A
anothersquish
Guest
A whole amazing 18 days late Theo finally put in his apperance at 9:34 am on Tuesday 2nd February. I swear he just wanted a "cool" birthday!
Labour 'started' for me on Saturday 30th Jan when my waters broke around 6:45am. I was having irregular niggles etc all day on Sat and the same on Sun. Baby was monitored closely by an amazing team of midwives and a quick switch in hospital which I will forever be grateful for as it was only this switch that enabled me to have a homebirth.
On Monday 1st Feb we were due to drive the 40 minutes to my chosen hospital for an induction due to my waters having broken 48 hours before, however the car had a flat tire so we rang the hospital and it was agreed Id go in at 2pm once wed had the tire changed and in the meantime a midwife would pop out and check me and baby.
Midwife arrives just before lunch Monday and noted I was having good contractions around 6 minutes apart. She gave me another sweep and called the hospital to enquire whether I "had" to come in as I was over 4cm dilated and getting strongish regular contractions. The hospital, to my suprise, agreed that as long as baby showed no sign of distress and everything went smoothly that I could stick it out at home for another 24 hours, but that was my last chance!
Things went fairly slowly for the next few hours, it was when a new midwife came out and examined me she noted that his head was tilted on my cervix and she could easily push him up which released a small gush of water. So, at long last we had a reason as to why I hadnt been dilating properly and that really made me feel so, so much better. She assured me it was just a matter of time, bouncing on my ball and letting the contractions do their job.
Unfortunately for me all the contraction pain was right at the bottom of my bump and was incredibly intense, a completely different type of contraction pain that I had to the last one. The pain also did not go between contractions which made it pretty painful to move/stand/pee/talk or pretty much do anything. It was quite difficult in the wee hours of the morning as I was being hit by waves of tiredness and at one point I literally fell asleep between contractions on the ball, almost resulted in me falling off! Fortunately these waves did pass but it did make it fairly tough at one point I appreciated why so many women opt for epidurals as all I wanted to do was SLEEP, I was shivering, being sick and just felt exhausted. I am SO grateful to the wonderful midwives who always said exactly the right thing at the right time to keep me going. I spent most of the night on my ball and on my sofa to rest when I was exceptionally tired, due to the pain I was experiencing when trying to move walking did nothing for me except make me want to cry so other than nipping upstairs for a couple of wees I relied on my trusty gym ball to get the movement that was so important. The midwives offered encouragement in my breathing technique (breathe in hard through gritted teeth and puff out the cheeks and blow!) until I reached 8/9cm at 8:11am ( GMTV or something was on with a clock LOL!). At this point I was very tired as the contractions had been less than two minutes apart lasting a good minute to 90 seconds each so I made the decision to have some gas and air for the last "horrid" bit of dilation (the bit where you always say "I CANT do it!!") I sucked on the gas and air for an hour and then told the midwife the pain had transferred to my back a bit and I was feeling "pushy" she told me to go with what I felt so I just "allowed" a small push for a couple of contractions whilst the midwives got the last few bits ready. I only allowed enough push to stop the contractions being painful before I announced I was ready to have him out. I had ditched the gas and air when I started feeling 'pushy' as I knew from last time trying to suck gas and air whilst getting your chin in your chest and pushing is fecking impossible unless you are extremely talented (which Im not!)
I aimed for the sofa and got a massive push contraction so ended up on the floor with my knees about six miles apart, I had to feel where he was and to my suprise his head was only an inch and a half from crowing, think the midwives thought I was fibbing when I said "hes gonna crown now!!" Poor midwife literally had her hand on the floor bless her as I was determined I would get him to the point of crowning THAT contraction and would then breathe through his head coming out....fortunately she saw the funny side that I practically broke her arm by sitting on it! He did crown and I then did the ladylike bum up in the air trick and 'panted' quickly which delivered his head slowly, painful but I knew it was reducing my risk of tearing by doing so. Next contraction and he was born! I was pretty shocked it happened so quickly after all that!!
The midwife passed him straight between my legs to me which was magic, my OH was prancing about on the verge of tears, first thing I said was "Hes TINY!" Considering we had be warned to expect a big baby of well in excess of 10lb this teeny thing was a serious suprise! The midwives then helped me straight up onto the sofa as they knew I wanted skin to skin and to get him to the breast as quickly as possible. My OH sat next to me and I put baby on the breast within 2 minutes of birth. Amazingly (well, ok not...hes a boy!) he rooted and latched straight away and prooved to have some good suction going, his latch wasnt perfect but it was effective so I left him on to help with the placenta delivery.
The cord was left attached as per my instruction until the placenta was delivered (20 minutes, natural 3rd stage) and at that point I was ok for it to be cut so OH did the deed and then took baby whilst I reorganised into a slightly more comfortable position. I then had LO back for more skin to skin and BF, I was so happy that the midwives didnt take him from me to do anything at any point until I requested to know what he weighed!
