Beckett's Birth

Due to popular demand I am going to write about my birth story on here. I know a lot of you already have heard about it in TOO MUCH detail but my American friends want to know and it is just too much to type to everyone. This could take days for me to write and to read. Pre-natal care is very simple here and it was fine with me since Beckett is #4. They don't weigh you-EVER! You NEVER have a pelvic exam, no diabetes test either. They do bloodwork and you take a urine sample in with you to your monthly appts. You only see midwives-I loved mine by the way. I am not sure that OB/GYN's even exist over here. I am sure they do for c-sections. They won't even consider induction until being 12 days overdue. I was induced with Sawyer and Eden so this was VERY tough for me. They do two very thorough ultrasounds-one at 12 and 20 weeks. They will not tell you the gender. We wanted to find out this time and fortunately we were back in Illinois in Aug. and I saw good ole' Dr. Chow and we found out. You can go to a private place here and pay to find out the gender. I begged to be induced because I was huge and in misery at the end but nothing worked. I was scared. I like being induced and having that epidural all ready to go. They offer the epidural, gas and air (laughing gas) and some shot that has traces of heroin in it (not joking) for pain relief during labor. They want you to stay home as long as possible when you start labor (remember we are dealing with the NHS!). My due date was Jan. 12th and we wanted someone here to help when I went into labor so my mom flew out 3 days before the birth.

On Jan. 15th at around 3 a.m. I started to feel labor pains. I called to ask permission to come to the hospital at around 6 a.m. They told me if I was managing to stay at home. I was managing very well but was nervous because I didn't know what my body would do on its own. I woke Kyle up at 6:30 and got in the shower. I called again when the contractions were a little more intense and we left the house around 8:15 am. We ran into a bunch of traffic but Kyle dropped me off at the door at 9 a.m. I was still managing okay with contractions about 5 min. apart. He went to find a place to park. I made my way up the elevator and was told to sit and wait. A few minutes later a nurse put me in a room and I was instructed to give a urine sample and that was it. I thought I would have to put a gown on and all of that. I did as instructed and waited and waited for someone to help me. In the mean time, Kyle was calling me on my cell telling me there was no place to park-this is nothing new in England. He was calling every 5 min. or so to check in. During this time I was peeking my head out the door asking if anyone was going to help me-it was getting bad and I was highly concerned about getting MY EPIDURAL!! Finally someone appeared at about 9:50 a.m. and I was starting to lose it. I was begging for the epidural because I was in a lot of pain. She tried to gently break it to me that to have an epidural you need a midwife with you at all times and there wasn't a midwife available because they were short-handed- WHAT!!!!!!!!!!! I was in so much pain at this point that it was difficult for me to let her check and see how far dilated I was. She had me breath in the gas and air to relax and it worked. Both she and I were shocked that I was dilated to a 6. I could tell by the look on her face that I was NOT going to get an epidural. She gently told me that if they did nothing I would have the baby in about 20 min. and that she was going to get someone right away. At this point I started to breath in as much of the laughing gas as I could. I was repeatedly pressing the call button to get some help and I could hear my cell phone ringing-knowing it was Kyle. Finally a midwife made it in and an anesthesiologist to attempt to get me an epidural. At this point I was crippled from the pain and sweating profusely-they couldn't even get tape to stick to me for the i.v. They brought in a fan-they never gave me a gown-I guess is wasn't in the NHS budget. I finally had a nurse answer my phone and she told Kyle he better get in there. He had to park on a curb. Poor Kyle, when he dropped me off I was freshly showered with make-up and totally managing the contractions. When he got in there at 10:15 I was like a rabid beast-covered in sweat, gripping the gas and air mouthpiece like crazy and half-naked while they were trying to get me my epidural. I think he was in shock. I could feel Beckett's head right down there but I didn't want to tell because I just wanted the epidural to work so badly for just a few minutes. They got the epidural going but it was too late. As soon as they laid me back by water broke and he came out in three pushes. He was born at 10:55 a.m. I had absolutely no concept of the time and I couldn't believe it went that fast. My body was in shock afterwards and I shook hard for a good 30 minutes. They couldn't even stitch me up until I stopped shaking. After all that was over I was feeling really good and enjoying my new, beautiful, healthy son. They got me up to shower right away and then told me I could go home that day. I moved into a room with two other women, the pediatrician checked over Beckett at around 6 p.m. and we were home by 7 p.m. on the same day. If I would have had the epidural I would have had to stayed overnight. They have no baby nursery and no private rooms available. If you have to use the bathroom you have to ask another mom to watch your baby. They didn't give us matching i.d. bracelets or put any sort of security device on Beckett at all. He left the hospital without a name and we had 6 weeks to give him a name and file for a birth certificate. I am sure I have left some stuff out-like how I thought I would need therapy afterwards-but I touched on the important stuff. Kyle and the midwife I had saw each other out looking for a parking space. They don't have reserved parking for the midwives. They are in the same boat as everyone else. My care was actually very good when I got it and I should have went to the hospital sooner. On the bright side, afterwards I felt wonderful and I think I have recovered much more quickly this time around. I would still opt for the epidural next time though. At least I have a story to tell and I would do it all again! I love Beckett so much-he is such a blessing to our family. We both came out of it just fine and it makes me ask myself whether or not we need all the song and dance in the states.