"When I found out I was pregnant it turned out I was due 5 days before my sister-in-law's wedding, where my partner was an usher... On my due date I was 2cm dilated and the midwife decided to give me a sweep to try and hurry things along, in hope the baby would come and we could go to the wedding without any worries. As it happened I had a show but nothing else happened.
On the Sunday (the day before the wedding) another of my sister-in-laws had travelled to London from Weston-Super-Mare for the wedding; she popped in with some clarysage oil telling me it worked to help induce labour with all three of her children. I'd tried and tested just about every old wives tale there was so ran a bath and poured a few drops in. I went to bed straight after thinking nothing of it and just wanted to be relaxed and rested for the wedding on the Monday. I woke up at about 5am on the morning of the wedding and thought I'd had a little accident so broke out the Tenna Lady thinking it was due to the baby being so low. Whilst getting ready for the wedding I had a few more of the 'accidents'. Again thinking nothing of it I filled my handbag with spare knickers and Tenna Lady to get me through the day. We had to get to the venue a bit early as my partner was giving out the buttonholes and showing people to their seats, etc. Whilst this was happening I thought I better go to the loo to prevent any accidents during the ceremony. As I sat down what followed was definitely my waters going.
Nothing happened after this, no pains or anything so I decided to grin and bare it until after the speeches. By now a few friends and family had cottoned on. I made it through the dinner (I was not leaving for hospital until I was fed) and rang the midwife who shouted at me for leaving it for so long and told me to go to the hospital ASAP. On arrival we got a few odd looks in our wedding attire. I was examined and told my waters were definitely gone. There were no beds for me on the labour ward so I was sent home and told to come back in the morning. Early hours of Tuesday morning I started to get contractions and went back to the hospital where upon arrival they stopped, so I was given an examination and some drugs to induce me.
My dad and partner were with me and I was put on a post-natal ward as labour ward was full again. My contractions got stronger and I was in a lot of discomfort. My mum and brother then came to the hospital (with a huge bag of ice as this was my craving). At 9pm my contractions were 9 mins apart but due to it being an all woman ward with their babies my partner was not allowed to stay.
It being my first baby, I was petrified and spent most of the night crying and pacing the ward. The student midwife found me some gas and air to help with the pain. After another couple of hours the pain was unbearable and I was offered Pethidine which I refused until I had somebody with me. They woke the women up on the ward who gave consent to my partner coming back. Me and Pethidine didn't mix! I hallucinated and was violently sick. A few hours later I was demanding an epidural (even though I had said I would never ever have one), another student midwife helped me to labour ward where it turns out I had jumped into a bed seconds before the person who was supposed to be there arrived (phew).
I was so out of it after two days with no sleep and the drugs that when asked if I wanted an epidural I refused and my partner begged for them to ask me again. When it came to the epidural the consultant asked me if his trainee could do it... that was a big fat no. You cannot tell me something can leave me paralysed if it goes wrong and make me sign a disclaimer and then ask for a novice to do the procedure!
It was 9 am and two students on their first day asked if they could stay until their shift ended. By now so many people had had their hands between my legs I couldn't care less who was watching. I had a lovely midwife in with me who thankfully found me a packed lunch before I had the epidural and I really hoped that she would see me all the way through my labour.
My mum arrived at 5pm and I felt the urge to push. They told my mum they couldn't examine me again until 7pm. By this time the two first-dayers were well into their own time and had decided it would be nice to stay for the whole event which I found particularly nice of them. Upon this examination the poor midwife had the shock of her life when she lifted the sheet and saw the babies head. Thinking it was time and I would have my baby in no time I had to wait another 2 hours for a consultant to arrive so I could push. Once he arrived I was told I had 30 minutes to get my baby out or they were coming in! I pushed for my life, I so did not want any more interference.
Just as I started to push a few things all happened at once; my midwife decided it was time to change shifts, the consultant got called to an emergency and my epidural wore off. I was left by myself at the height of labour with two people who were on their first day (deciding if they wanted to be midwives) with no pain relief. A new midwife came in and explained she was just waiting for her boss to arrive as she was a student and shouldn't be alone. When my son was delivered at 9.35pm on the 5/5/2010 weighing 7lb 12oz he wasn't breathing. The student who delivered him was not qualified to work on him and panicked and shouted to pull the emergency alarm. At this point every spare member of staff on labour ward rushed into the room. After about a minute my son let out a loud cry.
There are a few images that will stay with me forever on the day that Oscar was born, the first and most amazing being the most beautiful (somewhat swollen and bruised) little person being placed into my arms; the second being the absolute look of horror on the face of the two first-dayers as they saw what was going on downstairs.
The stitching up is a whole other matter. I was so torn that I had to wait for a surgeon to come and fix me. When he walked in wearing a pair of rubber gloves up to his elbows, welly boots and what I can only describe as a miner's torch, I was speechless!"
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