Where the sunflowers are...

                         My birth stories

Why is it everyone loves telling and listening to labour stories?? I know i love to.
All my labour's were pretty straight forward, but that's not going to stop me talking about them!

Ashton-Leigh Williams due 26/01/09 born 26/01/09

My pregnancy with Ashton was my easiest, probably because i was only 23 mind! I didn't find out until i was 8 weeks, no sickness, didn't start to show until i was around 20 weeks, i wouldn't even of known i was pregnant if it wasn't for the missed period. It was a bit of a shock as me and Jamie had only been together for a few months but once we got our head's around it, we couldn't wait.

Late in the evening on the day before i was due i was having little niggles but put it down to all the jalapenos i had eaten on my subway salad ( which was my craving ) so just went to bed and thought nothing of it as i thought i would probably go over because i hadn't had any other signs. I remember feeling a 'pop' then getting up and the bed was soaking, there was no mistaking that my water's had gone! I looked at my phone, it was 12.15am on my due date, this baby was not going to be late.

At the time we were living at my parent's house and as my mother is a midwife i went and woke her to ask what i needed to do. I wasn't having any pain so i just phoned the hospital to tell them and was advised to stay home and they would book me in for an induction the following day unless anything happened before, so i just went back to bed.

After about an hour or so the pains started coming quite fast and by 9am they were quite strong with not much in between them so we headed for hospital.

When i got to the hospital a midwife examined me and i was 3 centimetres, i felt deflated! She said he was so low though she could see the colour of his hair! My mother told me to speed up labour i needed to go for a walk so we decided to go to the shopping centre up the road. Worst shopping trip of my life!! I dread to think what i looked like walking around with a tens machine on buckled over in pain every couple of minutes.

When i got back to the hospital the midwife had a bath ready for me as by then the pain was really bad which helped a bit but soon i felt like i needed something stronger, so she examined me again to find i was 7 centimetres and needed to go over to have my baby. It was a quick labour, i remember biting on the gas and air and not leaving go, Jamie said the tube actually came out & i just glared at him!! I asked for pethidine towards the end but i think they just gave it to me to shut me up because it didn't kick in until after i had given birth. By 4.20pm he was here, all 7lb 9oz of him. THE best feeling in the world.

 Jensen James Williams due 13/07/13 born 14/07/13

My pregnancy with Jensen was pretty much the same as Ashton's except i had morning sickness this time, only for a couple of weeks till about week 16. This pregnancy was planned though so i found out when i was 5 weeks. Everything was straightforward, no real issues, until i got to my due date.

I had a feeling that my waters had gone, i constantly felt like i had wet myself! It didn't help that we were in the middle of a heatwave so was a ball of sweat anyway 🙈 so i phoned my community midwife to come and check.

When she came, she first listened to the baby's heartbeat with a pinard horn which if you don't know what that is, its a little hollow horn that they put on your belly and put their ear up to, which i thought was a bit weird as normally they would use a Doppler?? She checked my blood pressure, checked my waters and told me they were still intact. She then wrote everything down in my notes and left.

It was only when Jamie was looking to see what she had written that he noticed my blood pressure, i can't remember what it was exactly but i know it was very high. I phoned my mother and told her, she then phoned the hospital where she worked who told her i needed to come in with my hospital bag 😬.

By the time i got to hospital my blood pressure was sky high, the midwife gave me a sweep, gave me some labetalol and told me they would try and start my labour.

After a few hours there were still no signs so i was given another sweep, wow! Let's just say i would of been very shocked if that had not worked and within the hour i was having pains. It was now the middle of the night so i got into the hospital bed and there was an inbetweeners marathon on, so me and Jamie just watched that all night. The pains were there, but not that strong so i was able to have some sleep on and off.

