Birth story - Linzi and baby Ellis

*Trigger warning* - SPD in pregnancy, complications immediately after the birth.

Pregnancy

I found out we were pregnant with our second on 17th July 2021, the day after our 5th anniversary. We had been trying for over 1.5 years and already had a 9 year old so we were absolutely elated!

Morning sickness started at approximately 8 weeks and continued until 14 weeks. This time, it had primarily been in the morning rather than all day which was a relief!

The second trimester was an absolute dream. My energy levels rose and I felt myself again. I actually ran the Royal Parks Half Marathon in October when I was 16 weeks pregnant.

At 26 weeks, I started to crave sucking water out of sponges and this continued right up until 1 week after the birth. My first, I had craved fabric softener and sucking water out of flannels so this was nothing new to me.

By 38 weeks, I started to feel the SPD becoming stronger and I also started to swell more and more. There was a point where my calves and ankles had swelled so much in such a short space of time that I made my way to A&E as requested by the midwife. I was seen by the most lovely doctor and prescribed Furosemide, a diuretic, to reduce the swelling. This really helped.

At 39 weeks I had succumbed to crutches. I had stepped into the shower and felt and heard a ripping across my hips and lower abdomen. Apparently, this was due to my muscles being so relaxed and the movement of stepping into the shower was too quick. I'm glad this happened later, rather than sooner!

Birth

I started to have tightenings on 19th March at 8pm, I called my mum to have my eldest and by this time, they were 8-12 minutes apart. They had been pretty consistent until the early hours when suddenly they stopped.

They kept at bay until the early hours of 21st March. The night before I had a huge lamb roast dinner so initially I thought it was indigestion as I didn't want to get my hopes up after our false alarm the other day.

I had woken up at 1.45am with surges 6-9 minutes apart. I went downstairs and starting bouncing on my birthing ball until 2.45am when I called my mum and woke my husband.

These then spread to 5-14 minutes apart until 4am when we decided to pack the car and make the 30 minute journey to the hospital.

Throughout the time of having the surges at home, I used up breathing while monitoring them on the Freya surge timer app. I was also playing the PBC mp3 tracks which brought me into a deep relaxation with each surge.

We had now arrived at the birthing unit at 4.30am where we met our first midwife (I couldn't remember her name). She had asked if we wanted a cup of tea and toast to which we jumped at the chance! By this time, my surges were 5 minutes apart and started to build. I asked my husband to help me set up the TENS machine - looking back, I probably would have started using the TENS at home.

I bounced on my birthing ball while using the corner of the bed to lean on and try and get some rest between surges. The up breathing and music continued to relax me.

At 6.30am, the surges were still 5 minutes apart and were not progressing. The midwife said that she would pop back just before 8am to monitor progress and if things had stalled, there was a high chance I would be sent home.

It was now 7.55am and still 5 minutes apart. I was feeling a little deflated when all of a sudden, my waters popped and they gushed EVERYWHERE. It looked as though somebody had filled a bucket of water and poured it over the floor After the initial shock and me shouting at my husband to call the midwife, the relief we felt was incredible. We were staying! I hobbled to the shower and threw away my leggings and underwear. The ultimate relief of my waters breaking on my SPD was indescribable. It was literally as though a weight had been lifted and I was able to walk without my crutches.

At 8am, the midwife swapped shifts with the day midwives. This is where we met both the wonderful midwife Eleanor and wonderful student midwife Ellie. The first thing they did was introduce themselves and read my birth plan. I used the template on the PBC website and they completely respected it.

Initially, they had mentioned that due to my SPD and difficulty walking, I would not be able to use the pool as in an emergency, I may not be able to get out quick enough. I was gutted. I suggested we try a "dry run" to make sure I could get in and out which they agreed to after a quick discussion with the lead midwife, the lovely Janice. I gritted my teeth, got in, sat down, got up and got out as quick as I could. They said that they were happy with how I did it and started to fill the pool, wahoo!

Just before I got in the pool, Eleanor told me that she had been asked to go onto the labour ward to help a lady in labour who had tested positive for covid. I knew I wasn't going to see her after the birth so we wished her well and thanked her for all she had done. Janice had now joined us along with the student midwife, Ellie.

I stepped into the pool at 9.30am and by this time, the surges were a lot stronger. I continued to use up breathing as my primary pain relief with the help of gas and air and asked the lights to be dimmed and changed to blue to help me relax. Ellie was monitoring the baby's heartbeat externally every 15 minutes. Not once was I examined internally (as I had politely requested).

It was now 12pm and I still felt in control and it was now time to birth the baby. There was immense pressure down below and I used as much down breathing as I could before I had to push. A few surges later, at approximately 12.45pm, I started to feel a slight loss of control. At this exact moment, my phone started to play positive affirmations from Siobhan and it immediately brought me new strength. I started to smile and with each surge, I was becoming stronger. The midwives were also extremely positive and I continued to bare down whilst holding my husband's hand. The baby's head crowned at approximately 1.10pm.

Janice calmly told me to pant as if I was blowing out candles one by one. This visualisation helped with the "ring of fire" as it took me out of the moment for a while.

His head was now born.

After another two surges, I was able to birth his shoulders and then he was here! He was placed on my chest straight away and I remember looking into the baby's eyes, into my husbands eyes and crying with pure joy. "Hello baby boy".

The joy soon turned into panic. He hadn't cried. He was looking around but was making no sound. I tried rubbing him down, then Scott joined in and then both midwives but he was still silent. Janice then pressed the red button and approximately 15 doctors, nurses, assistants etc. ran in with an incubator. By this point I was inconsolable and told my husband to go over and make sure he was okay. A lovely maternity nursing assistant came within centimetres of my face and assured me everything was going to be fine, he just needed a little help to take his first breath but his heart was absolutely fine. I really needed to hear her say this.

She then helped me out of the pool and asked me to lay on the bed. At this point, I heard the baby cry! The most relieving cry! He was okay!

I will always treasure the memories I have of the birth and I cannot thank The PBC enough for helping me.