Birth story - Sophie and baby Rona

So excited to be writing my very own positive birth story after poring over them in the lead up to baby coming! I'm happy with the use of the word "contractions" but use "surges" too.

I had a wonderful pregnancy, nausea and tiredness in the first trimester and a little pelvic pain toward the end but from 14 weeks or so I felt full of energy until I gave birth! I kept active throughout with lots of walks with the dog. As a person I'm constantly on the go, always finding things to do (DIY, gardening and mowing the lawn) which I did up until the day labour started! This makes it hard to know when/if nesting kicked in 😂

My husband and I watched the PBC videos together from around Week 28, one section at a time on his weekends off. Just with watching the first couple of videos this was SO not what we assumed Hypnobirthing was. I love to research everything I do so the whole ethos of this pack was exactly what I needed. I felt so empowered watching it and learning about the process of labour. It all just made perfect sense. Affirmations like "my baby will come when my baby is ready" and that my body knows what it's doing! The overly medicalised trauma that you see on TV doesn't have to be how you experience this amazing process! These affirmations stuck with me especially after 37 weeks.

I'm not at all bothered by hospitals, I cope well with pain, blood etc and can honestly say I wasn't dreading labour, except the idea of tearing 😳 I was keen from the beginning to experience the labour as naturally as possible without interventions. So doing this course made me even more excited - being more informed about my body and my ability to birth my baby. Also the focus on the fact that if things don't go perfectly this doesn't mean you've failed at a positive labour! This reminded us to keep an open mind, this was important when we were told we might have to go off-island to be induced (more on that later!).

A few people did assume I was being naïve for thinking birth could be anything other than a trauma. It did start to affect my positive mindset so I decided to stop sharing my birth preferences with others 🙅🏼‍♀️

Living in Shetland we are 230 miles away from the nearest major hospital (Aberdeen) we have a midwife-led unit at our local hospital just a minute's drive from our house. They often send pregnant women off-island weeks in advance if there are any hint of issues that could lead to a tricky labour as they don't have the resources here to support a poorly mum/baby. This is something I felt very strongly I wanted to avoid - here at the MLU you are in a private room, more midwives per patient, vs being on a labour ward away from home.

From around 20wks I'd sometimes felt mild pain at the sides of my bump when walking the dog, but midwives reassured me this was normal, just Braxton Hicks or round ligament pain and it always stopped when I slowed down / rested and was never that intense.

At 38+5 (Thurs 8th) a blood test showed my platelets were decreasing and I was told that if they continued to drop at the same rate I would need to travel to the Aberdeen and an induction would be recommended. I was asked to come back on Wednesday 14th (39+4) to have bloods redone and I would be advised to travel away immediately that day if platelets had dropped below a certain level. In an otherwise straightforward pregnancy this threw me a bit. At this point I tried to find as much information on this as possible to be informed and used my BRAIN to keep me calm. Knowing about the NICE guidelines really helped as I searched for more information about this area. I re-watched the 'Induction' videos and this definitely helped me feel prepared but in the meantime hoped that Baby would be ready to arrive before Wednesday! 🤞🏼

On Monday 12th (39+2) I felt a cramp in the early afternoon, and again late afternoon. This felt low down and not in my bump, like period pain - I wasn't sure if this was BH or not, and from reading other people's birth stories I knew this could go on for days/weeks so didn't think it was labour starting. We walked our dog as usual after tea and I felt some pain around my bump - it was more intense than I'd felt before and didn't stop when I stopped walking. I continued on but by the time we got home it had stopped. I honestly at this point didn't think it was labour, really not wanting to get my hopes up.

That night in bed I started to feel mild cramps low down, like the mildest period pain and tossed and turned most of the night. I'd slept great throughout pregnancy so this was a bit unusual. I got up with my husband leaving for work at 6.30am and pottered around the house for a while. The cramps began to get stronger and more frequent as I moved around, so I decided to give the midwife unit a ring at 0730. The midwife told me it sounded like it could be happening, and to call back if they get closer together (3-in-10) or my waters break. She said to look out for my mucus plug and that she was on nightshift, so perhaps she would see us later. I slowly packed the last few things to go into our hospital bags and put them by the front door.

