Birth story - Emma and baby girl

This was such a wonderful birth. It was my second birth and my first was not so easy. I won't go into all the details about my first birth, but if you'd rather not read about it at all then skip the background section below. If you've had a bad experience before, you CAN come back from it and have the perfect birth you want!

BACKGROUND
This was my second birth. My first was two years previously. I was positive and relaxed going into birth, and even looking forward to it, but what I wasn't prepared for were the curved balls which would be thrown at me when I got to the hospital, and knowing what I have now learnt from the Positive Birth Company course I can now see that these external factors are likely what threw this birth off course. In brief, I arrived at the hospital in advanced labour but was left in the waiting room for 3 hours as there were no midwives available to assess me. I got increasingly anxious because I knew my baby would arrive soon and I needed my antibiotics for my Strep B, but the hospital staff were dismissing my requests saying I was too calm to be in advanced labour and that my baby would be at least 12 hours away. When we eventually got into a room, I was told I couldn't get in the birth pool as it would 'slow me down' and that I should go for a walk. Looking back, I was actually in transition at this stage. To be told you are not in advanced labour when you are at 10cm is very disheartening and I lost control of my positive thoughts and things went rapidly downhill from there (and my antibiotics did not arrive until 20 mins before he was born, when it should be 4 hours before). We were all safe and healthy in the end, but it was a horrible experience and one which I was left extremely traumatised by, which I then had to deal with an overcome in early pregnancy with my second.

EARLY LABOUR
I started having very mild period-like aches at around 2pm on Sunday 20th Jan (my baby was born at 8.25pm on Monday 21st Jan). These quite quickly turned into stronger and more regular surges, so I went for a rest early evening thinking I should stock up on sleep before it all kicked off. After putting my toddler to bed things had quietened down, but they picked up again in the night and by 4am I was having very regular surges about 3 every 10 mins, but they were not very strong and only lasting about 35 seconds so I stayed at home. My in-laws had come to stay the night before to look after our son in case things kicked off and we had to leave. This meant that I could stay in my room all morning with the blinds closed, focussing on my surges, doing my up breathing and staying in my zone. I listened to the MP3s and also to my playlists and I bounced on my birthing ball. My husband bought me snacks and drinks. By mid morning the surges were now between 10-25 mins apart, but getting stronger. Monday was also my birthday, so by 11am I decided to get up and dressed and came downstairs for tea and birthday cake and presents with my husband (my son had gone to the park). We then went out for a lovely sunny walk for about an hour, and went to lunch in a nice local restaurant (think I frightened all the other diners having surges about every 5 mins now!). When we got back from lunch we got into bed to rest again and after about half an hour there my surges were getting very powerful (although still quite spaced apart), so we decided to go to the hospital. We called our doula and my mother who were meeting us there. We also called the hospital and were told the Birth Centre was full, and we'd have to go to the labour ward to be assessed. It took all my power to stay positive about this as my heart was set on the Birth Centre and the water birth I didn't have the first time around. Luckily we managed to persuade our way in when we got there and got into a lovely birth room within 10 mins from arriving at the hospital.

ESTABLISHED LABOUR, UP STAGE
We were in our lovely birth room, my Strep B antibiotics were on the way and we settled in with all the things I had requested (birth ball, birth stall etc). I put on my music and bounced some more on the birth ball. The midwife assessed me and said I was 4cm and not in established labour, so after giving me my antibiotics she left and said she'd be back once my labour had actually started. I knew I was in active labour as my surges were extremely powerful and coming every 2-3 mins, so I chose to ignore the midwife's comments and focus on my body and my breathing (I was pushing 45 mins later!!) and stay positive. The midwife did come back in briefly about 15 minutes later because she realised she had given me penicillin in my IV drip, and I am allergic to penicillin. She asked what would happen to me and if I would have an anaphylactic shock, but I don't actually know what happens to me as it's just something which my medical notes have always said. Again I tried hard to stay positive and not to let this panic me, but I went to the bathroom 10 minutes later and suddenly felt extremely weak and shaky and faint and had to sit on the floor. At this stage, I had a momentary mental wobble and started to have inward thoughts such as "this isn't possible, my body can't do this". So I put on my MP3s, had a snack and my husband and mother gave me rubs and back scratches. I was soon thinking positively again and back to being excited and happy about what was happening.

I can honestly say that during this phase I didn't have a single painful surge. They were extremely intense and powerful, but with each one I did my up breathing and was totally overwhelmed with the thought of how magical my body was for knowing what to do as I felt the surge moving upwards through my body. So they became and almost magical feeling each time they came. My husband massaged me and gave me back scratches throughout this phase which was exactly what I needed.

I was finding it hard to support my body weight during the surges so I asked for the pool to be prepared. 45 mins later I got in the pool and it was the most amazing feeling being submerged in that warm water - this was one of the best moments for me!

DOWN STAGE
The first surge I had in the pool was a down surge. I knew because I wasn't able to do my up breathing without letting out a grunt, and these grunts got progressively louder with each surge. By the 3rd surge I took off my headphones and said to our doula that I was now pushing, so she went to get the midwife (who still didn't believe that I was in labour!). I put my headphones back on, turned them up and zoned out. The surges in this phase were extremely intense and I was not finding the sensation of the baby descending easy. I had my cloth which was covered in jasmine essential oil which I held to my face with each surge and I held onto the thought of my baby arriving and knew that I was so nearly there, I knew it was only a matter of minutes and I knew I could get through it. My husband was behind me massaging my shoulders. For the last 10 minutes I had gas and air which was perfect for me as it enabled me to allow my body to totally relax and do all the pushing for me. My baby was born 40 minutes after getting into the pool and we had the most magical cuddle as soon as she arrived (me still high on gas and air and still listening to my play list!). I was totally exhausted and weak but SO happy to have had such a wonderful, calm and happy delivery. We settled down in the pull out double bed (my husband, our baby and me) and ate sandwiches and drank tea and I was quickly feeling perky again.

It was the most perfect birthday from start to finish, I had such a special day with my husband, staying in my positive birth zone and then ending the day with birthday cuddles with my daughter. Hands down the best birthday present I could have asked for.

My recovery has been amazingly quick and I put this all down to the wonderful online course. Thank you Positive Birth Company! xxx

COULDN'T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT
Our wonderful doula (particularly given the absence of midwives until 20 mins before the end!), the birth pool, gas and air, my playlist the Positive Birth Company online course and my husband and mother's support.