Birth story - Shannon and baby Sonny

I absolutely loved reading these when I was pregnant and I’m so excited to share my own positive experience while it’s still all so fresh in my mind (not that it would be easy to forget! 🥰)

This is way longer than I intended, but I hope it might help anyone who may go through something similar and happy to chat with anyone if it would help💛

I was absolutely over the moon to be pregnant when I found out but very nervous about labour and birth. Early on in my pregnancy, I started listening to a podcast about hypnobirthing and learned about the fear-tension-pain cycle. It was amazing to hear from women who said they had had pain free and fear free births and I knew I had to do a hypnobirthing course to try and prepare myself for labour and birth as much as I could so it was something I felt excited for rather than dread. I bought the PBC hypnobirthing course online in my second trimester and started working my way through the videos.

Following my 12 week scan I was sent a letter saying that I had low PAPP-A in my blood which has been linked to low birth weight and so I was told I would have extra scans at 33 and 37 weeks to monitor the wee one’s growth. The midwife explained the extra scans were very much a precaution and nothing to be worried about. I didn’t really feel worried and to be honest felt quite lucky I would get the chance to see him a couple of extra times 😍 My pregnancy progressed as normal and at my community midwife appointments at the GP and my 33 week growth scan at the hospital it was confirmed he was growing perfectly and was head down.

By the time my last growth scan came around when I was 37+1, my hospital bag was packed with my tea lights and essential oils, I was eating dates every day, listening to my positive affirmations every chance I got and reading the post it notes with them I had put all around my mirror, scheduling in time for perineum massage, doing my up breathing, bouncing on my birth ball and genuinely BUZZING to go into labour. The morning of the scan I had a bit of anxiety as I knew there was a possibility of induction being brought up if they were concerned about the baby’s growth between 33 and 37 weeks but I was excited to get the last scan out the way and, all going well, to be left to go into labour naturally.

Within the first minute of the scan, the sonographer casually said

“Oh the baby is head up” 😦 my actual response was “No!” And the sonographer just said “Yes” 😅😂😭 I was then told that the consultant would speak to me afterwards about what my options were. I was very much still in disbelief at this point as my baby had been head down at every single antenatal appointment. I asked the consultant if it was common for a baby to turn breech this late on in pregnancy and she said it definitely wasn’t common but it can happen. She then explained that they would like me to come back 2 days later to do an ECV and try and turn the baby. I asked what risks were associated with this and she said that it may just be a bit uncomfortable. I was directed to a leaflet online that had more information. She said if the ECV was not successful they would want to schedule me for a c section as this was the safest way to deliver a breech baby. My partner wasn’t with me at this appointment as he couldn’t get the time off work so his mum had come with me. I held it together until I was finally home alone and then I bawled my eyes out. I had gone to the appointment worried about induction being brought up and went home worried about ECVs and C-sections. I was so desperately upset about the prospect of the special, calm, natural birth I had put so much into preparing for being impossible for me.

Not going to lie, at this point I felt that I had wasted my time doing any prep at all and felt so silly for never considering all the possibilities of what might go wrong. I found these couple of days so difficult emotionally and felt dismissed by close family and friends who didn’t seem to think my birth plan changing so drastically was a big deal. I also had a lot of people saying “Oh babies can turn at the last minute” and I was just thinking... this is the last minute! I’m full term! Someone said that once the baby was here none of it would matter to me and they were right about that in the end, but at the time I really just needed some validation and to let myself feel the way I felt about mourning the birth I had wanted.

After a lot of using my B.R.A.I.N and doing my own research, I made the decision to have the ECV as I knew it was likely my only chance at still having a natural birth and I wanted to know I had tried. I found the ECV to be very painful and it was unsuccessful. After 3 attempts to turn him, my baby boy’s bum was still firmly wedged in my pelvis. I want to say here that everyone’s experience of an ECV is different and I know some people experience only mild discomfort - I don’t want to scare anybody unnecessarily. Although I found it painful I don’t regret doing it at all because I knew I had tried and afterwards felt a lot more at peace knowing my baby had a different plan. During the ECV I used my up breathing to keep me calm and afterwards when it hadn’t worked I remembered the affirmation - “my baby knows how and when to be born” and I knew at this point that the hypnobirthing course was the best thing I could have done to help me prepare for such a change in circumstances. After the ECV the doctor came and spoke to me and gave me the consent forms for the c section - it was scheduled for the 5th June. I asked lots of questions and the doctor was very patient and positive. He confirmed the baby would have delayed cord clamping, that I would have skin to skin as quickly as possible and would have the baby on me while I was stitched up and that we could have our own music playing in theatre.

