Birth of my first daughter

I just want to share with you the birth of my first daughter.

I was 29 when I fell pregnant with my first child and I was certainly ready to have a baby.  My husband had been asking me to start trying and finally in 2002 I said I felt like the time was right for me.  We had just decided and our little bundle of joy was conceived; the baby was due on October 1 2002.  We started work to get the nursery ready for the forthcoming baby.  My parents were certainly excited; they had waited so long to become grand parents.   For my husbands parents, it was just another grandchild to add to the four grand daughters they already had.

I must say that I didn't enjoy being pregnant, it was just more weight to carry and I was carrying more than enough already.  I didn't feel anything for the tiny life that was growing inside me as I wasn't maternal by nature.  I never looked at other peoples babies and got "clucky" however I knew that I wanted one of my own.  The pregnancy went well, I had my regular check ups.  I went to the ultrasound by myself as my husband was working and I still didn't feel that special bond with my child.  I was starting to wonder if I ever would.  My baby would get the hiccups and never really was a big mover but it moved so I knew all was well.  I slept soundly through out the night although the night wanderings to the toilet got more frequent.

I had decided to work right up until the baby was due; there was no medical reason why I wouldn't be able to.  We reached August without any troubles and on Monday morning I got up and jumped in the shower at 5 am and was just about to get out when my waters broke.  I don't know how I knew but I knew it had happened.  I yelled for my husband and told him what had happened.  There were no contractions, not that I knew how they felt and we were due to go to anti-natal classes the following weekend.  He rang the hospital who advised us to come in.

They checked me and put my on a drip of antibiotics to stop any infection.  I was then moved to into a ward with three other women whose water had broken but hadn't had their babies yet.  Monday night I started having pains (still didn't realise they were contractions) and was given Panadol so I could try and get some sleep.  Hubby had gone home as there was really no reason to stay, he came back on Tuesday morning and after the doctor came to give me a check up I was taken to the delivery suites.  I'm not sure what time this was as it is all such a blur.

The first midwife I had, tried to get me to have no pain medication and I tried this for a while.  I walked around the delivery suites and had hot showers but nothing would ease the pain.  Finally, a second midwife asked me if I wanted any medication and I said yes.  I was given gas but this really wasn't any help.  The doctor came to check on my progress and I remember him saying that the gas wasn't doing much so he "cranked" it up.  I remember a comment the doctor made about me being the size of an elephant and that I should be having twins, funny as this sounds I wasn't offended at all as I knew I was really big and we still laugh about this comment to this day.

I asked the midwife if there was any other medication as the gas wasn't doing anything and my back was really sore, it was at this stage that I was given pethidine.  The pethidine didn't do anything at all.  I'm not even sure of what time this was but I had been in the delivery suite for a few hours by this time.  The midwife was checking how far I had dilated and if I remember correctly I was only 5 cms, it was at this stage that I asked for an epidural.  Well, that was the best medication I had been given because I felt great after that and I even managed to get an hours sleep.  My contractions had stopped after my second top-up so they gave me a drip to induce me. I had another top-up and when I asked for my fourth, the midwife informed me that I was fully dilated and that it was time.  It felt like hours of pushing to deliver but I was told it was only 20 minutes.

I had been in labour for 10 1/2 hours by the time I finally gave birth to a baby girl at 2.08am on Wednesday.  Hubby was there the whole time and a treamendous support.  He cut the cord, he is still proud of that to this day.  He also tells me constantly that he saw our little girl before me.  I had been so sure that I was having a boy that I asked the midwife twice what the baby was.  There were two doctors standing outside my door waiting to take my newborn away to the NIC Unit as she was premature.

After she was weighed (she was a tiny 2.32kg) and checked over by the midwife, she was finally placed on my chest so I could see my gorgeous daughter but she had to have oxygen, so we needed to hold a tube to her nose.  Once I saw her I knew that I shouldn't have worried that I wouldn't love my daughter because I was so overwhelmed by my love for this tiny newborn (it's hard to describe the feeling I had).

Once the midwife gave the okay, my baby was whisked away by the two waiting doctors to the NIC Unit.  My husband followed them, he was asking them questions as they were almost running to get her to the NIC Unit.  However, she was alternatively taken to the Special Care Nursery as the NIC Unit was full.

I was scared but extremely tired so when hubby came back I had a shower and finally crawled into bed to have a well earned sleep.  When I woke later that morning hubby had returned and told me that my baby was in the Special Care Nursery.  When I went to see her, I still couldn't believe that she was mine. 

I stayed in hospital till Friday however I went home alone, my daughter had to stay in the hospital till the doctors deemed she was fine.  She developed jaundice and was put into a humidicrib and had all these wires hooked up to her, I was devastated.  She was also being fed via a tube, I felt so helpless.  However, the nurses in the nursery were fantastic and I couldn't have been more grateful to them as they helped me through a difficult time.

Finally, a week later, it was time to take my daughter home and it was the happiest moment in my life.  She needed visits to a paediatrician as she was premature but by 12 months old the paediatrician said that she no longer needed to see him.  I look at my 5 year old girl and can't believe that she was premature.  I was so worried that she wouldn't reach all her milestones and that she would always be small but I certainly shouldn't have worried.  She is a tall girl now and smarter than I think a 5 year old should be.

I hope you enjoyed reading my first birth experience, I would love to say that I enjoyed my pregnancy but I can't however I would never have believed that I could experience such over whelming love for a being so small and that I had never seen before.