It was then I realised I was starving and immediately demanded toast with marmite and a sugary cup of tea....HEAVEN! I had expected it to take a while for the hormones to wear off so that id be able to eat but it was practially instant. By 10am I had devoured four pieces of toast, a glass of apple juice and two sugary teas...much to the midwives amusement!
I had just a very minor vaginal wall graze thanks to Theos hand being where it shouldnt have been! I managed to stay upright throughout pushing and am sure this massively helped as did sticking my bottom in the air whilst he head came out very slowly.
I was really thirsty all through my labour which wasnt too suprising as we knew I was mildly dehydrated on Sunday but Ive been making up for it since, I couldnt tell you the amount of water Ive been drinking but its a serious amount! Also downed four bottles of isotonic drinks and had to send my poor OH out to fetch more!
Food is officially amazing and I hope other hyperemesis sufferers can do exactly the same, I feel 'alive' again for the first time in months, I havent been sick once since the birth and I actually ended up crying to OH about it as its such a massive relief not to have to go through that anymore.
My SPD is also already notably better. I am walking around with only minor discomfort and stairs dont seem like quite the evil things they did a couple of days ago. I will be seeing a physio just to go over some exersises I can introduce in a few days.
I have been invited to a Home Birth Evening at the local hospital in March to share my experience, should be good as it may provide encouragement to mums really wanting a homebirth whose partners/relatives etc are unsure. My OH wasnt convinced at first but he firmly said he would recommend it which may sway some other dads out there.
Im sure Ive missed things out but honestly everything went as I imagined it, with the exception of it taking weeks to dilate...but cant have everything!
I still cant get over the fact that I had the homebirth I had dreamed off. My last birth was far from what Id wanted and was terribly medical, the difference in how I feel and how labour (especially pushing stage) went is really noticeable. Its been brilliant to immediately have everything I know and love around me, all my clothes, my loo (I know that sounds silly but seriously your own loo is lovely!) everything for baby right here and most importantly my Oh by my side through every second. I know he feels he was more involved this time, that he could 'do' something rather than stand there twiddling his thumbs (even if it was to go fetch me dozens of glasses of water!) Hes been able to have a lot more contact with his little boy and its already given me a break a few times today for him to take him once hes fed, make sure hes wind free and set him down to sleep....start as you mean to go on no??!
As for how overdue baby is, fortunately he doesnt have any major problems at all. He does have dry skin and the longest fingernails EVER but otherwise he is healthy. He does appear slightly 'older' and he can easily lift his own head...but then he should have been born almost 3 weeks ago so its not that suprising!
So all in all hugely positive experience after everything that has happened in pregnancy, pregnancy was truely a nightmare so to top it off with a positive birth experience really helps!
Labour 'started' for me on Saturday 30th Jan when my waters broke around 6:45am. I was having irregular niggles etc all day on Sat and the same on Sun. Baby was monitored closely by an amazing team of midwives and a quick switch in hospital which I will forever be grateful for as it was only this switch that enabled me to have a homebirth.
On Monday 1st Feb we were due to drive the 40 minutes to my chosen hospital for an induction due to my waters having broken 48 hours before, however the car had a flat tire so we rang the hospital and it was agreed Id go in at 2pm once wed had the tire changed and in the meantime a midwife would pop out and check me and baby.
Midwife arrives just before lunch Monday and noted I was having good contractions around 6 minutes apart. She gave me another sweep and called the hospital to enquire whether I "had" to come in as I was over 4cm dilated and getting strongish regular contractions. The hospital, to my suprise, agreed that as long as baby showed no sign of distress and everything went smoothly that I could stick it out at home for another 24 hours, but that was my last chance!
Things went fairly slowly for the next few hours, it was when a new midwife came out and examined me she noted that his head was tilted on my cervix and she could easily push him up which released a small gush of water. So, at long last we had a reason as to why I hadnt been dilating properly and that really made me feel so, so much better. She assured me it was just a matter of time, bouncing on my ball and letting the contractions do their job.
Unfortunately for me all the contraction pain was right at the bottom of my bump and was incredibly intense, a completely different type of contraction pain that I had to the last one. The pain also did not go between contractions which made it pretty painful to move/stand/pee/talk or pretty much do anything. It was quite difficult in the wee hours of the morning as I was being hit by waves of tiredness and at one point I literally fell asleep between contractions on the ball, almost resulted in me falling off! Fortunately these waves did pass but it did make it fairly tough at one point I appreciated why so many women opt for epidurals as all I wanted to do was SLEEP, I was shivering, being sick and just felt exhausted. I am SO grateful to the wonderful midwives who always said exactly the right thing at the right time to keep me going. I spent most of the night on my ball and on my sofa to rest when I was exceptionally tired, due to the pain I was experiencing when trying to move walking did nothing for me except make me want to cry so other than nipping upstairs for a couple of wees I relied on my trusty gym ball to get the movement that was so important. The midwives offered encouragement in my breathing technique (breathe in hard through gritted teeth and puff out the cheeks and blow!) until I reached 8/9cm at 8:11am ( GMTV or something was on with a clock LOL!). At this point I was very tired as the contractions had been less than two minutes apart lasting a good minute to 90 seconds each so I made the decision to have some gas and air for the last "horrid" bit of dilation (the bit where you always say "I CANT do it!!") I sucked on the gas and air for an hour and then told the midwife the pain had transferred to my back a bit and I was feeling "pushy" she told me to go with what I felt so I just "allowed" a small push for a couple of contractions whilst the midwives got the last few bits ready. I only allowed enough push to stop the contractions being painful before I announced I was ready to have him out. I had ditched the gas and air when I started feeling 'pushy' as I knew from last time trying to suck gas and air whilst getting your chin in your chest and pushing is fecking impossible unless you are extremely talented (which Im not!)
