For those of you interested in Logan's birth story, here it is! If you aren't into that sort of thing... move along! ;)
Logan was due September 3. On that day, at 40 weeks, I went in for a check up with my midwife. Here in the UK, they never check the women for dilation, for risk of infection, I believe... but as they measured and remeasured my big belly, they confirmed that at 40 weeks, I was only measuring 36cm. Due to the size difference, they wanted me to go into the hospital for a scan, to make sure he was ok, growing properly. With Noah in school for half the day, and Asher in tow, I met Jason at the hospital for the scan. After a LONG wait in the waiting room, and getting a friend to pick up Noah from school cause I was certainly missing school pick up (!) it was concluded that Logan was growing just fine, but there wasn't any fluid around him, really. So I was scheduled to be induced the next day. I was nervous, but happy to be getting the show on the road. I was induced with Noah for the same reason, although he was 10 days late. And I had an epidural with him. The inducement process was explained to me, and it sounded very similar to how they do it in the US. But I knew there would come a point where Jason couldn't stay with me, and, having a natural birth with Asher, I knew I may not get an epi, and I wasn't looking forward to any of that.
So, the next day, after organizing friends to watch our two big boys, we headed to the hospital around 4pm, to the Westburn ward (inducement zone!). Now here there weren't any private rooms. I was in a room with maybe 8-10 beds, but there were privacy curtains around them. We were shown my bed, and we waited forever it seems to get started! The mom to be next to me arrived at the same time, and although she had been scheduled for inducement, she obviously was in serious labor already. I felt so bad for her cause she was waiting too, and in obvious pain. Jason and I made ourselves comfortable, he went and got us some hot panini's (they were actually very tasty! I had 4 the whole hospital stay!) and we chatted with friends online and checked Facebook, I shared a photo of where I was at with American friends and they just couldn't believe the process over here! It isn't wrong, just different than what we are used to. But I had known that it would be like this, a shared room... and I am also thankful that it wasn't my first delivery, I would have been very nervous. Finally we got the inducement started and by 11pm, I was having steady contractions, but nothing too major. Jason was informed (nicely) that he had overstayed his welcome by 2 hours, and he had to leave. He could come back to be with me at 9am. I was very sad to have him go. This is one thing I didn't like about my experience. I wish the husbands could stay, I don't think it is really fair to make them leave their wives who are going through labor. And I was nervous I would start serious contractions and pain without him, and I really wanted him with me at that time. But he left, and I got as much sleep as I could. Around 5am is when they started hurting more, and becoming more steady. I walked around, asked the nurses over and over at what stage would they call Jason to come back to be with me. :) Around 7am Jason actually came to the hospital, but he couldn't be with me, but I could leave the ward to walk around with him, so I did that. The contractions then became too painful to walk so I went back to my bed. I asked if the baby could be monitored cause I hadn't felt him move. They strapped a monitor on me and left me for awhile. The heartbeat kept going in and out, and I figured it was how I was standing. Cause I wasn't sitting or laying down, the contractions hurt more for that. I finally called the nurse in and felt like I needed to push. --it was a very slight feeling, I think I partially said it so they would check for dilation. The midwife must have seen something on the monitor, cause bam, they were calling Jason in, getting me a wheelchair, and moving me to the labor ward, which all of a sudden had an opening, when there had been a line for it earlier! They wheeled me in and got me in a bed, and put a monitor on me. It hurt so much more to be sitting down, but thats the position they wanted for me. I quickly asked for an epi, and my delivery midwife was very good at going to check with the anesthesiologist of when I could get one. There was an emergency ahead of me, so I had to wait. IT HURT SO BAD! Ha! The midwife suggested laughing gas. My Scottish friend had taken it during her delivery, and said she really liked it, so I gave it a go. I'm not really sure it did anything though! I didn't like just breathing through my mouth, like I was scuba diving, I felt like I was suffocating. Oh, and did I mention there was no air-conditioning in our room, and we were literally in the hottest room in the hospital, right above the boiler. I was dripping in sweat, and that didn't help me feel any more comfortable! Finally I was able to get an epi, and I was getting eager! After talking about the risks, and prepping me, I finally got it... but, with all the repositioning of my body to stick my back, it must have sped up my labor, cause I didn't really get a chance to feel the epidural, it hadn't kicked in yet, and it was time to push! I just pushed a few times, and Logan came out. He had the umbilical cord around his neck once, but the midwife was skilled and swift and got it loose and off him fast. Both midwifes in our room and Jason and I gasped when we saw his head of hair!!
Logan was here and yay! Delivery was DONE!
Overall, it was a decent experience. A few things I wasn't a fan of, but in the end, we were in capable hands, and the delivery went very well.
Logan and I ended up staying for 2 nights, due to NO fluid around him, and a little heart murmur. We stayed again in a shared room, with no air conditioning... but I was able to walk out of the ward to go get that yummy panini in the hospital cafeteria! ;)
Logan is going on 7 weeks now and doing very well! A perfect addition to our family.
