The Safe Arrival Of Pippa Rose

THE NITTY GRITTY!!!
At 2am on sunday 4/12/2011 i woke up with uncomfy cramps and wondered what might be going on.Went back to sleep and carried on the day as normal, still having cramps about 20 mins apart all day. They were getting sore by evening, so was sure something was happening. Ed got on the phone and called work to sort out some cover for the moo cows. I decided to go to bed and see what sleep i could get. So glad we did as i woke up on monday 5/12/2011 still in one peice!! Contractions were starting to get painful and were about 10 mins apart, so decided to keep Josiah home from school and ring eds mummy to come and stay, as she had a 4 hour journey before her. Took the boys to Mc Donalds for breakfast and went and got the groceries. Contractions stayed the same all day, and i was half expecting them to stop completely and upset everyone.
I decided to let my midwife know what was happening because i was getting very tired and discouraged. She checked me at 3pm, i was 50% effaced and 1cm dilated with a very firm cervix. She decided to to a good stretch and sweep to get things going and left me to it. I began to get very painful contractions straight away after she did s&s. I had dinner with the family and the contractions were still coming and still sore. They stayed super irregular all night, getting more and more sore. Ed and i decided to go for a walk to get her moving along. It didnt seem to work, so i sat down with a glass of wine and then all of a sudden i was very sore. Started timing contractions and they were still 8 mins apart. I was a wreck trying to decided what to do. About 1230 i asked ed to call the midwife to see if we could go to the birth centre because i wasnt coping well with the pain. She came and checked me at 1am, i was only 3cms dilated, but fully effaced and just not coping. I burst into tears and was very very discouraged at the process. My amazing midwife realized i wasnt going to be ok at home so made some calls to the birth centre for me and off we went. Got to birth centre just after 2am and started on gas to keep me sane. It helped hugely and i felt a huge sense of being in control of my pain. I had about 4 contractions in 15 mins, so things were going well. Then a big one hit and i asked for the water.I hoped in the pool around 3 i think, things progressed slow and steady, and i was feeling amazing with the gas, managing to chat and breath well in between the pain. After a couple of contractions one on top of each other, and me starting to be panicked, the midwife insisted on an internal. I was absolutely devastated when she said i was only 7cms, because i thought it was much further on.She then asked my if i would like to have my waters broken, i agreed that would be a good idea. So at 700am Sunday 6/12/2011, she decided to go ahead and break my waters (WOW was there LOTS of water!!!), within a matter of seconds i was absolutely screaming in pain, sucking gas for my dear life and vomiting. Then, wham, All of a sudden i was pushing, slightly panicked and not understanding what was happening. I felt a sense of intense fullness and started saying i couldnt do it, to which the midwife replied "you already are i can see her head'. I didnt get a chance to process this or the crowning stage, as 2 pushes later her head was out, and about 20 seconds and 1 more push later she was born at 710am!!