gramyre
28/9/07 05:53:33 PM
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18 years ago today a woman was in screaming agony...actually she had gone past the point of screaming agony and was moaning like a trapped beast waiting to die.
In her mind she wanted to die. If she wasn't attached by cables and straps to a machine she would have jumped out of the window. She asked the people around her to put her out of her misery but they just kept telling to hang in there.
It started two days before on the Tuesday at about 7am. There was pain and a little blood and some mucous, and because she had been working the day before she kind of didn't really know whether what was happening was her imagination. I mean this woman really never thought that this day would come anyway.
After a few hours of pain she rang the hospital and they said wait till the pains are about 10 minutes apart and come in. So about 7pm that night she went in, was admitted, given a nice room with all the mod cons and she waited. She didn't wait alone, her partner was there, nervously smoking outside every 20 minutes.
She was advised to start walking, so she walked, up and down the fire stairs, round and round the halls, stopping every now and then when the pains got too hard to walk through. About 4am the pains stretched out to 30 minutes between and the woman was told that she should keep walking.
The next day morning the pains went back to every 15 minutes . Frequent checks by the midwives, the obstetrician, the cleaner and the vending machine filler confirmed that she was only a couple of centimetres dilated.
Muttering they decided to break the woman's waters as there had been no gush that signified that labor was well underway. They have a special plastic tool for this. It looked kind of like a plastic tent peg. They made several XXX jabs internally and announced "she is a dry one!". They explained that her baby will have some scratches on its head because they had gone through the bag holding it, just to make sure it was properly perforated.
Further muttering and an appointment was made with the XRAY department. Just to make sure the woman had enough pelvic room to push the baby between. They made her stand with a 1 metre ruler between her knees and place the xray plate above it. They told her not to move, even if she was having contractions...she balanced there while they took several Xrays...She wondered if that was good for the baby, being exposed to that, so close and all.
Rubbing their heads the midwife suggests "manual stretching of the cervix". Smiles all round from the doctors, the nurses, the cleaner and the vending machine filler as the latex glove is donned and the midwife tries to open the cervix manually. Imagine pushing open a rubber baned using your thumb and fingers...go on have a try of that now. OK now imagine someone up to their wrist inside of you doing that while you are having contractions.
Goodness! That's a bit of blood! Not to worry, shove this pad there to catch it. Oh by the way it didn't help with the dilation...she was still only 2cms
Back to pacing the halls and taking warm showers. The woman's back by this stage was pretty much the focus of her pain now every time she had a contraction. Standing in the warm water of the showers helped relieve it. The woman was very tired by this stage, but her body continued to expend energy trying to expell the baby.
The xrays came back and it was declared "yep plenty of room there!".
More wandering, pain, showers through the night. The nurses made her partner comfortable, feeding him roast dinners and joking with him. While the woman eventually, exhausted, had to kneel on the bed.
Its about this time the fact that all of those warm showers has turned the woman's back to a mass of blisters. Who knew that contact with hot water over a long period of time would cause that? Who knew that some pains are worse than others and you sometimes can't feel one through the other.
Another night went past. There was no offer of any form of pain relief other than panadol because that would effect the ability to actually expel the baby, and as there was no dialation, then there was no way they were going offer anything stronger.
The words "failing to progress" were muttered by midwives and the decision was that she would have some extra Oxytocin in the morning to hurry things along. Oxytocin is what they use to induce labor, it causes contractions.
7am Thursday.. no sleep and she was given an oxytocin drip. This brings the contractions up to every 5 minutes. Things have taken way too long and there is concern for the baby so a monitor is hooked up to the woman. She only wants to be on her hands and knees, but the monitor requires her to lay on her back
The doctor smiles indulgently and says "you will be a mum by lunchtime". The woman vaguely hears it and hopes this will be all over soon so she can sleep and rest her weary body. She and her partner are offered gas. The gas makes her sick so she abstains, but her partner who the nurses say "needs it as much as you" is allowed to keep taking pulls.
Lunchtime comes and goes and the woman is in a bad way she is given a pethidine injection that she doesn't even feel, but it only makes her drift in and out of consciousness, waking only for the pain, then drifting off again.
The monitor does not allow the woman to move and the pain is never ending. She starts to want to end it all. She has tried so hard but there is no escape from this nightmare. She dreams of death, she wakes moaning and screaming and begging.
Look at the clock ... it is almost 6pm on Thursday night, almost 60 hours and she is still going, she is given more pethidine. The animal in the bed no longer knows who or what she is. She only knows pain and how to moan.
6:30 and suddenly there is a flurry of activity. The monitor has shown that the baby is in dire straits, the drugs have affected its heart beat and it is slowing down...dying.
Her partner hears the obstetrician on the phone organising an operating theatre and saying "this woman has mucked me about for hours"
The monitor is ripped off, the bed is pushed at a flying run into a lift and up to the operating floors above. The woman is given an injection and it all goes black.
Matthew Stephen John Morris was born at 6:58pm on the 28th September by emergency caesarean.
Happy Birthday Matthew! Mum loves you (you freak!)
