![]() It is mentally exhausting being in labour when at the end of it all you can’t even push the baby out.Īt about 11:30am on Wednesday 17th February, my contractions became more painful. The hardest part was knowing that at the end of all this, no matter what, I was going to have a c-section due to bubs being breech and my bicornuate uterus. The contractions then settled to 10 minutely and were less severe. We didn’t sleep at all that night, and by 7am I had broken down and accepted an offer of endone (stronger tablet for pain). At about midnight someone else just had to have a peek down there and put a catheter in – I wasn’t even allowed to get out of bed for the toilet. Tough girl that I thought I was, I decided I only wanted Panadol for the pain. I began having regular contractions (5-10 minutely) which continued all night. A bonus would be that it might all settle completely and he could get another couple weeks in there with me on bed rest. The doctors wanted to try and delay at least another 24 – 48 hours in order to get another dose of steroids for his lung development. ![]() The aim was to keep our little man inside as long as possible – he was better off cooking in there and letting the medications do their job to increase his chances on the outside world. Then came the drug orders – I was given intravenous antibiotics (bubs no longer had any protection from the outside world), magnesium sulphate (reduces the risk of neurological disorders in pre-term babies), given an injection of salbutamol and started on tablets which are both meant to suppress contractions and essentially delay labour. Another IV line was inserted, another internal speculum exam was performed (cervix was closed) and an ultrasound confirmed bubs no longer had any fluid around him in the womb – my waters had definitely broken now. And it kept on coming! We let the nurse know and again came the rush of doctors. At 7.45pm (only 15 minutes after Scott had returned from home) I was all comfy watching My Kitchen Rules when I had a gush of fluid down there – literally felt like I had wet myself. Scott went home to get me some overnight clothes and the nurses even started questioning whether the monitoring earlier may have picked up my heart rate instead of bubs. I was told that I’d be staying the night for continuous monitoring on bubs and was transferred to the delivery (ummm, what?!) ward. I even heard someone in the background talking about taking me to theatre immediately! The doctors put at official ultrasound on bubs and saw that his heart rate had corrected and things seemed to settle a little – I was give IV fluids and an admission went through. Our baby’s heart rate had dropped too low for too long. Only minutes later I noticed the monitor beeping when a rush of doctors and nurses ran into my room, rolled me on my side, put an oxygen mask on my face and started inserting IV lines (drips). I began to feel relieved and they were even talking about sending us home. They also did an internal (yes, everyone saw my vagina that day!) and a swab confirmed there was no amniotic fluid – yay, I hadn’t broken my waters! They connected me to a CTG machine which continuously monitored the baby’s heart rate and my uterine activity to make sure I wasn’t having any contractions. A tiny bit more panic set in, but at this stage I felt completely myself and was sure this was all going to be a waste of time! After the steroid injection, Scott and I went back down to the W&CH where we were seen by a midwife and doctor. They advised that Dr Klomp give me a steroid injection which helps improve the baby’s lung function while still in the womb in case he came early. ![]() Slight panic set in but I grouped my thoughts, left work (picking Scott up from work on my way) and went back up the hill to Mt Barker Hospital.Īt midday Dr Klomp performed an internal speculum exam and saw fluid in my vagina – he was worried I may have prematurely ruptured my membranes (broken my waters) and contacted the Women's & Children's Hospital to see me ASAP. 1045 the midwives finally called saying Dr Klomp wanted to see me right away. I also had a regular appointment that afternoon so I wasn’t too concerned. After some googling about mucous plugs (and some good advice from my sister in law) I called the midwives at the Mt Barker Hospital who also said this can be normal but they will have a chat to Dr Klomp (my obstetrician) and call me back. ![]() I remember thinking ‘well that ain’t right’ but apparently pregnancy increases vaginal discharge and maybe this weird shit happens! I didn’t think much of it and went to work. When I went to the toilet (warning: too much information) I expelled a large sticky glob of mucous. On Tuesday 16th February, at exactly 30 weeks pregnant, I woke as usual at 0530 for an early shift at work. This won’t be my normal edited blog – but that’s because nothing is ‘normal’ right now. ![]()
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