Following a very long labour, Lynette had a
caesarean for the birth of her first baby. Lynette and her husband found
their experience was a very positive one due to the amount of
information they had and understanding all the options available to
them.
Our first child, a baby girl, was due to arrive 15 April 2003. We were
eagerly anticipating her birth with both excitement and apprehension.
However, that day came and went without any sign of her wanting to be
born.
Monday 21 April 2003, 7.30am – I woke up to find the sheets soaking in
liquid. My heart leapt as I knew my waters had broken. Quickly, I shook
Neeven awake and told him the good news. He was sleeping soundly but
sprang out of bed the moment he heard those words. I called my gynae, Dr
Paul Tseng, and asked him what I should do in the meantime. I was not
having any contractions yet, so he said I could go to his clinic later
that morning to do a check to make sure everything was alright.
I did a non-stress test at the clinic and everything was superb with the
baby. She was in an ROA position [right occiput
anterior, meaning the baby's head was on Lynette's right side, facing
Lynette's back] and her heartbeat was nice and strong. The doctor
said we could go home and call him when contractions were strong and
regular. However, he did mention that if contractions did not start
within 24 hours, he would prefer to induce labour. Still no contractions
at bed-time …the waiting seemed interminable! I was praying hard that
contractions would begin soon so that I would not have to be induced.
Tuesday 22 April 2003, 5.30am – I was awoken by mild contractions and
was elated! Finally, we were going to meet our little girl. The
contractions came on and off through the whole morning, and both Neeven
and myself were impatiently waiting for the real "action" to
start. Kathleen, our doula, had been keeping in constant contact with us
since my waters broke on Monday. She decided to visit us at home at
about 1pm to see how both of us were holding up. My contractions were
getting stronger, but still very irregular. Some lasted just 30 seconds,
while others lasted more than a minute. Kathleen helped me breathe
through the contractions and gave firm massage on my lower back, which
helped me get through the long contractions. I took a short nap to try
and reserve strength for the hard work ahead. Kathleen decided to go
home and wait till the contractions got stronger before meeting us
again.
At 6pm, my contractions were getting more intense and I asked Neeven to
drive me to the hospital. A vaginal exam (VE) was done and I was 3cm
dilated. My heart sank when I heard that number. So much pain and still
7cm to go. I was having doubts that I could go through the birth without
pain relief. We finally got admitted to the labour ward at about 10.30pm
as the hospital was very busy due to the SARS outbreak. The pain of the
contractions was getting increasingly unbearable as the night wore on.
Neeven quietly endured much abuse from me at this stage!
Wednesday 23 April 2003, 12am – I had gone into the tub for a soak to
relax me and emerged after an hour. The nurse came in to do another VE
and said that I was almost fully effaced and 5cm dilated. I was mildly
discouraged that I had dilated so slowly even though the contractions
were very strong. Kathleen and Neeven were wonderfully supportive and
kept telling me that I could do this, one contraction at a time. The
pain was getting very bad and I started requesting for an epidural some
time in the night. Kathleen very cleverly bargained with me and asked
for 5 more contractions before we had the epidural. I used Entonox
to try and cope that found that it didn't do me any good.
Wednesday 23 April 2003, 3.30am – Another VE was done and I was fully
effaced and 8cm dilated. Finally! Just 2 more centimeters to go. I was
delighted that all the contractions were doing its job and that the baby
was going to be born soon. The contractions came with increasing
intensity all through and night and the next morning. I was exhausted by
this time. My last proper meal was lunch on Tuesday, and I couldn't eat
much between contractions since they started that afternoon. By 9.15am
on Wednesday morning, my contractions were 60 seconds long 3 minutes
apart.
Wednesday 23 April 2003, 6.30am – Dr Paul Tseng arrived to do another VE
and found that I was fully effaced at 8-9cms dilation and the baby was
at 0 or +1 station. My contractions were lasting 60 seconds coming every
3 minutes apart at about 9.30am and I remember shaking a lot from sheer
exhaustion through each one of them. All through the previous night and
this morning, Kathleen and Neeven were taking turns giving me back rubs
and counter-pressure on my lower back to help get me through the
contractions. They kept telling me that I could do this, and hearing
them vocalize their faith in me strengthened my resolve even more that I
was going to birth my baby naturally.
