Positive Birth Stories

At 4am on Sunday 25th September I woke up feeling a sensation in my lower back and lower part of my bump. I waited and it happened again and again with the same amount of space between them and lasting the same amount of time. I woke Paul at about 6am and we were both excited and couldn't get back to sleep. We laid in bed counting but they started to fizzle out.

We got on with the day, went on a walk and to the shops. On the way out from the shop I could feel another sensation like earlier but a bit stronger! We went home and started putting up some shelves in babies nursery. They were starting to happen more regularly (roughly every 12-18 minutes and lasting about 30-50 seconds). They weren't painful and I could still walk around and talk through them. As the night went on they got closer together and they got to the point where I needed to change position to get through the surge. I did lots of breathing - in for four and out for more, and made sure I kept my face relaxed...

(floppy face, floppy fanny!). It got to about midnight and I was tired and the surges had slowed down unfortunately so I decided to lay down in bed and I eventually dozed off. I woke up on Monday 26th September and had a long relaxing shower. I got on with the day and by mid morning the surges started again but much stronger. I used the Freya app to time my surges. They weren't getting much closer together but more intense. By 3pm I told Paul he needed to finish work because I needed his help with breathing and to generally be my cheerleader. By 7pm the surges were strong. I was very often on all fours or was pushing and pulling on Paul's arms in rhythm to my breathing. The curtains were closed, candles were burning, my dog was padding around after me and David Attenborough was calming talking about mountain goats on the TV! Distraction and comfort were key to me.

I put on the tens machine at this point and it really helped to distract me and the boost setting when I had a surge...

felt amazing. By 10.30pm I was having two surges closer together (5-7 minutes) and one further apart (more like 12 minutes). We called the hospital but they said to keep going at home. All of a sudden it ramped up and I had 4 or 5 surges within about 8 minutes. Action stations! Paul quickly started getting bits in the car, putting the dog to bed etc etc. By 11.45 we were on the way to Bath hospital.

As I got out of the car at 12.30am on Tuesday 27th September I had a huge surge in the car park, started to walk to the building and had another huge surge! Got into the building and there was a midwife waiting and I had another surge! I was asked some questions, and another huge surge! I was asked to get onto the bed for an examination and then another surge! I was pretty out of it by this point as I was focusing so much on breathing. I was 9cm dilated!!! She told me I was going to meet my baby soon! I had done so much of the hard work at home with just a tens machine...

We walked around the corner of the building to the delivery unit and again had what felt like a million more surges before I got to the room. I felt like I was in my own little bubble and was 100% listening to my body.

I got into the room and it was lovely. There were fairy lights and tea lights dotted around and the lights were low. I instantly leant over onto the bed and the midwife listened to babies heart beat but that was the only examination I had from then on. I then started to feel a build up of pressure in my bum. I knew I needed to think about pushing my baby out.

I got up on the bed, knees on the bed and leant over the back rest. I started to push when I felt the surges. But just short little downwards breaths. The feeling got more and more intense and I then got on all fours on the bed and used all my might to bear down right into my bum, like I was having a massive poo!

The midwives guided me and got me to hold my downwards pushing for longer and longer...

I could feel his head bobbing out on the downwards breath and then back in. I knew I needed to be stronger so I put my all into it. I felt super human. At this point the midwife wanted me to go on my back to help get baby around the birth canal. I laid back and on my next few surges I felt the top of his head! Being able to feel him was surreal but the push I needed to keep going. A few more surges and breathing and he was out! I had immediate skin to skin and I wouldn't have changed this for the world.

I requested that my umbilical cord was left until it was white and stopped pulsing so it was probably left for a good half an hour. I was originally going to let my placenta pass naturally but I felt a bit shakey with adrenaline so I just wanted it out so she gave me the injection and about 5-10 minutes later is slid out, a bit like flubber! The midwife then ran me a big bath and made a huge pile of toast and a massive cup of tea. It was devine...

 

They left us to it and popped in every so often but it was lovely just for us to relax as a family.

I wouldn't change my story for world.