JenStar1976
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I’m very proud to announce that Alexander David James was born on his due date (Tuesday 12 January) at 10.14pm weighing 6lb 13 oz! We had just about enough time for him to be born in the pool at home as everything started to progress quicker than the midwives first thought!
Here’s my birth story for you all:
At 4.30am on 12 January I had my show and what I thought were just Braxton Hicks were coming about every 30-40 minutes (I’d been having them periodically during the previous 3 or 4 nights). We decided that Derek should go to work as normal as I really wasn’t sure if it was a false alarm or not. By midday I decided that they were real contractions as they were coming at 12-15 minute intervals and a little more intense. I rang Derek at work in London at 2.00pm asking him to come home. I put the TENS machine on at 2.30pm and Derek got home at 3pm. We spent the next couple of hours in the bedroom writing down the contraction times together. I was really relaxed throughout this period and I really think it was all down to the breathing techniques I’d learnt at my yoga sessions and also by listening to the Hypnobirthing CD a couple of weeks beforehand. By 7.40pm they were 4-5 minutes apart and getting really intense and we decided it was time to call the midwife (we’d initially been told to call the midwife either when contractions were 2-3 minutes apart or my waters had broken – whichever happened first). She arrived at 8.15pm where she told me that I was 6cm dilated already – she was quite shocked herself!!! It was then a mad rush to get everything ready downstairs – the pool had already been blown up about 10 days beforehand, so Derek just needed to lay down the shower curtains over the carpets and sofa and then start filling the pool (normally the midwives would recommend the pool being filled by the time someone was 4cm dilated). Our changing mat was set up as a makeshift resuscitation mat just in case, the weighing scales were on my coffee table and there were two canisters of gas and air out too. I came downstairs to see all of this at 9.30pm and the pool water wasn’t quite deep enough so I was kneeling over the sofa with the urge to push getting stronger. By 10.00pm the midwives were happy with the amount of water in the pool and asked me to get in. I was a bit anxious at first as it meant that I’d have to take off the TENS machine (which, by the way, I cannot recommend enough!!) and I didn’t want to have any gas and air in case I got too drowsy, but the water was so lovely and warm it was a relief to get in. Initially I was crouching forward, leaning over the side of the pool trying to push but then I moved so that I was leaning with my back against the side with Derek outside the pool behind me. It all happened so fast – it was about 4 or 5 pushes to get the baby out. I scooped him out of the water and had about 5 minutes of skin-to-skin before I got out to deliver the placenta naturally 12 minutes later. Derek cut the cord and then took the baby whilst I was stitched – I had tears inside and out and it took the midwife 1.5 hours to get it all finished!!!
We are both absolutley chuffed to bits with Alex. It's been hard the last few days - the recovery has really taken it out of me. Every day is getting slightly easier. Hormones are all over the place, but hopefully they will settle down soon.
Here's a link to my pictures on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=137945&id=656443239&l=e55c31d6ff
Here’s my birth story for you all:
At 4.30am on 12 January I had my show and what I thought were just Braxton Hicks were coming about every 30-40 minutes (I’d been having them periodically during the previous 3 or 4 nights). We decided that Derek should go to work as normal as I really wasn’t sure if it was a false alarm or not. By midday I decided that they were real contractions as they were coming at 12-15 minute intervals and a little more intense. I rang Derek at work in London at 2.00pm asking him to come home. I put the TENS machine on at 2.30pm and Derek got home at 3pm. We spent the next couple of hours in the bedroom writing down the contraction times together. I was really relaxed throughout this period and I really think it was all down to the breathing techniques I’d learnt at my yoga sessions and also by listening to the Hypnobirthing CD a couple of weeks beforehand. By 7.40pm they were 4-5 minutes apart and getting really intense and we decided it was time to call the midwife (we’d initially been told to call the midwife either when contractions were 2-3 minutes apart or my waters had broken – whichever happened first). She arrived at 8.15pm where she told me that I was 6cm dilated already – she was quite shocked herself!!! It was then a mad rush to get everything ready downstairs – the pool had already been blown up about 10 days beforehand, so Derek just needed to lay down the shower curtains over the carpets and sofa and then start filling the pool (normally the midwives would recommend the pool being filled by the time someone was 4cm dilated). Our changing mat was set up as a makeshift resuscitation mat just in case, the weighing scales were on my coffee table and there were two canisters of gas and air out too. I came downstairs to see all of this at 9.30pm and the pool water wasn’t quite deep enough so I was kneeling over the sofa with the urge to push getting stronger. By 10.00pm the midwives were happy with the amount of water in the pool and asked me to get in. I was a bit anxious at first as it meant that I’d have to take off the TENS machine (which, by the way, I cannot recommend enough!!) and I didn’t want to have any gas and air in case I got too drowsy, but the water was so lovely and warm it was a relief to get in. Initially I was crouching forward, leaning over the side of the pool trying to push but then I moved so that I was leaning with my back against the side with Derek outside the pool behind me. It all happened so fast – it was about 4 or 5 pushes to get the baby out. I scooped him out of the water and had about 5 minutes of skin-to-skin before I got out to deliver the placenta naturally 12 minutes later. Derek cut the cord and then took the baby whilst I was stitched – I had tears inside and out and it took the midwife 1.5 hours to get it all finished!!!
We are both absolutley chuffed to bits with Alex. It's been hard the last few days - the recovery has really taken it out of me. Every day is getting slightly easier. Hormones are all over the place, but hopefully they will settle down soon.
Here's a link to my pictures on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=137945&id=656443239&l=e55c31d6ff
