Birth story - Jenny and baby Harper

*Trigger warning* - spotting at 6 weeks, suspected big baby, polyhydromnios, induction, failure to progress, c-section, infection, contractions (not negative for me)

Fist of all, I have loved reading all the birth stories on here. They really helped me stay positive when I came into some issues from 34 weeks. Some of you may not find my birth story positive as it was not the straight forward water birth I dreamed of. But, I feel positive about it. I felt in control throughout and like a superwoman after. I really do not think I would have felt this way if it wasn’t for doing the Positive Birth Company hypnobirthing. Get ready… it’s a long one…

Pregnancy

We fell pregnant after 4 months of trying which I was so happy about. At 6 weeks I had really light spotting for about 3 days. I went for an early scan at 8 weeks which, to our relief, showed a healthy baby with a heartbeat. After that, my pregnancy was extremely straightforward and I was classed as low risk till 36 weeks. I felt extremely healthy and well throughout my whole pregnancy.

My community midwife went on maternity leave at that start of my pregnancy so for a few of my appointments I had a different midwife. At my 28 week appointment, I had my bump measured and I was measuring on the 90 centile but there was no issue with this. From my 31 week appointment I had a stable midwife. But when she measured my bump, I had dropped down a centile so I was referred for a growth scan. However, at my growth scan baby was measuring well above the 90th centile. So I was asked to do blood glucose monitoring for a week to rule out diabetes. Thankfully, I didn’t have diabetes and was discharged from the consultant who just asked I had a 38 week scan to check all was well. I agreed.

However, at my 34 week appointment my bump had all of a sudden jumped off the charts. I was referred for another growth scan. All was well, baby was still above 90th centile but growth was in line with the last scan. The sonographer wanted me to come back at 36 weeks to keep track of the growth. This is where my pregnancy got a little more complicated and I changed from low to high dependency. At my 36 week scan, the growth was still in line with the previous growth scans but I was diagnosed with mild polyhydromonos and was asked to do the glucose blood monitoring again. I still didn’t have diabetes and was just asked to come back as planned at my 38 week scan and see the consultant after.

At my 38 week appointment the growth was still on the same track above the 90th centile. My fluid had reduced but I still had polyhydromonos. Our consultant went through all the risks of having a ‘big baby’ and polyhydromonos and gave us some different options; be induced at 39 weeks, have a c section or do nothing. Due to the course I felt I had the knowledge to ask all the right questions. My partner and I ultimately decided to go ahead with an induction at 39 weeks. I was reassured that a lot of my birth preferences could still be met and felt I had the tools to handle the induction process.

The birth

I was meant to be induced on the Monday night at exactly 39 weeks. However, due to the ward being so busy it was postponed to the next day. We went in on the Tuesday night at 6pm and I was examined. My cervix was closed but had started to shorten. I had the 24 hour pessary inserted at 9pm and told to get some sleep and that my husband had to go home which I was a bit upset about. It was hard to sleep on the induction ward as there was lots of people coming and going throughout the night and me and baby were being monitored every few hours. I started to feel some twinges at about 3am but just slept through them. The next morning, I was just starting to get flustered when my husband arrived back. A lovely midwife came and moved us to a private room with a bath where I was told I would remain till I could have my waters broken. We made the room our little home. Watched tv, I had lots of baths, ate sweets and snacks. We also went for lots of walks round the hospital. At 9pm the midwife came to remove the pessary and examined me. I found this really painful. I think the pessary had irritated me. She said I was 1-2 cm but my cervix was still quite posterior so she couldn’t get to it to break my waters. She told me she would leave me for 6 hours and re-examine me and either break my waters or insert a 6 hour pessary. My husband was allowed to stay as we were in a private room so we just went to sleep.

At 3am the midwife came back and gave me gas and air (best thing ever) whilst she examined me. I was a little out of it but I remember her asking my husband to open a packet… then I heard a pop and gush of warm water. My waters had been broken. I was given tea and toast and then moved to a delivery room. We set it up with tea lights and sprayed lavender spray. I was put on the drip but was reassured I was allowed to move around or go into any position. I tried lots of positions but ultimately, I could only get comfy sitting up. For a few hours I managed the contractions using my up breathing and pulling an eye mask over my eyes. After a while, they became more intense and I went to gas and air. I was examined and had gone to 8cm really quickly. The midwives couldn’t believe that it was my first baby and actually turned the drip off.

I was examined a little while later and the midwives said I was 10cm. I started to push but I just didn’t feel the downwards feeling and was getting confused. After an hour of pushing, I had an hour of coached pushing. I was exhausted by this point and was crying saying I couldn’t do it. I just knew something was off as I just didn’t feel the urge to push. After the hour of coached pushing, I was given the choice to be examined by the doctors or, because the baby was quite happy, I could push for another hour. I asked for the doctors to examine me as I just knew something wasn’t right. They scanned me to find that baby girl was turned a funny way and was blocking some of my cervix from dilating and I was actually only 8cm still (this is obviously why I wasn’t getting the urge to push).

I was taken to theatre where I was given a spinal block and they were either going to try and turn the baby and do an assisted delivery or a c-section. I really didn’t want an assisted delivery as I was so sick of being prodded and poked by this point but I allowed them to examine me again. The doctor said I felt warm and was worried I had an infection so it was decided to go ahead with a c-section. I was really relived. Before I even realised that they had started, I heard my baby cry and everyone screamed about how much hair she had. I burst into tears. They kept a bit of the cord so my husband could cut it and she was cleaned up and brought round to me.

It was the most amazing experience of my life. The surgeon was so funny and told me he had done the most beautiful stitch and wanted to see a bikini picture in a few months time! In fact, all the staff were amazing and reassured me all the way through. And as for my “big baby”… she was only 7lb7oz… so quite average ha!

I know not everyone will think it is a positive experience but I have not come away feeling negative. The hypnobirthing really helped me to feel informed about my body and to make choices I felt were right.