Birth story - Tyler and baby Rudy

*Trigger warning* - mention of contractions, second degree tear and stitches

Previous labour

In February 2021 I had an incredible non medicated positive birth experience with my gorgeous little boy and I posted my full story! When I found out I was pregnant again, I was so excited at the prospect of having another positive experience and posting it here. And here we are!

On Wednesday 8th March, I started having contractions on and off throughout the day. However, as I was playing and looking after my little boy they struggled to form any particular pattern. Once my little one went to bed at 7pm, I think my body realised it could relax and contractions started coming every 15 mins lasting at least 45 seconds. I realised that this might be it so I decided to try and take a nap. My little boy woke up at about 9pm as he had a cough so he ended up downstairs with us. I realised at this point that contractions were getting closer together and having my wee boy with me was making me emotional so we arranged for my parents to pick him up at 10pm.

I laboured in the house on my birth ball listening to my favourite music, watching my favourite film and using the Freya App to time my contractions and assist my breathing techniques. The up breathing single handedly got me through my last labour so I knew it was imperative to get this right. I also used a comb to squeeze through my contractions and my amazing partner applied counter pressure to my hips. At 11pm I decided to phone triage as I was unsure of how quickly my labour would progress as I had a relatively quick labour last time. I was advised to call back when I felt things were becoming extremely uncomfortable.

At 12pm, we called to let them know that we were on our way in and wanted a room on the alongside midwifery unit. The car journey was strangely tolerable considering how quickly my contractions were coming. When we arrived, we headed to the main door which was locked. My partner called triage and after labouring outside in minus three temperatures for 20 minutes, we finally got in. This part was difficult for me but my breathing, the comb and my partners counter pressure helped me massively to stay calm.

We were taken into a room on the labour ward to be examined at around 12:30 and at 01:00 it was confirmed that I was 5cms dilated. I was absolutely ecstatic despite how uncomfortable I was feeling. I knew that if I could get this far using my techniques, I wouldn’t need to consider any other pain relief. The midwives asked me what I wanted and I said a water birth in the AMU. They immediately began running the birth pool for me in a nearby room. At this point I was labouring standing up leaning on the bed. A particularly strong contraction came along and my waters broke all over the floor. As I glanced down, I noticed the meconium and knew immediately that I wouldn’t be able to use the birth pool on the AMU. This didn’t bother me as I knew things were moving fast and I loved my on land birth last time. I also threw up at this point, but I think my body was just in shock with how quickly things were progressing.

The midwives popped on a heart monitor around my belly but I was still able to be mobile. At about 01:30, I felt like I needed to push which seemed ridiculous to me as only half an hour before I was 5 centimetres dilated. The midwives were truly amazing and told me to trust my body. I decided to get up on the bed on my knees, leaning over the top of the bed as this is how I birthed my first son. From what I was saying i.e. ‘I can’t do this for much longer’, ‘help me’, etc, I knew internally that I was transitioning. My partner stayed with me at the top of the bed reassuring me of how strong I was and that we would be meeting our baby soon! The midwives were also encouraging me. The only slight panic that we had was that my heart rate and baby’s heart rate were strangely similar to the point that the midwives thought we might not be picking up the baby’s heart rate. I didn’t let my mind go to a negative space as I knew I was beginning to push.

The lead midwife instructed a student midwife to go and get a perineal compress to support my perineum during the pushing stage as I had received a second degree tear in my last labour. But quite similarly to my last labour, as soon as that urge to push came along, my body took over and baby was born in one big push at 02:01. I really wanted to try and breathe my baby down slowly but at the end of the day, I was just so relieved that baby was here and that they were ok.

My partner told me that we had another gorgeous boy and the midwives handed him to me through my legs. I knew immediately that I had torn again due to the volume of blood but I was on such a high, I didn’t care! My second baby boy was here and I was instantly in love with him.

My placenta was a little stubborn this time and due to the intensity of my contractions, just under an hour after baby was born, I accepted the oxytocin injection to help the placenta be birthed. My partner then cut the cord that was completely white and limp by this point. I also received stitches for my second degree tear which was extremely uncomfortable but soon enough I had my new baby boy back in my arms. We stayed in that room through until midday and it was the most magical ten hours with our baby boy. We were then discharged and took our baby boy Rudy home to meet his big brother Roman.

I am completely and overwhelmingly grateful that I managed to achieve another unmedicated, positive birth experience. It was different from my previous labour in many ways, but equally as special. I am eternally grateful for my outstanding partner Carl and the incredible midwives who helped me achieve my second dream birth.