From maternity hotel to cesarean section

It is November 6th, 1:30 AM

When I turn over in my sleep and feel something strange. "Did I just wet my pants?" I'm 39 weeks pregnant and this could well be a sign. No, I must have dreamed it, because only in 10% of cases does labor start with the water breaking... I turn over again and once more I feel like I'm wetting my pants without any control over it. Okay, now I really need to get out of bed. As soon as I get out of bed, I feel like I'm completely emptying out. I quickly go to the bathroom and I can see it right away. It has started! After shouting "OH SHIT," my partner is immediately upright in bed. He comes over to me and asks, "Okay, what now?". But suddenly I have no idea anymore. Should I call the midwife now or not? Do I really have all the stuff together for when we need to go? I've read so much, gone through all the steps for when this would happen, but I just freeze up. I don't feel contractions yet, but just to be sure, I call the midwife anyway. I also download a contraction timer on my phone.

The midwife will arrive between 8 and 8:30.

My god, this is still going to take forever! I should try to get some sleep (yeah right). Quickly, I grab my toiletries and get the bags ready. I go back to bed for a bit, but my boyfriend can't fall asleep either. So we turn on the TV. And what do you, of course, only get on TV at night? Exactly, the “oh-yes-darling-call-me” commercials. For fun, we make a few snapchats. “Great for later,” we joke. Turn off the TV again, I lie on my side and my boyfriend goes downstairs, since I indicate there's nothing he can do for me now. So he starts up the Playstation, sits down to game and checks on me every quarter of an hour.

A few hours later, the contractions slowly begin to come

It's already 7 o'clock. My friend loads all the stuff into the car including the Maxi Cosy and parks it in front of the door. The midwife arrives and checks how much dilation I have. About 4 to 5 centimeters, so we are allowed to go to the hospital. But suddenly I decide that I want to give birth at home. I'm in so much pain now, I'm certainly not going to sit in a car, am I?! Just the thought of all the speed bumps, traffic lights, and turns gives me goosebumps. My friend looks at me and I see him gesture that we are definitely going to the hospital. “This is the only decision I'm making today,” he said. In hindsight, that was a good thing. Like a small child, I am eventually lifted out of bed and dressed. But with every attempt to put on shoes, I get a contraction. Goodbye, then without shoes. I walk down the stairs, through the house, and outside barefoot. My hair is terrible and I'm wearing a combination of clothes I wouldn't even wear at carnival. But I don't care.

The road to the hospital

is, apart from all the traffic lights turning red and traffic jams, quite manageable. I close my eyes, put my hands on the dashboard, and am able to breathe through the contractions well. My partner coaches me through every turn and over every bump until we reach the hospital. Upon arrival, after two contractions, I get out of the car and am wheeled into the maternity hotel in a wheelchair.

We have the room that we also saw during the tour

With a large bathtub, because having a water birth was my top priority in my birth plan. Along with no pain relief. Everything as natural as possible. It's now half past 10. Time to check how much dilation I have again. 7 Centimeters. Things are moving in the right direction! The bath is filling up and I undress. After a few contractions, I step into the bath and try to find a comfortable position. But this is not nice at all, it's terrible actually! Eventually, I lie on my side, with my head on a small towel. After a few minutes, everything that didn't hurt before, now does hurt. No, this is definitely not it. The midwife suggests taking a shower since I have both abdominal and back contractions very close together. I step into the shower and endure one contraction after another while standing. After an hour and a half in the shower, it's time to check the progress again. 9 Centimeters! With a bit of luck, I'll be holding the little one in my arms within 2 to 3 hours, they say.

My friend is calling our mothers

We will provide more details later, as we do not know exactly how much longer it will take. But it won't go beyond 9 centimeters. One half-hour after another passes as I indicate after four hours, 10 positions, eight cervical checks, and countless contractions that I can't keep this up. The contractions are so intense and my body doesn't get time to recover because the next one comes right away. I want pain relief and I want it now! "Yes ma'am, but your birth plan doesn't include pain relief and you are at 9 centimeters so it's not really done!" But I really can't take it anymore. If I have to keep puffing like this, I'll be too exhausted to even push later on. She consults with the gynecologist and comes back with the news that I will indeed be transferred to the medical department, because it's taking quite a long time now.

After the transfer, which only took 15 minutes

but for me an hour lasted, the gynecologist checks how we are doing. Still 9 centimeters and the little one has also turned. A star-gazer. We discuss the pain relief and I would prefer morphine, because as soon as that pump is turned off I am immediately on standby to push. The gynecologist also discusses the disadvantages and steers me more towards an epidural. But what I didn't know is that she did that because she actually already knew that the last centimeter was not going to come. It doesn't matter to me anymore, but I want to get rid of this pain! The epidural is arranged and after half an hour on the monitor, I am finally allowed to go to the OR. It is then half past five in the evening. "Fine, just ram that thing in there," I thought. Luckily, the epidural is inserted in one go and I don't feel anything since they can only insert it during a contraction due to the amount of contractions. After five minutes, I see huge spikes on the monitor, but I feel nothing! "Hallelujah, this is so good!"

Returned to the room

I am laid on my left side for two hours so that the most pressure is on that side. “If that centimeter is added after two hours, you can start pushing immediately. If not, it will be a cesarean section,” says the gynecologist. But I am hopeful that my body will pull through this time, especially since I am relaxed now and there is no tension in my body that could hinder the process. At 8:30, the gynecologist comes in, examines me, and looks at me in a way that I can tell there is not 10 centimeters of dilation. Moreover, my pelvis is not wide enough to naturally deliver a star-gazing baby, “We are going to prepare the OR,” she says. And I nod. She leaves and I update some other family members and girlfriends. While I am sending the story to my girlfriends, I break down. It has been so long and I have tried so hard, why does it have to come to this? But at the same time, I pull myself together and realize that my body and I have done everything to deliver him naturally and that this is not a matter of failure. After half an hour, my partner and I are taken to the OR. After everything is connected, a sort of tent is built around us, and the checklist is verified twice, Mick is born healthy at 9:30 pm. After 20 hours, he is finally in my arms! What an indescribable feeling and how much I already love this little guy. All the clichés are true. This is the most beautiful moment in your life that you can ever experience! I had imagined many scenarios, but going from a maternity hotel to a cesarean section had never crossed my mind.

AMANDA