Dimbo
Wishing on a star
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So, in summery baby Alexia was born at 1.34 on 18th October, the day after my OV due date, weighing 9lb 0.5oz at home with music, dim lights, and candles with my hubby there every step of the way, and 2 of the loveliest midwives I have ever met.
Sorry this is going to be a long one, so grab a cuppa before settling down
I had a sweep on the Thursday at 40+1 by the scan dates, but 39+4 by OV dates. I had some cramping/contractions in the evening, but that died off. I had a bloody show on the Friday about 24 hours after the sweep. This continued through Saturday, but no more contractions so thought that was it and Id end up with another sweep on Monday morning as had been arranged on the Thursday.
I had a bath in the evening on Saturday, and had what I thought were 3 contractions, but couldnt tell in the water. I didnt have any when I got out, so went to bed as usual. I woke at 12.55 on the Sunday morning with pains in my back, hips and a small amount of period pain. I went to the loo where I realised this might be it and had a bit of a wobble. I didnt think I could go ahead with the homebirth, or indeed even the whole birthing process. I went back to bed and woke DH and told him I thought this was it and I needed a cuddle for reassurance. We had a chat, put the tv on, and startred timing the contractions. They were coming every 3-8or 9 minutes with no set pattern. We put the tens on to help me through and decided hed get as much rest as possible. I tried to sleep but was also trying to time them and so didnt sleep much.
At 7 I woke DH as I was getting impatient and wanted his company and the contractions were stronger. We decided to ring the labour ward at about 9 to advise them, if nothing else to warn them that I was in labour and a home birther. They passed the details on to the community midwife who might pop round and see how I was going, or might call, or she might just wait for me to call back when they got more regular and painful.
At about 3 they started to get further apart, no matter what I was doing. Sitting, standing, swaying, dancing along with the music etc. I decided to try to nap through them in the chair as they were now more 10+ minutes apart. The contractions started to pick up and dropped about a minute with each one so I was soon 3 in 10. I called the labour ward at 4 and within half an hour midwife Karen was with us. She did an exam at 5 and I was 2cm, and she stretched me to 3-4 cm. I continued with the tens, but the contractions got stronger with the sweep. At about 7ish I went for a lie down to try to get some energy. Half hour later & I couldnt sit/lay down and decided to get in the pool. We had had the tv on but after a few minutes I didnt want the distraction any more so we put music on and lit candles and turned the lights down low.
After about an hour I needed the loo so got out and as it was almost 4 hours since my last exam Karen checked everything and did another sweep. I was 4cm, stretched to 5 with the sweep, and stretching 6-7 with a contraction. I got back in the pool and this is when they started getting much stronger. Up until then DH had been pottering around & just being there when I wanted something. Now I needed him pretty much constantly by my side to hold my through contractions. I was in the pool for the next couple of hours as the pain got worse. Karen called for the other midwife, and as she was on the phone I said I was fine. 5 Minutes later I started to push. I knew I shouldnt be yet so as I was pushing I let out a Iiiiiiimmmmmm Ppppppuuuuusssshhhhiiiiingggggggg!!!!!!!! Funny now, but I was really concerned at the time. It turns out that DH said Karen already knew by my breathing. She called the ward back and asked the second midwife to come now. I was asked if I wanted her to come straight here or pass by the hospital for G&A. I asked to swing by and get it.
The second midwife, Ali, turned up but to be honest I didnt really register anything other then she was wearing black and she was talking to Karen & hubby. At one point she was talking to Karen about her shoulder pain and Karen gave her some tablets to take. I remember getting to the end of that contraction and saying that I bet I was in more pain than she was. We all had a chuckle at that one.
This is all a bit of a blur now, but from memory I was examined a couple of times, and I remember Karen doing something really painful which I thought was sticking a chopstick up there. I was pretty out of it so didnt really register it til later when hubby said thats when they broke my waters. We he said that, the chopstick thought came flooding back and really made me laugh.
The baby had started to crown and Karen told me to feel her head. I was reluctant (not a conscious decision, I just didnt want to at the time) but they made me and I am so glad they did. It was amazing to feel her head. Karen also took some photos to show me how much was there already and how well I was doing to keep me going. However, I soon got tired and contractions started to get less frequent. Karen said I needed to eat, but my mouth was so dry I had to chew and then have swigs of water to swallow. I was then force fed 2 heaped spoonfuls of golden syrup. Normally yum, but when I was hardly with it and being force fed, not so nice! Anyway, it did the trick and contractions got closer together again.
At some point above they offered me G&A and I refused. DH was shocked at this and is still shocked now when we talk about it. They needed me to stand every now and then to check babys heart beat as they didnt have an underwater one, but I had so much pain in my hips I couldnt stand. I was also crippling hubby because hes so much taller than me and I wanted to hold round his neck to help take my weight, but this meant he was hanging onto my dead weight while leaning over. They asked me to get over the pool with one leg, but that didnt work either so I got onto the arm chair. I was laid/sat back with my legs pulled up and with each contraction I pulled on my legs. They told me the heartbeat was dropping and I needed to push her out now or they would cut me.
