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LONG Home Birth Story
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I'd had a sweep on the Wednesday (7days over) and Friday (9 days over) and I was 11 days overdue on the Sunday, I'd been having painless tightening since the first sweep.
Woke at 3am on Sunday morning with mild period type pains, I timed them in bed for 2 hours and realised that they were coming every 10mins and lasting 30seconds. After 2 hours I got out of bed, decided not to wake hubby and went downstairs to use a contraction timer on the laptop and bounce on my ball. I timed them for another hour and they were still every 10mins, so I decided to go and wake up hubby so that we could start organising the living room for the birth (he had an extensive to do list to get through!).
I was due to go for my third sweep at 9.30am, so decided at 8.30am to call the MLU and say that I thought I was in labour and that I didn't know whether to still come in for the sweep. They said that they'd send someone out to me, so at 10am a community MW came and examined me. I was 1-2cm (but I had been since Weds at first sweep), there was some thickness and she wanted me to call them back when the contractions were every 5mins and lasting for 1min. She gave me a good sweeping and left.
Hubby and I had got the room ready with waterproof sheets, birth pool and everything else so we decided to try and get some sleep. We slept from 11am-2pm, the contractions were getting closer together and become slightly more painful (though I could still talk through them). At 2pm we called the community MWs and they advised me to get a bath and take some paracetamol (apparently this is how they can tell whether you're really in labour or not, as if you're too early in labour then the contractions will slow down in the bath). We discovered that the birth pool was leaking so we had to empty it and deflate it, I wasn't too bothered as there was nothing I could do about it (just trusting in God's plan for me), still a pain in the ass though!
At 5pm the MW called back to see how things were going, I was still in the bath. The contractions were progressing, coming every 5mins still and I was having to breathe through them. So they sent out the MW that was going to be on call that night. She came at about 6.30pm and examined me, I was 2-3cm (yey, progress!), I knew her as well as I'd taught her daughter the year before. There was a problem with her working hours, she'd been working all day which meant that her -on call' shift could only be until midnight. She said that if I needed someone after midnight then they'd have to send someone from MLU, but if MLU was busy then they'd want me to go in. I said I wasn't happy about this and she assured me that if I refused to go in then legally they'd have to send someone. My feeling was that it was there staffing problem not mine, so I'd refuse to go in. Anyway, she said that if she could get home and get some sleep in then at about 3am she'd probably be able to do her on call duty.
At 7pm I called my mum and sister as they were going to be there for the birth and were an hour away. They arrived at 10.30pm, my contractions were still 5mins apart, but hadn't got much worse pain wise. I got in the bath and then went back to bed with my TENS machine on, waking up to press boost with every contraction.
I managed with TENS and breathing (thanks to my amazing hubby) until 3am and hubby called the MLU, they sent the MW on call out. She arrived and examined me, I was 5-6cm so she said that she'd stay and call the other MW who needed home birth experience (turns out she's a parent at the school I work at too).
From 4am until 7.30am I was lying on my side in bed, sitting on the loo (it was really comfy and I felt like I wanted to do a number two, but it was the baby pushing down) and I had another bath (so nice!). The contractions were a heck of a lot more intense and I was making all sorts of noises when they hit.???????? When I was in the bath the MW said that she wanted to get me down stairs to see how things were progressing, she advised me to put just a baggy t shirt on as she thought I'd be pushing soon.
So at 7.30am I got down stairs and she examined me, I was 8-9cm and my contractions were making me want to push. The MW told me not to as she could still feel some cervix. She broke my waters and the contractions stepped up to once every 2mins and she offered me some gas and air (amazing stuff!). After this I couldn't stop myself from pushing no matter what anyone said. My mum had pumped up the airbed and put an old duvet on it, lying on my side seemed the most effective way to push, it also meant I could rest. The MW obviously sussed that I was ready and told me to push whenever I wanted. After a little bit of pushing she discovered that the waters were stained slightly green and she could see a bit of meconium on baby's head so she mentioned calling an ambulance. She called the MLU and asked for advice as she knew how much I didn't want to go into hospital, but the MLU said that if there was any hint of baby in distress then I should really go in and I trusted their professional judgement.
Ambulance arrived at 9.30am and it only took us 3mins to get to the hospital where I threw off the gas and air and pushed and pushed (the urge to push was overwhelming), the MWs were pouring cold water on my perineum as the baby was crowning and that felt SO good! My baby boy arrived at 10.24am weighing 9lb 6oz, thanks to the coaching of the MWs I didn't tear. There was a lot of meconium in the waters that followed so the MW was right to be concerned and all of the hospital staff were lovely. I got to have my hubby, mum, sister and 3 MWs in the room and they were all fantastic, I can't fault the NHS at all. I had a shower at the hospital while hubby and sister went back to the house to tidy up. 2 hours later we were home with our gorgeous son! Even though I ended up in hospital for an hour, I wasn't at all disappointed, it was an amazing experience.
