So, the short version:
Charlotte May was born at home and in water 12 days overdue at 4:20am weighing 9lbs after a very quick 1hour 10mins of labour. No drugs & no tears, just an all natural, happy experience!
And the (very!) long version:
A few weeks ago I was getting very worried because Baby was overdue and the hospital were starting to get tetchy about induction. That day I decided that the stress of it was holding things up and I had to do anything I could to relax and help baby come naturally. So we blew up the birth pool and filled it to have a splash around with Henry as a way of visualising my home waterbirth and reconnecting with the idea that it could still happen!
After that we put the lid on it, still filled and covered it with duvets to stop the cat popping it again! Thank goodness we did, because at the speed everything happened once it got started I would have never made it into the pool otherwise!
That night I went to bed thinking "It could be tonight!" but in the morning I woke up disappointed that still nothing had happened. This was 40+10 days.
That day I had a second membrane sweep with the midwife and told her how serious my anxiety about hospital birth was. I recognise now that it is actually a phobia. She was amazingly supportive and very encouraging. She told me what to do if the hospital staff started with the bullying ("Do you want your baby to die?" was said to a friend of mine who opted for monitoring) and ended by saying the sweep went very well & she was sure to see me during the night anyway!
I went home feeling so much more positive and even had some mild contractions about and hour after the sweep. The contractions slowly became more frequent and slightly stronger throughout the evening until I was almost ready to say something to Hubby. But just at that moment he ran into the bathroom and threw up!!
My first thought was Norovirus!! How can I possibly give birth in a house with a sickness bug! I'll have to go to hospital, and Hubby won't be able to come with me!! And immediately the contractions stopped.
After seeing me in tears, Hubby decided it was better to own up to having eaten a piece of cheese from Henry's leftover lunch after it had been sitting out for 8 hours! So I went to bed with no sympathy at all for the sick Hubby, but at least I was calmer. The contractions didn't return though.
Day 40+11 marked the first day of monitoring. We went to the hospital where the Triage midwife was surprised to see us a day early (on the orders of the consultant) and said "I don't know what they're worrying for, there's no room to book you in for induction for a week anyway! You'd think they'd be pleased."
Monitoring was fine, but tedious. I was strapped up for over an hour, but eventually baby woke up & did some big wriggles and I was free to go.
I was so grateful to be spared the tough talk from the consultant, who I wouldn't see until 40+14 due to the bank holiday. I felt so much more relaxed that I had 3 more days before I had to face the bullying and now I knew the monitoring itself would be no problem.
So after a long, strange day that involved missing my brother's wedding, Hubby being sick in the car, while driving (!?!) and being peed on by Henry I went to bed exhausted.
At about 3am a mild contraction woke me up. Then another came pretty quickly after it, this time much stronger. Hubby woke up as I got up to go to the loo & I asked him to get the TENS out.
As I was on the loo the feeling of needing to do a poo wouldn't go away. I doubted myself as I had 18 hours of contractions before I got to that point with Henry, but contractions were strong, lasting 50s to 1min and only 2.5 to 4 minutes apart! I told hubby to forget the TENS and go straight for the pool!
In the mean time I phoned the delivery suite and asked for the midwife to be sent. Contractions held off until the second I put the phone down when a big contraction wave crashed over me, I heard a squeaky pop and the waters sploshed onto the floor, like in the movies! Thank goodness I was in the lino-floored bathroom!
Called down to Hubby to see if the pool was up to temperature yet before running downstairs to get straight in. By this point I knew it was coming quickly! Thankfully the 1st midwife then arrived.
She'd come straight from another homebirth and was a little flustered and went about trying to do her checks, while contractions were strong and very close together.
The next contraction I felt the baby crowning, but didn't believe it! It was all happening so fast, I must be mistaken!
Then with the next one the baby's head was out. "It's here!" I muttered, which took the midwife by surprise. "Oh yes - I haven't got my gloves on yet!" She said! But she was there to guide the baby out with the final contraction -- I felt the baby do the shoulder wiggle and there she was!
The cord was short and where I'd been on my knees she was behind me, so I had to lift my leg over her and the cord (kicking the midwife in the head!) to bring her round and onto my chest. She breastfed beautifully within 10 minutes of her birth and we were relaxing in the pool waiting for the placenta to be delivered when the 2nd midwife arrived.
The labour was 1 hour 10 minutes from the first contraction, the pushing stage is recorded as 5 minutes! The natural 3rd stage took 45 minutes.
Henry woke up shortly after Charlotte was born and came down to enjoy the cheery atmosphere and meet his new sister, who he hasn't stopped kissing yet! Once I was out of the pool he joined her for our first tandem breastfeed and lots of cuddles.
I am so glad I got to have my perfect home waterbirth again, and so glad that I planned it in the first place - even if I'd wanted to go to hospital I'd have never made it in time!!
