Birth story - Deanna and baby girl

Trigger Warning - fetal ectopic heartbeat (positive outcome) and use of the word contraction.

I'll aim to not ramble on too much but this might be a long one, there's too many hours to fit in!

PREGNANCY

Overall my pregnancy was pretty smooth. I tried to stay as active as possible and due to covid I was off work from the first lock down in March, so I had lots of spare time to plan and practice hypnobirthing.

From around 28 weeks my baby was found to have an ectopic heartbeat that sometimes caused quite severe irregularities. We had some CTGs and the doctors reassured me everything would likely be fine but my baby would need additional tests after birth. However, I was devastated to be told that I would not be allowed a water birth as I would need continuous monitoring during labour. My partner and I discussed our options using BRAIN and decided to follow the doctors advice to reduce risks to our baby.

LABOUR

Friday 03:15 -

I woke up to mild period pains every 10 or so minutes. They were very manageable at this point so I stayed in bed using Freya to time right from the beginning. We spent the day relaxing, playing board games and watching films.

Friday 22:00 -

The pains had been worsening throughout the day but were still 10 minutes apart. I couldn't speak through them and my partner needed to help me count through up-breathing. At midnight they suddenly quickened, within 30 minutes they were now 4-5 minutes apart and I was starting to become more vocal. I tried to get some rest in bed but the contractions were coming too quickly to get any sleep.

Saturday 10:00 -

Having now dealt with fairly frequent contractions since midnight, I phoned the maternity unit asking if I should come in. They were now every 3-5 minutes so the midwife advised I stay at home until they were consistently 3 in 10. I continued to labour at home and was really struggling with pain and fatigue so phoned them again at 14:00 to be told the same thing.

Saturday 22:00 -

My contractions were still not quickening but I really felt I needed more support so basically demanded that I go into hospital at this point just as we were about to leave I dropped my phone and it completely broke! Due to covid restrictions I really needed a phone so we had to stay at home until a spare phone had charged up so we finally made it to the hospital around 23:00. I had to go in alone whilst my partner camped in the car park.

Saturday 23:30 -

I was 3cm dilated, but as I was fully effaced they allowed me to stay as I was so close to active Labour. I was hooked up to the CTG machine and given the best news! My babies heart was better than they expected so I was allowed my water birth. They took me to the most beautiful room and I got straight into the pool whilst my partner made his way up. I started on gas and air and the combination of that and the warm water completely relaxed me. My partner set up the tea lights and music and I relaxed as much as possible.

The next few hours are a bit of a blur as I mastered the gas and air which sent me to another planet! I was checked again at around 04:00 and was 6cm dilated. From this point on I really felt like I needed to push and was instinctively moving into a deep squat with every contraction. I had what felt like double contractions, so at this point the pain was almost constant but with gas and air and my partner I was just about managing. He was fab at helping me to keep calm and keep breathing!

Sunday 05:00 -

I asked to be checked again as I was really exhausted and was considering asking for an epidural. I really wanted to avoid it so we discussed it for a long time and my partner encouraged me to try to hold on and reassess in an hour. By 06:00 I was 8cm dilated but felt I couldn't continue for much longer so the midwife started to get a room ready on the labour ward for an epidural. She tried to catheterise me as I wasn't sure if I had passed urine, but nothing came out. The midwife then switched over to the day shift at 07:30 whilst we were still waiting for the epidural.

Sunday 07:45

The new midwife noticed that my bump had two big peaks and recognised how intense and constant my pain was and realised something wasnt quite right. She put another catheter in and pressed down on one of the peaks (which was my bladder!) and drained 500ml of urine . She then checked me again and I was now 9cm dilated. She offered to break my waters and using BRAIN I decided it was the right thing for me. At this point I still thought I was getting an epidural. She advised me to get back in the pool as she could see how much I was struggling waiting for the epidural on the bed. (My partner said from the moment the new midwife came in she was prepping the room for birth, so I think she always knew that I could do it without the epidural and was trying to encourage me as was asked on my birth plan)

Sunday 08:10 -

As soon as I got back in the pool the urge to push massively ramped up. I tried to control myself with down breathing but my body was urging me to push so I went with what my body was telling me. After the first contraction in the pool I could feel her crowning with my hand. The world stopped and I just looked at my partner in tears and said "oh my god they have so much hair!“. With the next contraction I pushed her head out, and with the last contraction at 08:24 I gently guided my baby out by myself straight onto my chest. Through the actual birth my midwife was stood in the corner of the room allowing me to birth my baby by myself, I am forever grateful for this opportunity - it was the most magical experience. She also became our last minute birth photographer

After 5 or so minutes of skin to skin in the pool, my partner cut her cord and the midwife helped me to the bed to deliver the placenta. We were able to stay in the room for around 6 hours in our exhausted delirious wonderful baby bubble. I had to stay in overnight so my baby could have an ECG and echocardiogram, everything thankfully turned out fine apart from a small hole in her heart which won't cause her any problems in the future.

I'm so thankful for hypnobirthing as it really helped me to cope in the first part of my marathon labour! Without it I think my body would have given up far quicker and I probably wouldn't have got my dream birth. I'm already looking forward to my next labour and have been given the confidence now to aim for a home birth next time - it really is the most amazing experience!