Birth story - Lara-Clare and baby Kiara

*Trigger warning* - Use of word contraction as not triggering for me and easier for communication in Spanish with the midwives. Second degree tear.

Previous birth

Hospital delivery, complication and medication free. Had to wear a mask throughout due to being in Spain in the middle of the pandemic!! Over 40 hours long as I chose to be admitted on to the ward at only 2cm dilated despite being advised otherwise and having been sent home previously (I was so nervous about not knowing when it was the right moment to go to the hospital that when they tried to send me home for the second time but offered the alternative of staying I accepted- error in hindsight!). Didn't eat or sleep for 3 days so felt weak post-birth, but got through it all using PBC breathing techniques, positive affirmations and visualisations. So despite positive overall experience, wanted to find out what it would feel like to do it again at home with my basic needs of food and sleep met if possible!

Pregnancy

I was so lucky that both pregnancies were low-risk and complication free, with minimal nausea. The worst I had to contend with was running after a young toddler (22 month age gap) in the constant Canarian heat during the third trimester whilst I got progressively more enormous every day. She was a big baby 'measuring' well over the birth weight of my first at her 36 week scan. However there was no focus on this being an issue from the healthcare professionals in Spain, they barely mentioned it so I didn't get anxious about birthing a big baby, especially as the fantastic team of five home birth midwives were so encouraging.

Early labour

I'd been having very sporadic light Braxton Hicks type tightenings for a couple of days. Having had a perfect family day with loved ones and my toddler on the Sunday, on Monday 8th of August around 11am contractions started. They were different to the BH ones in that they felt a bit more like period pain. I let the midwives know that this could be early labour but was definitely not yet established, as for all I knew there could be days ahead of me til actual labour (like last time!). The contractions kept coming but were very manageable throughout the morning and early afternoon, so I kept on doing light household chores in between and packed my son's overnight bag to go stay with his grandparents as I thought this might be it. He'd already been collected by them earlier that morning leaving me happily in peace.

Active labour

My husband was working from home that day as usual and having joked around with him quite a bit about whether this was it or not, by just before 3pm contractions were getting closer together and more intense and we decided he should alert the midwives. He sneakily timed some of my contractions so was confident to tell them I was in established labour, although this time unlike in my first labour I was having nothing to do with apps or contraction timing. I was still completely comfortable in between contractions, but urged my husband to make the preparations we'd agreed on like laying out and inflating the birthing pool and getting the car out the garage just in case. One of the midwives phoned me and whilst on the phone a strong contraction came and I couldn't speak, so she guided me through it and encouraged me. She confirmed to my relief that I was definitely in active labour although I still assumed there were long hours ahead due to my previous birth experience with blurred lines between early and established labour and so many slowing contractions.

From then onwards the time passed by so quickly and I was labouring at home just as we'd planned, using up breathing and counting to ride out the contractions and the birthing ball to get confortable in between them. I remember needing a cold flannel on my brow as it was such a hot day, and thinking I should have put my contact lenses in and brushed my hair but I was too in the zone to care. By 5.40 the contractions were coming with much more intensity and we realised it was high time to call the midwives. Two of the team arrived by 6pm, checked the baby's heartbeat and the length of the uterus etc while I laboured using the birth ball as before. I didn't have a single internal examination throughout the whole labour.

The two lovely midwives said they'd leave me to it while they popped out locally for a cold drink but advised me to walk around and also to shower to get things going more. At this point I felt like it would be too uncomfortable to walk around which was why I had stayed put, but I managed to make it to the shower. I felt the immediate need to push and as my body naturally crouched down on a strong contraction I became vaguely aware of my mucus plug and poo going down the shower drain! A sudden 'pop' and my husband had no doubt in his mind that my waters had broken and needed to call the midwives to come back. This was at about 6.30pm and minutes later they reappeared. A midwife guided me out of the shower and into the birth pool which my husband had been filling up with...drumroll...cold water!!! As soon as she realised, she helped me step out of the water which was only a foot deep. My husband's theory was start with a little cold water (it was a hot August day), then mix hot water into it later ready for all the hours of labouring ahead!! Needless to say I was encouraged to an alternative position, and during transition I felt like crouching and did so at the end of the sofa. My body told me exactly what to do and with just a couple of exhilarating pushes the baby's head was out. The birth video taken by my husband captures the next silent, primal, sacred moment in which you can see Kiara's head turning slightly to reposition her shoulders to a more narrow angle ready for her body to follow with the next push. The midwife passed her through into my arms by just a few minutes before 7pm. She was calm from the outset, having been born to the gentle sound of my birth playlist and the Atlantic waves lapping a few meters from our balcony.

It all went so fast that there wasn't time for visualisations and we didn't light candles or switch on the fairy lights as it was still bright daylight, but I felt that the PBC course had equipped me with the very knowledge that made the labour go so fast. I used the breathing techniques to stay in the zone and channel oxytocin.

Birthing the placenta

We had delayed cord clamping and enjoyed our first cuddles on the sofa, and around 7.30pm I was guided by the midwife to give a gentle push and the placenta came out without any pain. On the terrace, one of the midwives applied acrylic paints to the placenta and printed it onto canvas as I had asked. Meanwhile Kiara latched easily which helped to distract me from having the stitches I needed for my 2nd degree tear. The anaesthetic and hormonal high meant that this was bearable but when I look back I remember it as the only actually uncomfortable part of the whole labour, although I'm sure I would have told you some of the contractions were uncomfortable at the time. Within less than two hours the midwives had cleaned up and gone home, leaving the three of us to our new beginning as a family of four, with big brother coming home the next day to meet his little sister.