Freya
Toddler and baby
- Joined
- May 14, 2008
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Hi all,
Well I'll try and keep it brief.....
So this was my second pregnancy and having done my research, and thanks to so many lovely and knowledgeable ladies on B & B, I decided a home birth was for me and I wanted a birth pool to labour in and possibly birth in. Had a few initial barriers faced by my local silly midwife, mainly because she thought I may be GBS+ because of the early rupture of membranes I had with DD1. Hmmmmm.... However other midwives I spoke to on the team were positive and despite them reeling off their policy about what they needed to recommend if X Y and Z happened, they ultimately said, it'll be your home so we will follow what you would like.
FAB! Birth pool bought, oils bought, RLT, hypnobirthing refresher, energy snacks and drinks bought, towels cleaned and ready, tarp in position ready to go!
Since a week prior to labour I felt pressure, tightening cervix pokes etc so had a feeling I wouldn’t be going over (not that I did with DD1 either). Sure enough, 7 days later through the night I felt harder pressure, pokes and some period pain. I was so tired though, I know you can relate to the three loo trips a night! So I kept dropping off
About 5.30am I woke and thought hmmmm these period pains are waxing and waning so, as per the modern world, I grabbed my iphone and used the contraction timer app! Sure enough they were regular ish enough but varied in length from 20 seconds to 45. Thought I was going to be in for the long haul and lay there just breathed them away. By the time 6.30 came, my OH woke up and I told him to get ready but not to rush, so he pottered about and put the pool up. I kept upright and active (put a load of washing on, as you do) but the intensity was stepping up quickly. I called the home birth team to let them know, and despite me thinking they would say call us later..... they said they were sending someone right away.
The midwife arrived and wanted to examine me, I joked and said did we have to as I’m bound to be only 2 cm dilated. Sure enough she said 3 cm
Told her I was gutted, and no doubt had a long day ahead. She was quick to say she didn’t think so and that I’d have my baby by lunch time! I was surprised, and oddly cheered at the thought. 10 minutes after that she was on the phone to a colleague asking where she was as I was close..... through contractions i was bewildered at the sense of urgency. Surely we’d be here a while?
The only real issue was my DD1. She’s 2 years 8 months and I had taken the decision for her not to attend. While we were waiting for her to be picked up, she found me contracting difficult to deal with, and she got upset, which worried me. I was glad she was picked up and was happy to trot off to the park!
Barely filled the pool by the time the 2nd midwife arrived and they said it was too hot, I got in anyway while my poor OH was running back and forth with buckets emptying the pool and adding the cold. At this point the midwife said she was popping to the car to get the entanox should I need it. The minute she left I felt a pop sensation and panicked calling for her to come back....... my waters hadn’t gone like that before so I had no idea what it was lol. 2nd Midwife arrived and immediately took my hand at the side of the pool and reminded me to breath, she offered the entanox (I had wanted to leave it til the last minute.... turned out, this was the last minute), I felt the urge to push and went with it. The midwives were very respectful and had said for me to go with what my body wanted, so I did and within 4 pushes DD2 had arrived. The midwives guided me around the delicate head birthing bit, but I found the pushing urge quite overwhelming this time and found it hard to ‘pull back’ when told. The only downside was they wanted me to flip onto my back in the pool so baby could be born then whipped onto my chest, but I was happy on my knees! but did as they wanted and out she popped. It was lovely! 7lb 9oz, blonde and lovely at 39 weeks gestation.
Physiological third stage done on dry land, just felt I couldn’t keep baby comfortable in the water and I felt ready to get out. It didn’t take too long, about 20 minutes. Small contractions, and it was over and all intact – I couldn’t have asked for better.
Second degree tear repaired (gutted as could have controlled myself better really) Vitamin K drops given, towels and cuddles. Early breast feed went well. Midwives left us to relax, and completed their notes in another room. The notes said I was in labour a total of 4 hours 10, pushing for 20 minutes. A HUGELY different labour length to my 1st. Apparently I only used ¼ of a can of Entanox!
Sun shining all day, oh, me and DD2 relaxed and snoozed for the afternoon then mum returned DD1 and bought round a spag bol for us all to enjoy.
Still on a complete high. I’ll share what I think really helped me achieve the birth I hoped for:
Well I'll try and keep it brief.....
