Tuesday the 4th of March was my due date. I woke up at 3am, got up at 3.30am and had a few niggling pains. I was pretty depressed once again to be awake and still be pregnant. But there wasn't much I could do about that. I had a shower about 11 in the morning (yes, I was rather unmotivated) where I had a bloody show. After talking to Russ about it we decided to call the hospital, just in case. I spoke to the midwife and got the biggest lecture because I had stopped taking insulin, despite the fact that my Blood Sugar Levels after dinner (when I took the insulin) had been quite low since running out. The midwife told me to call back in an hour and let her know what was happening. Within 5 minutes of hanging up the phone rang, it was the same midwife telling me I needed to come in for an assessment. Russ and I finished getting ready, packed up my hospital bag, organised stuff for the girls, organised the babysitter, had some lunch then headed out.
When we got to the hospital I was assessed by the Obstetrical Registrar and the student OB. They were very thorough, taking my entire history and giving me 2 internals. After they had finished Russ and I were kept waiting while they spoke with the specialist and decided what to do with me. After a while the mid wife came in and told us that I was being sent up to Perinatal Ultrasound for another sizing scan (I think I had 3 in a fortnight), then I would be kept in overnight to be assessed by the team in the morning and possibly be induced. We went up to ultrasound and had the scan done (I had the same radiographer 3 times in row, she was fantastic, very reassuring), Oli was still on the lower end of the weight scale, still plenty of fluid etc. Everything was normal! We then headed back down to the delivery suite where we waited for the specialist to look at the ultrasound report. While we waited the head midwife walked into see if I was there or not. I practically burst into tears and asked her what on earth was going on as no one was telling us anything. I gave her a brief overview of my pregnancy including that I'd stopped taking insulin. The midwife (before I told her why I had stopped) said that to buy more would have been a waste of money (finally, someone who listened and understood where I was coming from!!!!). She told us that because I was a high risk pregnancy and because I had been on insulin, regardless of how low the dose, the hospital wanted to make sure that everything went smoothly. She was lovely, very reassuring and even if I didn't like what was happening at least there was a logical reason behind it.
We were sent up to Antenatal where I was to spend the night. We were in the room for less than 5 minutes when we were sent out by another midwife as they were inducing the lady in the bed next to me. Russ went to get my hospital bag out of the car and I eventually made it back to my room. This was where it got fun (please note the sarcastic tone). From that moment on none of the staff I encountered knew why I was there. I was fed, given my insulin and taken care of but just about every midwife asked me why I was in hospital. Nothing had been written in my file as to why I was being kept in overnight. It was rather depressing being asked by midwife after midwife why I was there. I didn't even really know, except that it had to do with not being on insulin. By the time Russ left at 9.30pm I was feeling very low. I decided to bide my time by reading when I started getting contractions every 7 minutes. By 10.30pm or so I was exhausted and desperately needed sleep, it was then that the contractions stopped. At midnight I woke up with a contraction and a had a bit of a cry as it was my wedding anniversary and I was stuck in hospital rather than being with my husband. For the rest of that night I slept in 30 - 45 minute fits, awaking to a contraction or 2 (and the snoring of the girl next to me) and then falling back to sleep.
5.30am came and I was wide awake. I got up and made myself a cup of coffee, climbed back into bed and the contractions started again. Once again coming every 7 minutes. Somewhere between 6 and 7am I had another midwife come in and ask me why I had been kept in overnight. That was it, I couldn't cope with it any more. I rang Russ and asked him to come down as soon as possible, I was in pain and no one knew why I was there. I felt alone and uncared for. Fortunately the contractions continued for the rest of the morning. The girl next to me was induced again and this time it worked. At about 10.30am the specialist came into see me, he gave me an internal and told me that I was 3cm dilated and that hopefully I would go into labour naturally. If not, I would be induced on Friday and would have to stay in hospital until then. That was a very unappealing prospect. Russ and I made the most of our 8th wedding anniversary and took a wander down to the kiosk (after the midwife suggested that it would be a good idea and hopefully would get things moving). We sat at a table next to a family of 3, I tried to be as discreet as possible but being in labour is no easy thing.
After Russ had finished his burger we took a short walk around the hospital before heading back to antenatal. By the time we arrived back the girl I was sharing a room with was heading down to delivery and my contractions had started coming every 4 minutes. I toughed it out for another 20 minutes as I really wanted some lunch, then the contractions stopped for about 10 minutes then started again. After waiting those 20 minutes I couldn't take it any more, despite really wanting to eat, and asked if I could go down to delivery, after telling them about my contractions the mid wife went and called delivery. She came back to tell me that they were too busy to take me and I didn't fit their criteria, simply because the contractions had stopped for a short while. For the next 3 hours or so I laboured in antenatal, with only heat packs for pain relief, sharing a room with a girl who was 26 weeks pregnant. Finally, around 3pm, the midwife gave me another internal and told me that I was 6cm dilated, by then the contractions were 3 minutes apart. The midwife organised for me to be moved down to delivery - finally!!!
When we were given a room in delivery I was asked if I wanted to use the gas. At first I said "No", all I wanted to do was curl up into a ball and go to sleep. However, the next time I was asked my response was a big "YES". At first the gas was nothing more than a distraction, something else to focus on and take my mind off the pain. Eventually it got the better of me and I was just a little stoned, saying completely bizarre things to Russ and wondering if the mid wife thought I was weird. As the contractions intensified the gas was less and less effective but it still gave me something to else focus on. Eventually the midwife asked me if I wanted her to break my waters and I said "Yes". She used what looked like a plastic knitting needle and boy did it hurt. The next thing I knew the baby's head was crowning, I started to push and 3 minutes later (although it felt like much longer) my baby was born.
The midwife asked Russ what it was and when he said that it was a boy I think I went into shock, I turned to Russ in tears and repeated "It's a boy" over and over again until reality began to sink in. We hadn't found out at the many ultrasounds that we had what the sex was and I think a larger part of me expected another girl. To have a little boy (after two girls) was the best anniversary present I could think of giving my husband. Russell cut the cord and our son was laid down on my chest. After the midwife and Russell had left the room I peeked under the blanket just to double check that yes it was a little man. Thankfully he didn't miraculously change sex.
Elijah James Blair was born at 4.43 on the 5th of March 2008, he weighed 3.06kgs (or 6lbs, 12oz) and was 49cm long.