Edited by gramyre: 28/9/2007 06:00:11 PM -----
And in the morning....I'll be making waffles
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Talbot Duckmanton
28/9/07 05:59:57 PM
Overlord
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Dear Christ. That's it we are getting a puppy instead. -----
Talbot Duckmanton is your hookup.
In the Pipe, five by five.
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hulkster
28/9/07 06:02:45 PM
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Happy Birthday matthew!!
Nice post Grams.
Real nice :) -----
No.
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Mac Dude
28/9/07 06:25:51 PM
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lol, noice, REALLY noice :)
Oh, I thought "manual stretching of the cervix" caused the condition in the first place :D
(yeah, in my dreams...)
Happy Birthday Grams spawn! -----
Et tu, Brute?
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Virtuoso
28/9/07 06:27:52 PM
SuperHero
Resident alien
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Heh, nice post, and happy birthday Matthew :-) -----
Crush! Kill! Destroy!
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ArcaneMagik
28/9/07 06:28:47 PM
Titan
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My eyes are watering. -----
Fail.
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thedrake
28/9/07 06:31:25 PM
Banned
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Sounds like it's time for some payback. -----
'Pile on many more layers / And I'll be joining you there'
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Tom
28/9/07 06:37:49 PM
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Titan
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You women hold the whole childbirth pain thing over us males like a weapon.
My mother brings it up every time she wants me to do something for her.
Happy pain day.
-----
http://www.policeblueribbon.com.au/
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Harmonic Cacophony
28/9/07 06:43:45 PM
Titan
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This should be printed and shown whenever he acts like a prick.
God knows I'd do the dishes if confronted with this :/ -----
D'Mite says - "Your body needs water, so drink that shit!"
Need cheering up?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdQj2ohqCBk
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gramyre
28/9/07 06:48:43 PM
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Nahh kids owe their parents nothing but to try their best to be decent people...well that is what I have brought mine up to do ....I hope.
I have a handwritten diary of these events somewhere that I wrote when I came home from hospital...when I see him next I will give it to him (if I can find it) until then he doesn't really know what happened :)
If I can't find it I will email him the URL
And thanks for the compliments :)
Edited by gramyre: 28/9/2007 06:49:31 PM -----
And in the morning....I'll be making waffles
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Zarris
28/9/07 06:51:32 PM
Overlord
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Oh my, that is the kind of story that'll put a girl off giving birth.
Happy Birthday Matthew :o) -----
Proud partner of J&J Industries
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Xap
28/9/07 07:20:40 PM
Champion
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Happy Birthday pain child. -----
Who the hell is Xap anyway?
Quote by Foods
P.S. Genital scars ftw!
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freespace
28/9/07 07:30:33 PM
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Titan
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Sometimes I am glad I am not a woman, don't have a set of breasts to play with any time I want, and not to be able to have multiple orgasms.
Reading this thread was one of those times.
Happy Birthday to Matthew!!!
Now let us all take a moment out and appreciate how much pain our mothers went through bringing us into this world, for better or worst :P -----
By perseverance the snail reached the ark.
http://www.shuningbian.net - blog
http://www.shuningbian.net/DebunkingCreation/ - the other side
its f reespace damn it!
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thedrake
28/9/07 07:32:05 PM
Banned
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My parents claim the pain started after I was born. -----
'Pile on many more layers / And I'll be joining you there'
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Harmonic Cacophony
28/9/07 07:36:51 PM
Titan
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Quote by thedrake
My parents claim the pain started after I was born.
This does not surprise me. -----
D'Mite says - "Your body needs water, so drink that shit!"
Need cheering up?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdQj2ohqCBk
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Wallacey
28/9/07 07:42:08 PM
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Guru
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Nice post:)
Shouldn't have eaten that apple:P
And.... Get over it, it's only childbirth:P
/Jokes:) -----
Gigabyte GA35-DS3P, E6850, 2Gb Kingston RAM, 512Mb 8600GT, EzCool 500w PSU, Samsung 400Gb SATA, WD 250Gb SATA, Samsung DVD Burner, Liteon CD Burner, Cworld case.
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nukejockey
28/9/07 07:53:19 PM
Guru
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Quote by thedrake
My parents claim the pain started after I was born.
Hmmm, Before,During, After...and still going no doubt. -----
Quote by donaldo74
if you still feel the same right after you blow then its love.
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SlurmsMackenzie
28/9/07 07:57:34 PM
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Times like this i'm happpy i'm a male.
Happy Birthday -----
Quote by Gharphield
I'm with Slurms :)
-----
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MrsWallacey
28/9/07 08:05:53 PM
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Happy Birthday to Matthew.
Good story there Grams, I can kind or relate in one way or another over the space of 6 births...except for the duration you were in labour for you poor thing. -----
I'll just take your word for it mrswallacey, you do know everything.
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Chuck Norris(good actor
28/9/07 10:21:14 PM
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Immortal
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There's no stalk?
:( -----
Makes more sense than tourettes.
I'm one Badmotorfinger who's Screaming Life Louder than Love into the Superunkown , I'm Down on the upside but everthing's Ultramega OK .
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