🚨 Advance warning 🚨 This forum will be closing on 1st May – please see our pinned thread for more information.
My BS
I was officially due on 2nd April but my little man didn't finally decide to move out until 7th April. I had been having strong Braxton hicks in the weeks leading up to the birth but each time they lasted about an hour and then fizzled out.
On 6th April I started taking homeopathic pills that my midwife had given me to try and help labour along - I was 40+4. I took them at breakfast and then again at lunch. After I took the pills at lunch I became very achey and had period like aches which were constant all afternoon. I felt that the aches were subsiding early evening so took my last dose of homeopathic pills and almost immediately they came back. I was really keen to go into labour soon and knew that I could have aches and pains for several days without going into labour so I made my husband walk round the block with me that evening in the hope it would start proper labour. I also had been cleaning like mad all day which at the time I didn't think anything of but clearly I was nesting as I am not normally worried about housework that much!!
I went to bed and at 11pm the aches completely went away so I just assumed that they were like the Braxton hicks I had had before and nothing was going to come of it.
I woke up at 1:30am with what felt like contractions but I wasn't 100% sure and didn't want to get my hopes up. It felt like the kind of pain you get when constipated so I thought that maybe I just needed the loo. About half an hour after the pains started I had a bit of a clear out and my husband came to ask if I was ok and I said I was fine just had an upset tummy and to go back to bed. He has later told me that he didn't believe me and thought I was probably going into labour. After I had gone to the loo and the pains were still continuing I realised that I was definitely in labour. I thought I had ages to go as everyone says that with first baby you will be in labour for days!! So I decided to not get my husband up and let him rest.
The contractions got stronger and I could no longer lie down during them and was really having to breathe through each one and starting to make moaning noises. My husband came into me at about 3:30am and asked if I was ok, we decided to call the midwife and advise her what was happening as we were having a home birth. I called the midwife and she asked if I was coping ok which I said I was and let her know that the contractions were about 3 minutes apart and had been since they started at 1:30. I asked if she thought we should put up the birth pool and she replied that we might as well get started with it and to call when I wanted her to come out to us.
I helped my husband get all the birth pool stuff together and start filling the pool in between contractions which were getting more painful but manageable. At about 4am the contractions suddenly started getting really strong and I suddenly felt sick and ran to the bathroom and promptly threw up mid contraction. After this the contractions seemed to step up gear and were literally coming one on top of another. I had a huge contraction with loads of pressure that I thought I needed the loo again so I got on the toilet and screamed at husband to tell the midwife to come now - at which point my waters went! This was at 4:45am. After this things seemed to move very fast I was on all fours in the bathroom wondering how I was gonna cope with the pain for hours yet as the contractions were so intense and pretty much continuous. I remember asking my husband to make it all stop and he tried to talk to me and ask what he could do but I couldn't really answer. He put on my hypno birth CD thinking that he was helping and I screamed at him to turn it off, I just couldn't cope with any distractions, any time he tried to touch me I screamed at him -don't touch me'!! Poor guy he didn't know what to do for the best. I also remember asking how long ago he had rung the midwife and he said 20 minutes and I remember complaining that it would take her half an hour to drive and she had to get her stuff into the car and that she better have some gas and air when she got here. I sent him away to finish filling the birth pool. This was about 5am; little did I know that I was in transition. Within a few minutes I was kneeling up against the toilet and could feel that I was pushing with each contraction which felt so much better than before but I was also thinking to myself -I can't be pushing yet, surely it's too soon' but I couldn't stop myself.
The midwife arrived at 5:30am and I told her that it hurt and was painful. To which she said that labour was painful. I then told her that the pressure was unreal. Then with the next contraction I said that I needed a poo and she said that it was probably babies head and then with the following contraction the feeling was so intense and I said that I really needed to go and she said that it was the head and that we should get in the pool which my husband had just finished filling. The midwife said we should move as soon as my contraction finished. I knew that there would literally be seconds between the contractions so as soon as it finished I literally sprinted down the stairs yelling at my husband to get out of the way - he thought I would need help getting down the stairs - and pretty much vaulted the pool to get in!!
My midwife kept saying to me that she needed to listen in to the heartbeat but each time she tried I had another contraction so it was impossible. She then said that she either needed to listen in or examine me because she needed to check that I should be pushing. When I first got in the pool she said that the contractions didn't seem as strong at first and she was worried that I wasn't 100% ready to push. I agreed to let her examine me and she said that the head was right there to which I replied -I know'!!
I continued to push and felt his head start to come out, it took quite a long time to get his whole head out and it was very painful especially when his head was about half way out and my contraction stopped and I had to wait for another one. But at 5:52 his head was out and the rest of him followed at 5:55am. All in all only 4.5 hours after my first contraction. I had no tears just small graze, which the midwife said was because the head came slowly and allowed me to stretch sufficiently.
I sat on the pool for a bit with baby but the water level was too high to breast feed so once the cord stopped pulsing my husband cut the cord and we got out of the pool so I could feed him. I sat on the sofa feeding baby whilst we waited for the placenta to deliver. After a bit I was getting quite strong contractions so the midwife decided I should sit on the toilet and see if I could deliver the placenta, which worked a treat!! I also have had my placenta encapsulated, they look like herbal pills.
I can't believe the birth was so quick and was in a bit of shock for a while - my husband said he thought the midwife was just being nice and encouraging when she was saying that baby was nearly here when we were in the pool, he had no idea how far along we were as he had been busy filling the pool. We are so happy that we had the birth we wanted and we got our gorgeous little boy. We have called him Jasper and he was 8lb 10oz.
