Birth story - Louise and baby Evelyn

A letter to our daughter...

Dear Evelyn,

I (Mummy) wanted to write down your birth story and thought what better way to remember it then send it to you! So apologies if some of it doesn't make sense, you don't have to worry about a lot of it until you are much older! But the most important thing is that you were relaxed throughout the whole thing and were born safely, calmly and without any issues. In fact, you were pretty perfect - the perfect weight (7lbs 8oz) and you and Mummy had wonderful cuddles straight after you arrived!

So, from the beginning....Mummy and Daddy were given a 'due date' of 23rd July, and as this date approached Mummy started to get excited. She had spent lots of time preparing for your arrival, including doing something called hypnobirthing (which is focused on breathing and keeping relaxed). We thought you may be early, but now it is clear that you are definitely a 'Mole' and arrived 5 days over! Mummy was getting so impatient as she was desperate to meet you, and on Friday the 27th July she went over to Nana and Grandad's for the day whilst Daddy was at work. Nana took her food shopping and spent some time relaxing. Mummy felt particularly 'heavy' that day and was also having to pee a lot (probably because your head was in the right position ready to go!). She had seen the midwife earlier that week, who had performed something called a 'sweep' to try and get things going. She had felt your head and had got excited that she had been the first person to touch you! Now, Friday 27th July was a particularly special evening as there was a total lunar eclipse of the moon, and some say that when this happens it can make women go into labour! It certainly worked with you - at around 8pm that evening, Mummy had something called 'a show' (which indicated that things were starting to happen!). By 11pm she was experiencing mild discomfort and told Daddy that she thought this was it! Daddy went to bed for the night, as Mummy said it would be better for him to rest.

Mummy set up camp downstairs, she couldn't sleep as the surges were already coming every 4 minutes although they were manageable. Mummy watched some telly, did some yoga and annoyed Olive the Dog (who was trying to sleep). She put on her TENS machine and started something called 'Up Breathing' which she learnt through hypnobirthing and helped her focus through the surges. She called the maternity triage team at 1am to say the surges were coming regularly but they told her to stay at home a while longer. By 3am, she was having to stand up for each surge and leaned against the wall swaying. She called the triage team again, but they told her to stay home a while longer. At 6am, she woke Daddy up and told him she wanted to head to the hospital. He called the hospital to tell them we were on our way. We live very close to the hospital and on a Saturday early morning the roads were clear. A midwife examined Mummy and told her she was 5cms dilated (this means things were progressing well). We went straight to a labour room, and met our midwife.

Mummy then progressed well over the next 3-4 hours. Daddy set up music and fed Mummy sweets! He also helped Mummy count her breaths. She had some gas and air at around midday and then started to feel like she needed some more pain relief. The midwife told Mummy to hang on for another half hour and then she would examine her. Mummy did this, and when the midwife examined her she said she was ready to go! Mummy's waters had not broken, so she let the midwife to do this for her and she felt some relief. Mummy began 'down breathing' and ramped up her TENS machine. She eventually got into a squatting position which felt natural and then you eventually arrived at 14.42pm on the 28th July. You had lovely cuddles with Mummy, and after a while Daddy cut the umbilical cord. Mummy delivered the placenta naturally 12 mins later. Mummy had to have a few stitches, but she was oblivious as was too busy staring at you!

Mummy is proud of your birth story dear Evelyn, she managed to stay calm which meant that you were calm throughout. She could not have done it without Daddy - who had fully supported her from start to finish. We love you very much our gorgeous girl.

Mummy and Daddy xxxx