If you made it to the end, thanks for reading and for those of you looking forward to meeting your own babies, I hope you have a story with as happy an ending as mine to tell soon!
xxx
Showing posts with label home birth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label home birth. Show all posts
Saturday, 29 May 2010
Thursday, 8 October 2009
Home Birth: My Birth Story
As we celebrate Henry's first birthday I can't help thinking back to that wonderful day when he was born and being thankful that we had such a fantastic experience. It was a beautiful day - I can honestly say I enjoyed giving birth and I can't wait to do it again!
I had a home water birth with Henry, who is my first baby. It was the most amazing thing I've ever experienced!! It was wonderful to be at home in an environment that I felt comfortable in and in control of the situation.
Contractions started just after midnight on Saturday morning - I wasn't entirely sure if it was just braxton hicks as I hadn't experienced any of them before, but I thought there was no harm in sticking on the TENS machine anyway. Worst case was it came to nothing and we got to do a "practice run". Once we'd got the TENS all set up (great by the way!!! it really works!) we went back to bed to get some sleep for a couple of hours.
Around 3:30am I woke DH again to say it was getting stronger so I thought it probably wasn't just a practice run and we went downstairs to fill the birth pool. Bit of a nightmare as although we'd blown up the pool we hadn't tried out the hose for filling it and as soon as the tap went on the hose popped off the tap and exploded water everywhere! Poor DH was stood in the kitchen dripping with water & soaked through his PJs!
Just at the same time I had to grab a bucket and was sick - one word of advice, a chilli filled Thai curry might seem like a good idea to get labour started, but on the way out again you'll regret it!!!
Anyway, with the pool finally filled and everything prepared we went back to bed again for a few more hours sleep and called the MW in the morning to let her know that I was happy to stay on my own, but that things were starting to happen.
After a lovely breakfast together we went for a walk - partly to see if we could get the contractions to become a little more regular and partly because I had a letter to post that I knew I woudn't get around to posting once DS was here! The sun was shining in that lovely autumnal way and we walked around the local park getting some funny looks during contractions!
But it worked and contractions became much stronger and more regular, so back home for some lunch. Trouble was that as soon as I sat down to eat contractions stopped again. It was so stop & start and not painful at all that I began to doubt whether I was in labour or not! At this point I called the MW again as I was fed up with not knowing and could she just come and tell me whether I was in labour or not.
She arrived and did an examination (the only one I had throughout the whole labour!) and told me I was around 5.5cm - established labour! Woohoo! I was pretty impressed too as it wasn't painful at all - just a bit uncomfortable during the contractions, but nothing unmanageable at all!
She did tell me that DS was back to back, which probably accounts for the stop & start labour, so I put on my music and started dancing, doing hip circles during contractions to turn him around. (you can see the video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nEdqIopqRY&feature=channel_page)
It obviously worked because not long after this the contractions changed and I was ready to get into the pool. Bit nervous about taking the TENS machine off as I had come to rely on it by now, but the second I hit the water the relief was incredible! It was exactly what I needed. I loved the way the water supported my body weight so I could kneel resting on the side of the pool very comfortably without my knees or hips getting sore.
Second stage contractions where completely different to the first stage ones, which were isolated in my abdomen, not unlike period pain. The second stage contractions took over the whole body - not painful, but an enormous effort. At first I panicked a little as the sudden change in them was so overwhelming and I felt I couldn't breathe as the effort was so intense. But I knew I had to find a way to cope and decided to count my breaths - 7 breaths per contraction. So I knew that if I kept breathing - pushing as I exhaled I was only 7 breaths away from a rest.
At this point the MW said most people have gas & air, but she said I didn't look like I needed it. I agreed and said I'd rather not have it - much better to keep a clear mind and concentrate on counting, I thought!
I was amazed at how my body knew exactly what to do - the MW didn't need to examine me at all as she could tell that my body was ready to push. I had two lovely community midwives to myself, including my own MW who had requested to be called even though she was off duty! There was no shouting "push!" at me or anything, they just stood back and kept an eye on things while I got on with it. There were candles lit around the room and a quiet, calm atmosphere.
I felt baby's head crowning and the contractions changed again - telling me not to push for a little while. Then two more contractions and my son was lying on the bottom of the pool. He opened his eyes and looked up at me from under the water, body stretched out in a startle position. The relief was so overwhelming! Contractions stopped immediately and my instinct was to reach out for him, but I wanted DH to pass him up to me so I held back while he lifted him out of the water and put him in my arms. It was such a wonderful, private moment. Beautiful. The MW took photos for us and let us savour the moment.
After the third stage the MW helped me upstairs to shower, get tucked up into my own bed and to start breastfeeding Henry. Then they left us with toast & tea and I lay with my husband beside me, holding my baby close to me and marveling in this new arrival in our life together! By this time it was around 11pm in the evening, so DH would have had to have left me if I had been in hospital. As it was, we spent our first night together as a family, which I was so grateful for.
