I was 39+5 when it all started. Where did it start? It started in our local pub!

Our doctors told us that our boy was sitting quite comfortably in there and he wasn’t showing any signs of coming soon, so we were booked in for an inducement via drip when I was 40 weeks. I was excited because my pregnant ass was craving a chicken schnitty sooo bad. So my MIL and partner took me to our local pub. After we order we start chatting away, as I’m laughing I suddenly feel a popping sensation. I though shit, I have actually peed my pants at a pub (lucky I was wearing the biggest maternity pad) I didn’t say anything at first because I thought it was just a bit of wee. I kept wriggling around and every time I laughed more came out. My MIL was right across from me and my partner was right next to me, you’d think they noticed to look on my face. Instead, the waitress noticed and she walked straight over, she said she could put all of our meals in take away containers once they were ready and my MIL asked her why the hell would she do that. The waitress pointed at me and said “because your daughter is in labour” I had no contractions yet, just the uncomfortableness of sitting in a flooded pad, but I wanted that schnitty, so I waited and we left right after. The walk to the car was so far, and we were right up the back of the pub, leaning forward when I walked helped with the flood but after I few steps in I just embraced it and let it happen. When we got home my MIL and partner were running around the house like headless chooks gathering up everything to bring to the hospital, we had called the hospital to let them know my waters broke, and we were asked to come in immediately for testing as it sounded like I had meck in my pad. So as everyone was going wile, I was sitting on the floor eating my schnitty wetting myself. I went into this thinking, it’s my first baby, it’s going to be long and hard, but after it will be so amazing. I was really wrong. Everything that could have happened, happened.

The doctor who tested my pad told us that it was thrush and not meck so we were sent home, by this stage I was having irregular contractions. They told us to come back in the next day to do a monitoring on our baby. We had a different doctor when we arrived and he tested my pad again, he asked why I didn’t come in sooner and we explained that we came in last night and were sent home. After that conversation he walked straight out and came back in with a crowd of nurses and doctors a few minutes later. Not explaining anything to me, just telling them that they have to induce me immediately and get this baby out. At this point my contractions were regular, 15 minutes apart for 1min 30sec long. I was freaking out. I laid there for 4 hours before they had a space in the delivery room for me available. Once they pushed me in there, the inducement drug was put in straight away. After 2 hours of my consistent regular contractions a nurse came in and increased my inducement drip from 15ml to 30ml. An hour into that I was having contractions every 5 minutes for 3 hours. Until I started having contractions on top of contractions, this wasn’t a drug free birth either, I had morphine, gas and an epidural in to ease the pain but it was so strong and painful. Every position I was in. A doctor came in at 5am on the 28th of September. I had been having high fevers for the past hour and I was vomiting. Baby’s heart rate was rising to 180bpm and dramatically dropping to 120bpm a second later. The doctor told me she was going to do a blood test on our baby’s head, I was 8cm dilated. Without a word she pressed the emergency button and people rushed in with a bed, they lifted me and put me on the bed, gave my partner a blue outfit and told him to get dressed and meet us at the door. I was being rushed in for an emergency cesarean, no one was telling me anything. When we got in there I met another doctor who gave me a quick brief on what was happening. She told me that my baby is in distress and it looks like he’s had a severe reaction to the inducement drug. They lent me forward to give me another dose of the epidural but the previous nurse didn’t put the sterilised lid back on. So in a rush they had to put me to sleep, because of that my partner wasn’t allowed in the room, it became too dangerous for me and our baby. The doctor asked me to count back from 10 as he placed the mask over my mouth and I just remember yelling “WHERE IS ZAC!” We were rushed in at 5:10am and our son was born at 5:37am. I woke up 4 hours later yet again, no one talking to me just ignoring me yell “WHERE IS ZAC” I wasn’t aware that I had even had my baby. I could barely move my body. I was moved into a maternity ward room and the doctor met me in there. She told me that myself and my son and a severe reaction to the inducement drug and my son was very distressed and in danger. She then explain that during the surgery that my sons head was so wedges in there that it took 2 doctors to pull him out, they ripped my uterus doing so, she then explained that we should wait 12-18 months to have another baby because of the extent of my torn uterus and needing time to heal. She then said that it was very fortunate during the surgery that I had to be put to sleep because it was a matter of my baby or me at that point. They saved both of us. My son was in NICU for 3 days and then in special care for another 4 days. At first he was being monitored for sepsis, he had an unusually low breathing count when he was born also. Then he was being monitored for his head. Because he was wedged down so far from about 36 weeks, his head came out in a cone shape. Not one that went away after a few weeks. One that we have had to see specialist after specialist appointment just to confirm that it is only from being squished up there.

My whole experience was mortifying and hell. I never wanted to share this story because I was scared from it. I’m sharing it now because on the 28th Sep 2019 my son turned 1.

We have also decided to face our fears and plan to conceive baby #2 by March 2020

As crazy as it was, I can now only have planned cesareans by 36-37 weeks. Which is not what I wanted but I’m lucky we’re both here and it’s possible for me to have another

They were worried about his development because of his head. And I can happily say that this cheeky boy is one of the smartest kids I know and was in fact an early developer when it came to his milestones. His first two teeth came in at 2 months- both came in overnight. He started sitting up at 4 months, crawling at 5 months, talking walking around assisted at 9months.

He’s 13 months this week and he’s finally got the courage to walk on his own, he was so terrified he would sit down and cry. He has 15 teeth along with a gorgeous smile. We see specialist every month and all is still perfect but they continue to waste our money. He’s healthy and happy. I would do it all again to see his face every morning and every night