I truly LOVED my birth!

After weeks of experiencing very intense Braxton hicks contractions that were often consistent and relentless and baby’s head being engaged from about 30 weeks both of us and my OB were sure I was going to go into labour before my due date (25th Jan) However, our little man wasn’t quite ready to come yet. It was the plan with my OB due to health reasons that we wouldn’t let the pregnancy go more than a week over so although I was hopeful to go into labour spontaneously, I had a planned induction at 41 weeks.

I had already had 2 stretch and sweeps and acupuncture to try get things moving but nothing had progressed! 31st Jan came around and it dawned on us, we wouldn’t be having a January baby after all! We packed and finalised the hospital bags until late at night with anxious excitement for the morning! I’d been experiencing Braxton hicks on and off all afternoon and evening which wasn’t unusual. But when I hopped into bed that night about midnight they intensified and I was sure this was labour, the contractions were manageable and consistently 10 minutes apart, just enough to keep me awake all night.

So, I went into the baby’s nursery to let Brock sleep and I bounced on my ball and laid on the floor breathing and listening to meditations and affirmations until 5.30am when it was time to get going to the hospital for induction.I was so thankful later for this special time on my own just breathing and preparing myself mentally and emotionally because I know it made a big difference being able to draw on that later in my labour.

We arrived at the private hospital and was greeted by my OB and midwives; at this stage I was 2cm dilated (had been for about a week) so my waters were broken at 7.30am to try get things moving. We set up our hospital room with fairy lights and candles, I played my chill birth playlist, we turned off the lights and I got completely in the zone. When they broke my waters, I didn’t have a gush of water due to his head being so low he was literally plugging my cervix, so it seemed he was ready to come!

Within 2 hours my contractions were more intense and about 7 minutes apart. At 10am they wanted to induce me with Syntocin but they said because I was progressing ok they would give me another 2 hours to see what happens. By 12pm my contractions were 5 minutes apart and a lot more intense now, I was only using the calm breathing techniques learnt in Calmbirth up until this point to get through the contractions.

I was feeling really strong and confident, and Brock was supporting me through every contraction with touch, kisses, acupressure points, massage and lots of reassurance! At one point I thought it was a good idea to distract myself with my favourite movie (Devil wears Prada) but interestingly it lowered my oxytocin and pulled me out of the zone because my contractions lessened and labour slowed. So I turned it off, put my music back on and got back in the zone.

They decided to put me on the drip just after 12 so I felt this would be a good time to pull out my birth comb and tens machine and I’m so glad I did, because as soon as the drip started my contractions immediately doubled in intensity and were straight away 3 minutes apart! I was staying upright with hips wide on the gym ball and a big U cushion, and just focusing on my breath. I LOVED the tens! It was a real distraction and great natural tool for pain!

By 1.30-2pm my contractions were 1 minute apart and I was using the Gas on a very low dose for contractions! This was great too! It didn’t take away the pain but just the light airy feeling was good! I used this until it made me vomit and then I didn’t want it anymore. I used visualisations to imagine everything opening up with each contraction and I really felt this helped and I could almost feel the energy and breaths being pushed downwards it was surreal!

By now I was 3-4cm dilated. At about 3.30pm something just felt different, the contraction was EXTREMELY intense and the pain was almost unbearable and I knew I had to change positions and do something different because I suddenly wasn’t coping. I wanted the TENS off and I wanted to get in the shower ASAP! When i got in the shower I immediately regretted it because I no longer had my tens and the water pressure and temperature just wasn’t enough to counter the pain I was feeling in my back and I was really struggling at this point. I said to Brock “ I can’t do it anymore, I can’t do ONE more of those contractions” to which of course he said yes you can you’ve got this and I started asking for an epidural (even though in my birth plan I didn’t want one) I wondered whether this was transition as we’d been taught in Calmbirth but I thought there was no way it could happen that quick.

My midwife came in when I was in the shower as she must have been able to tell in my voice and the way I was breathing that something had changed and she said she wanted to check my cervix so I got out and jumped up on the bed – still only 4cm dilated so I just started crying and asking for the epidural! Whilst on the bed I had about 4 contractions 1 minute apart and my body was pushing – I couldn’t stop it, so the midwife said I’ll check you again, even though she’d only just checked me 10 minutes before – and she turned around to the other midwife and said “cancel the epidural he’s coming” .

I went from 4-10cm in that 10 minutes, I was mind blown! (So when I was in the shower and saying I couldn’t do it anymore… In hindsight… yep that was transition) It’s 4pm and the realisation hit me that I was about to start pushing and I’d be doing it with no pain relief… something I always wanted but never actually imagined I’d be capable of. It was a pretty powerful moment and I was just in the zone and ready to do it !

Half an hour later he was born, no interventions and immediately had skin to skin whilst I birthed the placenta and whilst I was stitched (2nd degree tear) and delayed cord clamping all like I had imagined. During pushing they put a mirror there so I could see the whole birth myself – this was one of the craziest and most beautiful parts of it all – something I didn’t plan on and probably wouldn’t have wanted if asked beforehand but it was very empowering being able to watch it! It gave me extra motivation to push!

I was initially quite anxious about being induced due to all the horror stories I’ve heard, but I can confidently say that although it was very fast and very intense, I truly LOVED my birth! It was such a special experience and I’m so proud of myself and my body for what it was capable of and I’m just so thankful for Calmbirth preparing not only me for birth, but Brock because he was able to be the BEST support partner for me and I couldn’t have done it without him giving me all the oxytocin and support!