Birth story - Becky and baby Indie

*Possible triggers* - I use the word contractions and mention tearing. 

During the last few weeks of my pregnancy I could feel my anxiety creeping up because the Covid 19 pandemic meant that the maternity hospital I was attending had imposed some restrictions. During my last appointment with my consultant, which was 3 days before I was due, she asked how I was feeling & I said that I was getting nervous and really wanted my baby to be here already because I was worried my husband wouldn’t be able to attend the birth. I had just finished the PBC digital pack so I was armed with lots of knowledge and asked lots of questions about what my options were. We agreed that I would be booked in for an induction the following Wednesday as baby was measuring slightly big. I was happy with this decision as it made me feel in control of the situation and because this was my first pregnancy, that eased my anxiety. During that appointment I asked my consultant to give me a ‘sweep’ to see if that would get things moving naturally, which she did. 

That evening I had some mild cramps followed by my bloody show. I got excited but reminded myself there was probably a long way to go! I slept well that night but thought that by the next day things would get moving. On the Saturday I went for a walk with my husband & our dog and when I got home I realised some of my waters had broken. I got *very* excited then because I thought ‘this is it!’ I rang my aunt who is a midwife and she suggested I head into the hospital to be examined so they could decide what to do. I went in to the (very quiet) maternity hospital that I was attending & the midwife said she was pretty sure my waters were gone - she asked if she could do an examination to check, I was happy with this. She explained that if your waters break & labour doesn’t start within 24 hours I would likely be induced as the risk of infection is higher. She booked me in for Sunday evening & sent me on my way with some suggestions on how to induce labour - spoiler alert, that didn’t happen 😂 I went home & bounced on my ball, had a spicy meal & walked up and down the stairs. As I was getting into bed the rest of my waters broke - it was like the scenes you see in the movies so I was convinced that this was the start of everything & didn’t sleep too well that night because I was excited. I woke the next morning (Sunday) with some mild cramps but nothing major & by 4pm, contractions hadn’t started so I headed into the hospital. 

I felt nervous at this point because I knew that my husband wouldn’t be allowed into the prenatal ward with me - he dropped me off & I felt a little teary but headed up to the prenatal ward & was looked after by the 2 lovely midwives who went through my birth preferences in detail with me. My consultant examined me with my consent & we decided to start the induction with the gel because my waters had already broken. This brought on some mild contractions that gradually got a little more intense - this is where I relied on my up breathing. I had practised it with my husband and even got him to record himself counting out the numbers so I could play it during my contractions; this was so helpful & comforting for me! Even though I was alone for this part, the midwives were checking on me frequently & I felt calm and happy. After 6 hours I hadn’t dilated past 1cm so the decision was made to bring me to labour & delivery to start me on the oxytocin drip. I felt a little scared because I had heard that induced labour is more painful but I thought back to what Siobhan had said in the digital pack about positive induced labours - I spent the next hour reading positive stories & watching videos, which helped calm my nerves and reframe my fears. 

I was admitted to a private room at midnight & my husband arrived shortly after. The drip was administered and contractions started very quickly. They were coming 30 seconds apart and were pretty intense. For 2 hours I used my up breathing but could feel my energy depleting. I used BRAIN to run through my options with my husband and the midwife - I decided after that conversation that an epidural made the most sense for me as I was still only 1cm dilated and could potentially have a long way to go. After the epidural was administered I dozed and chatted to my husband as the oxytocin levels were increased. I then realised that I could still feel contractions but they were relatively mild. I told the midwife and she said that the epidural might be wearing off. At this point I had a slightly negative experience with one of the midwives saying that I was ‘likely going to have a caesarean’ as I ‘wasn’t progressing well’. I felt pretty deflated and started to prepare myself for this mentally, reminding myself that my priority was having my baby safely & if that’s what’s needed to happen, that was ok. 

At this point I began feeling a lot of pressure & could definitely feel contractions building. I called the midwife who said my consultant had just arrived - at this point she asked if she could examine me and discovered I was 9cm! She said we would give it an hour and then I could try to start pushing. I felt myself get scared again at this point as I had almost resigned myself to the idea of a C-section and I didn’t think I had energy left to push. I took a moment to gather my thoughts and speak to my husband who assured me I could do it. I was still using my up breathing at this stage too. An hour passed and I got to 10cm so we started pushing - my midwife did coached pushing with me which I was comfortable with but I still used down breathing which was super helpful between pushes. After 15 minutes my baby girl’s head had descended but the cord was around her neck and her heartbeat was dipping when I was pushing. My consultant explained that she was recommending we use the suction cup to get baby out quickly and ensure she wasn’t distressed. I was comfortable with this & after 1 more push and some panted breathing, Indie was born at 9.46am 💘

I had a 2nd degree tear that required 2 small stitches but I didn’t feel this happening at all even though the epidural had worn off. I had skin to skin immediately and also delayed cord clamping. My husband got to stay with us for 2 hours during which he also got skin to skin and we had our first successful feed! Although my labour wasn’t what I had thought it would be; I felt calm, comfortable & empowered throughout and that was mostly down to what I had learned from the PBC digital pack. Thank you Siobhan & team!