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Kate's Story
I woke up at 1.30am in pre-labour with mildcontractions...they were coming every 10 minutes and were very much like a
period pain cramp. I'd joked with my husband Mark that the baby (now 10 daysoverdue) was bound to arrive on my birthday and lo and behold it seemed asif things were starting. I was really excited and so couldn't sleep....I
woke Mark at 7am and told him I thought the baby was on its way and so he
called into work to tell them he was staying with me. I called my
independent midwife Andrea who told me to get some rest and that I would
know when I needed her. As it was my birthday I had lots of phone calls from
family and friends...I hadn't wanted anyone to know when I went into labour
so I had to lie to everyone and complain about how overdue I was!
The contractions just kept on coming very steadily but weren't changing in
frequency or strength. I spent the day with Mark and tried hard to ignore my
pre-labour which then stopped 20 hours later around 10pm. I called Andrea to
let her know and then around 20 mins after speaking to her I was almost
knocked off my feet by a contraction and then they started coming around
every 6 minutes and were much stronger. I waited 2 hours and then called
Andrea again to let her know and she said to call her again when they were
coming every 3 minutes and to get the birthing pool up and half filled. By
2am the contractions were coming thick and fast around every 3 minutes. The
birthing pool had been assembled and our front room looked ready for a
nuclear fallout- Mark had really gone to town and everything was covered in
tarpaulin, bin bags and dust sheets. Along with more frequent contractions I
found I was unable to stop shaking and asked Mark to call Andrea as I really
felt I needed her now. By the time she arrived at 2.30am the contractions
were coming every couple of minutes and were incredibly powerful. I was
making so much noise that she had heard me in our flats' car park! I
remember leaning over the sofa with Andrea and telling her that this wasn't
how I imagined it to feel....it felt more like a surge of power coursing
through my body than actual pain.
I got into the pool at around 3.30am and the relief was palpable...I felt
much calmer and I spent about 3 hours managing the contractions which were
increasing in intensity. Andrea told me to pee in the pool if I needed to
and I remember telling her that I didn't even like peeing in the sea!. I
actually had to get her and Mark to leave the room before I was able to let
go enough to do this...well the first time anyway!
By around 6.30 I felt that I needed to get out of the pool and put on a
nightie and my tens machine. Andrea offered me the option of an internal to
see how dilated I was...I agreed and was disappointed to learn I was only
5cm. I spent the next couple of hours managing the contractions with
Andrea's guidance and really focused on letting go and I was amazed to feel
how much easier it was to get through a contraction by relaxing into it
rather than tensing up. The contractions were coming every 2 minutes and
getting stronger so I decided to get back in the pool around 8am.
At 9am I was starting to flag so I asked Andrea to give me another internal
examination and was utterly dismayed to learn I was now only 6cm. Plus the
baby was coming down at a funny angle and the left side of my cervix had
thickened as a result. I got back into the pool and then around half an hour
later I decided that I couldn't handle the pain of the contractions anymore.
I had been awake since my pre-labour had started and so had now been up for
2 nights. I was physically exhausted and asked to go into Kingston Hospital
for an epiduraL. The hospital was only 5 mins drive away but it felt like
forever! At 10am Andrea & Mark half carried me into the maternity unit and I
felt a bit sorry afterwards for the pregnant women waiting for their scans
who saw (and heard!) me.
By 11am I had an epidural and for the first time in hours I felt ok. It was
a very light one and so I could still feel my legs. Luckily Jacqui- the
midwife assigned to me- knew Andrea and the two of them were happy to work
together. Jacqui gave me an internal examination and said I was 6 and half
cm... she suggested they broke my waters which she felt might help things
move along more quickly. Meanwhile Andrea showed Jacqui my birth plan which
I was so glad I had written out...I hadn't thought `I would need it as had
planned to have the baby at home with Andrea who already knew what I wanted-
but it meant that Jacqui could see what I had hoped for and I was really
pleased when Jacqui told me I could still have a natural third stage and we
discussed birthing positions with Andrea.
I spent a blissful and pain free 2 hours, sitting on the bed eating lots of
energy bars and then around 1.30pm I suddenly felt like I needed to do a
poo. Both Andrea & Jacqui were delighted and told me that was the baby and
re-assured me I wasn't going to poo. The epidural was starting to wear off
now and I began to feel the force of the contractions again. I got off the
bed and spent half an hour standing and leaning over the bed- managing the
contractions which were again increasing in intensity.
Around 2pm I was really feeling everything again but the fact that I knew
the baby was on its way now really kept me focused. I got back in the bed on
all fours and began pushing with the contractions. I spent about an hour
pushing and quickly learnt to focus on pushing through my bottom and also to
try and harness the incredible intensity of the contractions which were now
coursing through my body. At some point Andrea suggested that I could try
lying on my left side and I remember thinking that if I worked with it- my
body was going to deliver this baby. By 3pm I stopped making any noise and
followed Andrea's instruction to totally let go and soften my perineum and
to pant rather than push. All my energies became internally focused and Mark
said there was an almost eerie silence as he saw the baby's head crowning
and 6 minutes later our baby arrived and was put straight onto my stomach.
The room seemed to erupt with joy and Mark came and stood by me crying with
happiness. We both looked at this beautiful and serene child gazing up at us
and it took us 5 minutes before we even checked to see the gender...I lifted
the towel and saw we had a little girl- I had felt all along I was carryinga girl and had already named her Daisy. Funnily enough we hadn't been able
to
make up our minds about a boys name.
Daisy lay on my stomach for about 20 minutes until the umbilical cord
stopped pulsing, at which point Mark cut the cord. I was very relieved to
find out I wasn't going to need any stitches as I only had a couple of
grazes and a 1st degree tiny tear which had happened as she had birthed with
her left hand over her head (like superwoman!)
So I didn't get my home birth but all in all I got everything I wanted
thanks to the fantastic love, care and support of Andrea, Mark and (for thelast leg) Jacqui and more importantly gave birth to a beautiful and healthy
baby girl.
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