Any woman can tell you that throughout pregnancy there is
always a common topic for thoughts and questions. What is labour going to be
like? Will I be able to handle the pain? What I can tell you is that no advice
can help you prepare for it in any way. Every woman has different experiences
and every woman’s body will respond to labour and delivery in a different way.
I want to share my experience, not because I think it will help prepare you but
because I think that no matter how it turns out you WILL be able to handle it
and you will come out of it feeling like you deserve a freaking medal for what
you just accomplished.
After spending most of the day and previous night at RCH
waiting to be induced we finally made it home around 9pm. Doctors advised us
that cramping could start throughout the night but that I would probably need
another does of the induction gel in the morning, So we made an appointment for
8am. Fast forward to 6am after a sleepless night of constant cramping and
moving back and forth from a hot bath to a hot shower to ease the pain. We
finally called the midwife to let her know that the pain was getting much worse
and I didn’t think I would be able to go on throughout the day without any type
of medication. She informed us that RCH was so busy they were sending people to
Ridge Meadows hospital and to hold off as long as I could. After another 30
minutes I couldn’t take it anymore and the midwife told us to go to RCH and
hope that because we just showed up they wouldn’t turn us away.
Let’s rewind for a minute. I continuously told myself
throughout my pregnancy that I was not going to swear up and down that I was
going to have a 100% natural birth, but I also was not going to jump on drugs
the first chance I got. That way if the time came when I needed the drugs I wouldn’t
feel like a failure because I couldn’t handle the pain. There is nothing, and I
mean NOTHING that can prepare you for the type of pain you feel when your body
is preparing to birth a human being.
We arrived at the hospital and at 7:30am I was climbing into
the hospital and within 2 minutes my water broke. That’s when all hell broke
loose. When people say that labour gets really intense after your water breaks
they are not lying! Within minutes of my water breaking I was having contraction
after contraction with no more than a 30 to 45 second break in between each.
After experience the most intense pain in my life for an hour and being denied
all drugs for precautionary reasons the nurse checked to see how dilated I was
and I was a WHOPPING 1-2cm……FML. At this point I felt like my world had
shattered….a little dramatic I know but when you are surviving on no sleep and
everyone is telling you no over and over you can’t help but want to release
that inner child and throw a on the floor, kicking and screaming kind of tantrum.
After another 30 minutes the contractions were so intense I began to push involuntarily.
And again they said NO, NO,NO! You’re not dilated enough, breathe through the
contractions but DON’T PUSH. Well sorry
people, I would to switch positions with you so I can tell you to “Just Breath.”
After asking the nurse over and over again to check to see how dilated I was
she was shocked to find that I was at 9cm!!!!! E wanted to make her entrance
faster than we expected. After calling the midwife who was currently upstairs
with another family not expecting me to progress until later that afternoon we
made our way to the delivery room.
After just over an hour of pushing E finally made her
appearance and it was the most remarkable yet intense experience of my entire
life. Within a matter of seconds your lives change. Your priorities change. And
the amount of love you exude is beyond measure. And on top of that you spend
the next few days wishing someone would come and hand you that shiny gold medal
you deserve!
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