I kept in touch with my husband (Robert) at work who was really keen to come home but I felt the pressure of him coming home and waiting around all day for things to progress would surely slow things down! I told him to hold off until contractions were more regular and reminded him that this added pressure wasn't conducive to oxytocin 🤷🏼‍♀️ during pregnancy I wondered how I'd feel when labour started and that surely I'd want Robert with me for support during this stage. I can honestly say I felt so relaxed and didn't feel the need for company at all, just creating a calm environment and using my relaxation techniques.

I went for a bath at 10am using clary sage and listened to the affirmations on the Freya app, breathing through each one. The surges got stronger while I was in the bath but using the Up Breathing they felt totally manageable. Around 12pm Robert decided he couldn't concentrate at work knowing things were happening and made his way home.

He got in just before 1pm and I got out the bath. The surges stopped for around 30 minutes at this time. I started bouncing on my ball, and the surges started again but they were a little more sporadic. Robert ran me another bath so I got back in around 3pm but surges didn't change much. I got out and determined to get things going again we took the dog for a walk. I had to slow down a couple of times toward the end as the contractions had returned and were feeling the strongest I'd felt so far. Hooray! I spent the rest of the afternoon bouncing on my ball and watching comedies on TV trying to get the oxytocin flowing. I was aware that labouring women didn't always feel hungry so I tried to eat a decent sized tea and snacked most of the day. Around 4:30pm the Freya app told me I was in established labour! 

I called Maternity around 5.30pm after around an hour of contractions being 3-in-10. The midwife on the phone didn't seem keen to have me come in (which I was expecting) but she asked if I was feeling baby move OK. At this point I couldn't remember the last time I felt baby move at all. I was so focussed on the contractions that I hadn't been thinking about movements! They recommended I come in after 6pm for monitoring just incase, and reminded me that I might feel contractions stop/slow down at this point with the process of going into hospital.

Immediately after the phone call I felt baby moving lots, so this eased my mind. We made our way in with our hospital bags, just incase, and they hooked me up to a monitor. Baby kicked away happily from this point, all seemed well and contractions kept getting more intense. I reminded myself "you can do anything for a minute" which really helped and I felt totally in control. My contractions didn't slow down at all going into hospital, I think this was due to my determination to meet baby!

Around 7pm the midwife felt my bump and observed my contractions, she praised how calm I was and that the app was clearly working so well for me - she was feeling contractions for longer than I was recording them on the app. She offered me an examination, again stating that this could slow things down, or I could wait for the next shift to come on at 8pm since that midwife would see us through the night for continuity. I chose to wait for the next shift. I continued bouncing on a ball and used my Up Breathing, chatting away to Robert between surges and watching comedies on the iPad.

At around 8.30pm the new midwife came in (the same one from the phone call this morning!) she gave me an examination - I was 4cm dilated and she could feel my waters bulging, and baby's head being slightly tilted. She encouraged me to keep bouncing on the ball to get baby's head in the right position and went to prepare the labour room for us. My mucus plug came away with the examination.

My first thought now was - YES! We don't have to travel to Aberdeen to have baby because it's happening now! ❤️

Around 9pm we went through and my husband prepared our battery operated tea lights and room spray. I continued on the ball and the midwife used the doppler every 15mins to hear baby's heartbeat from now until baby arrived.

I got into the pool around midnight which felt great! I'd always imagined having a water birth and felt thankful the pool was available! As the surges got more intense I asked for some gas and air (1am ish). It made me feel a bit funny to begin with but I persevered and I used it from then on. In hindsight I feel it was more of a distraction than actual pain relief. I used my Up Breathing throughout with my husband counting in and out for me. Just like others have said - the 'mooing' sound happened! Making noises seem to actually help with the intensity of surges. The midwife had to remind me to breathe a few times because towards the end of labour I was so in the zone that I kept forgetting to breathe in again.        