In the morning i decided to go for a walk to try and speed things up which definitely worked. When i was examined i was in labour but not as far as they would have liked so they took me down to try and break my waters. I was given gas and air and once again it did not leave my mouth! I go into mute mode in labour, i do not make a sound!! When the midwife tried breaking my waters there was hardly any fluid there, so my waters HAD been trickling and i wasn't just wetting myself like the community midwife had told me, i was lucky to not get an infection.

Soon after the pains get stronger and my second little boy was born at 3.40pm 8lb 5 1/2 oz.

I continued to have problems with my blood pressure after and got readmitted twice, was in hospital for 10 days altogether and finally got off blood pressure meds when Jensen was 6 months.

Theo Benjamin Williams due 09/12/18 born 09/12/18

This pregnancy was by far the worst! We had been trying for a while so was over the moon when i found out i was pregnant at 4 weeks. I was on a constant high till about 7 weeks when sickness hit me, i wasn't sick much just horrific nausea all day everyday! I couldn't eat, the only thing that i could do was take sips of fizzy apple juice. I couldn't wait for it to be over! It finally eased slightly at about 25 weeks but i still had the odd day where it would be bad.

At about 32 weeks pelvic girdle pain kicked in, i was in agony but the only thing i could do was take paracetamol. The belts didn't help nor the exercises, getting up and out of bed was a mission itself.

I had my 37 week midwife appointment on the morning of my last day in work, when i got there i was so pleased it was a midwife i was friendly with because i wanted to pick her brains about the pelvic girdle but that was the least of my worries my blood pressure was high again! I had to go to hospital to get checked 😣 when i left the midwife i phoned Jamie who was in work and just cried, I'd had enough! It just felt like everything was against me in this pregnancy.

When i got to hospital, they put me on the monitor to check baby and was checking my blood pressure every 15 minutes. It was high but not too high but my blood test had come back with a problem with my kidney function. They told me to go home they would book me in to a consultant but i had to ring the hospital that evening and if my second blood test came back with a problem i would have to go in the following morning for induction 😳.

That night i felt sick, even though i was technically full term at 37 weeks i wasn't ready to have my baby and the thought of being induced scared me! But thankfully they came back fine.

The following day i went to the consultant appointment who prescribed me labetalol and told me i would need to have a blood pressure check by a midwife every day!

I got to my consultant appointment at 39 weeks which was a Thursday and i was due on the Saturday, i was 3 centimetres dilated, she gave me a sweep because she didn't really want me to go over, the pains started pretty much straight away but would stop and start until the Friday night when they were coming quicker and stronger. Even though they were strong and only 3-4 minutes apart i didn't think i was actually in labour until my waters went when i was having a wee luckily! That was about 5 on the Saturday morning so we headed to hospital.

A midwife examined me when i got there and i was 5-6 centimetres so down i went to have my baby. 

I was back on the gas and air and labour was progressing nicely, i remember laying there and hearing someone screaming and everyone making fun of me because i was the strange one keeping quiet!! Jamie's best friend and best man in our wedding's girlfriend was due a week before me and was going to our local birthing unit to have her baby, but went over and starting labouring the same time as me. Due to complications she was brought over to the same hospital as us and was in the next room having her baby! You couldn't make it up!! 

By 8.50am i was ready to push, i think i nearly passed out sucking on the gas and air and had a surreal out of body moment when i could just hear everything going on around me but felt like it wasn't me 🤣 and by 8.55am my third baby boy was here, just as perfect as his brothers.

Once again i had problems with my blood pressure after, was readmitted twice and was finally discharged on the 20th December on the highest concoction of blood pressure medication the maternity ward had seen! And like Jensen, managed to stop taking them when Theo was 6 months.

I hope you have enjoyed reading my birth stories, sorry it's a bit of a long one. If your waiting to have your baby remember that people love telling you their horror stories but most labours are drama free like mine and when the time comes your body just gets on with it, its normal to be scared but as cliche as it sounds it's all worth it in the end! 

Just trust your body and if you think something is not right, trust your feeling and get it checked! 

Speak soon
               
                  Kellie xxx