Birth story - Amy and baby Arco

I would say first time mum at aged 39 but it was my third pregnancy following a miscarriage in August 2017 & a TFMR in February 2018, so I was already a mum just not in the way we’d hoped. Arco is from the Italian ‘arcobaleno’ meaning ‘rainbow’ 🌈 as he’s our rainbow baby after our losses💙

I’m usually one to take a painkiller at the slightest hint of pain so looking back at my hospital notes days after Arco’s birth & reading that I had no pain relief for 12 hours of labour had me wondering who the hell I was in that moment! 😂 9 weeks later I’m still amazed that person was me and, had Arco not been twisted/not descending, he would have been born in the birth pool without any intervention.

My labour started with intense period like pains at 4am the day after Arco’s due date. I ran a bath with lavender oil as I’d been using throughout pregnancy, took some paracetamol, ate a banana & tried not to wake my other half just yet! I’d been using The Positive Birth Company breathing techniques since around 29 weeks & had daily baths during which I watched the videos & did the affirmations, I often had them playing at night as I went to sleep too.

As much as I had told myself I’d leave it as long as possible to go to hospital I was too impatient & despite doing my up breathing throughout every contraction, things seemed pretty intense pretty fast, so we were in the hospital by 7am! Thankfully the birthing suite was empty & they started filling up the birth pool for me & we put the affirmations on my phone playing out loud. I can’t remember whether they told me how far dilated I was on arrival but I remember not wanting to know in case it put me off! But I do remember clock watching a fair bit, I had gas & air throughout the day & stayed in the pool for as long as possible - so much so that my other half & my best friend ended up bruising my wrists where they were trying to keep me afloat where I was zoning out & up breathing through each contraction! The bruises remained for almost a month post birth, I must have been a dead weight!! 🙈

I did have several internal examinations throughout & unfortunately these started to stress me out as they bought back traumatic memories from my TFMR - despite me having mentioned this in my birth plan & despite my Midwife’s attempts to stop the birthing team doing them so often, it all became a bit much & at this stage they did a scan to determine where baby was. Baby wasn’t descending quite low enough or in the right position & since I was getting very tired & distressed we made a decision to accept help. Given our previous losses, 9 months of anxiety & worry that we still wouldn’t bring home a healthy baby, I became impatient to get baby out whatever way possible so not quite as positive as I’d hoped! The team later told me that I’d got to 9.5cm & when I pushed I pushed really well but I’d reached a position where it was best to help me get baby out.

All in all I lasted just over 12 hours with just gas & air & the pool, before having a spinal block, failed ventouse & eventually a forceps delivery with episiotomy. We finally got to meet our much longed for baby with his dad telling me it was a boy! Arco had to be checked over before he was given to his dad for skin to skin, we had a fair amount of time in theatre while I was stitched up & then a few hours in recovery as my blood pressure wouldn’t stabilise. We were able to bring Arco home the following evening & we’ve been smitten since the second he arrived.

I absolutely credit the PBC for the invaluable breathing techniques that got me through those 12 hours & the time in theatre. I’m glad that Arco didn’t keep us waiting too long & our labour was quick in comparison to lots of other births from within our ante-natal type group. And I’m super grateful for the breathing techniques that helped me find this mega mama strength to power through pain as much as I could! I still use those techniques today to calm myself or help me relax before bed & I’m certain I’ll use them throughout the rest of my life! I’ve recommended the PBC to various friends since I found it. Thank you!