We sat in the Pregnancy Assessment Centre for hours while the team of Obstetricians made their decision as to what was going to happen with me. At 5pm I was told I would be getting induced the next day. It took awhile for it to sink in. They went through the plan with me. I was to have the induction balloon inserted that night, moved to the delivery suite early the next morning, my membranes ruptured and the syntocin would be started through a drip. I was moved around to the ward at 7pm and tried to settle in to get some sleep.
My kidneys were giving me grief and I was having irregular contractions all through the night. I was given pain medication and sleeping tablets so I could try and get some rest before the big day ahead. I ended up getting about four hours sleep. 6am came around very quickly, I was up and ready when the midwife came and told me I would be getting moved to the delivery suite at 7am. Not long after, a very tired looking Matthew came in. He tells me he hasn't slept at all. I guess it was the nerves!
We were moved to the delivery suite and the induction balloon was removed. I was 4cms dilated so it had worked really well. My membranes were ruptured and I was told I would be given 2 hours until the syntocin would be started. My kidney pain had stepped up a notch since the night before, so when I got to have a shower, I got Matthew to aim the hot water on my back. While I was having a shower, Jaimie finally arrived. She looked so excited! It made me even more excited for what was to come.
My body had decided it wasn't going to labour on its own after my membranes were ruptured so the syntocin was started at 9.30am. I don't think I had even half an hours worth when I started contracting. They were getting pretty painful, but my kidney pain was much worse. I got a break from the contractions, but the kidney pain didn't stop. We had the radio going and I'm so thankful that we did, it really kept my mind in the right place. We heard a song from Dirty Dancing and a Michael Buble song, which were both very special to Jaimie and I so we took it as a sign that baby Flynn was meant to be born that day.
When I got a contraction I would close my eyes and take some really deep breaths and tried to relax and let my body do what it had to do. There was a few times when I lost focus, so I thought of Lucas and ended up in the right place again. Matthew and Jaimie were fantastic, they were quiet during that time and Matthew held my hand during some of the nastier contractions. His poor hand was going purple from me squeezing and I was completely oblivious that I was doing so!
I had a lovely midwife named Sharon and a medical student present and they were both excellent. Sharon was from England and I loved her accent. She would tell me to breathe through the contractions, which was so helpful and I didn't mind listening to her voice. At this stage, my kidney pain was still worse than the contractions and I was dealing with those alright, but the kidney pain was starting to break me and I ended up with a few silent tears. I got the epidural done by a lovely man named Sandy. The right side went dead, but the left didn't, which is where my kidney pain was the worse so they had to up the dose a few times, but the kidney pain still wouldn't ease up. I kept breathing through the contractions that I could still feel on the left side and tried to block out the pain I was feeling from my kidneys.
I had a lovely midwife named Sharon and a medical student present and they were both excellent. Sharon was from England and I loved her accent. She would tell me to breathe through the contractions, which was so helpful and I didn't mind listening to her voice. At this stage, my kidney pain was still worse than the contractions and I was dealing with those alright, but the kidney pain was starting to break me and I ended up with a few silent tears. I got the epidural done by a lovely man named Sandy. The right side went dead, but the left didn't, which is where my kidney pain was the worse so they had to up the dose a few times, but the kidney pain still wouldn't ease up. I kept breathing through the contractions that I could still feel on the left side and tried to block out the pain I was feeling from my kidneys.
I was examined at 1.20pm and was told I was 6-7cms dilated. I thought we were in for a long day since I had been contracting for a few hours and had only dilated 2cms. Contractions were starting to becoming very regular and I felt like I wasn't getting a break from them at all. I was examined at 1.40pm and I was fully dilated!! I couldn't believe it. It had only taken 20 minutes to get through those last 4cms. Sharon told me to let her know when I felt the urge to push, so in the meantime I concentrated on breathing. After 5 minutes, I got the urge to push!
I had Jaimie on one side of me, Matthew on the other and Sharon and the medical student (I really wish I could remember his name, but it was a hard one!) were down the other end. It was all so normal compared to my birth with Lucas. I was so excited when Sharon told me the baby had hair. I couldn't wait to meet him and that was even more motivation to push! I started pushing at 1.45pm and by 2.15pm our baby boy had entered the world. Flynn Brian Costello made his debut on Wednesday the 21st of March and weighed a beautiful 7lbs.
I can't remember how much skin to skin time we had before Flynn had to be checked over by the paediatrician. He was working very hard to breathe and after being checked out, he had to be taken to ICU. It broke my heart that my second baby had to be taken away too, but it was for the best. He was put on CPAP and given IV antibiotics in case of an infection in his lungs. The paedatrician told me that when a birth is quick, the baby doesn't have enough time to get the amniotic fluid from their lungs so they have trouble breathing after they enter the world. Our little Flynn is a tough boy.
I am so in love with my little family. Life could not be anymore perfect x
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