So with all my mite I pushed once more and the head was out. With the next contraction she was born and passed straight onto me. Its a feeling I will never forget. She was so warm and wet and so gorgeous feeling. The cord was short so she wasnt quite on my chest. The cord stopped pulsing, I was asked to feel it to confirm I was happy to have it cut, and Daddy cut the cord (something he said hed never do). She was trying to suckle, and Ali helped to get her positions, but she wouldnt quite latch. We had lots of photos taken at this time, and looking back now they are some of the most precious photographs I have ever seen. They wont be shown to many people thats for sure, but to see her entering this word is amazing!
It took an hour to deliver the placenta as my bladder was full but I had trouble emptying it. Daddy got skin to skin in this time and lots of cuddles with his little girlie. I went beck into the lounge to be examined and thats when Karen said thatd Id torn and it was too much for them to do at home and I might require surgery. They got me dressed and on the bed and we had about a 5 minute feed while everyone cleared up. The ambulance was called, and we transferred to hospital where I was told I had a 3rd degree tear than I needed surgery for. Hubby was left in the room with the baby and I was taken down to theatre. Everything was repaired down there, we had another feed in the delivery suite and then we were transferred to the ward. Unfortunately because of my stitches I needed to stay over night & have a bowel movement before they would let me go. However, next day we were discharged and we went home.
Shes feeding like a trooper, and other than some latch issues, which have been working on the last few days (totally Mummys fault for being uncoordinated) and hopefully we have sorted, she is fantastic.
My plan for a home birth was always a plan of labouring at home for as long as I could, and know I might need to transfer to have her. However, as long as I got at home the better, and if I managed to deliver her at home then itd be the icing on the cake. I think this attitude helped lots and would recommend anybody to go with the same approach. I also used breathing which I learned in pregnancy yoga, NCT classes and by listening to hypnobirthing cds (although I was terrible at listening to them and should have listened a whole lot more!). It also helped having my own relaxing music on the backgroud (although we only got to listen to 1 cd out of about 6 or so I had ready because I wouldnt let DH go long enough to change the cd and all he could do was reach over, turn the cd player off and on again)
I am also immensely proud that I gave birth to a little chubber at 9lb 0.5oz without any kind of pain relief.
Sorry this is going to be a long one, so grab a cuppa before settling down
I had a sweep on the Thursday at 40+1 by the scan dates, but 39+4 by OV dates. I had some cramping/contractions in the evening, but that died off. I had a bloody show on the Friday about 24 hours after the sweep. This continued through Saturday, but no more contractions so thought that was it and Id end up with another sweep on Monday morning as had been arranged on the Thursday.
I had a bath in the evening on Saturday, and had what I thought were 3 contractions, but couldnt tell in the water. I didnt have any when I got out, so went to bed as usual. I woke at 12.55 on the Sunday morning with pains in my back, hips and a small amount of period pain. I went to the loo where I realised this might be it and had a bit of a wobble. I didnt think I could go ahead with the homebirth, or indeed even the whole birthing process. I went back to bed and woke DH and told him I thought this was it and I needed a cuddle for reassurance. We had a chat, put the tv on, and startred timing the contractions. They were coming every 3-8or 9 minutes with no set pattern. We put the tens on to help me through and decided hed get as much rest as possible. I tried to sleep but was also trying to time them and so didnt sleep much.
At 7 I woke DH as I was getting impatient and wanted his company and the contractions were stronger. We decided to ring the labour ward at about 9 to advise them, if nothing else to warn them that I was in labour and a home birther. They passed the details on to the community midwife who might pop round and see how I was going, or might call, or she might just wait for me to call back when they got more regular and painful.
At about 3 they started to get further apart, no matter what I was doing. Sitting, standing, swaying, dancing along with the music etc. I decided to try to nap through them in the chair as they were now more 10+ minutes apart. The contractions started to pick up and dropped about a minute with each one so I was soon 3 in 10. I called the labour ward at 4 and within half an hour midwife Karen was with us. She did an exam at 5 and I was 2cm, and she stretched me to 3-4 cm. I continued with the tens, but the contractions got stronger with the sweep. At about 7ish I went for a lie down to try to get some energy. Half hour later & I couldnt sit/lay down and decided to get in the pool. We had had the tv on but after a few minutes I didnt want the distraction any more so we put music on and lit candles and turned the lights down low.