I did a lot of research on vaginal breech delivery and it became clear that the main factor in the success of delivering a breech baby naturally was the experience and support of the staff supporting the person giving birth. I knew that the hospital I was giving birth in didn’t normally practice vaginal breech delivery and so I knew it was out of the question for me to have a natural birth. Knowing the risks associated with it would have given me too much anxiety to even try, and thanks to the PBC course I knew that having any anxiety going into labour would work against me, my body and my baby.

In the 2 weeks between finding out he was breech and my baby boy being born, I tried all the Spinning Babies exercises and old wives tips on how to turn a baby, one night my partner even helped me do handstands in the swimming pool 🤣 Ultimately none of these things worked but I knew I had done my best...

 ✨The birth✨

I barely slept the night before my section I was so excited and nervous. We deep cleaned the house, batch cooked and had a lovely dinner out together during the weekend before, it was a strange feeling knowing we would most likely have the baby the next day! We arrived at the hospital at 7am and were shown to a 4 bed ward - it was empty so we chose the bed by the window with the decent recliner chair for my partner. They took some blood tests and some numbers on me. A doctor came around shortly after and did a bedside scan to confirm the baby was still breech, I had mixed emotions at this point as I knew there was a tiny chance he could have moved but when they confirmed he hadn’t it suddenly became 100% certain that I was going to meet my baby that day and I’ve never felt anticipation like it.

Just before 10am our midwife came and said they were ready for us in theatre! My partner Ben got his scrubs on and I put on my hospital gown and compression socks and off we went to the theatre. There were a lot of people in the room and I was asked soo many times to confirm my name and date of birth. All the staff were so calm and compassionate, I felt so cared for and they explained everything as they were doing it. The thought of the spinal was so much scarier than the reality, I did start to feel a bit panicky as it started to take effect and I couldn’t feel anything but it was at this point that I asked them to turn on our playlist and as soon as I heard the first song I felt so calm with the familiarity of it and it gave me a wee sense of control which goes a long way when you feel so vulnerable! The anaesthetist was so reassuring and kept me updated on how things were progressing, my partner sat near my head holding my hand and I just looked at him while the medical team worked on getting my baby out 😍

Next thing we know the anaesthetist Peter said “That’s him out”. I couldn’t hear anything, and he quickly followed up by reassuring me that sometimes the babies are a bit stunned when they come out. The few seconds that followed were the longest of my life but then I heard my baby cry for the first time and it was the single most incredible moment of my life. I burst into tears instantly. After a few minutes, the baby’s cord was cut, my partner got to trim it and my baby boy was put on my chest for the first time. Because of the screen they put up he was very high up on my chest I couldn’t look at him properly but the minute he was put there he stopped crying and I remember just kissing his wee arm and feeling so grateful he was there safe and sound.

Members of the medical team also offered to take some photos for us which are amazing to have and I love looking at them! I had my baby the whole time I was being stitched up and only needed to give him to my partner briefly when they changed me over to the ward bed to take us away from the theatre. We could have only been in theatre about 40 minutes all together, and before we knew it we were back in our room as a new family of 3 🥰

Despite being devastated when I found out I would need to have a c section and my birth being so different to what I had envisioned, it was so incredibly positive that I have found myself wanting to do it all over again! I am so grateful for the knowledge and tools the PBC course gave me and I know it made a huge difference to how I was able to process those big changes late in my pregnancy and still feel empowered to make sure my birth was something I felt informed and positive about 💛

My recovery is going well and isn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be.

My baby boy Sonny is nearly 3 weeks old now and is a dream come true 🥰