sez
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Okay, I think this might be a long one! So it all started when I woke up at 4am on Friday 14th January with mild contractions. I was due on the 11th January, so by this point I was 3 days late. Stayed in bed and managed through them until about 7am when I woke up hubby to tell him I think things had started! We started to time contractions and they were every 4 mins lasting about 40 seconds but were not too painful to begin with. Had a bounce on my ball to try get things to progress and went for a little walk but things seemed to slow down by 10am which left me really disappointed that it was a false alarm. My Mum came round for lunch at about 12pm which had been planned all week and we had a sandwich and I continued to bounce on my ball and walk around. By about 1.30pm things started to get going again and the contractions were back to 4-5 mins apart lasting 40-50 seconds, but unlike earlier in the morning they were much stronger and I could not talk through them. So after some persuading from hubby and Mum, I called the hospital for advice at about 2pm. My biggest worry was going in and getting sent home so I think that was in the back of my mind when I rang up. They suggested we pop into the antenatal day unit to get checked out (rather than the labour ward) so off we went. Was sat in a waiting room contracting which was not ideal as there were other pregnant ladies who were only early on in pregnancy looking at me and freaking out haha So they popped us in a separate room whilst I waited to be seen. The midwife came in and checked me (which was not pleasant I might add!) and to my suprise I was 4cm! By this time it was about 3pm and they said that I was not to go home but to go up to the labour ward! Reality kicked in that I might have my baby today or tomorrow and I was so excited rather than being nervous. After getting sent up to the labour ward I was offered the only room in our hospital with a birthing pool which, when I look back, I don’t think I would have been able to do it without! So at 4pm I was in the pool and contracting very strongly. By 5pm I was on the gas and air but not excessively as it made me very light headed and sick (which is strange because I have had gas and air before and it did not make me feel like that) Over the next couple of hours the pain got more and more intense and the contractions went into my back which I think was the worst part as it was much more painful. Hubby and the midwife were amazing though and coached me through it and really gave me confidence that I could do it. I remember going through the stage you hear about where you say you cannot do it anymore and I was asking for pain relief as it was so painful... but the midwife kept me on track and said it was a sign I was nearing the pushing stage so I kept puffing on the gas and air just as I felt a contraction coming on and then shouted/groaned through the worst of the contractions. I look back now and think its amazing that my body knew when to push and how it completely took over and did what it needed to do. The pushing stage lasted about 20-30 mins (so my hubby tells me as I was pretty out of it at this point and in my own little world going with my contractions) I could feel the babys head getting lower and lower and the pains got more intense (as did my moans! Haha) Then I had the ‘ring of fire’ that you read about which I felt more towards the top around my clitoris than at the bottom near your perinuim. By this point I wanted the contractions to be over so I think this made me push harder. I remember feeling the baby s heading coming part the way out as I pushed then going back in which was a strange sensation. But I pushed, and pushed with no gas and air at this point (as I found it better biting on a towel and squeezing hubbys hand!) and she was born in the water. Had my beautiful baby girl Katie Louise at 7.57pm on the 14th January 2011. She weighed exactly 8lbs. I had grazing and a small tear but did not need any stitches 
We had skin to skin contact for 30 mins in the pool whilst waiting for the placenta to be born. I was not given any injection to encourage this... And the cord was left to pulsate before my husband cut it. Everything about the birth was natural which I am so pleased about as Katie was so relaxed when she arrived. I had none of the things you see on the tv where they drag the baby out of you and off to be weighed and cleaned etc. So for the whole 4 hours I was in hospital I was in the birthing pool and in this time went from 4cm to fully dilated in that time which I think is pretty good going. Katie was put on my breast within minutes of being born, and whilst she did not feed at first, the natural reflex was still there and she definitely could tell they were there as she snuggled up to them! So my total labour time from my first ‘twinge’ at 4am was 16 hours. Also I would like to point out that I had absolutely NO signs of impending labour previous to this. I lost both my plug and show in labour whilst I was in the pool and my waters went about 45 mins before she was born. The day before I went into labour I had been bouncing on my ball, had a long walk and 3 days before we DTD 
Here is a proffesional picture of her a week old... cannot believe she is 3 weeks old today! Don’t know where the time has gone! I know everyone says it, but all the pain was 100% worth it and I am loving being a Mummy to my beautiful little girl! xxx
We had skin to skin contact for 30 mins in the pool whilst waiting for the placenta to be born. I was not given any injection to encourage this... And the cord was left to pulsate before my husband cut it. Everything about the birth was natural which I am so pleased about as Katie was so relaxed when she arrived. I had none of the things you see on the tv where they drag the baby out of you and off to be weighed and cleaned etc. So for the whole 4 hours I was in hospital I was in the birthing pool and in this time went from 4cm to fully dilated in that time which I think is pretty good going. Katie was put on my breast within minutes of being born, and whilst she did not feed at first, the natural reflex was still there and she definitely could tell they were there as she snuggled up to them! So my total labour time from my first ‘twinge’ at 4am was 16 hours. Also I would like to point out that I had absolutely NO signs of impending labour previous to this. I lost both my plug and show in labour whilst I was in the pool and my waters went about 45 mins before she was born. The day before I went into labour I had been bouncing on my ball, had a long walk and 3 days before we DTD Here is a proffesional picture of her a week old... cannot believe she is 3 weeks old today! Don’t know where the time has gone! I know everyone says it, but all the pain was 100% worth it and I am loving being a Mummy to my beautiful little girl! xxx
xx
