Birth Story of Baby R.

I had my second baby in August 2021. As I approached the 40 week mark I had a few nights where I thought labour was starting but nothing progressed. At 40+2 I knew something was different and I felt excited and nervous at the same time! I was due to attend the Midwife Led Unit for an appointment that afternoon so I phoned them to let them know labour was starting and they advised me to come in anyway. I phoned my mum who was going to look after my daughter and while waiting for her to arrive we went for a walk which I knew would be our last just us two. When we returned home things started to get more intense and we made our way to the hospital. Once we arrived everything seemed to stop. I was examined by the midwife and things were definitely progressing. I agreed to a sweep even though I had previously been in two minds if I would get one. It was very uncomfortable and not what I was expecting as I hardly felt the one I had on my first pregnancy. Afterwards I went home to rest and hoped that things would pick up again soon.

When we got home it wasn’t long before my surges started again. My daughter was happily playing with my mum so I went to my bedroom, closed the curtains and set up my cosy space. I sprayed my calming room spray, put on my audio tracks and used my birth ball & calm breathing technique. I had used hypnobirthing on my first pregnancy and absolutely loved it and how empowered it made me feel. When I found out I was pregnant again I knew how beneficial it would be and booked a refresher course. My daughter kept coming in to see what mammy was doing and wasn’t very happy when I couldn’t do bedtime because things were getting more intense but she soon settled and fell asleep. I was using my winner flow breathing device and my tens machine to help me through the surges. At about 9pm I decided I wanted to go to the MLU. The car journey was uncomfortable but the tens machine really helped. I agreed to be examined when we arrived and was so disappointed when the midwife told me I was 2cm. I really thought I would be dilated more as my surges were very strong but the midwife reassured me and told me it didn’t matter as she could clearly see I was in active labour (you are normally considered to be in active labour when you are 4cm dilated). My labour with my daughter had been very long and I was afraid that this could be the same. I continued using the winner flow and then changed to gas & air which helped to take the edge off. The room in the MLU was lovely with a beautiful mural on the wall and fairy lights. There was lavender in the essential oil diffuser and I also had my own playlist playing on my phone. While the pool was being filled I alternated between the birth ball and being on all fours on the ground.

I got into the birth pool at around 11pm and had been really looking forward to being in water as I didn’t get to use it on my daughter’s birth. Once I was in everything quickly intensified and I couldn’t get comfortable. My surges were really powerful and I started making “mooing” sounds which I knew meant that I was likely in the transition stage. The midwife asked if I was feeling a lot of pressure which I was. She suggested coming out of the pool to try some other positions (water births were not allowed at this time). It wasn’t long before I felt the urge to bear down and my body started pushing. I used my birth breathing during the pushing stage and found it really helped me to work with my body. During the last few pushes I was kneeling on the ground, forward leaning on a chair. I clearly remember the sensation of my son’s head crowning. The midwife was brilliant and helped me stay calm, reminding me that he was nearly here. My baby boy was born just before 2.30am and passed up to me. I was asked to get up onto the bed as I was bleeding more than normal and the midwives wanted to monitor it. I had specified I wanted delayed cord clamping but due to the midwives concerns over my blood loss I didn’t get as long as I had hoped for. I wanted to deliver the placenta naturally but also had to get the injection to speed up the delivery to stop the bleeding. I held my son in my arms and just stared at his little face, completely in love. We had lots of cuddles and skin to skin for what seemed like hours. We soaked up every minute and I remember thinking “I did it!”

It was exactly one year to the day since I had my miscarriage and I like to think that our little star in the sky guided our little boy safely to us x x