A Quick Delivery - Welcome to the world

Well I am back on my blog after 3 months away from it, my life has been busy busy settling a new baby into the fold.  I have now established a routine which means getting my evenings back and I can finish the post I started writing after my baby was born. I hope you enjoy reading it.




38 and a half weeks pregnant

The last few days of being pregnant were the most uncomfortable ever and I felt I could not go on much longer.


I could barely walk anywhere and could not relax as getting into a comfortable position was impossible. I had restless legs every night plus being awake visiting the bathroom  very couple of hours, I was shattered and this was without a newborn to nurse yet!

It was no surprise when I noticed the early signs of labour 8 days before my due date as I had my son 2 weeks early.

I woke up at 1.30am on the Saturday desperate for the toilet and struggled to make it. I noticed in the toilet my water had blood in it. I didn't wake my partner and went back to bed. At 2.30am the same happened but I didn't make it to the bathroom so was pretty sure my waters had broken which happened in  my first labour. Again my water was pink and so I decided to ring the main hospital to inform them and woke my partner in excitement. The hospital advised that I call them back if the water changed to a green or brown colour, or if I started having regular contractions.At this time I was having mild period type pains on and off so I was happy with this advice.

I couldn't go back to bed at this point as I was more comfortable moving around and I was excited as well as being anxious about the birth so I double checked my hospital bags and made sure I had everything I needed. The pains began to get more regular and slightly stronger so I decided to call the hospital again so I could find out how far away the midwife was. We live in an area where the main hospital is around 50 miles away so I had chosen to have the baby at the nearby midwife led birthing unit and depending on which midwife was on duty, they could be an hour away. The hospital got in touch with the midwife and she phoned me back straight away, I was relieved to find she was only 15 minutes away so decided to stay home a little longer and called my mum so she could come over to look after my little boy.

40 minutes later I had to phone the midwife back as the pains were regular and getting stronger, my mum arrived so we made our way to the birthing unit.It seemed a long drive being in pain even though it was only 20 minutes away.  Once we arrived , which was around 5am, I was examined and found I was 3 cm dilated, I was happy about that as it still meant I had a bit of time to prepare myself. I had requested the birth pool so the midwife started filling it up for me, the pains were uncomfortable but still not regular. The birth unit was ideal,  me and my partner were brought a cup of tea and left to it,which was lovely as it was more intimate and private with the midwife on call if need be.

I was still keeping mobile as found it more comfortable than sitting down, the pains were regular now but manageable. I  suddenly needed the toilet and there was one adjoining the birth room. After using the toilet I tried to stand up and experienced 2 large contractions, I couldn't get up because of them so was in the toilet for about 10 mins. Eventually my partner shouted, was I ok?? The answer was no, I need help! He came and helped me out of the bathroom and I staggered back into the delivery suite just as the midwife came in to check on me. I asked for pain relief and she brought me the gas, from then on was a bit of a blur as I suffered rolling contractions with no break in between, as one ended another one started and the gas didn't touch it.

The midwife asked if i could get into the birth pool and I just about managed to get myself in with help from my partner. I sank into the lovely warm water and felt instant relief, it was bliss, for all of 5 minutes! I then had the worst contractions I have ever felt, about 5 in a row. Meanwhile the midwife said she was phoning for backup and setting up the delivery pack, I screamed 'no, she is coming now!' The urge to push was overwhelming and I couldn't hold back. The midwife shouted 'wait, wait I need to see, don't push' and I stopped but the contractions were still going and the need to push again was overwhelming. The midwife told me to stand up out of the water and I could sense the urgency in her voice and knew something was wrong. She told me the cord was wrapped around the baby's neck and I had to stand up quickly so she could unravel it, I had no energy and was in so much pain I don't know how I stood up but with my partners help I managed to get up out of the water, the midwife unwrapped the cord and told me to dip back into the water and with one last push our baby girl was born at 6.29am.

How can you explain the rush of feelings you have when you meet your baby for the first time, it is overwhelming, the biggest high and rush of adrenalin you will ever get. Instant love there and then for something so small and perfect that you can't believe has been growing inside you for 9 months and is all yours. You can't beat it.



After a few minutes I got up out of the birth pool and sat on the couch with my baby girl and partner, we were brought refreshments and left to bond with baby. I managed to successfully feed her and just lay there gazing at her as my partner rang round our family and friends to deliver the good news - we were now a family of four and complete.

 We stayed like that for about 3 hours and it was so relaxing and so different to the labour and birth of my boy in a main hospital. I would recommend a birth centre or home birth to anybody that is able to. It was a lovely experience and I was able to take our daughter home to meet her proud brother 4 hours after she was born.