When Veronica's
pregnancy had gone 10 days past the due date,
she explored her options for induction of labour. She tried some natural
methods first, then decided to try medical prostaglandins. With her
husband, sister, and doula supporting her,
Veronica's baby was born gently and the family returned
home just hours after he was born.
To begin with I must say I loved being pregnant. I was fortunate enough
not to suffer from any complications throughout and pretty much managed
to keep up with all my normal activities including playing squash twice
a week and tennis on the weekends.
When my pregnancy advanced to 41 weeks and still nothing happened I
started to get annoyed. On the Saturday before my next appointment with
Dr. Paul Tseng, Tania (my doula) called me and we talked about ways that
I could encourage labour to start. I tried different homeopathic
remedies but also without success.
When I finally went to see Paul Tseng again (at that time our little one
was already 11 days overdue) I had a CTG for half an hour before seeing
the doctor. I then asked him to assess my cervix, which fortunately was
already very soft and 1 cm dilated and also the little one was lying in
a favourable position very low down in the pelvis. So I decided to have
a prostaglandin pessary inserted to see whether this would speed up the
process. The doctor suggested I go for a walk for a couple of hours and
then come back for another CTG to see whether it would have brought on
any contractions. At 1 pm there still weren't any contractions what so
ever so I was given an appointment for the next morning.
Coming home I originally planned to do some grocery shopping. My sister
was going to arrive that evening at 6 pm from Austria and I wanted to
have my fridge stocked up - but upon coming home I decided otherwise
because all of a sudden I was very hungry. I had at least 5 slices of
bread with honey and then suddenly was very tired and went to bed for a
few hours. When I woke up again at 4 pm I felt something which felt like
it might have been a contraction. I stayed in bed and waited for another
contraction to come but nothing happened. So I called my husband to let
him know that I was going to pick up my sister. I felt very hungry again
but since I have not been shopping there was nothing much eatable around
so I went for a can of sliced peaches in heavy syrup.
Close to 5 pm I realized that there finally were some contractions but
they seemed to be very light, nothing painful. I grabbed my list I had
written and finally packed the bag for the hospital. I called Tania
again to let her know that things seem to be getting started now. Maybe
within 10 min. the contractions became painful and very regular - there
was not much break in between them. I called my husband again and told
him that I am not going anywhere anymore, he should go to the airport
and pick Gudi up and then hurry home. In the meantime I decided to have
a nice hot bath with lots of lavender bath foam. I tried to measure
contractions and found that each one lasted for 30 seconds and they were
about 2 min. apart. When a contraction was coming I made that loud deep
groaning noise we have heard the women make in the video during the
birth preparation classes. In between the contractions I think I fell
asleep - if I did not have to go to the loo - I think I must have gone
at least 15 times...
Finally around quarter to 7, Peter and Gudi arrived. Gudi knelt down by
the bath tub to wipe my head - and first thing I asked her (after over a
year where we have not seen each other) "can you bring a bucket? I need
to vomit" - and out came all the peaches again....
Peter asked me whether I have spoken to Tania. I told him that I had and
he should not bother her again because I thought it was too early.
Anyway I was thinking that we still have plenty of time - I speculated
that it would take at least another 12 hours or so...and our baby would
be born on my best friends birthday, sometime next morning... During the
contractions I tried to count down from 30 - so I would know that only a
few seconds were left and would not concentrate on the pain, which
worked pretty well. Anyway, Peter was worried because I vomited so he
did call Tania again. He just wanted to let her know that we'd need her
probably some time later in the evening - but (as I heard later) she
heard my noises in the background and said that she'd come straight
away.
When she arrived at around 7 pm she asked me where I am feeling the pain
during my contractions - and that was actually on my back. Since I was
lying down in the bath, Tania suggested I might be more comfortable if I
moved upright. While my husband and Gudi were making the floor
comfortable with cushions and the comforter from the bed I was kneeling
on the floor and my head resting on the bed at the same time.
Tania pumped her Gymnastics ball up, brought in our wedding candle and
dimmed the lights in the room. I had told her that I wanted the room
like this when we had been talking about our birth plan 6 weeks ago -
but if she hadn't reminded me during labour I would have forgotten all
about it. I think I did not even realize much of my surroundings.
