Birth story - Jess and baby Annie

I never got around to writing out my birth story with my first, but I used hypnobirthing through the PBC when I had him and I found it amazing so I knew I would definitely be doing it again for my second!

I was very lucky to have a straightforward pregnancy with minimal symptoms apart from nausea until about 14 weeks and feeling quite achey near the end, however I think running after a toddler was what tired me out the most! 😄

My first born was 2 weeks early so when I reached the same point in this pregnancy I thought birth would be any day! I had a midwife appointment booked for 40+2 and was starting to really think if I wanted to have a sweep at that appointment or wait it out a little longer.

I woke up on the morning of the 10th about 6.30 feeling fine. At about 8.30 I went to the loo and had my mucus plug come away. At that point I wasn’t getting any other symptoms of labour starting so I told my husband to go to work and I would call if anything changed. I took my little boy to preschool, came back home and I thought I would chill out with a cuppa for a bit. By about 10am I was starting to get mild and very irregular contractions. I started timing them on the Freya app soon after. They soon started coming more frequently, although still very mild. I rang my husband and told him to come home. I had a fast labour with my first so I thought it best to have my husband back sooner rather than later!

My son was finishing preschool at 12pm and thankfully his grandad lives in the same village as us and was happy to collect him for us. By 1pm I was having 3 in 10 contractions which were still very manageable but getting stronger. I took some paracetamol and we decided to head into hospital.

I had said I would prefer a room with a birthing pool as I found the pool so helpful for pain relief with my first and thankfully the room was available and the same room I gave birth to my son in which was lovely.

I was examined at about 2pm and was 3cm dilated. I sat on the bed for a while breathing through my contractions. I decided to move into the pool after an hour or so. The water was so warm and relaxing and did really help with the pain. The contractions did start to get really strong in the pool and I then felt too hot and just needed to be on dry land!

I sat on the edge of the bed again trying my best to breathe through the pain, I was certainly at the transition stage and having moments of ‘I can’t do this!’

I then started to get the urge to push so moved to the floor on all fours. My husband sat in a chair in front of me so I could lean on his knees and hold his hands. I found this to be a really comfortable position to give birth.

At 5.27pm her head was born. I was able to reach down and feel her head which was amazing. We could also hear a couple of little cries. At 5.30pm my next contraction came and she was born. Such an amazing moment that I will never forget. She was passed up through my legs for immediate skin to skin. We then had a look to see we had a baby girl!

I had delayed cord clamping and managed to start feeding her quite quickly. My placenta took a while to come. I had the syntocinin injection but it still wouldn’t budge. After 30 minutes a very experienced midwife came and examined me. She managed to help me deliver the placenta soon after which I was pleased about as I just wanted it out at that point!

I was examined further and needed 4 stitches for a very small tear. This was all done by the midwives which was so nice as they were so lovely and experienced.

We stayed until about 11.30 pm and then decided to go home as all of mine and Annie’s checks were all ok. We were not pressured in any way to leave the hospital but I wanted my own shower and bed!

I had a fantastic labour and birth and recommend the PBC to anyone I meet that is pregnant!