Birth story - Heather and baby Ailbhe

*Trigger Warning* - use of word contractions not negative to me. 2nd degree tear, difficult suturing stage.

Just as a foreword, take pictures of your hospital notes after. I would have had no clue about timings otherwise!

I had an unplanned induction of labour due to a diagnosis of oligohydramnios (low amniotic fluid) at 39+3 weeks. Borderline low fluid levels had been noted from 36 weeks and as a result I was having increased monitoring (scans). Once levels hit 6cm at 38+2 weeks it was recommended that induction might be appropriate now. Diagnosis of amino is given at <5cm so we used our B.R.A.I.N at that point and ask to hold off with increased monitoring instead. As my cervix was not at all effaced and we discussed my desire for a natural birth my consultant agreed that a good option would be to have a trace every other day and scan to check fluids.

When they dropped to 4cm on the 39+2 week scan we agreed that was the decision made for us and we would go ahead with the induction. I was quite upset by this as in the back of my head I was hoping that we could hold off with the extra monitoring until she came on her own.

Since week 38, when induction was looking more likely, I really ramped up all my efforts to try and kick start labour naturally. Obviously we’ll never know if it was these efforts or just the extra week that made a difference but when I was examined on the morning of the induction my cervix was much shorter and soft and starting the dilation process.

The first stage of the induction process was to insert a propess strip containing prostaglandins. This was inserted at 08:30 and I was told this most likely would have no, to minimal effect and that they would examine me again in 24hrs and then move on to step 2, the gels, and then 6/12hrs after this, the pitocin drip, step 3.

At about 10:30 I was starting to feel pains but told myself I must be imagining it cos they said I wouldn’t feel anything. By 11am I went up to the midwives and told them I think I was definitely having contractions. I started timing them at this point and they were coming every 2/2.5 mins and lasting about 45secs to 1mins 30 secs. At this point I was happy during the gaps and able to talk, by 13:30 I was completely in the zone with my headphones in listening to the Freya hypnobirthing tracks and not really talking as contractions were pretty close together with minimal breaks. I was fairly nauseous and vomited 3 times during this phase, which wasn’t heaps of fun but felt better after!

Also around this time the midwife examined me and I have a vague recollection of him saying I was 1cm dilated. I tried to just completely forget he said that, I think he could see the disappointment in my face and he said pay no attention to the numbers they mean nothing, you’re going in the right direction. It was exactly what I needed to hear!

At 15:30 the propess was removed as labour was fully established and I didn’t need it anymore. I then went for a bath at this point as my husband could see I was starting to tire of just bouncing on my ball.

I was a bit reluctant to remove my tens machine (which I’d had on from about 2pm) however the bath was a great relief and I kept my headphones in the whole time. I think I stayed in the bath for around 45mins/1hr.

So it was now around 5pm and I went back into my room and was absolutely exhausted so laid down on my side on the bed and tried to get some rest (tens went back on). I found it very comfy and said I was not moving from that position. Thankfully my husband knew better and after about 10mins rest he said he was giving me another 5mins on the bed and then I was getting up on the ball. I did not want to move but had a small moment of clarity during a gap in contractions and managed to get on the ball and rest my forearms onto the bed. Found it just as comfy so really glad I made the move. They had offered me gas and air earlier and I tried it once and thought I didn’t like it, so at this point I pressed the call button and told my husband I was going to ask for some pain relief. When the midwife came in my husband told them I hadn’t really given the gas an air a proper go so we were going to try that again. I found it more helpful now, even just as a distraction. It was very important to only use it during the contractions and not to just continuously inhale.

At 5:45 the midwife came to check on me and as he did I started to get the involuntary urge to push and with that my waters broke over the ball. He then got me on the bed to examine me and was really surprised I was at 7/8cm dilated! They rushed me down to the labour ward and I remember him saying well done Heather, this is as hard as it’s going to get now. I kept my eyes closed and my headphone in the whole time.

We got to the labour ward room at 18:00 on the dot. I got on my hands and knees on the bed and after 19 minutes of breathing through the pushing sensations my daughter was born! The relief was overwhelming. I actually found the pushing phase to be the easiest of all and didn’t have any sensation of the “ring of fire”.

For this reason I was convinced when they were examining me after that they would say I had no tearing and didn’t need any stitches. However this was not the case and I did have a bit of a complex 2nd degree tear. My consultant spent an hour in total suturing me back up, not all of which I was numbed for due to him reaching the toxicity limit on the amount of lidocaine he could administer. Luckily I kept my daughter on me skin to skin the whole time and kept using my gas an air to get me through. It was a lot more intense than I would have expected but I was still so happy and relieved that I got the birth I had longed for.

During the extra monitoring I was having, my consultant said that patients with oligohydramnios that need to be induced have a c section rate of about 60% so I really thought my hopes of a natural birth were pretty slim. In the end I do think it was the ability to stay calm and focus on just my breathing is what got me through and helped the labour progress so quickly!