I was six months and a week pregnant. It was my birthday, yay happy birthday to me! I had cakes ready in the kitchen to take into work the next day as it was an office tradition.  However that next morning, something was occurring and I was desperate for the loo.  I jumped out of bed and ran to the toilet. Running because I had realised that I’d leaked from the bed to bathroom. This was how I almost shared my birthday with my baby.

My waters broke

“My waters have broken!”  I gasped almost crying, husband rubbed his eyes as he was still half asleep.
“Are you sure?”  He asked
“Turn the light on.”  That’s when we both gasped at the trail of water from the bedroom to the bathroom.  I had no idea why my waters had broken, this was way too early and was this even normal?  I look at him and the first thing he says is, “Happy birthday.”

We were in the car and out the drive 15 minutes later. I called the emergency number on my phone on the way there whilst sitting on a pile of towels. There wasn’t even time time to pack a bag.

Straight to the labour ward

When we get there I was put straight into a wheelchair and wheeled to the Labour ward. To say I was panicking would be an understatement. I couldn’t understand what was going on.

They said it was quite normal for the baby to grow without being in the amniotic sac. Apparently he had kicked so hard that it had broken the sac which resulted in my waters breaking. Normally the baby does that if they’re not happy or in any kind of pain. They checked him but they couldn’t find anything wrong with him. 

I was connected up to a machine that was recording his stats. I was trying to stay calm but all I kept thinking was that everything is going to go wrong. They kept saying that there’s nothing they can do and there’s not a regular heartbeat. I stayed in overnight and didn’t sleep much. Nurses would come and take my blood pressure every few hours during the night.

The next day I was moved into a maternity ward with other mums. One was due any day now and the other wasn’t due for another 3 months like myself.  This had made me feel a bit more comfortable not being the only one.

NICU

We had a tour of the Neonatal Unit. As this could potentially happen but they said it would be worth going and seeing what it was like to put our mind at rest.  And they were right. Seeing other babies that had come early did put our minds at ease. 

The next morning I was once again connected to check the heartbeat of the baby, only that particular day they put it on at ten o’clock in the morning and I had to have it on all day.  I was so uncomfortable because I couldn’t move. I couldn’t move and my back was hurting.

Later on that night there were complications with the babies heartbeat.  It was beating intermittently which was not uncommon but not healthy. The doctors wheeled me in to the labour ward about an hour later saying that they wanted to have a closer look to see what was going on. 

The doctors, my consultant, the anaethesist and her team all met and decided that I would need an emergency cesarean. 

“When will this be happening?”  I managed to say.
“In about half an hour.”  And before I knew it scrubs were handed to my husband and they were preparing me for surgery.  

Thinking about it now, I was quite relieved that it had happened so quickly. It gave me less time to worry about it.