Birth story - Katherine and baby Franklin

On Sunday afternoon whilst out for a walk, I began to feel contractions which seemed different from the Braxton Hicks I’d been having frequently. I wasn’t convinced it was ‘really it’ so I finished the walk then read a book at home. My aunt called and I even told her that it had stopped and it was a false alarm! 

However, by half past 5 they were more powerful and in a regular pattern and I started to wonder whether it might be finally happening. I told my husband but I still wasn’t sure and I assumed I’d be in it for the long haul. We were supposed to be going to see a Christmas lights display at a botanical garden that evening and I was keen to still go. I picked up my maternity notes just in case, and we got the bus to the gardens. It’s a really special place for us as it is where we fell in love and also where we got engaged. I spent a lovely 2 hours wandering through beautiful light displays with calming music to accompany them, holding my husband’s hand. 

I used the breathing techniques and the contractions were completely manageable as long as I stayed calm. About 9:30 I decided I’d like to go home and we got the bus back. I had to keep stopping on the half mile walk from the bus stop to our front door as the contractions got more intense. I began timing the contractions using the Freya app whilst we were on the bus - they were coming every 2 minutes but were only 30 seconds long so I didn’t think I could be in established labour yet, so kept breathing through the contractions. 

Once we got home I put in the tens machine and my husband wrote down the birth plan we’d discussed. I was 39 weeks and hadn’t got around to putting it in writing, but it would have been a lot easier to do this before I was in labour! At this point I was violently sick (I had been very sick for the whole 9 months so this wasn’t a huge surprise) and I felt the contractions getting a little more intense. 

When I next went to the bathroom, I saw blood. I knew there was supposed to be a ‘small amount’ but had no real concept of what what meant. I called triage to see what they thought and they suggested I went in to be checked, just to be on the safe side. I felt like I was coping fine, but a few worries had crept in so I was glad to go and get an expert opinion. 

It was really foggy outside, but as it was around midnight the journey to hospital was still quite quick and my husband took the route which avoided speed bumps. I hadn’t been in labour that long so was fully expecting to be sent home. I remember calmly walking to the receptionist and saying ‘I think I might be in labour’! The triage bed wasn’t so nice as it was quite busy and it was uncomfortable to lie down, but after a fairly quick check the midwife said I was 5cm dilated and didn’t have to go home. 

The walk down to the birth centre took a long time as I had to keep stopping. My contractions were still about 2 minutes apart and getting stronger and longer. We were shown to the Daisy room (my baby niece’s name) and I cried a few tears at the coincidence. I was delighted to see that the midwife in the room was the one I’d seen for almost all my antenatal appointments, who happened to be covering that night even though it wasn’t her normal shift. 

At this point things get a bit blurry. my husband showed the midwife my birth plan and I went to the toilet as I felt desperate to pee. I couldn’t, but the seat was was comfy so I just sat there. The midwife came in 3 times to check I was ok and hear baby’s heart - I later discovered they do this every 15 minutes so I must have been in there ages! When I finally came out, my husband was playing lovely calming music and had a set of photos of our happy memories together, which I looked at whist kneeling in the floor and breathing deeply. 

He asked the midwife to fill the pool. Whilst the water was running she offered to try to drain my bladder with a catheter but found there was nothing there - it was just the sensation of the baby’s head pushing down. Once I got in the pool, I was instantly more relaxed and the water was really soothing. After about an hour, I asked for some gas and air, as I could feel a change in the contractions. The midwife said I needed to eat and drink to keep my energy up. I couldn’t really face eating but manage to drink apple juice. By the time he was born I had drunk about a litre! 

Suddenly, I felt a weird sensation, like a wave as if the contractions changed direction. In hindsight, this was transition but I didn’t realise at the time. The midwife said I could push if I felt the need - apparently she could tell I was fully dilated by a pink line at the base of my back.

I expected pushing to be really difficult but my body just took over and did it without me really thinking about it. I made a low growling noise which helped me focus and held on to my husband’s hand.  Really soon after they said they could see the head and the midwife brought a mirror so we could see better. I remember asking if he had hair and if it was ginger! After about 10 minutes of pushing I felt a little pop and the head was born. In hindsight, I think the pop was me tearing but it really wasn’t painful and I had no idea at the time. 

I don’t think I’ll ever experience anything so strange as reaching down and feeling a head. I remember excitedly telling my husband and the midwife that I could feel his ears! The gap between that contraction and the next seemed to take ages, but it was only about 2 minutes. The midwife told me to get ready to catch him, and I panicked a bit and kept saying ‘what if I don’t?’ as catching was never my forte. On the next contraction his body was birth, which was a very weird slithery feeling. I reached down and picked him up and it was the most magical thing ever. I cried a bit and hugged him and just kept saying ‘oh my god it’s a baby!’ as if I was surprised! It turns out the song playing was El Ninjo by William Orbit, which was very fitting. 

He was born at 04:01, just 3.5 hours after getting to the hospital and 11 hours since the first contraction. As I cuddled him in the pool, the midwife wrapped him up to keep him warm and my husband cut the cord. 

It took a little while for the placenta to come out but we were so distracted looking at the gorgeous baby,  I barely noticed. I needed a few stitches, but the tear was nothing major so the midwife did them on the bed whilst dad and baby had a cuddle. 

Then we had a lovely hour or two of skin to skin, before we called our parents to tell them the good news. When the midwives brought tea and toast, I realised the constant nausea I’d had all through pregnancy had magically vanished and I felt hungry for the first time in 9 months. That toast and marmalade, then the shower I had just after were the best ever! We were discharged that afternoon and headed home to enjoy New Year’s Eve with our new baby. 

The whole experience was magical and empowering, a far cry from what I had expected when I was initially so scared. It felt natural, easy and calm. The human body really is amazing.