In preparation I'd followed some wonderful labour photographers on Instagram and saw so many beautiful births. I saw some wonderful videos and photos of women taking their baby out into the world once their head emerged and I LOVED the idea of being the first person to touch my baby and lift them into the world. I asked my midwife if position etc allowed if she could facilitate this.

Around 2am I was encouraged to get out of the pool and try and pass urine, this happened a couple of times to no success so I was later temporarily catheterised which I barely felt. Contractions while I was out of the pool felt even more intense and I didn't realise until this point how much the water was helping me. I remember the midwife asking if I'd like to labour out of the pool for a while but I felt very strongly that I needed to get back in.

It feels hazy now but Robert tells me around 3 and 4am I was offered examinations. I do remember refusing this as the thought of getting out the pool again felt impossible! At what I now recognise as 'Transition' I remember saying to my midwife "right, just break my waters now" she reminded me she wouldn't be intervening unnecessarily so would wait for this to happen itself. I felt so tired but I'm glad this was just a wobble and everything happened when it was meant to!

My midwife said she could see my membranes bulging whilst still in the pool, she encouraged me to feel - it was an strange feeling, just like a water balloon! I think this spurred me to get out the pool at 5am around for an examination, at which point I was 8cm and my waters broke in the process! I remember having a surge whilst on my back during the examination and it was unbearable - without thinking I moved onto my side and immediately I felt it was easier.

The midwife at some point asked if I could feel baby wriggling as surges were coming very quickly but were very short. I could feel baby moving around lots at this point which the midwife explained was them trying to get into the right position. The baby moving was triggering contractions which was interesting to hear and feel. This didn't last long and soon enough baby moved further down.

When the down stage started and I felt my body pushing, I announced to the room that baby was coming. My midwife said it could be a couple of hours yet, at which point I apparently swore at her and told my husband not to listen to her and that baby was about to arrive any minute 😂 I used my down-breathing and was so excited at the feeling of my body pushing down my baby!

After around 40 minutes of the down-stage I felt an overwhelming need to get into the squat position. I felt so in the zone it is still quite hazy to remember from this point on so I'm not sure how I long it lasted. I do remember feeling baby's head crowning, and the ring of fire! Once baby's head was out, and just as I wanted, my midwife let me know when and I was able to pull baby out and brought them up out of the water! What an amazing feeling actually birthing my baby! I immediately felt that rush of love they all talk about - I lifted baby up to my chest just wanting to hold them close but midwives told me to keep baby in the water to stay warm. I just remember repeating "oh my god" over and over being so happy baby had finally arrived!  Then my husband checked and announced that we had a girl! My immediate thought was "we should call her Rona", this wasn't my 1st name choice but I just felt so strongly this should be her name in that moment.

We had delayed cord clamping and immediate skin to skin as soon as we got to the bed. Baby latched on immediately which was amazing. I tried to birth the placenta without intervention but it just wasn't budging. After 30mins I accepted the injection, I just wanted to enjoy my baby and everything was starting to feel achey and intense. Robert had skin to skin at this point and a doctor came in to help things move along. After a lot of tugs and shoves of my stomach, the placenta came out it felt the most MASSIVE relief - even more of a relief than when baby came out!

The perennial massage we'd started doing at Week 35 paid off as i only had a very small tear requiring no stitches - I would recommend this for sure as this was my only fear about labour! 

Our maternity unit is honestly second to none and they encouraged us to stay in for as long as we wanted to help establish breastfeeding which we did. We went home on the Saturday and began life as our new little family ❤️

Almost 5 months on, I'm still overjoyed that things went so smoothly and exactly how I wanted. The PBC digital pack was instrumental to me feeling so calm and controlled throughout late pregnancy and labour. In the days following all of the midwives who came in to see us commented on how relaxed my labour sounded from my notes and what they'd heard from the two midwives present, which I can't help but feel proud about! I cannot recommend this course enough - and have pushed this on my pregnant friends already! I love telling my labour story to anyone who will listen and although we'll wait a couple of years to enjoy our daughter before having another I honestly look forward to doing it again with baby no. 2!

Thank you to Siobhan and thank you to everyone who have shared their stories! This made my labour the most wonderful experience ❤️