Birth Story - Kat and baby Milo

Positive Birth story.

Baby number 2. Milo George 9lb 6oz born at home 9th June 21:39

Friday 8th June 40+6 and I was having a bit of a wobble, very emotional and after reduced movements and a scan (as policy by our hospital) I was advised induction even though all was fine with baby. I declined this but still second guessed myself if I had done the right thing. My husband was supportive of my decision and reassured me I was doing the right thing.

That evening during dinner I just could not get comfortable what so ever, we went up to bed and at about 22:00 I started getting surges every 10/12mins. I wasn't sure if I was imagining them but I did mention to my husband that I thought something was happening. They were quite manageable and I went downstairs to watch friends and bounce on my ball. At about 01:30 I went back to bed and fell asleep. I was woken at 5:45 by our 3 yr old on 9th June and felt nothing. My husband asked if they were still there I said no.

At around 6/6:30am they started again every 10 mins and were lasting 30-45secs, at about 7am we called my parents to make their way down to watch our daughter as they live 160 miles away. By the time they arrived at 11:30 I was having surges every 3/4 mins lasting 45-60 seconds. I was feeling good with my up breathing and tens machine. My parents took my daughter out for the day and left us to it. We went for a walk round the block in the sunshine and my husband told me to ring the midwife as I was having 3 in 10 mins regularly. We had planned a home birth and the midwife arrived at 13:30. The midwife offered an internal to see where we were at, I accepted as I still questioned whether it was really time. I was 6cm, whoop!! 

I continued up breathing with some acoustic music on and lavender burning and my liquid yoga spray around. All felt very positive and my husband was a great support. I felt calm and relaxed in my own space chatting away in-between surges. One of the midwives commented on how she liked my breathing technique. 

At around 4:30pm things felt different and I felt things change. I felt more pressure. And my waters went (however turned out to be my hind waters) The midwives said that hopefully we will have a baby in the next hour. I felt excited about this, I tried to push for an hour but nothing was happening. I had another internal and they found they baby's head was not in the right position and was at an angle leaving one lip of the cervix in the way, leaving me at 9 and a bit cm. I was encouraged to rest for half hour, at this point I requested some gas and air. I was told to lie on my side so the baby's head would press down on the little lip of cervix that was not budging.

The midwife called delivery suite to keep them updated. At around 7pm the next midwife arrived as it was shift change. Thankfully one of the midwives that arrived was the one I had been seeing for all my antenatal clinic appointments, this gave me a proper boost as it was a familiar face and she knew what I wanted. She examined me, and said I was still at 9 and a bit cm. With a small lip of cervix still there. By this point I was tired as my surges were strong and lasting about 50secs coming every 2mins. I required the gas and air at this point. She spoke to delivery suite and said that they may need to transfer me in. But because I was fine and baby was happy they were giving me till 20:30 before they make that decision.

I continued to labour with great support from midwives and hubby. I pottered round trying to get baby's head down flat on my cervix. At 20:40 she examined me and found that my waters were bulging, at this point we thought they had already gone but that was hind waters and wee. The midwife broke them for me. And a large gush poured out of me. The midwife said that the waters may have been holding the baby off my cervix fully. She had to contact delivery suite to discuss what should happen next in regards to transfer, at this point I just wanted a plan as I was tired. She came back and said that they had suggested transfer now. So she rang the ambulance. However at all times she kept reassuring me that this baby would be born at home.

At 21:20 the paramedics arrived. I slowly made my way out of the front door of my house, I said I could feel a head, my husband tried to say shall we stay here for a minute then. But I was adamant I wanted to just get going to the hospital now (clearly transitional irrational behaviour) We slowly walked down to where it was parked when all of a sudden I started mooing and getting low, I could definitely feel a shift in my surges. I was in the street at this point (neighbours out and everything ) I crawled in to the ambulance and managed to get on to the bed on all fours. All the while they told me to listen to my body. This stage felt so different to my first labour, it felt like my body was doing the pushing whereas with my first I felt like I had to think about and actively push. At 21:39 my baby boy was born in the back of an ambulance, it took a total of 9 mins of 2nd stage to birth him. Once the cord had drained we cut the cord and walked back to the house where I delivered my placenta sat on the loo at 22:00 with no drugs.

I felt bad for the paramedics as I had done the messy bit in their ambulance. But they were all really happy and said they would have rather witnessed that than picking up drunks on a Saturday night. I delivered a 9lb 6oz baby, with no need for sutures or anything after. (Not sure how) although I had a few wobbles and things didn't quite go smoothly, but he was classed as a home birth, the walk to the ambulance just wiggled him down.

It wasn't quite the environment I had pictured as in the back of an ambulance with 2 midwives, 2 paramedics, a student paramedic and my husband wasn't on my where I would like to give birth choices. But I didn't have to go to hospital, and we are both happy and healthy it just turned out to be a bit more eventful than planned. Without this course I would have probably gone with the induction which was never needed as baby had a plan.