Sally tells a good birth story … including overcoming gestational diabetes during her pregnancy.
I thought I would let you know of my nice and easy birth story, because most of the stories that I hear and read are of people who had heaps of trouble and I found that it was really depressing and I was starting to dread the actual act of giving birth. A happy story or two may have helped ease my mind. Having said that, my story does end with my daughter being admitted to the special care nursery for 4 days while they stabilised her blood sugar levels as a result of my gestational diabetes.
My name is Sally and I was diagnosed as a Gestational diabetic during the routine testing at the later stages of my pregnancy. I then spent the next 2-3 months be4ing told that I would not be able to go past 38 weeks gestation and that if I had not gone naturally by then, I would be induced.
At my 36 week visit with the doctor, he told me that I would be able to go full term, but not much longer. At 40 weeks, and being as big as a house, I was told that I should make a 41 week visit, but that they did not think that I would make it. At my 41 week visit, which I did make, I was told that they would not let me go too much longer and they would book me in for an induction. I was booked in for the next day. The doctor did an internal to determine if I would require the gel and found that I was actually 3cms dilated (AND IT DIDN’T HURT A BIT). I was told to come to the hospital at 7am the next day and they would break my waters, unless I went earlier.
Of course, I didn’t go naturally so at 7am I waddled into the hospital and was settled in for the duration. At 9am the doctor came to break my waters, of which nothing came out. To make sure they had broken the doctor pulled some hair from my babies head. I was then attached to the drip and told that it should start soon. By 11.30am, I was in full labour. I was thinking to myself that it was no worse than a severe period pain. At about 1.30pm I jumped in the shower. After what felt like 10 mins, but was actually 45mins, I told the midwife I felt like pushing. She told me to go ahead and do what my body was telling me to do. That was the start of 3 hours of pushing.
After about 30 mins I asked for some gas. The doctor came in after 2.5 hours and said that if the baby wasn’t born in 30 mins they would have to assist the delivery. That’s when everything started to happen. I was put into the stirrups and told to push. Despite what I had been told in my classes, this was actually best position to be in – I could actually feel something happening!
The doctor didn’t have to come back to assist – after a 5.5 hour labour, my daughter was born at 5.08pm on August 5, 2004 weighing 3895gms (8 pound, 9 ounces). She was given to me and we spent about 30 minutes together, including a small feed, before she was taken to the special care nursery to have her blood sugar levels measured. They were low and she was returned to me so that I could feed her again and have some time together before her next measure. While she was gone I was stitched up and had a shower and generally refreshed myself. My parents came to visit while Emma was with me and they got to have a hold. That was the last hold anyone had for 4 days. Emma’s blood sugars were not stabilising so she was admitted to the nursery for 4 days. She was on a continuous feed for 3 of the 4 and then fed via a syringe of both breast milk and formula for the next day. Finally she was able to come in to me and we spent a day together in hospital before being sent home.
Emma is now 3 months old and is doing great – and neither of us have any further side effects of the diabetes.