I love talking about the birth of my DD and I'd love to hear your birth stories too!
So originally, I was booked in to be induced. I'd had my growth scan on the Wednesday only to be met with a puzzled face from the nurse. She'd asked if I'd lost any water to which I'd replied nope, definitely not. She said the water had reduced ever so slightly and she couldn't work out why. She also said baby hadnt gained any weight since I last had a scan so they might want to induce me. The doctor I saw next confirmed that yes, I'd need inducing however as I was already 1cm dilated, they'd give me a sweep which would hopefully move things along naturally. I was booked in for the Saturday to have the pessary (can't remember the name of it!) and then if she didn't come on the Saturday, I'd be properly induced on the Sunday.
To say I was dreading it was an understatement. I'd heard from friends and family that being induced was a lot more painful than natural labour as its a case of "from zero to 60" in terms of the pain. So, I did everything in my power to try and shift her myself 😂 I was determined to go into labour naturally so I tried everything. It got to the Friday and I still had no signs of labour, I was truly fed up. I decided to sit on my birthing ball and do some very vigorous bouncing while watching Hollyoaks.
Within maybe 15 minutes, I started to feel a tiny bit of cramping. I'd been having Braxton Hicks so I just assumed it was that. I kept up with the bouncing and a few minutes later, I got another twinge but slightly more stronger. I texted my Mam who said to keep timing them which I did. Lo and behold, they started appearing every 5/6 minutes. I rang the Labour Ward to let them know. They told me to pop a couple of paracetamol and have a nice bath as the contractions were too far apart for them to do anything. So I followed their advice and jumped in the bath. It felt like the contractions were ramping up at this point - they got to the point where I couldn't talk through them so I had my partner ring the ward again because I genuinely thought "I can't do this" 😂 Again, they said the contractions need to be closer together so I could either wait it out at home or I could go in, get some pain relief and go home. I chose to wait it out as I live a fair distance from the hospital and didn't want to pay double the amount of taxi fares (I know, I'm cheap 😂)
By this point, it was around 11pm and my Mam had come over to help me through it. I say help me through it, she decided to do the dishes for me while I paced the house wailing like a ghost...every little helps! 😂
The contractions started to come on thick and fast at this point, which is when my Mam decided it was time to grab my bag and head to the hospital. I think even at this point, I was in denial that I was in labour 😂
I got to the hospital where the midwife checked to see how dilated I was. Turns out I was already 6cm! I was super proud for getting that far on my own however I desperately needed gas and air cos like hell I was doing the other 4cm without it! I didn't want any other kind of medication as I have a lot of anxiety when it comes to stuff like that so I just stuck with the gas and air. It worked really well for me - it helped me concentrate on taking big deep breaths instead of focusing on the pain.
I must have only been there for around an hour and a half when I started to feel like I needed to push. It's honestly the most surreal feeling in the world. It's like your body takes over for you! I did, however, get told off for using the gas and air too much instead of pushing so they took it off me 😂 I basically raw-dogged the rest of the birth. I won't ever forget the feeling of her head coming out - I don't think I've ever screamed as much and as loud as I did that day. It does really really hurt but for me, it was only for a few seconds and then it stopped once her head was out. You've just gotta push through it!
I did one final push and she was out. It's so funny though, because she came out looking absolutely shell shocked. As if she was like "how the hell did I get out here?!". I even asked the midwife if she was okay because she was just staring around the room in silence. The midwife said "totally fine she's just being nosey" 😂
We did have to stay in for a couple of nights just because she was a bit jaundice and she wasn't feeding as much as they'd like her to. But it meant not needing to figure out what's for tea every day cos I was being fed some lovely NHS meals so I wasn't complaining 😂
I'd love to hear your birth stories! Good you liked reading mine :)