Although I do remember the beautiful soothing baroque music in the
background, which I put on endless repeat before I went into the bath
and somehow I did appreciate the nice surroundings. The time flew by
very quickly - my contractions never seemed to last for much more than
30-45 seconds and were about 2 min. apart. At that time I was convinced
that I'd still have a long time to go. But the pain was easily bearable
so I was not worried. I tried a few positions and ended up balancing the
ball between my knees and doing a sort of supported squat over the
dresser. During every contraction my husband applied pressure to both my
hips. In between the contractions I always dozed off - I remember Tania
saying that the endorphins have kicked in. When suddenly a few drops of
blood dripped down on the ball Tania was saying "I think we should go
now" - because at the same moment I was saying " I think I need to
push". I did not want to go anywhere, I was afraid our baby would be
born in the car.
From that time point onwards (about 9 pm) everything went very fast. I
had said I didn't want to leave. Tania called a backup doula just in
case we needed someone else and then she explained that if didn't leave
straight away she would have to call an ambulance to get us to the
hospital. So this convinced me to leave straight away. Peter at the same
time wrapped a transparent sarong (he could not find the other one and
of course I did not think in advance about what I would wear on my way
to the hospital... I had not really considered that I probably would be
naked when we had to leave...) around me and put one of his shirts on me
and down into the garage we went. I had another contraction right in
front of the car - but somehow it was less strong then the previous one
and I managed to get me into the car. The sight must have been
hilarious, only my bum sticked up, I had my head down on the seat - and
Peter behind me with Tania's torch light, applying pressure to my sacrum
and checking every now and then whether the head did not yet appear.
Luckily there were only 2 contraction on the way to Thomson Medical Centre
- although it was about 10 min. drive away - Gudi, Peter and Tania kept
reassuring me that we were nearly there. Tania parked in the doctors'
car park and barefoot and half naked I run ahead to the lift - where I
had another contraction.
On the way to TMC we have heard that room 6 was occupied but it did not
really matter since I had that urge to push I assumed birth will happen
quite soon - so I went into room 8. They put a mattress on the floor and
put the bed up high - I was squatting and leaning over the bed while a
midwife came and after checking told me I was fully dilated. I was still
a bit reluctant to push because Paul was not there yet neither was my
sister - she was asked to wait outside initially - but I asked whether
she could come in and they allowed it so Tania fetched her. Meanwhile a
nurse tried to measure the babies heartbeat but gave up pretty soon
because the birth was so advanced - I put my hand down and could feel
something coming out - I was told later that this were the bulging
membranes. Paul came and guided me through the pushing - the
contractions had spaced out - I think every 3-4 min. and the pushing was
easy, there was hardly any pain anymore at this stage.
Peter was constantly talking to me - telling me that he could see the
head coming out...although I must say I can not remember what else he
said, I just know that everything went really fast and about 20 min.
after we arrived at the hospital after one final push I could feel the
head coming out and in one flush the rest of the body followed. It was a
wonderful, wonderful moment of joy when they put our baby son onto my
tummy. Peter greeted him with the words "Welcome to the world my
friend!" I was half laughing half crying from joy and happiness. The
time until the placenta was born for me seemed to be a few moments only.
Paul told me that there was no tear -great!- and the pediatrician came
to check our baby Jacob and found him healthy.
So to my greatest pleasure I could even follow the last part of my
birthplan, which asked for early discharge. Two hours after we arrived
at TMC we were back home together with our beautiful baby son, sitting
in our kitchen, eating noodles and having a glass of white wine in
celebration together. What a great experience this has been! And not bad
at all!- of course from start to finish only 6 hours.... It was a
wonderful experience all together and I am really happy to have had such
wonderful support throughout. Thanks Tania, Peter & Gudi!
What's going on
here?
Veronica and Peter made a completely informed
decision to induce labour when Veronica's pregnancy was at nearly
42 weeks, and they felt confident this choice was the best one for them
in their unique circumstances.
Parents often have concerns about induction: Will the contractions be
stronger than usual? What will labour be like? What will happen if the
induction doesn't work? What can I do to make the experience a positive
one? In ParentLink childbirth classes, you'll discover ways to
ensure you're in control of your choices and feel prepared, even for the
unknown!
Click here
to learn more about how classes can make a difference for your
birth.
Being able to talk over the pros and cons of different options with
their labour supporter (doula) beforehand, in an unhurried way,
was invaluable for Veronica and Peter. Their doula was also able to help
them preserve the things that were important to them for their birth,
even if they had not originally expected to have medical intervention.
If you'd like to learn more about how a doula could help you and your
partner,
click here for details.
To talk over your particular needs or concerns, you can:
call Tania at +65 9671-8428
oremail us
