How Toby came to be

(do you see what I did there?)

Right - just had a very relaxed morning....Toby fed at 12pm, 3am and 6am then we went back to sleep until 10am. I had a shower, Rob brought me tea and crumpets in bed and I fed Toby again. Now Rob is tidying the house and hoovering the lounge so Tobes and I are sat here at the computer - he's in his baby bjorn seat - so I thought I'd write his birth story.

It doesn't really feel like a birth story though - more a delivery story......

So let's start at the beginning. Went in on Sunday night which is unusual for planned c-sections but my midwife had told me I was to be on a sliding insulin drip from midnight. Got to the hospital around 8.30 having put Oscar to bed at Mum's. I was shown into a ward which had 2 other occupied beds in. Rob and I sat there for a while....they tried to take my blood pressure but the machine wouldn't give a reading....they told me I'd be on the drip from 6am not midnight (no one told me why that had changed) so I sent Rob home and tried to get my head down and get some sleep.

The bed next to me had a young girl in with her parents next to her - she was in early labour and seemed very frightened. They were African and were talking (very loudly) until midnight when the midwife kicked the parents out. I felt quite sorry for her - she was told by the doctor (btw yes I was eavesdropping but there was only a curtain between us and I was bored) that she wasn't in labour yet, might not be for hours so could go home. But she seemed to want to stay. Listening to her crying and moaning made me quite relieved that I wasn't going to go through that at all!

Bed opposite....a woman who snored like no one I have ever heard and my mother can be heard throughout the house. It was like Ken Russell in the CBB house times twenty. SOOOO loud. I put earplugs in but I didn't get much sleep at all.

6am I woke up - woman next to me was gone so hopefully she went into full labour and good luck to her. They didn't set up the insulin drip at 6. The midwife came and started doing it at 6.30 but the electric pump for the drip didn't work. She faffed with it for about ten minutes and went to try and find another one. Slightly disconcerting.....the drip was eventually started at 7.15. If I'd had been in natural labour and connected to this thing it would have been a nightmare. It was about 3 boxes on a drip stand and the tube leading from it to my wrist was only about 8 inches long. I would have been trapped by it - nightmare.

Eventually the surgeon came to talk to me about 9am (Rob had arrived by now) and went through all the scary things that could happen including -this was one I hadn't been told about- how the fact that I'd already had one c-section may mean when they opened me up that they'd find adhesions - where your organs were all stuck together with scar tissue. Nice! Then the anaesthetist came and did similar scary stories. Then a midwife came with a paper gown for me, scrubs for Rob and we were off!

I had to walk down the corridor with my gown on (had to cover it with my dressing gown as my arse was out for all to see) and then go into theatre. It was wierd. Walking into the operating room - looking at the table....having to sit up on the table - sans dressing gown so my arse was on display again. I felt (obviously) very naked and scared. People kept coming and asking me questions and chatting away. And I was sat on a table with my arse hanging out!

There were lots of people bussing around doing things....they told me they were going to make me lie on my side to put the spinal in which they did - kept asking me to curl up and raise my knees which I couldn't cos the bump was in the way. The spinal itself was painful - very painful - at one point it felt like an electric shock all down one leg.....

Then they rolled me over and the op began - a big screen covered everything - much higher than the last time so I couldn't see the surgeons at all. Rob distracted me by telling me about silly things Oscar had done the previous morning. I was almost hyperventilating - I was really scared.

All I can think is - with the emergency c-section I'd been in labour for 9 hours. I was exhausted. I didn't really register what was happening and it all happened quickly. This time I was fully concious, not distracted and much more aware. And scared!

After about 5 minutes the screen was lowered and there he was. All white and crying straight away. (Oscar was purple when they pulled him out so it was quite different) They whisked him off to the station at the side of the operating theatre to do his apgar (he got a 9) then brought him back to near my head so I could look again. Then they whisked him off again. He was having breathing problems they said - which set all my alarm bells ringing - so they were giving him oxygen. Rob went over to be with him but soon came back and said he was fine. They took him into the recovery room to wash and weigh him and Rob went too.

It seemed like ages....so I asked the anaesthetist to go get Rob. It was actually less than 2 minutes but I was worrying that there was a problem. Rob came back - all was well and I calmed down. They wanted baby to have some formula immediately as his blood sugar was quite low so I agreed and Rob went to give him a bottle. Took about another 20 minutes to stitch me and then they wheeled me into the recovery room where Rob was feeding him. (That box with wires in you can see is one small part of the insulin drip I was on)And I got to hold him about ten minutes later. (I do look so rough in the picture!)

I managed to get him latched on though and he took some sucks which made me very happy.

We stayed in recovery for about 6 hours because I was still on the insulin drip. Also my blood pressure was very low from the spinal so I had to be on some extra medicine for it. So I needed one on one monitoring. It was actually quite nice - no one else came in and it was quiet.

Then we were taken up to the ward. (Won't go into such detail here) And I was reunited with the snorey woman who was in the bed opposite again. And the bed next to me had a woman in whose baby cried ALL NIGHT and she didn't seem to do anything. And I couldn't put earplugs in or I wouldn't hear Toby. So I slept on average about 2 hours a night. I didn't get my private room. So that's why I managed to get out by Wednesday. Toby had his blood sugars checked regularly and he was fine. I was told not to worry about mine so I'm not for a couple of weeks then will have another glucose tolerance test. There were some lovely midwives on the day shift in hospital and a horrible dragon one on the night shift (I wish I'd got her name cos she was a bully and very mean to a young mum opposite me - I would have complained). But we got out quickly....

And that's the story of Toby's delivery. It doesn't feel like a birth cos I had no active part in his arrival.....