My pregnancy went smoothly, except for two episodes of bleeding in the 7th and 13th weeks, which remained unexplained. Otherwise, it passed without nausea or back pain; generally, aside from a really big belly, I had no problems. It stayed that way until Saturday, August 8, 2015 (6 days before my due date), when I noticed the mucus plug on my underwear. I knew then that things were slowly starting. On Monday morning, August 10, 2015, I again noticed a larger amount of mucus on my underwear, which also contained some blood. Occasionally, I felt mild cramps, similar to menstrual pains. I also had a check-up and a CTG with my gynecologist, who examined me and told me that the cervix was softened and slowly thinning out. I was very happy 🙂
At 11:00 PM that evening, I started feeling cramps more frequently. They were very early-stage, but I slept poorly because they were just bothersome enough. These cramps lasted until Tuesday around 1:00–2:00 PM, and then they started intensifying until 3:00 PM, when things slowly became serious. Between contractions, I walked around, lay on one side or the other, went to the bathroom, and showered with warm water. I wanted to spend as much time as possible at home, as I knew what would follow if I arrived at the maternity hospital only 3 cm dilated. At 3:00 PM, I spoke with my partner, who had just finished work and was rushing to the dentist; I told him I thought today was D-day and asked him to come home as soon as possible. He arrived at 4:30 PM and we left for the hospital immediately, as the contractions were coming every 5 minutes and lasting a good minute on average.
The drive to Ljubljana was brutal; I feel like the drive was the worst part of it all. When I reached the hospital, I could barely get out of the car. Just as I stepped out, I had a contraction that included abdominal pressure; at that moment, I knew we were very close. Right then, a security guard ran up with a wheelchair and quickly took me to triage, where a midwife examined me. She jokingly said she wanted to see if it was really as serious as the guard made it look by wheeling me in. I remember her examining me and saying, “Quick, stand up and get undressed, you are fully dilated, only a rim is left, and the head is already low.” She helped me change, and I was already on the wheelchair heading toward the delivery block.
When I arrived in the delivery room, they quickly started an IV with antibiotics because I had tested positive for Group B Strep. Meanwhile, I already felt a strong urge to push downward. I really wanted to push, but the midwives in the room told me not to because the antibiotics had to finish dripping first. They also gave me Entonox (gas and air), which eased the pain a bit. But to be honest, it just made me feel nauseous and completely high. That was also when my water broke; I could actually feel the sac pop like a balloon and I was soaked. Once the antibiotics were in, they examined me again and saw that the head was already very low. So I could start pushing. During the pushing, my little one’s heartbeat started dropping and becoming slow; I knew that wasn’t a good sign. However, since the heart rate stabilized after the contraction and pushing ended, we waited a bit longer; in between, I rested and lay on my side. A little after 6:00 PM, they decided not to delay any further and gave me a Syntocinon drip to help with the delivery. I knew it was serious because my little boy was already struggling. So I gathered all the strength I had and pushed; one of the midwives helped me a bit, and the head was out. I waited for one more contraction and pushed out the rest of the body.
What a relief 🙂 My little Svit was born on August 11, 2015, at 6:19 PM. The midwife unwrapped the umbilical cord, which was looped once around his neck, and placed him on my belly. I was so happy. My partner shed a few tears of joy. And just like that, we became a family. For me, this was a truly incredible experience that I love to remember, and I’m almost sad it’s already behind me. The birth was exactly as I imagined, and the pain was negligible. I would go through it all again without a second thought.
