Laughing Girl
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Isla was born on the evening of Friday 16th April, at 40 weeks + 6 days.
We had chosen to have a home birth quite a while ago, partly because it really fit in with the introduction to this world we wished for our little girl, and partly because the feedback I had had from our local hospital was that at 40 years old, and this being our first baby, I would be very much directed towards a highly medical birth with a strong possibility of induction at 40 weeks. This was definitely not what we were hoping for.
All of my ante natal care was conducted at home by our local home birth team until 40 weeks, when I had to see the consultants at the hospital. I spend quite a lot of time fighting our corner and keeping off the induction list during the 41st week and at 40 weeks + 5 was feeling really despondent and down about our chances of having the birth we longed for.
I had been having acupuncture before and during my pregnancy, and had a particularly brutal session on 15th April to try and get things moving.
Early morning of 16th, I woke up to period kind of cramps which were quite uncomfy but nothing needing and paracetamol or anything like that. I got up though as I was feeling even more uncomfortable in bed than was usual during the last few weeks of pregnancy and got a heap of ironing done. I tried to find a pattern to the cramps but there didn't really seem to be one, so send my husband off to work as didn't really see the point of him wasting a day of his paternity leave.
My doula came round for a cup of tea at 11ish and by this time the cramps had completely disappeared.
1pm and I exchanged e mails with my pregnancy yoga teacher - I mentioned that I had been getting cramps and thought that this might be the very early stages of labour and that perhaps our baby might arrive Sunday or Monday. She agreed and warned me not to get too excited that anything much was happening but wished me a safe labour.
At 2.30pm or thereabouts, the cramps had come back and were a bit more regular. They were not to painful though and I could easily have a conversation through them. I posted a thread on B and B to ask if people though I ought to phone the midwife...........the general consensus seemed to be that it would be a good idea to give her the heads up that something might be happening over the next day or so, especially with it coming up to the weekend. So I gave her a call, we had quite a chat, and she told me to phone her back if my membranes broke or the cramps got so painful that I couldn't speak through them.
By 3.30pm they bloody hurt, and I phoned my husband to ask him to come home asap. By the time he got back home it was 4.30pm and I was beginning to struggle coping with what had become contractions. They seemed to be coming pretty quickly and were intense and lasted a minute. I asked Cam to phone our doula, and also the midwife - like everyone else, me included, he thought that we were hours, possibly days away from anything much actually happening.
All I could think of at this point was that if this was the beginning of labour, and being a first baby was likely to last for ages, how the hell was I going to get through it. Well, there was no way that I could manage, but the worst thing was, that I also couldn't have managed to get to the hospital either, so that didn't seem to be an option. I just thought that I was going to die if this birth was going to be a three day event like everyone had told me to expect.
Doula and midwife got to us at around 6.30 ish..............by this time, I honestly felt like I had taken the strongest Ecstasy in existance, but that it had gone horribly wrong.............my eyes were rolling back, I was in convulsions and I the peak of each contraction felt like my whole body was encased in a block of concrete. I just didn't know what to do with myself, so I did nothing and concentrated on just trying to let my body get on with it and me keep breathing somehow.
Nancy, our midwife, asked if she could examine me as soon as she arrived - I remember thinking oh bloody hell, she's going to have a feel and I am going to be half a cm or something like that and that will be the most demotivating news I have ever had.................I was 6cm - couldn't believe it!
The next hour was a blur with contractions coming back to back and at one point someone put a dressing gown cord round the handle of the door to our gas meter cupboard for me to pull on - I took all my contractions standing up as I couldn't bend my body to get down on all fours or even lean against a wall - I just had to be held upright whilst my body did its stuff. I pulled the door completely off its hinges and down it crashed, narrowly missing my head apparently, and causing an almighty commotion!!
8pm and midwife number 2 came round. I was told that my baby was almost here and couldn't take in what I was hearing. It took 17 minutes to push her out, which I did in a squatting position supported from behind by Cam. During this 17 mins, any modicum of dignity I had preserved thus far vanished - my membranes ruptured all over the futon that we had on the floor and out they came along with a huge amount of poo - mine, not the baby's - terrible but you know what, I could not have cared less.
Isla May came out gently, leaving me fully intact, bless her, after a 6hour 37 minute journey. Her cord stopped pulsating after about 15 mins and Cam cut it. Her placenta followed about 20 mins later which gave us a gorgeous getting to know you time with me holding her on my tummy and Cam talking to her from behind us. Once the placenta was checked I got in the bath as I was pretty bloody, and Cam and Isla had a lovely lovely few minutes.
By 9pm, the midwives and doula had cleaned up, packed up and gone home, leaving Isla, Cam and I in our home, quiet, contented and thrilled. Totally in love and very proud of what we had achieved.
