Birth story - Natalie and baby Lily

On Thursday 7th July at exactly 34 weeks pregnant I woke at 5am to find myself in a puddle! A little confused to say the least, wondering if my bladder had given up on me or if my waters had gone. I woke my husband who was convinced I had wet myself but suggested I rang the midwifes anyway. They asked me to go in to be checked over. Remaining nice and calm we packed the car with our hospital bags just in case (thankfully I had finished packing them the night before).

By now it was 6am and there were no signs of labour starting. I was checked over and they couldn't see my cervix but confirmed my waters had gone. They said they needed to admit me for 24 hours for observations and start me on a course of antibiotics. If labour did not start I would be sent home and monitored very closely and remain on antibiotics.

When we was finally settled in a bed on the ward I thought this was going to be a very long 24hours. Still not feeling any signs of labour happening anytime soon. By 11.30 hubby and I went down to get some food and sat outside the hospital playing a game of cards. After an hour or so we went back up to the ward where they asked to put me on a monitor as doctor wanted to observe me for half an hour. At this point I thought my IBS was playing up as kept needing the loo and I was getting period pains (turned out they were contractions). The midwife in almost disbelief kept saying I needed to stay on the monitor. By this point I took matters into my own hands and disconnected myself and went to the loo. This is when actual realisation kicked in that it wasn't my IBS, it was our little girl wanting to come into the world.

By this point I managed to get off the toilet and shout for my hubby who came running and took one look at me and shouted for the midwife. She came in and was shocked at how quickly things had escalated and was shouting for a doctor and a bed as it was not safe for me to be sat on the loo. They managed to help me on a bed and get me down to the delivery suite. The lead midwife took one look at me and said I was 9cm dilated. At this point I was focusing on my breathing and ignoring the panic around me from everyone. Hubby said no one was prepared and all in disbelief as it was a first time labour.

Lily did get stuck and I was told I needed to do a big push as she was showing signs of struggling. At this point hubby said a doctor wanted to intervene but the lead midwife told him no! Hearing that our little girl was struggling was all the motivation I needed to give one big push and out she came.

I had about 10minutes skin to skin time and delayed cord clamping before she had to be taken away to neonatal unit due to being 6 weeks early. Hubby went with her while I got checked over. I had a slight tear which didn't need stitches but advised due to location it would sting a lot when I needed a wee, so I ended up with 4. Placenta came away naturally and I lost 20ml of blood.

So, within 30 odd minutes of giving birth I was determined to get up and see our little girl. They wanted me to rest with tea and toast but I said that could wait!

Our little Lily spent 8 days in NICU. Treated with antibiotics for a possible infection. She was in an incubator for a couple of days to help regulate her temperature, on and off oxygen to help with her breathing and being fed through a tube.

I didn't get the water birth I planned for, but then again I didn't plan on meeting our baby girl 6 weeks early! Even with how quickly it all happened I can honestly say the breathing techniques definitely helped me remaining calm and blocking out the panic of everyone around me.