I know this post won't be for everyone; but I wanted to share my pregnancy story and everything I have been through, so if you are interested then just keep reading!
I found out I was pregnant when I was 18, it was a massive shock to me because I was the one who wanted to go out every weekend with my friends and have a good time and just dance, but to my boyfriend it was even bigger shock. We hadn't really been together that long, we were only in a relationship for about 8 months but I have known him for such a long time.
At first I didn't know what to expect. I kept it a secret for about two months, not because I was ashamed but because I was so scared at the thought of becoming a parent.
After I had told my family and closest friends, I still kept it a secret until I had my first scan. The midwife had said I was 10 weeks pregnant, but when I when to the scan they actually told me I was nearly 17 weeks! I couldn't believe that the tiny little baby on the ultrasound screen was mine, and the baby was just so perfect to me that I couldn't wait to meet her!
I told my work the day after I had my scan. I was so worried because I was on an apprenticeship and was only earning £2.60 an hour, so I was worrying about money and also because I hadn't been there that long that I didn't know how everyone would react. But after the news spread around work everyone was so happy for me that I couldn't believe I even worried at all.
At my 22 week scan we then found out we were having a girl, I was so excited and so was my boyfriend, so we decided to start and pick out names. We loved the name Maisie, so we decided to stick with that!
I was in and out of hospital for probably the last 7 weeks of my pregnancy, just because things didn't seem right, and some weird things were starting to happen and they had to keep testing me to see if my waters had broke, which wasn't very pleasant at all!
Then before I knew it my due date was here, and it had just come so quickly that I couldn't believe that some girls moan and say it lasts forever because it only felt like 5 minutes! Then of course, your due date goes past and you feel fed up because you should of had your baby by now, but no. There were no signs at all, and she wanted to just stay nice and comfy, which was making me more uncomfortable.
On Friday 1st March (5 days after my due date) I started to go into slow labour at first it was just slight twinging pains, but by Sunday night I couldn't take the pain and was waking up every hour with a contraction, but of course they wont close enough together. By Monday I was completely fed up, I couldn't keep food or water down and was constantly pacing up and down the bedroom. I wasn't able to sit or lie down because it was too uncomfortable. So by 1.30am on Tuesday morning I had had enough and rang the hospital to come in because I was in so much pain, hadn't eaten and hadn't slept.
I was gas and air as soon as I walked into the maternity ward, and by 3am they gave me Pethidine which would roughly work for 4 hours just so I could go to sleep and for no other reason because I was only 2cm dilated.
When 7 rolled around so quickly the midwife had come in and told me she was going to break my waters, which is when things started to go wrong for me. The baby had done a poo which was dangerous for her, so they started me off on a drip to induce my labour so things would come along quicker, and shortly after this I had an epidural fitted into my back, which honestly wasn't too painful but was very uncomfortable but after this I had no pain what so ever, which I was thankful for.
Because I had been induced, had an epidural and because baby had Meconium I was classed as high risk and the midwife had to stay with me at all times and had to do observations on me and baby every half an hour.
By 9pm on Tuesday I had only reached 8cm. Three doctors came into the room and explained to me that I might a C-Section as things were progressing and because baby was in an awkward position. They gave me the option of either waiting for an hour or going straight to operating theatre.
At the time my mind was all over the place and I just started crying because the thought of having an operation to have a baby is so scary, and because I had never had to have an operation before. I told them I would prefer to wait an hour to see if things started to happen, which they were happy about because they wanted me to have a natural delivery because I was young.
By 10pm when they checked me again I was exactly the same, so I said to the doctors that I want a C-Section but at this point they refused to take me into theatre and wanted to make me wait another 45 minutes. Needless to say that I wasn't getting anywhere so after 45 minutes of waiting they wheeled me into the operating theatre while my boyfriend got his scrubs on to come in with me.
Gavin had to wait outside the room while they topped up my epidural so I couldn't feel anything to just above the bottom of my ribcage and then he was called in.
As soon as they turned on the operating lights I started to panic but held it together as I didn't want the surgery to last longer that what it was going to as it takes roughly about 2 hours. The whole experience of having a C-Section was horrible, it is the worst feeling I could describe. It's not painful at all while your getting it done but you can hear everything they are doing, and you can feel it all, so although I could not feel the pain of them starting the surgery, I could still feel it. I remember saying to my mam about a week after the surgery is that the only way I could describe is it that it feels like your being torn about by wolves from the stomach with all the tugging and pulling and stretching, it is just the worst feeling ever.
Baby Maisie was born at 11.26pm and weighed 7 pounds 10, she was so healthy and I couldn't believe how long she was! Most babies have an average of being born at 50cm long, but (not so) little Maisie was 56cm!
After the surgery had been complete and everything was finished at about 1am they wheeled me into the recovery room which I cannot remember in the slightest.
I was shaking so badly and my eyes were all over the place I didn't have a clue what was happening to me. All I remember is seeing my mam next to me holding Maisie with my boyfriend stood next to her and then them suddenly being asked to leave the room.
This is when I knew that something was wrong, but I didn't know what exactly.
The doctors had explained to me that after having a baby the uterus is meant to keep contracting as if it were still in labour, but mine had given up because I was in labour for such a long time. I started to bleed really heavily to point where they couldn't control it and I had about 11 staff around me all trying to help. They had injected me 3 times in the thigh to try and get my uterus contracting and they told me that if they injections did not work then I would have to be taken back to theatre to have a hysterectomy, which of course at 19 is probably the scariest thing you can be told. Thankfully though by 4am the injections had started to work, but by this point I had lost 3 pints of blood and then needed a blood transfusion.
I finally got wheeled back into my room at 5am where I seen my boyfriend and mam again, but I was so exhausted from the C-Section and everything that had happened in the recovery room that I fell straight asleep.
It wasn't until Wednesday at about 1pm that the midwifes actually handed me my baby and this was the first time I properly held her and had a good look at her.
There were a lot of visitors and I only stayed one extra night and asked to leave Thursday morning because I just wanted to be home. I could hardly walk as my stomach was in so much pain every time I moved, but I was just happy that my baby was healthy and we could finally bring her home.
Although a lot of people say that having a baby young is a bad thing, I would say it's not. After everything I have been through in my birthing story, I still wouldn't change any of it.
I am so happy that I am a young parent, I have more time to look after her and I wouldn't change any of it at all.
It's the best decision I have made, and there's nothing to regret because I can now say that I have a family to come home to.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my blog, it means so much!
- Louise xx
