Birth story - Jennifer and baby Lois

Lois is our third baby and we have been blessed with a girl after two boys Jacob and Jasper. I had a really smooth pregnancy however towards the end I was concerned as movements had reduced. I was 36 weeks pregnant and after talking through with the Doctor we agreed to induce labour at 37 weeks. As it was my third the balloon induction was recommended. I had inductions of labour with both my sons and was kind of expecting this to go the same way as my body doesn’t seem to kick start naturally. My sons were born 9 and 10 days late so it was a surprise to bring in early.

The balloon induction was an easy insert and took effect within 18 hours when I went to the toilet I could feel pressure and the balloon naturally came out pain free. This meant I was dilating, I was moved to labour ward shortly afterwards and everything was calm and controlled and I was getting very mild contractions. Labour ward was so quiet with only myself and one other woman there so the doctors were on hand with any pain relief. I had a shower and rubbed in aromatherapy oils. I had an epidural put it straight away before any contractions got too heavy, as well as a drip to bring on the contractions as my body wasn’t giving regular contractions.

Feeling totally relaxed we played Luther Vandros greatest hits. Once the hormone drip was done I dilated quickly and my epidural was amazing. lt allowed me to really focus on resting and breathing ahead of birth.

Within 5 hours I was ready to push. We dimmed the lights and I held my husbands hand, it was so calm and totally different to my previous births. Lois was born after around 20 mins of pushing.

I lost 100 ml of blood, a really small amount, and needed no stitches. We didn’t cut the cord until it had stopped pulsating and I just embraced the whole experience crying as I cuddled my new daughter. It was a totally magical pain free experience.