Birth story - Catherine and baby Jac

*Trigger warning* - use of word contractions (not negative to me).

I have loved reading the birth stories in this group on the lead up to all three of my births. I’ve never posted in this group so here is a bit of a summary of my experiences.

PREVIOUS BIRTHS:

I had my first baby (boy) in July 2019, now age 3.5years and second baby (girl) in April 2021, now age 20 months. Both born at 40+6 and weighed similar - 7lbs 15oz and 7lbs 14oz.

I was fortunate to have two straightforward births previously, starting at home and travelling 20mins to my local MLU to have them in the pool, home within 3hrs of having them. I was 12hrs start to finish with my first and 6hrs with my second. Both no pain relief other than tens machine and the pool. The only complication I had previously was that I had Gestational Diabetes with my daughter (2nd pregnancy) which felt like the end of the world at the time but I managed to control my blood sugars with my diet until later in pregnancy and then started taking metformin. Due to being on metformin, the hospital wanted to induce me at 38 weeks as that’s their standard protocol however I declined this and let my baby come spontaneously (at 40+6). I also went against guidance and had her at my local MLU rather than at a hospital but I did harvest colostrum prior to having her to use when she came out if she was struggling to regulate her own blood sugars.

THIRD PREGNANCY:

For my most recent (3rd) baby, I had a straightforward pregnancy. I surprisingly went clear on the two gestational diabetes tests I had (at 16 weeks and 27 weeks) so was able to stay under my local midwife until the end. I decided to hire a birthing pool as I fancied a homebirth; this was due to it being my third birth, with the first two births being straightforward, and the fact I was worried I may be quick and didn’t want to mistime travelling to the local MLU. I was also slightly afraid of a dry land birth as I had only ever experienced giving birth in a pool.

I started having contraction like pains 3 weeks before due date and had been pretty hectic with life so I was admiant baby was going to come before due date (how wrong was I!). Due date of the 11th Dec came and went. I kept waking up preparing for birth every day (eating well, drinking plenty of water, not tiring myself out too much etc!). After my due date went, I started to focus on the 40+6 date as this is when my other two made their apprearances - that date also came and went and I started to worry about induction as this is something I didn’t have in my plan/head and I thought maybe I wasn’t relaxing enough.

I had a couple of reflexology sessions but I didn’t seem to find they helped bring things on, other than it was nice to relax and have the treatment.

On the 18th Dec (41 weeks), I was sure I had started as I had contraction like pains frequently from 2pm but then they stopped at around 6pm.

I accepted a sweep on the 20th Dec (41 +2) and had some promising signs in the days after but still no baby. On the 21st of Dec I went to a homeopath and started using some homeopathic remedies for pre, during and post birth as my friend recommended. I had an awful night on the 22nd Dec - felt my mindset deteriorate i.e. felt like baby was never going to come, worrying about baby and movements etc so I spoke to my midwife in the morning and went in to be monitored. I had an induction planned for the afternoon of the 24th Dec (41 +6) but cancelled it and decided to focus on Christmas and Boxing Day and delay induction until at least the 27th. My mindset changed to be positive after this as I felt a weight was lifted by cancelling the induction, giving myself more time.

Christmas eve was spent with my son and daughter, we did some Christmas crafts and wrote a letter to Santa (added on it jokingly that we wanted the baby to come for Christmas). That night, my parents came over for supper and then went home. We laid treats out for Santa and his reindeers and put the kids to bed. I then played Santa and started to feel some twinges. Me and my husband decided to watch a film and see if things progressed. By 11:30pm I was sure I was starting but didn’t want to ‘jump the gun’. I let my midwife know at around midnight that I think I was starting and then went for a shower. I phoned my mum to come back (as she was 50mins away and I needed her to sleep in bed with my two children in case they woke). I also phoned the midwives to come and they arrived around 1:30am on Christmas morning.

I worked through my contractions, chatting away to my midwives and husband in between. We kept the lights low, candles were lit and my husband was kept busy filling the pool and keeping it at a nice temperature. As the contractions started to intensify I started using the boost button on my tens machine for each one. At around 5am I got in the pool and felt the squishiness of the floor and the warmth of the water releiving. I continued to work through my contractions in the pool.

I kept asking my husband to add hot water as I wanted the temperature hotter but then my waters broke (something I hadn’t experienced in my two previous labours) and all of a sudden I felt like I went from 2nd to 6th gear with intensity 😅, started sweating, wanting the water cooler and began to have the urge to push. I didn’t rush the pushing and went with my body. After around 15 minutes, the head came out, I had a breather and the next urge to push brought his body out (6am - approx 6.5hr labour from start to finish). My midwife brought him up to me in the water and even third time, the feeling was exhilarating. I accepted the injection to help deliver the placenta which came out easily. After a bit of skin to skin in the pool, I got out onto the sofa and my midwife checked me over. I was fortunate not to have any tears or grazes.

I fed him on the sofa and then got him dressed at 8am before my older two came downstairs to meet their new baby brother on Christmas morning.

Other comments:

I’m unsure if the homeopathic remedies helped bring labour on but I do think my bleeding and after pains were better than after my second birth and this may well have been down to the arnica etc I took from the kit.

I was fortunate to have the same midwife for all three pregnancies, birth and postpartum as my local midwife led unit had a pilot on continuity of care. I honestly believe this was one of the biggest contributing factors to me having such positive births as I had built such a strong relationship with my midwife and developed the confidence to make informed choices.

The positive birthing company resources were so helpful, especially for my first pregnancy where I watched the videos. I used the breathing techniques, app and positive birthing affirmations for all births which helped my mind set.

I don’t believe any birth is particularly easy but nothing good comes easy and reflecting on my experiences, it’s amazing what our bodies can do and what they have been doing for hundreds of years.

For all of you expectant mothers…

You can do this ✨