On 6th April I started taking homeopathic pills that my midwife had given me to try and help labour along - I was 40+4. I took them at breakfast and then again at lunch. After I took the pills at lunch I became very achey and had period like aches which were constant all afternoon. I felt that the aches were subsiding early evening so took my last dose of homeopathic pills and almost immediately they came back. I was really keen to go into labour soon and knew that I could have aches and pains for several days without going into labour so I made my husband walk round the block with me that evening in the hope it would start proper labour. I also had been cleaning like mad all day which at the time I didn't think anything of but clearly I was nesting as I am not normally worried about housework that much!!
I went to bed and at 11pm the aches completely went away so I just assumed that they were like the Braxton hicks I had had before and nothing was going to come of it.
I woke up at 1:30am with what felt like contractions but I wasn't 100% sure and didn't want to get my hopes up. It felt like the kind of pain you get when constipated so I thought that maybe I just needed the loo. About half an hour after the pains started I had a bit of a clear out and my husband came to ask if I was ok and I said I was fine just had an upset tummy and to go back to bed. He has later told me that he didn't believe me and thought I was probably going into labour. After I had gone to the loo and the pains were still continuing I realised that I was definitely in labour. I thought I had ages to go as everyone says that with first baby you will be in labour for days!! So I decided to not get my husband up and let him rest.
The contractions got stronger and I could no longer lie down during them and was really having to breathe through each one and starting to make moaning noises. My husband came into me at about 3:30am and asked if I was ok, we decided to call the midwife and advise her what was happening as we were having a home birth. I called the midwife and she asked if I was coping ok which I said I was and let her know that the contractions were about 3 minutes apart and had been since they started at 1:30. I asked if she thought we should put up the birth pool and she replied that we might as well get started with it and to call when I wanted her to come out to us.
I helped my husband get all the birth pool stuff together and start filling the pool in between contractions which were getting more painful but manageable. At about 4am the contractions suddenly started getting really strong and I suddenly felt sick and ran to the bathroom and promptly threw up mid contraction. After this the contractions seemed to step up gear and were literally coming one on top of another. I had a huge contraction with loads of pressure that I thought I needed the loo again so I got on the toilet and screamed at husband to tell the midwife to come now - at which point my waters went! This was at 4:45am. After this things seemed to move very fast I was on all fours in the bathroom wondering how I was gonna cope with the pain for hours yet as the contractions were so intense and pretty much continuous. I remember asking my husband to make it all stop and he tried to talk to me and ask what he could do but I couldn't really answer. He put on my hypno birth CD thinking that he was helping and I screamed at him to turn it off, I just couldn't cope with any distractions, any time he tried to touch me I screamed at him -don't touch me'!! Poor guy he didn't know what to do for the best. I also remember asking how long ago he had rung the midwife and he said 20 minutes and I remember complaining that it would take her half an hour to drive and she had to get her stuff into the car and that she better have some gas and air when she got here. I sent him away to finish filling the birth pool. This was about 5am; little did I know that I was in transition. Within a few minutes I was kneeling up against the toilet and could feel that I was pushing with each contraction which felt so much better than before but I was also thinking to myself -I can't be pushing yet, surely it's too soon' but I couldn't stop myself.
The midwife arrived at 5:30am and I told her that it hurt and was painful. To which she said that labour was painful. I then told her that the pressure was unreal. Then with the next contraction I said that I needed a poo and she said that it was probably babies head and then with the following contraction the feeling was so intense and I said that I really needed to go and she said that it was the head and that we should get in the pool which my husband had just finished filling. The midwife said we should move as soon as my contraction finished. I knew that there would literally be seconds between the contractions so as soon as it finished I literally sprinted down the stairs yelling at my husband to get out of the way - he thought I would need help getting down the stairs - and pretty much vaulted the pool to get in!!
My midwife kept saying to me that she needed to listen in to the heartbeat but each time she tried I had another contraction so it was impossible. She then said that she either needed to listen in or examine me because she needed to check that I should be pushing. When I first got in the pool she said that the contractions didn't seem as strong at first and she was worried that I wasn't 100% ready to push. I agreed to let her examine me and she said that the head was right there to which I replied -I know'!!
I continued to push and felt his head start to come out, it took quite a long time to get his whole head out and it was very painful especially when his head was about half way out and my contraction stopped and I had to wait for another one. But at 5:52 his head was out and the rest of him followed at 5:55am. All in all only 4.5 hours after my first contraction. I had no tears just small graze, which the midwife said was because the head came slowly and allowed me to stretch sufficiently.
I sat on the pool for a bit with baby but the water level was too high to breast feed so once the cord stopped pulsing my husband cut the cord and we got out of the pool so I could feed him. I sat on the sofa feeding baby whilst we waited for the placenta to deliver. After a bit I was getting quite strong contractions so the midwife decided I should sit on the toilet and see if I could deliver the placenta, which worked a treat!! I also have had my placenta encapsulated, they look like herbal pills.
I can't believe the birth was so quick and was in a bit of shock for a while - my husband said he thought the midwife was just being nice and encouraging when she was saying that baby was nearly here when we were in the pool, he had no idea how far along we were as he had been busy filling the pool. We are so happy that we had the birth we wanted and we got our gorgeous little boy. We have called him Jasper and he was 8lb 10oz.
0