So this was my second pregnancy and having done my research, and thanks to so many lovely and knowledgeable ladies on B & B, I decided a home birth was for me and I wanted a birth pool to labour in and possibly birth in. Had a few initial barriers faced by my local silly midwife, mainly because she thought I may be GBS+ because of the early rupture of membranes I had with DD1. Hmmmmm.... However other midwives I spoke to on the team were positive and despite them reeling off their policy about what they needed to recommend if X Y and Z happened, they ultimately said, it'll be your home so we will follow what you would like.
FAB! Birth pool bought, oils bought, RLT, hypnobirthing refresher, energy snacks and drinks bought, towels cleaned and ready, tarp in position ready to go!
Since a week prior to labour I felt pressure, tightening cervix pokes etc so had a feeling I wouldn’t be going over (not that I did with DD1 either). Sure enough, 7 days later through the night I felt harder pressure, pokes and some period pain. I was so tired though, I know you can relate to the three loo trips a night! So I kept dropping off
About 5.30am I woke and thought hmmmm these period pains are waxing and waning so, as per the modern world, I grabbed my iphone and used the contraction timer app! Sure enough they were regular ish enough but varied in length from 20 seconds to 45. Thought I was going to be in for the long haul and lay there just breathed them away. By the time 6.30 came, my OH woke up and I told him to get ready but not to rush, so he pottered about and put the pool up. I kept upright and active (put a load of washing on, as you do) but the intensity was stepping up quickly. I called the home birth team to let them know, and despite me thinking they would say call us later..... they said they were sending someone right away. The midwife arrived and wanted to examine me, I joked and said did we have to as I’m bound to be only 2 cm dilated. Sure enough she said 3 cm
Told her I was gutted, and no doubt had a long day ahead. She was quick to say she didn’t think so and that I’d have my baby by lunch time! I was surprised, and oddly cheered at the thought. 10 minutes after that she was on the phone to a colleague asking where she was as I was close..... through contractions i was bewildered at the sense of urgency. Surely we’d be here a while? The only real issue was my DD1. She’s 2 years 8 months and I had taken the decision for her not to attend. While we were waiting for her to be picked up, she found me contracting difficult to deal with, and she got upset, which worried me. I was glad she was picked up and was happy to trot off to the park!
Barely filled the pool by the time the 2nd midwife arrived and they said it was too hot, I got in anyway while my poor OH was running back and forth with buckets emptying the pool and adding the cold. At this point the midwife said she was popping to the car to get the entanox should I need it. The minute she left I felt a pop sensation and panicked calling for her to come back....... my waters hadn’t gone like that before so I had no idea what it was lol. 2nd Midwife arrived and immediately took my hand at the side of the pool and reminded me to breath, she offered the entanox (I had wanted to leave it til the last minute.... turned out, this was the last minute), I felt the urge to push and went with it. The midwives were very respectful and had said for me to go with what my body wanted, so I did and within 4 pushes DD2 had arrived. The midwives guided me around the delicate head birthing bit, but I found the pushing urge quite overwhelming this time and found it hard to ‘pull back’ when told. The only downside was they wanted me to flip onto my back in the pool so baby could be born then whipped onto my chest, but I was happy on my knees! but did as they wanted and out she popped. It was lovely! 7lb 9oz, blonde and lovely at 39 weeks gestation.
Physiological third stage done on dry land, just felt I couldn’t keep baby comfortable in the water and I felt ready to get out. It didn’t take too long, about 20 minutes. Small contractions, and it was over and all intact – I couldn’t have asked for better.
Second degree tear repaired (gutted as could have controlled myself better really) Vitamin K drops given, towels and cuddles. Early breast feed went well. Midwives left us to relax, and completed their notes in another room. The notes said I was in labour a total of 4 hours 10, pushing for 20 minutes. A HUGELY different labour length to my 1st. Apparently I only used ¼ of a can of Entanox!
Sun shining all day, oh, me and DD2 relaxed and snoozed for the afternoon then mum returned DD1 and bought round a spag bol for us all to enjoy.
Still on a complete high. I’ll share what I think really helped me achieve the birth I hoped for:
- The lovely ladies in the Natural and Homebirth section sharing their positivity, having my pelvis aligned by a chiropractor prior to labour,
- hypnobirthing,
- reading Ina May Gaskin, Michael Odent, and LeBoyer,
- having confidence to listen to my body,
- having a supportive family (even though they had concerns with my homebirth),
- and very importantly.... avoided reading birth stories with the words ‘traumatic’ and ‘horrific’ in the title – eeeeek!
Sounds so relaxing and natural xx
