip of these most fierce artificial contractions with an only partially-relieving Epidural... She was however unbelievably grateful for the pain relief it did afford her.
At around 14 hours they decided to put a clip on the babies head to better monitor his heart rate.. this was great as the pad on Mary's stomach had been rather problematic and for a lot of the time one of Mary, myself or the midwife had needed to hold it in place to continue getting a trace.
Just before we reached the 16 hour examination the baby started to get more distressed, with his heart rate dropping significantly with contractions. The registrar discussed the situation with her consultant and it was decided that Mary should be taken for an emergency C-Section.
Throughout all this, although I was utterly wracked emotionally... and frequently sobbing with what Mary was going through, my weakness to medical situations never materialised... I never once felt feint, despite the hospital surroundings and all the equipment... cannula; IV; Epidural etc. I never once felt feint. The only time I left the room as a precaution, which was at Mary's insistence, was when the Epidural was inserted into her spine...
So Mary was moved to the Operating Theatre for surgery and I was asked if I would sit with her while it was performed and was told there would be a screen between us and the operation so I couldn't see... I had about 30 minutes to think/prepare for it, while the anaesthetic was administered. Since the epidural was not completely successful, the anaesthetist (aka Anaesthesiologist) had to instead perform a spinal block which numbed her from the chest down (I did not see this, but I was told there had been some difficulty in doing it).... Then I was brought in to sit with Mary. Possibly because of the complications, or perhaps it was forgotten, there was no screen and so while the 3 Surgeons, Anaesthetist and sundry nurses performed the Caesarean Section... I watched in the flesh, what I have always felt feint watching on TV... I watched them open up my dearest wife, pull out our baby boy, and then suture her back together again... and once baby was checked and cleaned I got to hold him in my arms and show him to my wife as they finished and closed her up. An absolute miracle!
I was then taken to a recovery room with baby Joseph while they cleaned Mary up after surgery, before she was brought in and was able to have the all important skin to skin contact with her son.
Baby Joseph was born at 3:14pm on Sunday 1st August 2010 (01/8/10) after an ordeal that had started 5 and a half days previously.
Despite all the delays and problems, I cannot fault the team in the delivery suite at Stepping Hill... the 3 midwives who looked after us over the course of Saturday night and Sunday morning were so kind, and very professional.. thanks Charlotte, Debbie and especially Helen... the doctors, though seen less frequently, were also very good... As were the surgeons (I only remember the names of Alice the registrar, and Doctor Eyong), and especially Anaesthetist Doctor Wilson who managed pain relief with the Epidural (inserted by her colleague before Dr Wilson's shift started) and who performed the spinal block for the C-Section. Along with all the other midwives who looked after us during the week, not all of whose names I can now remember, but included Janet, Joyce, Lesley and Jean.
Thank you all from a very proud father.
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