I couldn't have hoped for my baby to have a better start in life - a beautiful, calm experience that helped to create a happy, calm and contented baby.
I had a home water birth with Henry, who is my first baby. It was the most amazing thing I've ever experienced!! It was wonderful to be at home in an environment that I felt comfortable in and in control of the situation.
Contractions started just after midnight on Saturday morning - I wasn't entirely sure if it was just braxton hicks as I hadn't experienced any of them before, but I thought there was no harm in sticking on the TENS machine anyway. Worst case was it came to nothing and we got to do a "practice run". Once we'd got the TENS all set up (great by the way!!! it really works!) we went back to bed to get some sleep for a couple of hours.
Around 3:30am I woke DH again to say it was getting stronger so I thought it probably wasn't just a practice run and we went downstairs to fill the birth pool. Bit of a nightmare as although we'd blown up the pool we hadn't tried out the hose for filling it and as soon as the tap went on the hose popped off the tap and exploded water everywhere! Poor DH was stood in the kitchen dripping with water & soaked through his PJs!
Just at the same time I had to grab a bucket and was sick - one word of advice, a chilli filled Thai curry might seem like a good idea to get labour started, but on the way out again you'll regret it!!!
Anyway, with the pool finally filled and everything prepared we went back to bed again for a few more hours sleep and called the MW in the morning to let her know that I was happy to stay on my own, but that things were starting to happen.
After a lovely breakfast together we went for a walk - partly to see if we could get the contractions to become a little more regular and partly because I had a letter to post that I knew I woudn't get around to posting once DS was here! The sun was shining in that lovely autumnal way and we walked around the local park getting some funny looks during contractions!
But it worked and contractions became much stronger and more regular, so back home for some lunch. Trouble was that as soon as I sat down to eat contractions stopped again. It was so stop & start and not painful at all that I began to doubt whether I was in labour or not! At this point I called the MW again as I was fed up with not knowing and could she just come and tell me whether I was in labour or not.
She arrived and did an examination (the only one I had throughout the whole labour!) and told me I was around 5.5cm - established labour! Woohoo! I was pretty impressed too as it wasn't painful at all - just a bit uncomfortable during the contractions, but nothing unmanageable at all!
She did tell me that DS was back to back, which probably accounts for the stop & start labour, so I put on my music and started dancing, doing hip circles during contractions to turn him around. (you can see the video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nEdqIopqRY&feature=channel_page)
It obviously worked because not long after this the contractions changed and I was ready to get into the pool. Bit nervous about taking the TENS machine off as I had come to rely on it by now, but the second I hit the water the relief was incredible! It was exactly what I needed. I loved the way the water supported my body weight so I could kneel resting on the side of the pool very comfortably without my knees or hips getting sore.
Second stage contractions where completely different to the first stage ones, which were isolated in my abdomen, not unlike period pain. The second stage contractions took over the whole body - not painful, but an enormous effort. At first I panicked a little as the sudden change in them was so overwhelming and I felt I couldn't breathe as the effort was so intense. But I knew I had to find a way to cope and decided to count my breaths - 7 breaths per contraction. So I knew that if I kept breathing - pushing as I exhaled I was only 7 breaths away from a rest.
At this point the MW said most people have gas & air, but she said I didn't look like I needed it. I agreed and said I'd rather not have it - much better to keep a clear mind and concentrate on counting, I thought!
I was amazed at how my body knew exactly what to do - the MW didn't need to examine me at all as she could tell that my body was ready to push. I had two lovely community midwives to myself, including my own MW who had requested to be called even though she was off duty! There was no shouting "push!" at me or anything, they just stood back and kept an eye on things while I got on with it. There were candles lit around the room and a quiet, calm atmosphere.
I felt baby's head crowning and the contractions changed again - telling me not to push for a little while. Then two more contractions and my son was lying on the bottom of the pool. He opened his eyes and looked up at me from under the water, body stretched out in a startle position. The relief was so overwhelming! Contractions stopped immediately and my instinct was to reach out for him, but I wanted DH to pass him up to me so I held back while he lifted him out of the water and put him in my arms. It was such a wonderful, private moment. Beautiful. The MW took photos for us and let us savour the moment.
After the third stage the MW helped me upstairs to shower, get tucked up into my own bed and to start breastfeeding Henry. Then they left us with toast & tea and I lay with my husband beside me, holding my baby close to me and marveling in this new arrival in our life together! By this time it was around 11pm in the evening, so DH would have had to have left me if I had been in hospital. As it was, we spent our first night together as a family, which I was so grateful for.
I couldn't have hoped for my baby to have a better start in life - a beautiful, calm experience that helped to create a happy, calm and contented baby.
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