Birth story - Milly and baby Marlee

⚠️ use of word contractions, induction, epidural, ventouse. Mention of forceps and c-section but wasn’t something I had to encounter.

Incredible positive birth experience! 🧡💜🤍

Marlee was born on 27th July at 19:53. According to our hospital scan we were due on 10th July but according to the date of conception we were due 26th July. Although we believe the date of conception over the scan date we, of course, had a real sense of anticipation from 10th and knew I could go into labour at any time (as did all of the people messaging us on a daily basis 😆🤦🏻‍♀️).

On 25th I had been having lots and lots of Braxton Hicks all day with little to no crampy type pains. I was so used to this having had Braxton Hicks throughout the majority of my pregnancy that I didn’t think a huge amount of it. My waters went at about 4am the following morning, Sunday 26th. I woke up and felt a small trickle and went to the toilet to check. Being a first time Mum I wasn’t sure what to expect but having done an online antenatal course during my pregnancy I had a vague idea of what this should and shouldn’t look and smell like! I was pretty certain it was my waters and also a small amount of my mucus plug. I felt excited and apprehensive and told myself ‘if this is it I need to go back to sleep straight away to reserve all my energy!’ So I got back in to bed, without waking my partner, and after an hour of listening to sleep meditation finally managed to drift off. My mind was racing!

I woke up at about 7/8am ish with no contractions and less Braxton Hicks than the day before. My partner woke up about an hour after me, made me a cup of tea and then I decided to tell him that I thought my waters had started to go. I called our Assessment unit after some breakfast and a shower and they told me to go in to confirm it was my waters and it was. The midwife told me what with only having 24 hours to go in to labour from the time my waters broke that I could go up to the ward if I wanted to have an induction straight away but as it was about 3pm at this point I knew I still had time to get things going myself first. So I went home, had something to eat and a nice long shower, put some clary sage in the diffuser, sat and bounced on my birthing ball while my partner and I chatted and then watched our fave film. I still had no painful contractions during this time! So at about 9:30pm we decided to go back to the hospital to see how far I had progressed, if at all, and potentially go for induction.

It was about 11pm once I had my first examination at the hospital and the midwife said I was 2cm dilated, my cervix was soft but still hadn’t come down/forward. During the examination she was able to bring it forward slightly and this actually brought on some very mild contractions. I suppose it was a bit like having a sweep. I was happy about this! If I could get to 4cm then I didn’t have to be induced and would still be able to use the pool. I went up to the labour ward, into my own room and bounced on a birthing ball with our music playing in the background, willing myself to gain that extra two centimetres.

Now this middle bit gets a big blurry! ... I think it was about 3am when I had my fore waters broken as I still hadn’t progressed further than before. I continued to use the birthing ball and my contractions started to build up even more. It wasn’t until around 6am that I was examined again and told that as baby had moved down some more she had also knocked my cervix back up. I was 3cm at this point and with it being 24 hours since my waters initial began to go I was to have the induction which I agreed to. This kicked in quickly but the contractions at first were still totally manageable. As the syntocinon was slowly increased the contractions grew in frequency and intensity. I was still sat on the birthing ball and I decided I would try some gas and air and also used the TENS. These were a great help! The TENS was a good distraction and the gas and air really helped me regulate my breathing. My partner was counting breaths for me (one or two times he got distracted but I soon reminded him.. Haha!) and also gave me some massage, this helped loads! All of these things enabled me to get to through the next few hours of primal noise making contractions until I got the point where I asked for an epidural as I had decided that with the intensity of the contractions I didn’t feel as though I could carry on this way for an indefinite amount of time. The epidural was administered very gently, I really didn’t even feel it. Although I could still move my legs somewhat I ended up staying on the bed as over time they got increasingly heavier. I must say, the epidural was great! My partner got a couple of hours of sleep and our amazing midwife sat with me chatting the whole time. We talked about life, babies, our interests and generally just got to know each other. This paid off massively later on in my labour!

At around 5pm my midwife did an examination as the contractions were at their peak and she told me I was fully dilated! We waited another hour until 6pm so that the baby was as far down as possible at which point I could feel lots of pressure and began to push with our Midwife’s guidance. For the next hour or so I pushed with just the midwife and my partners help. We were told I would only be able to push for an hour until the Doctors would be called in to talk about assisted delivery. The hour came by quite quickly and a lovely Doctor came in to speak with me. She talked about forceps and potential c-section which I made clear I wanted to avoid at all costs especially as the babies heart rate was still looking good. I told them I still had the energy to push and we decided I would try a ventouse instead which I was happy about as it meant we could stay in the room we were in and it avoided a theatre forceps or c-section delivery.

The room began to fill with quite a lot of medical staff in preparation for the ventouse and delivery but our lovely midwife stayed with us even though her shift had finished. The doctor did an examination and felt that the baby had turned sideways looking to the right. Not the ideal position! Thankfully he was able to encourage the baby to turn face down while doing the examination, this was great as it meant the ventouse was back on the cards!

At 19:53 after a few more pushes our baby girl was born! She needed a little oxygen, some heat and some liquid suctioned off of her lungs which my partner stayed with her for but before the doctor did this they lay her on my chest straight after delivery while giving her a good rub down. My partner was able to stay for about 4 hours after this point and we had lots of skin to skin and then I was taken down to the ward where I stayed for a couple of nights making most of the care and breast feeding support. We were home by Wednesday 29th and it’s been a whirlwind of love, laughs, crying, feeding, nappy changes and soooo many cuddles. What an absolutely incredible experience.

Of course it wasn’t in my birth preferences to have all of these interventions. I wanted a water birth in our amazing midwife led unit 10 minutes from my house with aromatherapy filling the room and lots of soothing mood lighting, my partner also would have been able to stay with us the entire time even after the baby was born and I admit that I’m a bit disappointed to not have had that experience however, we were where we needed to be in order for me to safely deliver our baby. We and our decisions were respected and we worked through them with the loving support of our midwife. She was absolutely incredible. She cared for me, my partner and our baby so tenderly the entire time and with constant encouragement and support made me feel totally empowered and like I could achieve anything I set my mind to. And when things were getting a little intense towards the end she acted a barrier between me and the other medical professionals to ensure that I was making the right decisions for me and my baby. It was like she rightly second guessed what I would have wanted and I think this is where getting to know one another earlier in the day really helped. So much love and thanks to this amazing woman! 🌞 ⭐️ 🌈 🧡