Lauren's Birth Story

I have asked some friends and family to let me know what their experiences were like. Not everyone is the same, so its nice to read different experiences. Here is Lauren's Story:

Pregnancy was the easiest part for me little sickness, hardly any aches and worked up to 2 weeks before my due date. I found out I was pregnant quite early on so knew to stay away from the certain foods and to start taking vitamin tablets although they made me feel sick so I came straight off them! Only towards the end I got tired which is normal as you are carrying extra weight and that baby is sucking everything from you! My cravings varied ham and tomatoes to lemons on their own to ice cream I enjoyed it all!! And was always thirsty! I wish I had known what to pack for hospital I read all the things on the Internet and needed a lot more!!! I was 2 weeks overdue so I had to be induced which was my worst nightmare! I just wanted it to happen naturally but I knew that pain was going to happen on that certain day! I went into Nottingham city hospital on the Tuesday to be put on a ward with lots of other pregnant women they put me on a heart monitor and placed a tablet into me to soften my cervix that had to be kept in 24 hours!!! Well I had asked people and they said they went into labour within 2 hours!!! But oh no not me! So 24hours passed by which was the Wednesday morning they said by 1pm I will be on the labour ward which I was having little movement my little boy just didn't want to move he was too cosy in there! As soon as I got to the labour ward they popped me on the bed to see if I was dialated lucky for me I was actually 3cm which meant they could break my waters. As soon as they did that they put me on a drip which made my baby's heart rate drop drastically so they lowered to hormone level 6 hours without pain relief I went and after that I needed something so went onto gas and air wow just wow! But that slowly wears off and I needed something stronger after 12 hours of pain! So I had cocodamil and that sent me in Lala land I couldn't even hold the gas and air my partner was watching the contraction screen and placing it in my mouth when he seen it high! After 14 hours my baby's heart rate kept going up and down to which they even changed the machine as they thought it was broke! They prodded his head to check his heart rate that way! It was getting scary!!! At one point I had 6 doctors in my room and 2 midwifes! They stood and looked at me and told me I was having an epidural as at this point it had been 18hours. After they did that they all looked at me and said you might have to have an emergency c section I cried my eyes out that is something I hadn't even thought about!! I always wanted a water birth and it to be natural this was the other end of the spectrum. After getting around the though of a c section I thought in my mind I just want my baby out safe his head had swelled up so much it got stuck in my pelvis. After 4 more hours of pain they decided it was going to be an emergency c section I was that tired I was falling asleep on the operating table. All I could feel was tugging and pulling no pain at all!!!!! I had lost so much blood I was close to having a blood transfusion but they dosed my up on iron and other tablets for the time I was there. Seeing my baby for the first time was the most amazing thing it made all them 20 hours of pain and the 42 weeks of pregnancy disappear. If I had known what to pack for me 4 pairs of pjs 10 pairs of pants(big ones) &I disposable pants Slippers Dressing gown Afterbirth 20 minutes after they had stitched me up I finally got to hold my baby boy weighing 7lb 7oz and we called him mason Kai Ashley mills. He immediately took to my boob which was lucky I was planning on breast feeding but wasn't putting too much pressure on myself if he didn't take I had bought a tub of formula milk as back up. I breast fed for 4 and half months trust me there were times when I felt like giving up where it has nearly had me in tears from lack on sleep at the start having a baby that fed every 2 hours was draining! I found a way around it at night I expressed a bottle making sure it was 5oz so we knew what he was getting and it actually made him sleep 11 hours hallalujah!!! From then on that's what we did. My chubs is now on formula and loving it I definitely don't regret breast feeding but it is very demanding it's now nice not to have to get my boob out all the time!!! Sleep Like I have previously said I expressed a bottle which made him sleep. Mason grew out of his Moses basket very fast he was only in it 3 weeks. I then decided to put him in his own room yes at 3 weeks old. I wanted him to know that was where he slept and know the surroundings, ever since we put him in there he slept all night. We started off bedtime being 10 pm and he would wake up at 8am so because he was waking up later we decided to make his bedtime earlier he is 5 months old now his bedtime is 8pm and he wAkes exactly 7am every morning. He may wake up at night but he gets himself back off to sleep no crying at all. Perhaps we are very lucky with mason.