I had several growth scans which showed he was average sized till my last scan at 36 weeks which showed hos growth had dipped and my waters looked low. They made the decision to move my induction date forward to 9 November (38 weeks) to make sure he was safer out than in.
On Monday 3rd, at 37 weeks, went in for my final Doppler check to make sure my waters and baby were OK. Had the appointment in the afternoon and everything seemed fine and set up for induction on the following Sunday.
OH and I went to see my parents in law and extended family for a get together and around 5pm I started feeling almost constant tightenings. I realise now that these were actual contractions as they stated getting more intense and regular over the course of 3 hours and I needed to start breathing through them.
Still just chilling with family so pretty much was just restless and moving around and hadn't mentioned it to anyone yet.
By about 8 pm, we got home and my contractions were getting very intense - every 3-4 minutes and lasting 45 seconds, so A and I panicked and called our local birthing centre (Burnley) who pretty much fobbed us off due to baby's heart issue (we were due to be induced at a specialist centre at Liverpool Women's) and told us to ring Liverpool instead.
Liverpool had previously told us it would be dangerous to come down the motorway to Liverpool while I was in labour if I were to go before induction. Cue a few mid-contraction minutes of panicked phone calls between A, me, Liverpool and Burnley and finally everyone decided it was best to get to Liverpool ASAP.
Mad dash to pack all the hospital bags in the car and jump in for the 45 min journey to Liverpool. It was something out of a movie as my contractions were intense, still every 3 mins and lasting just under a minute.
We got to Liverpool at 10 pm and got admitted to a maternity assessment bay where they hooked me up to monitor me. They asked me if I needed gas and air for the contractions but I decided that I could cope until we were still being monitored as I had a feeling something was going to go odd.
The monitors showed intense and regular contractions but I was only 2 cm dilated and hadn't lost any plug or waters yet. Baby's heart rate was all over the place, very up and down and it showed signs of distress due to the contractions' intensity. As the contractions were likely to get much worse as I had another 8cm dilation to go, everyone was unsure how baby would react, especially with his heart defect.
A decision to go for an emergency Cesarean was made on balance of all things to make sure baby was fine and out safe. They said if I had a normal low risk baby, they would probably monitor me longer and let me get further naturally but as it stood with baby's condition, they would rather he was out.
We signed all the consent forms, got changed and had everything explained in great detail on the spinal block, the c section plan, plan for baby's care, everyone was faultlessly helpful and kind. Although it was an emergency situation, we felt well prepped throughout.
I got taken for the spinal at 00:00 and our wee boy Idrees was born at 00:45. Due to his special condition I couldn't have a cuddle as he was whisked away to special care unit right away, but I did get a little peek of him as they wheeled him past.
I was sent to recovery and Idrees was set up in the ICU. A lovely midwife wheeled me to his cot so I could see him again on my way to being wheeled to my post natal room. That was the last time I got to see him at around 2am, and A has been splitting his time between us throughout as I recover.
It hasn't been easy recovering and being away from him, but I am focusing on getting better ASAP so they can discharge me and I can go obsess over him a bit.
He is now set up in Alder Hey Children's Hospital where he is all stable and showing off his little tricks for the surgeons who will decide if he is good to have his open heart surgery in the next few days. I am hoping to get discharged so we can finally go and live with him at Alder Hey. It will be a tough and rocky road ahead but hoping we can all fight it out together. Feel so blessed and grateful to have him here and safe so far, everything else is just a bonus!
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