I aimed for the sofa and got a massive push contraction so ended up on the floor with my knees about six miles apart, I had to feel where he was and to my suprise his head was only an inch and a half from crowing, think the midwives thought I was fibbing when I said "hes gonna crown now!!" Poor midwife literally had her hand on the floor bless her as I was determined I would get him to the point of crowning THAT contraction and would then breathe through his head coming out....fortunately she saw the funny side that I practically broke her arm by sitting on it! He did crown and I then did the ladylike bum up in the air trick and 'panted' quickly which delivered his head slowly, painful but I knew it was reducing my risk of tearing by doing so. Next contraction and he was born! I was pretty shocked it happened so quickly after all that!!
The midwife passed him straight between my legs to me which was magic, my OH was prancing about on the verge of tears, first thing I said was "Hes TINY!" Considering we had be warned to expect a big baby of well in excess of 10lb this teeny thing was a serious suprise! The midwives then helped me straight up onto the sofa as they knew I wanted skin to skin and to get him to the breast as quickly as possible. My OH sat next to me and I put baby on the breast within 2 minutes of birth. Amazingly (well, ok not...hes a boy!) he rooted and latched straight away and prooved to have some good suction going, his latch wasnt perfect but it was effective so I left him on to help with the placenta delivery.
The cord was left attached as per my instruction until the placenta was delivered (20 minutes, natural 3rd stage) and at that point I was ok for it to be cut so OH did the deed and then took baby whilst I reorganised into a slightly more comfortable position. I then had LO back for more skin to skin and BF, I was so happy that the midwives didnt take him from me to do anything at any point until I requested to know what he weighed!
It was then I realised I was starving and immediately demanded toast with marmite and a sugary cup of tea....HEAVEN! I had expected it to take a while for the hormones to wear off so that id be able to eat but it was practially instant. By 10am I had devoured four pieces of toast, a glass of apple juice and two sugary teas...much to the midwives amusement!
I had just a very minor vaginal wall graze thanks to Theos hand being where it shouldnt have been! I managed to stay upright throughout pushing and am sure this massively helped as did sticking my bottom in the air whilst he head came out very slowly.
I was really thirsty all through my labour which wasnt too suprising as we knew I was mildly dehydrated on Sunday but Ive been making up for it since, I couldnt tell you the amount of water Ive been drinking but its a serious amount! Also downed four bottles of isotonic drinks and had to send my poor OH out to fetch more!
Food is officially amazing and I hope other hyperemesis sufferers can do exactly the same, I feel 'alive' again for the first time in months, I havent been sick once since the birth and I actually ended up crying to OH about it as its such a massive relief not to have to go through that anymore.
My SPD is also already notably better. I am walking around with only minor discomfort and stairs dont seem like quite the evil things they did a couple of days ago. I will be seeing a physio just to go over some exersises I can introduce in a few days.
I have been invited to a Home Birth Evening at the local hospital in March to share my experience, should be good as it may provide encouragement to mums really wanting a homebirth whose partners/relatives etc are unsure. My OH wasnt convinced at first but he firmly said he would recommend it which may sway some other dads out there.
Im sure Ive missed things out but honestly everything went as I imagined it, with the exception of it taking weeks to dilate...but cant have everything!
I still cant get over the fact that I had the homebirth I had dreamed off. My last birth was far from what Id wanted and was terribly medical, the difference in how I feel and how labour (especially pushing stage) went is really noticeable. Its been brilliant to immediately have everything I know and love around me, all my clothes, my loo (I know that sounds silly but seriously your own loo is lovely!) everything for baby right here and most importantly my Oh by my side through every second. I know he feels he was more involved this time, that he could 'do' something rather than stand there twiddling his thumbs (even if it was to go fetch me dozens of glasses of water!) Hes been able to have a lot more contact with his little boy and its already given me a break a few times today for him to take him once hes fed, make sure hes wind free and set him down to sleep....start as you mean to go on no??!
As for how overdue baby is, fortunately he doesnt have any major problems at all. He does have dry skin and the longest fingernails EVER but otherwise he is healthy. He does appear slightly 'older' and he can easily lift his own head...but then he should have been born almost 3 weeks ago so its not that suprising!
So all in all hugely positive experience after everything that has happened in pregnancy, pregnancy was truely a nightmare so to top it off with a positive birth experience really helps!
Fantastic birth story! So so happy for you, it sounds brilliant. 
