Birth story - Kavita and baby girl

My first birth was fairly straightforward. I gave birth "naturally" using gas and air, which was the birth I had wanted. However, I had a bit of a wobble during my first labour when Dr's asked for me to be cannulated (I'm scared of cannulas). The panic slowed down my labour for sure and I think it soured my experience, so I was eager this time around to make sure that I was prepared to deal with things possibly not going the way I had planned them and staying calm.

I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes (had also been diagnosed during my previous pregnancy) at 12 weeks and had to really work hard to manage my diet.

With the diagnosis, my consultants were eager to a) induce me before my due date and b) keep me on the labour ward as I was "high risk".

The tools I had learned on the course helped me navigate difficult conversations with the consultants but also, allowed me to think of ways I could compromise with them so that we all felt like the risks were being managed. I think for me, this was one of of biggest benefits to doing the course, learning to use my BRAIN and staying calm.

Labour

I had been doing everything I could from 36 weeks onwards to make sure baby was in a good position for birth. Lots of bouncing on the ball, walks and scrubbing the kitchen floor! For weeks I had occasional cramps, but they always seemed to fade away to nothing. I accepted a sweep at 38+4 to see if it would get things moving. The midwife was able to feel the back of my daughters neck so I was hopeful it would work, but other than losing my plug over the next few days, nothing.

At exactly 39 weeks I woke up with cramps that seemed a bit more regular. I knew today would be the day but eventually the cramps faded away again. I went about my day but finished all the odd things I needed to do, like packing the final bits in my hospital bag.

That afternoon I had cramps again which felt regular. I spent some time bouncing on my ball watching friends but after an hour, nothing! The cramps had gone. Having done the course and knowing just how much work my body had to do to prepare for labour helped reassure me that as annoying as this stop start business was, at least some progress was happening.

That evening we ordered a takeaway and I ordered the hottest curry on the menu (partly for cravings, partly to help bring on labour). We were watching TV when I felt the cramps again but this time, I decided to let gravity help and paced around the room. At 10pm I felt a tiny pop, almost unnoticeable, and a small trickle of water. I wasn't sure if this was my waters or not so called triage, who advised to keep walking/bouncing to see if any more waters came out and give them a call back in an hour.

By 11, I'd had nothing more so called them back to say I was fine and was going to bed. I took 2 paracetamol and got into bed and had an almighty surge immediately. I got out of bed and went downstairs to try and sleep but the surges were becoming regular and were super intense. I used the Freya app to time them but after 3 surges, the app said I was in established labour. I think I was still in disbelief when my husband came down and asked what was happening. I decided to carry on timing my surges until 12 and if they were still going strong by then we would call triage back. We called my mum (as she was going to come over and watch our toddler) to put her on notice but said we weren't sure what would happen.

By 12, the surges were intense enough for me to not be able to speak through them, so we called triage to say we would be coming in. Waiting for my mum to get to ours felt like forever but eventually we left for the hospital. I had been managing this whole time using up breathing and in contrast to my first labour, managed to not scream the house down with every surge. I think this may have been why I didn’t really believe I was in labour, because I was managing it so well. The hospital is only 5 minutes away so I was able to breathe through the surges I had on the way.

I had a couple of surges walking to the hospital from the car which would render me absolutely useless, but in between surges I was fine.

I was booked in and given the most amazing room. The lights were dimmed, it had a pool and it was set up so perfectly for the type of birth I had hoped for. I couldn't believe my luck! My midwife asked to examine which I agreed to and I was 6cm! So hubby went to get the bags from the car. As I was high risk, I had to be monitored for at least 20 minutes (one of the compromises I agreed to) but as I was moving around to try and manage the surges, the monitors kept dropping down and we couldn't get a proper reading. The midwife was reluctant to fill the pool until we had a full 20 mins of monitoring data, but my surges were becoming more and more intense and I was starting to push, so she threw caution to the wind and started filling the pool.

However baby had other plans. I was on the bed on all fours but my legs were shaking after each surge, so the midwife suggested I lay down (not something I wanted to do but glad I listened as it was right for me). At this point I began saying I couldn't do it and asked if they could pull the baby out (hello transition ) but I managed to pull myself together. During one of the surges, my waters literally burst but I knew that meant baby would be here in minutes. I switched to the down breathing but I couldn't get the hang of it. It was then that my midwife told me to make sure I kept my chin down during the down breaths as this would be more effective. Although I had said I didn't want to be coached, I'm so glad I was and that I was "with it" enough to listen to her advice. At this point she also said "your feet are cold, that's a really good sign" and I remember thinking that I must be doing it right because cold feet meant all the blood was going to my uterus, exactly where I needed it. I managed about 3 good pushes and before I knew it baby arrived at 2.33am, 4 and a half hours after "my waters went" and just as the pool was finally filled (I never even managed to get a toe in )

I had lovely skin to skin before she was passed to her dad while I had a small tear repaired and that was that! We were left to it and it was like nothing had happened.

We had to stay 24h due to the GD so our sugars could be checked and my husband had to leave after a few hours due to covid restrictions (to be honest, I think he was glad to get home and get some rest) but otherwise everything was straightforward.

I was so calm and relaxed all the way through which not only helped me to manage the surges but also helped me to make good decisions about my care and listen to the midwife, which ultimately helped me have a very quick, straightforward birth.