Saturday 24 January 2009

The arrival of little Sonic

You may prefer to be spared the gory details. But it's my blog, so here goes.

On Tuesday I decided that going for long walk might get things going. So after eight miles, my body felt suitably battered. By Wednesday morning I felt a bit achy and grumpy (nothing out of the ordinary) and sent Sonic off to work. Following his epic 1.5 hour journey to work - after numerous traffic dramas - I assured him that he was safe to go out for his lunchtime run. I may have even suggested that he feck-off-and-leave-me-in-peace. So in true karma-style, he must have stepped his foot on the pavement as I stood up and got my first contraction. Ouch. No problem, I thought. Loads of time between each in the first stage, right? Enough time to tidy up and finally sort out my hospital bag, right? Wrong. Bang! Three minutes later along came the next. And they were coming fast and furious. By the time I got hold off Sonic (who chosen that day to do a long run!) I was in the midst of deep breathing and gasped "Home! Now!" down the phone. When he came in they were two minutes apart and lasting at least one minute.

After a chat with the midwifes, I was told to go into the maternity unit as things were progressing quite rapidly. Too fast for my liking. There was no rest bite and I felt drained. It was like running your first marathon at 5K pace!! I had three contractions from the carpark to the maternity ward, as they were one minute apart by then. After a brief examination - just heart rate and pressure stuff - I was in the birthing pool.

As the endorphins set in I was completely within myself and practically unaware of what was going around about me. I had no idea how far along I was, as I declined an internal examination, but it wasn't long before I had an uncontrollable urge to push. Lesley the midwife gave me gas and air to try and stop me from pushing. Gawd, that stuff it magic :-) Sonic was keen to give it a go, but decided against it when he saw that I'd vomited down the tube %-) It gave relief, but didn't stop me wanting to push. My membranes hadn't ruptured, so that came first. It was like passing a balloon. Lesley pierced the sack and told me the head was on it's way. After what seemed like eternity of burning and stinging, out it popped. I distinctly remember making a noise that I'm convinced only labouring woman can make. It was like a long, throaty grunt. Then with the next contraction, my beautiful son was passed up to the water's surface.

It was a truly amazing experience. Not something I'd want to repeat anytime soon, but it's so not as bad as it's made out to be. I think having a positive and fearless frame of mind, made it for me. I really wanted a natural bith and will always cherish my proud moment of achieving this. Especially when I can say twos-up to the people who said I couldn't or shouldn't.

I keep relaying the experience over and over in my head, from the first contraction at 12.35 to Cairn's arrival at 7.17pm. I never thought it would be over in 6hrs 42. That could be a hard PB to beat.

Sonic was amazing throughout. Really calm and comforting. Although I do recall him mentioning the dog bite on his ass to everyone of the midwives on duty :-)

All niceties and songbirds aside, I did tear quite badly. Weighing it at 8lb 2.5 Cairn wasn't exactly tiny. It took two nurses 45 minutes to stitch me back together. I presume it was a bit of car crash, as the needle was working like they were whipping up a patchwork quilt. I suppose I can take comfort in the fact that they both stood back and admired their handy work by saying they'd done a "lovely job". I am too scared to look, as I harbour fears that it may resemble a hedgehog that unsuccessfully crossed the M8! :-)

More photos (of Cairn - not the aforementioned) and updates to follow.

8 comments:

Rachel Jayne Stevenson/Rogers said...

Well done Deb...and...errr...thanks for sharing%-)

N.D. said...

I love your first line and opening to this, haha. Well it doesn't sound THAT bad until the tearing part. Yuck, gah!!! Sounds like that was super quick. I better pack a bag and be ready, as I thought there would be tons of down time.

Clare said...

excellent! sounds like a good experience...can't wait to hear how the first few days are going! they really do change fast...

Subversive Runner said...

Top girl, Debs. You the Gal!!!
xx

jsmarslender said...

Just found your blog from lil runner's comments. And if part of a birth story is allowed to be hilarious, the nurses admiring their lovely job is it. Congratulations! Enjoy!

Tim said...

A great "race" report Debbie. ;-) A fantastic achievement and a super result in young Cairn.

Shame about the tear but I guess things were going just too fast to give time for much stretching.

Hope the feeding is going well and that the nights aren't *too* awful. FWIW, it isn't unknown for some babies to get the hang of sleeping through the night within a week. Just don't count on it. ;-)

Anonymous said...

Top stuff Debs, well executed race plan, arive just in time and race to the finish.. Hope all goes well in the next few days, weeks, etc etc. Look forward to seeing you out on the Way soon. Cheers Keith

Michelle Simmons said...

Congratulations! Sounds like a relatively easy delivery... similar to my story in how fast the contractions came on. My water broke first though (then contractions) and I have your PR beat... 1:48 from the first contraction to holding my daughter. It was a wild ride!
Enjoy your little one. He's really adorable!