marleypops
Expecting #2
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2011
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I know this is a little late but our baby girl arrived on 17th November... I wanted to pop on whilst the kids are asleep and post a bit of a birth story as we had such a positive home birth experience. So here goes...
On 16th Nov at around 4pm I started feeling cramps, they were different to the braxton hicks I had been feeling regularly and these cramps were mild, not particularly painful and coming every 10-15 minutes. They just started out of the blue and I remember thinking... I wonder if this is the start of things?! Sure enough the cramps kept coming and by 7pm, I was getting quite flush with each one although they were still fairly mild and not painful. My best friend/birthing partner text me to see if I was up for a day out with our toddlers the following day so I sent her a little message to say yeah but that I could be in early labour so to watch this space
A couple of hours later the contractions were 5 minutes apart lasting about 45 seconds to a minute but I was in complete denial that anything would come of it as I was not in any real discomfort. My best friend lives an hour away and said she would rather come over and sleep at mine just in case. I knew that the best thing to do would be to get some sleep but I was just too excited at the thought of having a baby pretty soon! I went to bed at around 11 after my friend arrived and popped some clary sage in the oil burner and settled down to watch some tv... at 4am the contractions were still regular and I was needing to focus a bit more on breathing through them so I thought it was probably a good time to give the midwife a heads up given that we had planned a home birth. A lovely midwife arrived just after 5am and checked me over telling me I was in established labour at 4cm... woop woop! Hubby was over 4 hours away in London so I got on the phone and told him to get a move on and come home - the baby is going to be here today!
The midwife left me to it with the help of my friend until she was just about to go off shift at 9am when she checked me over again and said I was up to 6cm. (for a second baby I was convinced things would happen faster but nope
) New midwives arrived and they were also extremely lovely and very happy to just leave me be with my friend working my way through the contractions. They advised me to use the tens machine which I gave in to eventually and by around 11am said I should try the gas & air which I was hoping not to need. I was coping really well just breathing and relaxing through the contractions but the gas was definitely a welcome distraction and helped me take deeper breaths with each one. My contractions had started to slow down and I was told I had to try to eat something... gosh eating made me want to throw up but it was the only thing I could do to get some strength to go through the final stages. By 12.45pm the midwife wanted to check me over again and she said I was 8-9cm but.... and I just knew it.... there was a 'lip' that I would need to get the baby round or wait for it to thin out. The same thing had happened with my first delivery and it had taken a further 4 hours to get that 'lip'out of the way. I was so disheartened. The midwife however reassured me that it could be easier than with my first and that I could push past it this time.
At 1pm my waters broke by themselves and I felt my baby pushing down into the birth canal (owwwch! lol) Three contractions later, some serious breathing and pushing and my baby had arrived!! Baby Sara was born at 1.15pm weighing a tiny 5lb 14.5oz... just one week earlier than due.
Hubby and I agreed on two children and I couldnt be more pleased with the experience I had giving birth to our daughter... if you're feeling confident enough to have a home birth, ladies, go for it!
Sorry for the long and detailed post xxx
On 16th Nov at around 4pm I started feeling cramps, they were different to the braxton hicks I had been feeling regularly and these cramps were mild, not particularly painful and coming every 10-15 minutes. They just started out of the blue and I remember thinking... I wonder if this is the start of things?! Sure enough the cramps kept coming and by 7pm, I was getting quite flush with each one although they were still fairly mild and not painful. My best friend/birthing partner text me to see if I was up for a day out with our toddlers the following day so I sent her a little message to say yeah but that I could be in early labour so to watch this space
A couple of hours later the contractions were 5 minutes apart lasting about 45 seconds to a minute but I was in complete denial that anything would come of it as I was not in any real discomfort. My best friend lives an hour away and said she would rather come over and sleep at mine just in case. I knew that the best thing to do would be to get some sleep but I was just too excited at the thought of having a baby pretty soon! I went to bed at around 11 after my friend arrived and popped some clary sage in the oil burner and settled down to watch some tv... at 4am the contractions were still regular and I was needing to focus a bit more on breathing through them so I thought it was probably a good time to give the midwife a heads up given that we had planned a home birth. A lovely midwife arrived just after 5am and checked me over telling me I was in established labour at 4cm... woop woop! Hubby was over 4 hours away in London so I got on the phone and told him to get a move on and come home - the baby is going to be here today! The midwife left me to it with the help of my friend until she was just about to go off shift at 9am when she checked me over again and said I was up to 6cm. (for a second baby I was convinced things would happen faster but nope
) New midwives arrived and they were also extremely lovely and very happy to just leave me be with my friend working my way through the contractions. They advised me to use the tens machine which I gave in to eventually and by around 11am said I should try the gas & air which I was hoping not to need. I was coping really well just breathing and relaxing through the contractions but the gas was definitely a welcome distraction and helped me take deeper breaths with each one. My contractions had started to slow down and I was told I had to try to eat something... gosh eating made me want to throw up but it was the only thing I could do to get some strength to go through the final stages. By 12.45pm the midwife wanted to check me over again and she said I was 8-9cm but.... and I just knew it.... there was a 'lip' that I would need to get the baby round or wait for it to thin out. The same thing had happened with my first delivery and it had taken a further 4 hours to get that 'lip'out of the way. I was so disheartened. The midwife however reassured me that it could be easier than with my first and that I could push past it this time. At 1pm my waters broke by themselves and I felt my baby pushing down into the birth canal (owwwch! lol) Three contractions later, some serious breathing and pushing and my baby had arrived!! Baby Sara was born at 1.15pm weighing a tiny 5lb 14.5oz... just one week earlier than due.
Hubby and I agreed on two children and I couldnt be more pleased with the experience I had giving birth to our daughter... if you're feeling confident enough to have a home birth, ladies, go for it!
Sorry for the long and detailed post xxx
