Birth story - Emma and baby Daniel

*Trigger Warning* - use of the word contractions (not negative to me), second degree tear, adapting plans

I can't quite believe I'm actually sharing my own story- 3 months on it still feels completely surreal that my body was able to do something so incredible! Birth for me was always something that other people went though, so I'm incredibly proud!

I gained a huge amount from the Hypnobirthing course, and have it to thank for having positive feelings about my birth. I also gained so much from reading the birth stories of all of the superwomen on this page so I'm excited to finally share mine!

‐----------------------- Pregnancy ---------------------------

We found out we were expecting only a month after our (much delayed ) wedding! It was a lovely surprise, as having PCOS we did think that it could potentially be a long fertility journey for us. I actually knew very early on, as I experienced days of implantation pains so I knew something was up!

I was lucky to have a straightforward and relaxed pregnancy, with no extra tests or scans. My only symptoms were significant reduced appetite in 1st trimester with 2 or 3 days of sickness, then in 3rd trimester some minor PGP, heartburn that I managed to resolve with Omoprozol, and restless leg syndrome. Overall I enjoyed pregnancy- I tried to keep as active as possible with walks and hikes, swimming and aquafit classes.

Although I purchased the PBC hypnobirthing course early on, we didn't actually get into it until around 32 weeks. Up until that point I didn't really want to obsess over the birth itself- I just wanted to enjoy pregnancy, but developed a slight sense of urgency when I saw that some ladies also due in June were beginning to have their babies!! I guess my point here is that whether you are a serial planner, or as horizontally relaxed as me, there will be value in doing this course at whatever time is best for you.

‐----------------------- Labour ---------------------------

At 40+6 I was beginning to get a bit restless as I was worried that soon I would need to have conversations around sweeps and induction dates etc, all of which I was very keen to avoid.

I had been experiencing braxton Hicks for a few days in the evenings- something which I had not had at any other stage of the pregnancy so I was keeping my hopes up that things were somewhat progressing.

On the Friday night we ordered a curry in an attempt to kick-start things, and although almost certainly coincidental, while eating dinner on a lap tray bouncing on my pregnancy ball, I stared to have bad period type cramps!

I continued to have strong cramps every ten minutes or so which ramped up in intensity and frequency throughout the evening. I reassured my husband that he could just go to bed, as there was nothing in particular I thought he could help with at that point. I ran a bath but I couldn't settle at all, and was ill a few times so abandoned the idea. I did also try to snooze but I found that it make the contractions seem worse as I was being woken up to them, so I spent the night up-breathing while pacing the house and leaning against furniture as the contractions increased.

I was timing contractions using the Freya app and called the Labour Ward at around 2am when the app reccomended. The midwife asked if I could try another hour at home and I felt comfortable to, so I put on my tens machine which I found to be incredibly effective, and actually continued at home until 9am.

My husband got up on the Saturday morning and at this point I felt ready to move to the hospital as I was really worried about the half hour car journey, and wanted to travel before the intensity was completely unmanageable. My waters hadn't broken and I hadn't lost any of my mucus plug which I was quite surprised about, but I was adamant that it was the right time to go in.

‐----------------------- Birth ---------------------------

We arrived at the Birth Centre at 10am and after an examination was delighted to be at 4cm, so didn't have to endure the drive again!

The birth pool was filled and as I was breathing through contractions leaning against the bed, my waters broke. I was relieved to get into the pool, and felt the warmth and support of the water really lovely. I found active labour strange- so many things I thought I would want for my environment after having worked through the Hyprobirthing course ended up being the last thing I wanted in the moment! I had a playlist planned but when it came to it, all I wanted was silence to let me be completely in the zone and concentrate on my breathing. I didn't like the entinox at all, and really didnt like being touched, so massage was out the window! I actually really struggled to eat anything at all, so I was beginning to get quite tired- I think in total I managed 5 jelly babies and a couple of cubes of watermelon, despite all the great snacks I had packed with me

I remember the transition as I kept saying that I couldn't do it any more, but the midwife kept saying 'you're in control, stay in control', and it was so encouraging.

Before I knew it I'd been in the pool for 7 hours, simply breathing through each contraction as it came. I used the breathing visualisations with every contraction, so pretended I was blowing bubbles through a bubble wand, and found this really helpful to focus on.

I was so grateful for my husband's support- he knew that I wanted minimal monitoring, medication or interventions, and he was great in helping communicate my preferences to the midwives.

At 19.35 I was becoming increasingly more exhausted and had now been pushing for around 2 hours. Most of my labour pain was in my back, and it was becoming incredibly intense, so with encouragement from the midwife and my husband, I agreed to leave the pool, as baby was being stubborn and they needed to see what was going on. The midwives explained the pros and cons of leaving the pool, and using BRAIN, my husband and I decided that although I'd hoped for a water birth, if I became too tired and struggled for longer, then more interventions would likely be needed to help baby out.

I was incredibly nervous leaving the pool as I was leaving behind my pain management, but I moved to the bed and laid on my back to allow the midwives to assess what was causing the lack of progression. My husband had the incredible foresight to slap the TENS back on at full whack as I was getting on the bed, and with coached pushing for 15 mins, with the midwives helping to limit tearing, Daniel was born at 19.58 with both his fists up at his head and holding onto his cord!

I'd had a trainee midwife with me throughout labour, and shift handover was at 20.00, so she was delighted that he made an appearance with 2 minutes to spare to be her 38th delivery.

Now sitting looking at my nearly 3 month old, feeling like birth was a lifetime ago! Wishing all the mamas-to-be luck with labour and birth- you've got this.