After about an hour I needed the loo so got out and as it was almost 4 hours since my last exam Karen checked everything and did another sweep. I was 4cm, stretched to 5 with the sweep, and stretching 6-7 with a contraction. I got back in the pool and this is when they started getting much stronger. Up until then DH had been pottering around & just being there when I wanted something. Now I needed him pretty much constantly by my side to hold my through contractions. I was in the pool for the next couple of hours as the pain got worse. Karen called for the other midwife, and as she was on the phone I said I was fine. 5 Minutes later I started to push. I knew I shouldnt be yet so as I was pushing I let out a Iiiiiiimmmmmm Ppppppuuuuusssshhhhiiiiingggggggg!!!!!!!! Funny now, but I was really concerned at the time. It turns out that DH said Karen already knew by my breathing. She called the ward back and asked the second midwife to come now. I was asked if I wanted her to come straight here or pass by the hospital for G&A. I asked to swing by and get it.
The second midwife, Ali, turned up but to be honest I didnt really register anything other then she was wearing black and she was talking to Karen & hubby. At one point she was talking to Karen about her shoulder pain and Karen gave her some tablets to take. I remember getting to the end of that contraction and saying that I bet I was in more pain than she was. We all had a chuckle at that one.
This is all a bit of a blur now, but from memory I was examined a couple of times, and I remember Karen doing something really painful which I thought was sticking a chopstick up there. I was pretty out of it so didnt really register it til later when hubby said thats when they broke my waters. We he said that, the chopstick thought came flooding back and really made me laugh.
The baby had started to crown and Karen told me to feel her head. I was reluctant (not a conscious decision, I just didnt want to at the time) but they made me and I am so glad they did. It was amazing to feel her head. Karen also took some photos to show me how much was there already and how well I was doing to keep me going. However, I soon got tired and contractions started to get less frequent. Karen said I needed to eat, but my mouth was so dry I had to chew and then have swigs of water to swallow. I was then force fed 2 heaped spoonfuls of golden syrup. Normally yum, but when I was hardly with it and being force fed, not so nice! Anyway, it did the trick and contractions got closer together again.
At some point above they offered me G&A and I refused. DH was shocked at this and is still shocked now when we talk about it. They needed me to stand every now and then to check babys heart beat as they didnt have an underwater one, but I had so much pain in my hips I couldnt stand. I was also crippling hubby because hes so much taller than me and I wanted to hold round his neck to help take my weight, but this meant he was hanging onto my dead weight while leaning over. They asked me to get over the pool with one leg, but that didnt work either so I got onto the arm chair. I was laid/sat back with my legs pulled up and with each contraction I pulled on my legs. They told me the heartbeat was dropping and I needed to push her out now or they would cut me.
So with all my mite I pushed once more and the head was out. With the next contraction she was born and passed straight onto me. Its a feeling I will never forget. She was so warm and wet and so gorgeous feeling. The cord was short so she wasnt quite on my chest. The cord stopped pulsing, I was asked to feel it to confirm I was happy to have it cut, and Daddy cut the cord (something he said hed never do). She was trying to suckle, and Ali helped to get her positions, but she wouldnt quite latch. We had lots of photos taken at this time, and looking back now they are some of the most precious photographs I have ever seen. They wont be shown to many people thats for sure, but to see her entering this word is amazing!
It took an hour to deliver the placenta as my bladder was full but I had trouble emptying it. Daddy got skin to skin in this time and lots of cuddles with his little girlie. I went beck into the lounge to be examined and thats when Karen said thatd Id torn and it was too much for them to do at home and I might require surgery. They got me dressed and on the bed and we had about a 5 minute feed while everyone cleared up. The ambulance was called, and we transferred to hospital where I was told I had a 3rd degree tear than I needed surgery for. Hubby was left in the room with the baby and I was taken down to theatre. Everything was repaired down there, we had another feed in the delivery suite and then we were transferred to the ward. Unfortunately because of my stitches I needed to stay over night & have a bowel movement before they would let me go. However, next day we were discharged and we went home.
Shes feeding like a trooper, and other than some latch issues, which have been working on the last few days (totally Mummys fault for being uncoordinated) and hopefully we have sorted, she is fantastic.
My plan for a home birth was always a plan of labouring at home for as long as I could, and know I might need to transfer to have her. However, as long as I got at home the better, and if I managed to deliver her at home then itd be the icing on the cake. I think this attitude helped lots and would recommend anybody to go with the same approach. I also used breathing which I learned in pregnancy yoga, NCT classes and by listening to hypnobirthing cds (although I was terrible at listening to them and should have listened a whole lot more!). It also helped having my own relaxing music on the backgroud (although we only got to listen to 1 cd out of about 6 or so I had ready because I wouldnt let DH go long enough to change the cd and all he could do was reach over, turn the cd player off and on again)
I am also immensely proud that I gave birth to a little chubber at 9lb 0.5oz without any kind of pain relief.
Sounds amazing, well done you xx
