a second birth story - part four


You can find the story so far here
but in a nutshell . . .

My waters broke just as I had gone to bed,
but with suspected meconium in the waters
the maternity unit had said I needed to make my way straight there
as it may mean the baby is in distress.



By the time my mum arrived I was starting to get some cramping pains
and they were definitely starting at a more painful level than they had first time around.
I managed to waddle about getting bedding for my mum
and checking we had everything we needed to take to hospital,
while my husband put everything we needed into the car
and took the little guy's car seat out to leave with my mum.

The clock in the car read 12.27am as I got in.
An hour ago I had been going to bed
and suddenly everything had changed.
I had a contraction as we pulled away
and another one at 12.30am.
I focused on the clock the entire way there
and my contractions were coming every two to three minutes.

The severity of the pain of these was coming back to me
and I remember thinking that this was really horrible
and that I knew that it would get so much worse.
You don't have the beauty of ignorance the second time around
and when those contractions during our car journey were at their height
I felt really scared at the thought of what I knew was coming.

We had already made the decision
to use the main maternity unit at the hospital in the next town
rather than the much nearer midwife let unit,
but with suspected meconium in the waters
this was no longer our choice to make.
They would have sent me straight there from the smaller unit anyway,
so we made the 10 mile journey to the hospital
and I thanked my lucky stars that it was the middle of the night.
I had driven that same route every day when I was working
and it was awful at peak times and pretty busy most of the day as well,
but that morning it was clear.
So my husband drove as smoothly and as quickly as he could
while I breathed through the contractions
and gripped the sides of my seat like my life depended on it.

We arrived at the hospital
and while he paid for parking
I walked over to the maternity entrance and buzzed the bell for entry.
We buzzed again and again.
Contractions rolling over me every few minutes
while I stood leaning against the door in the cold night air.

We had been briefed that it could take a little while to be buzzed in
as they could get very busy but were also very conscious of the security of the unit.
So while the husband kept buzzing and got irritated,
I tried to keep calm
knowing that whatever happened now
we were in the best possible place
and that it wouldn't be too long before we met our baby.

It was kind of hard to remain chilled after nearly ten minutes of trying to gain entry,
especially when we knew that there were two more doors to be buzzed through yet
before we made it to the labour ward.
In the end a doctor let us in as she went out for some fresh air,
and fortunately the we weren't left waiting quite so long at the next two doors
(probably because while I followed the rules and buzzed politely,
my husband decided to bang loudly on the door.)


You can read the next part of the story here.

13 comments

  1. They are getting better and better. Always say it, can't wait for the next :)

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  2. Oh come on come on I need to hear more. Those buzzers always bug me.

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    1. Those buzzers were a BIG pain. We were not impressed. X

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  3. How exciting- it is getting to the good part now. I can't believe they left you waiting 10 minutes, Mr E would have been cross and impatient too! x

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    1. The was going mad. I was kind of distracted at the time, but it was very annoying. X

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  4. Ten minutes?? That is crazy! Especially for a second birth, you could have been crowning for all they knew!!!! Looking forward to next instalment!

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    1. I think that's what my husband was worried about. He didn't want to deliver his own baby in the car park. Fortunately we were okay! X

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  5. Not sure I could have coped with any 10 minutes of waiting!

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  6. She's nearly here! :0) Of course she's here already but in the story she's nearly here! :0) x

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  7. Oh no this brought back memories, I panicly buzzed our hospital with MM forever and ever to let me in. Started banging too and only got let in when a lady was going out for a smoke. lol

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