We had chosen to have a home birth quite a while ago, partly because it really fit in with the introduction to this world we wished for our little girl, and partly because the feedback I had had from our local hospital was that at 40 years old, and this being our first baby, I would be very much directed towards a highly medical birth with a strong possibility of induction at 40 weeks. This was definitely not what we were hoping for.
All of my ante natal care was conducted at home by our local home birth team until 40 weeks, when I had to see the consultants at the hospital. I spend quite a lot of time fighting our corner and keeping off the induction list during the 41st week and at 40 weeks + 5 was feeling really despondent and down about our chances of having the birth we longed for.
I had been having acupuncture before and during my pregnancy, and had a particularly brutal session on 15th April to try and get things moving.
Early morning of 16th, I woke up to period kind of cramps which were quite uncomfy but nothing needing and paracetamol or anything like that. I got up though as I was feeling even more uncomfortable in bed than was usual during the last few weeks of pregnancy and got a heap of ironing done. I tried to find a pattern to the cramps but there didn't really seem to be one, so send my husband off to work as didn't really see the point of him wasting a day of his paternity leave.
My doula came round for a cup of tea at 11ish and by this time the cramps had completely disappeared.
1pm and I exchanged e mails with my pregnancy yoga teacher - I mentioned that I had been getting cramps and thought that this might be the very early stages of labour and that perhaps our baby might arrive Sunday or Monday. She agreed and warned me not to get too excited that anything much was happening but wished me a safe labour.
At 2.30pm or thereabouts, the cramps had come back and were a bit more regular. They were not to painful though and I could easily have a conversation through them. I posted a thread on B and B to ask if people though I ought to phone the midwife...........the general consensus seemed to be that it would be a good idea to give her the heads up that something might be happening over the next day or so, especially with it coming up to the weekend. So I gave her a call, we had quite a chat, and she told me to phone her back if my membranes broke or the cramps got so painful that I couldn't speak through them.
By 3.30pm they bloody hurt, and I phoned my husband to ask him to come home asap. By the time he got back home it was 4.30pm and I was beginning to struggle coping with what had become contractions. They seemed to be coming pretty quickly and were intense and lasted a minute. I asked Cam to phone our doula, and also the midwife - like everyone else, me included, he thought that we were hours, possibly days away from anything much actually happening.
All I could think of at this point was that if this was the beginning of labour, and being a first baby was likely to last for ages, how the hell was I going to get through it. Well, there was no way that I could manage, but the worst thing was, that I also couldn't have managed to get to the hospital either, so that didn't seem to be an option. I just thought that I was going to die if this birth was going to be a three day event like everyone had told me to expect.
Doula and midwife got to us at around 6.30 ish..............by this time, I honestly felt like I had taken the strongest Ecstasy in existance, but that it had gone horribly wrong.............my eyes were rolling back, I was in convulsions and I the peak of each contraction felt like my whole body was encased in a block of concrete. I just didn't know what to do with myself, so I did nothing and concentrated on just trying to let my body get on with it and me keep breathing somehow.
Nancy, our midwife, asked if she could examine me as soon as she arrived - I remember thinking oh bloody hell, she's going to have a feel and I am going to be half a cm or something like that and that will be the most demotivating news I have ever had.................I was 6cm - couldn't believe it!
The next hour was a blur with contractions coming back to back and at one point someone put a dressing gown cord round the handle of the door to our gas meter cupboard for me to pull on - I took all my contractions standing up as I couldn't bend my body to get down on all fours or even lean against a wall - I just had to be held upright whilst my body did its stuff. I pulled the door completely off its hinges and down it crashed, narrowly missing my head apparently, and causing an almighty commotion!!
8pm and midwife number 2 came round. I was told that my baby was almost here and couldn't take in what I was hearing. It took 17 minutes to push her out, which I did in a squatting position supported from behind by Cam. During this 17 mins, any modicum of dignity I had preserved thus far vanished - my membranes ruptured all over the futon that we had on the floor and out they came along with a huge amount of poo - mine, not the baby's - terrible but you know what, I could not have cared less.
Isla May came out gently, leaving me fully intact, bless her, after a 6hour 37 minute journey. Her cord stopped pulsating after about 15 mins and Cam cut it. Her placenta followed about 20 mins later which gave us a gorgeous getting to know you time with me holding her on my tummy and Cam talking to her from behind us. Once the placenta was checked I got in the bath as I was pretty bloody, and Cam and Isla had a lovely lovely few minutes.
By 9pm, the midwives and doula had cleaned up, packed up and gone home, leaving Isla, Cam and I in our home, quiet, contented and thrilled. Totally in love and very proud of what we had achieved.
your birth sounded as wonderful as mine x
I am so thrilled that you got the homebirth you wanted and so pleased it was quick for you - far quicker than mine!
that family picture is lovely. and she is absolutely gorgeous 
xx
xxx
you did so well hon 
