Birth story - Amilee and baby Kelsey

*Trigger warnings* - Health anxiety, GBS+, Meconium in waters

Pregnancy:

Physically, I had a really easy pregnancy - no food aversions, no morning sickness, had the pregnancy glow during the second trimester with long hair and strong nails. I had minimal heartburn in the third trimester and some pelvic pressure. Mentally, I amped up my psychologist sessions to every week during the first trimester as I was struggling with health anxiety and I couldn’t imagine having to step foot inside a hospital, let alone go through child birth and was worried I’d feel sick for 9 months. At week 20, I found The Positive Birth company and purchased the hypnobirthing book. Shortly after finishing this I purchased the online course pack and filled out my birth plan. I felt empowered, confident and full of the knowledge I needed to birth my baby.

Pre labour & labour

After weeks of thinking I was going to deliver before 40 weeks, I was mentally exhausted. At my 39+4 midwife appointment they realised I never had a 36 week growth scan due to having COVID at week 30 so they sent me for an urgent scan the following day and a doctors appointment the day after to ensure I was safe to go over my due date. I was a little frustrated and felt we had weeks to do the scans but instead I was running around 2 days before my due date waiting for appointments. The doctors appointment after my ultrasound confirmed that they were happy to let me go 10 days overdue and due to my anxiety, gave me an induction plan at 41+3.

At 40+1 I felt tired and exhausted in the afternoon so had a nap. At 11pm I started having minor contractions. They felt like Braxton hicks but with a bit of period pain. I managed to sleep in between them as it was only a few every hour. At 6am I got up and called the birthing suite to see if they would let me go in for an assessment. At 7am we headed to the hospital and I was 2cm dilated. They said to go home and labour until the pain became unbearable. My partner and I went home and put on a movie. I thought I had hours ahead of me and was planning out when I would get the hot water bottle, have a shower and bounce on the exercise ball so there was a coping strategy for each time contractions intensified. I decided to have a nap first as I knew I’d need the energy.

Around 1:30pm while laying down I felt a pop. I immediately got up and my waters had broken. Unfortunately, there was meconium in my waters so we headed straight back to the hospital. I was due to have antibiotics 4 hours before delivering due to being GBS+ anyway. This also meant that I would be hooked up to monitors so bub could be watched closely. On the way to the hospital my contractions were ramping up but were still very manageable. All of the surges were felt in my thighs and I was coping well with up breathing.

After another assessment at the hospital I was now 6cm dilated. After having the antibiotics I was moved to the birthing room and hooked up to monitors. I had a catheter placed as I was unable to wee due to the pressure of baby’s head. After this, the surges were in full force and I asked for the epidural. The anaesthetist came pretty quick and was preparing. I was struggling to sit still and as soon as she touched my back I knew I wasn’t going to be able to sit still and declined the option. I asked for morphine but the midwife explained the risks so I also changed my mind about this too. I didn’t want gas and air because I didn’t want to feel nauseas, so I just used it to squeeze in my hand with the reflexology comb in the other.

At this point I felt strong pressure with every contraction and the hardest part was trying not to push as I was only 8-9cm. What I think was a few hours later and constant monitoring of baby the doctor and senior midwife came in and mentioned that baby was getting tired. I had another examination and was 10cm and could start pushing. I actively pushed in a few different positions however was struggling to get baby’s head out of my pelvis. The doctor came in and suggested an episiotomy and the vacuum. After the episiotomy I was able to push out her head and then in a few small pushes her body came out. At 6:54pm our beautiful daughter, Kelsey Lily Jones was born. I was grateful I didn’t need the vacuum and was more grateful for the episiotomy because otherwise I could have torn quite badly.

I had instant skin to skin contact before my partner cut the cord and the baby doctor took her for a quick check over. She was then brought back to me while I was stitched up. I had local anaesthetic for this but still felt everything. This was more painful than contractions and pushing. Once I was stitched up they brought me some apple juice and a toastie while my partner had some cuddles.

I was then able to get up and shower before we were moved to the maternity ward. I was extremely lucky to have a private room so my partner could stay, they knew of my fear of hospitals so pulled some strings to make this happen. After the next day of routine checks and monitoring we were discharged that evening.

I’m very grateful for the breathing techniques I learnt from the PBC. All of the midwives and doctors were shocked that this was my first baby because of how well I handled the contractions and experience. It was overall a positive experience and the best day of our lives.