Wednesday 23 April 2003, 11am – The doctor came to do another VE but
found that there had been no change since the last VE done earlier this
morning. I was horribly disappointed and was afraid for the well-being
of the baby. It had been 3 days since my waters broke. Kathleen and
myself spent some time talking about what might be keeping the baby from
being born. I shared my fears and insecurities of being a mother, and we
said a beautiful prayer with Neeven after that.
Wednesday 23 April 2003, 1pm – Tania, another doula from ParentLink,
arrived to give Kathleen a much-needed rest. She gave me long slow
massages on the lower back and kept the atmosphere very calm in the
labour room. My contractions had slowed down slightly, so I took time to
rest between them. At 3.30pm, Dr Paul Tseng returned and did another VE.
Still no change from 6.30am this morning. He said that my uterus was not
contracting efficiently enough because I was tired from being in labour
for so long. He recommended Pitocin to augment the labour. Reluctantly,
I agreed, knowing that the labour pains from Pitocin could be much
stronger than natural contractions. I was not sure how much longer I
could endure labour and was feeling very very tired. The drip was
started at 4pm, and the initial contractions were manageable. However,
as the drip was increased, the contractions became so intense that I
started hyperventilating and shaking even more vigorously. Neeven called
in the doctor at 9pm and he suggested an epidural so that the Pitocin
drip could be continued. Dr Tseng recommended augmenting the labour till
12 midnight and he would come again then to reassess the situation.
Wednesday 23 April 2003, 9pm – The anesthetist arrived to do the
epidural and it was a frightening experience. I was shaking the whole
day from exhaustion and he wanted me to curl up and stay very still,
which was close to impossible. I could feel the catheter moving up my
spinal cord as it was being inserted, and did not like the feeling of
this at all. After the epidural was put in, I started shaking even more,
which was one of the side effects of having an epidural. It took about
30 minutes for me to feel the effect, and slowly I started to loose
sensation in my lower body. I still felt the contractions, but without
the pain….it was an almost surreal experience. The Pitocin drip was
upped, and I slept for a while as I let the drugs do its work in helping
me to birth my baby.
Thursday 23 April 2003, 12.30am – Dr Tseng arrived to assess the
situation. He did another VE and said that nothing had changed from the
last VE. He diagnosed me as having celpho-pelvic disproportion,
and recommended a caesarean as the next best option. My husband and I
wanted to see our baby so badly, there really wasn't much to discuss. We
agreed to do the caesarean with the epidural and I was prepped for the
operation immediately.
Thursday 23 April 2003, 1.03 – Baby Rebekah was born. I felt the doctor
push my abdomen downwards really hard and a few seconds later, my baby
started crying. I was drifting in and out of consciousness while the
baby was being cleaned. In the distance, I heard a nurse asking the
doctor if I was asleep because she wanted to show me the baby. I recall
fighting off my drowsiness and said, "I'm awake. Where's she?" The nurse
walked over with a little baby, my baby, wrapped up in a brown towel. I
said to her, "You're worth 40 hours of labour". That was a moment I
would never forget, knowing that from my body came a little baby girl so
perfect in every way.
Thank you Dr Paul Tseng, Kathleen, my dearest husband Neeven and above
all, God for making the birth of Rebekah Lyn Neeven so very very
special!
What's going on
here?
Lynette's labour began with the baby lying on
Lynette's right side. The majority of babies in this position will need
to turn their whole bodies around in the womb until they are on their
mother's left side before they begin to move down for birth. This
process of rotation can take many hours of contractions and cause
the mother back pain as well as exhaust her!
A labour supporter (doula) can help with comfort measures and newer
techniques such as Rotational PositioningTM which can
help the baby turn faster. If you'd like to learn more about how a
doula could help you and your partner,
click here
for details.
Lynette's doctor eventually judged that she had "cephalo-pelvic
disporportion" which means the baby's head was not fitting easily
through Lynette's pelvis. This almost always has to do with the baby not
being in the right position for birth, and not that the mother's pelvis
is simply "too small." In a subsequent pregnancy with a baby is in a
different position, a woman may easily give birth vaginally. Learn about
this and more, and how to feel sure you are making the decisions that
are right for you during your birth: check out ParentLink's
childbirth classes!
Click here
to learn more about how classes can make a difference for your
birth.
To talk over your particular needs or concerns, you can:
call Tania at +65 9671-8428
oremail us