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*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
**
*
*
**
*
*
I'd had a sweep on the Wednesday (7days over) and Friday (9 days over) and I was 11 days overdue on the Sunday, I'd been having painless tightening since the first sweep.
Woke at 3am on Sunday morning with mild period type pains, I timed them in bed for 2 hours and realised that they were coming every 10mins and lasting 30seconds. After 2 hours I got out of bed, decided not to wake hubby and went downstairs to use a contraction timer on the laptop and bounce on my ball. I timed them for another hour and they were still every 10mins, so I decided to go and wake up hubby so that we could start organising the living room for the birth (he had an extensive to do list to get through!).
I was due to go for my third sweep at 9.30am, so decided at 8.30am to call the MLU and say that I thought I was in labour and that I didn't know whether to still come in for the sweep. They said that they'd send someone out to me, so at 10am a community MW came and examined me. I was 1-2cm (but I had been since Weds at first sweep), there was some thickness and she wanted me to call them back when the contractions were every 5mins and lasting for 1min. She gave me a good sweeping and left.
Hubby and I had got the room ready with waterproof sheets, birth pool and everything else so we decided to try and get some sleep. We slept from 11am-2pm, the contractions were getting closer together and become slightly more painful (though I could still talk through them). At 2pm we called the community MWs and they advised me to get a bath and take some paracetamol (apparently this is how they can tell whether you're really in labour or not, as if you're too early in labour then the contractions will slow down in the bath). We discovered that the birth pool was leaking so we had to empty it and deflate it, I wasn't too bothered as there was nothing I could do about it (just trusting in God's plan for me), still a pain in the ass though!
At 5pm the MW called back to see how things were going, I was still in the bath. The contractions were progressing, coming every 5mins still and I was having to breathe through them. So they sent out the MW that was going to be on call that night. She came at about 6.30pm and examined me, I was 2-3cm (yey, progress!), I knew her as well as I'd taught her daughter the year before. There was a problem with her working hours, she'd been working all day which meant that her -on call' shift could only be until midnight. She said that if I needed someone after midnight then they'd have to send someone from MLU, but if MLU was busy then they'd want me to go in. I said I wasn't happy about this and she assured me that if I refused to go in then legally they'd have to send someone. My feeling was that it was there staffing problem not mine, so I'd refuse to go in. Anyway, she said that if she could get home and get some sleep in then at about 3am she'd probably be able to do her on call duty.
At 7pm I called my mum and sister as they were going to be there for the birth and were an hour away. They arrived at 10.30pm, my contractions were still 5mins apart, but hadn't got much worse pain wise. I got in the bath and then went back to bed with my TENS machine on, waking up to press boost with every contraction.
I managed with TENS and breathing (thanks to my amazing hubby) until 3am and hubby called the MLU, they sent the MW on call out. She arrived and examined me, I was 5-6cm so she said that she'd stay and call the other MW who needed home birth experience (turns out she's a parent at the school I work at too).
From 4am until 7.30am I was lying on my side in bed, sitting on the loo (it was really comfy and I felt like I wanted to do a number two, but it was the baby pushing down) and I had another bath (so nice!). The contractions were a heck of a lot more intense and I was making all sorts of noises when they hit.???????? When I was in the bath the MW said that she wanted to get me down stairs to see how things were progressing, she advised me to put just a baggy t shirt on as she thought I'd be pushing soon.
So at 7.30am I got down stairs and she examined me, I was 8-9cm and my contractions were making me want to push. The MW told me not to as she could still feel some cervix. She broke my waters and the contractions stepped up to once every 2mins and she offered me some gas and air (amazing stuff!). After this I couldn't stop myself from pushing no matter what anyone said. My mum had pumped up the airbed and put an old duvet on it, lying on my side seemed the most effective way to push, it also meant I could rest. The MW obviously sussed that I was ready and told me to push whenever I wanted. After a little bit of pushing she discovered that the waters were stained slightly green and she could see a bit of meconium on baby's head so she mentioned calling an ambulance. She called the MLU and asked for advice as she knew how much I didn't want to go into hospital, but the MLU said that if there was any hint of baby in distress then I should really go in and I trusted their professional judgement.
Ambulance arrived at 9.30am and it only took us 3mins to get to the hospital where I threw off the gas and air and pushed and pushed (the urge to push was overwhelming), the MWs were pouring cold water on my perineum as the baby was crowning and that felt SO good! My baby boy arrived at 10.24am weighing 9lb 6oz, thanks to the coaching of the MWs I didn't tear. There was a lot of meconium in the waters that followed so the MW was right to be concerned and all of the hospital staff were lovely. I got to have my hubby, mum, sister and 3 MWs in the room and they were all fantastic, I can't fault the NHS at all. I had a shower at the hospital while hubby and sister went back to the house to tidy up. 2 hours later we were home with our gorgeous son! Even though I ended up in hospital for an hour, I wasn't at all disappointed, it was an amazing experience.
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Em (39+1)