Birth story - Zahirah and baby Celestia

I went to bed at 11pm, I had a dull ache around my lower back & front but I’d felt that before so thought nothing of it.

At 2.15am I got a really strong contractions & by 2.30 I figured it was the real deal & I was definitely in labour.

I rang up the labour ward & whilst on the phone I was contracting again & it was happening faster each time.

Harriet, my midwife, rang me at 2.50 to see how far apart the contractions were & at first she was planning on coming later but my contractions got quicker just while talking to her so she said “I’m on my way.”

They progressed to less than 3 mins apart in the space of 1/2 an hour.

I just about managed to put the towels & blankets down on the bedroom floor & I ran a bath.

I think Harriet arrived at 3.50am & then I hopped out the bath & went to my bedroom.

I was on my hands & knees doing deep breathing as well as I could whilst leaning on a bean bag I made for this occasion.

A few drops of blood came out which concerned Harriet & she recommended going to hospital but then my waters broke so I told her “I’m not going anywhere” as I knew the baby was coming now.

I was crowning, this part stung.

Harriet told me she could see my baby’s eyes, nose, mouth… I reached down with my hand & could feel her head of hair.

My midwife told me to lift up a bit more to allow room for the baby to come out.

Her head was out for a while & she wiggled around before she decided to fully emerge.

Out she came & Harriet helped me to grab her & bring her up to my chest.

It was absolutely amazing!

I was so alert & fully aware & physically able to do everything. It was a blessing.

My baby was very calm & wasn’t crying until Harriet rubbed her a bit with a towel. Celestia obviously didn’t like it & cried just a tiny bit.

We waited over an hour for the placenta to come out & it was quite uncomfortable still contracting & I wanted to focus on Celestia so I had an oxytocin injection & delivered the placenta.

Whilst I held my baby, Harriet tied the cotton tie around the umbilical cord & cut it.

I had 2 small grazes in my privates, as they weren’t serious or bleeding much I decided to have no stitches & let it heal naturally.

My oldest daughter, mum & sister were downstairs waiting for the new arrival which was nice.

My recovery has been great & rapid. No complaints at all.

For my birth I had planned on playing music, the Freya app, put the essential oils on etc but everything happened so quick I did non of that.

It was an incredible birth & I feel sooooo blessed!