On the Friday 7th December 2018 at 10:40am I gave birth a gorgeous baby girl, Bella Mai Josie. Weighing 7lbs 9oz. It was a remarkably easy labour and delivery and was truly the best day of my life so far! Not everyone labour experience is exactly the same but I want to share mine with you not only to help and give some helpful tips but also for my benefit so I always have it on record somewhere, so lets start from the beginning…
It all started at 11:00pm on Thursday 6th December when my waters broke. At first I wasn’t sure if they had broke or if I had just wet myself! I decided to go to the bathroom to check properly before I told my fiance as I didn’t want to worry him if it was just nothing. Obviously realising it was the real deal I panicked myself and had to tell him quick before my first contraction started. He immediately said I needed to phone my midwife and tell them my waters had broke but I wanted to wait half hour or so in case it was a false alarm. 11:30 came around and the contractions had started….. sounds stupid but this was when it really kicked in for me that I was in labour and we were about to bring a baby into this world… I was about to become a Mum! My contractions started off pretty strong and very painful. We called the midwife and she said as it was my first baby it would take a while until I was in active labour and could go into the hospital, she suggested I take some painkillers and have a bath to help me relax, she also said to try and get some sleep which didn’t happen. A few hours pasted and the contractions were only getting stronger, longer and more frequent so I decided this would be the perfect time to get in the bath. Having a bath for me helped a lot with the pain and relaxing during the contractions. I didn’t have any products in the bath just warm/kind of hot water and I kept the light off to help me relax and to see if I could try have a nap in between contractions. Through out the night I went in and out the bath so I could cool down and to make sure I didn’t pass out at any stage. The night felt like it went really quickly, it got to about 6am and I was 100% ready for some help with the pain, I couldn’t take it any longer. My fiance phoned the hospital I wanted to give birth at, Haywards Heath Princess Royal Hospital, to see if I could go in and be examined to see how far into labour I was, they said I could go in if I felt I couldn’t take the pain anymore so we did.
We got to the hospital at half 7 and went straight to the labour ward. It felt like it took ages to walk there, having to stop every 5 minutes to have a contraction. We got there and they told me I needed to walk back down the corridor to another ward to be checked before I could get into the labour ward and into our room. The nurses and midwives were all so nice and could see I was in a lot of pain so hurried as quick as they could. The nurse came in to check me and see how dilated I was, which was the bit I was nervous about, having someone stick they fist in somewhere it shouldn’t go was terrifying, to be honest I didn’t feel a thing! When she said to us I was 6cm we both looked at each other in shock, I couldn’t believe I’d gone that far at home with no pain relief or help at all. I was sure the pain would be that bad that I wouldn’t be able to go 3cm without wanting to go to the hospital. My fiancé actually said to me when we were at home that I needed to be prepared to be sent home, that we’d get to the hospital and I wouldn’t be far gone enough to be able to stay in. Just to be sure that what I was hearing was right I asked the nurse ” so you aren’t going to send me home then?” She laughed saying ” no, your staying to have your baby”. We had to wait 10 minutes to check and see if our room was ready. I chose to have a room with a birthing pool in case I decided I wanted to have a water birth. When I found out I was pregnant I started looking at different ways you can have a baby and pain methods that I thought I might like try during labour. Water birth came up a lot when I was looking, most women said it was the best thing they’d decided to do and it really helped them relax and helped with the pain. I 100% agree with them, I don’t think I would have done it laying on a bed and just using gas and air. Once we got into the birthing room it’s all a bit of a blur. All I remember doing when we go in was asking my midwife for gas and air because the pain was totally unbearable at this point. This was the first time experiencing gas and air and at first I didn’t like it, I couldn’t work out how to breath it in when I having a contraction, it took me a while to calm down and breath it in while I was breathing through the contraction. The second contraction I had with it, I breathed it in too much and was instantly sick. Might I add, trying to have a strong contraction while trying to be sick is not the one! Although I struggled with it at first, it did help me a lot and made the pain feel not as strong as it did 5 minutes before hand. We were in the room for an hour and a half and my midwife wanted me to try go for a wee so I didn’t end up weeing in the birthing pool. At this point the gas and air had kicked in and I wasn’t really with it so was all over the place and didn’t really understand what they wanted me to do, I was in my own little world. After going to the toilet they told me the pool was ready for me to get in, which is something that was music to my ears! I was so ready to get in the pool and relax a bit, I kind of felt like I was at home in the bath.
After being in the pool for only 30 minutes I needed to push. I remember saying to my midwife ” Is it okay if I need to push? Is it too early to push?” Knowing that my baby wanted to make her arrival I started to panic, this is the hard bit coming up! My fiancé tried to calm me down, told me to take deep breaths and have some gas and air, while the midwife replied ” If you need to push don’t stop it, push”. There was some movement going on behind me but it didn’t put me off, I started pushing, I wasn’t waiting for anyone! When women say pushing a baby out is the same as having a big poo, they are right, that’s the only way I could describe it. My midwife and the nurse that came and sat next to my fiancé outside the pool were so so lovely, they helped me calm down when I was panicking and worrying about what I was doing, They made sure my fiancé was okay too, they really looked after both of us. After pushing for 30 minutes and after a lot of stinging down there, her head was out and I could breath for a minute before pushing her body her. The head was the hardest bit, it hurt so much and felt like a lifetime before the head was out. 1 more big push and my baby came out, 10.40am and we had our baby girl. I was a bit in shock and it took me a few seconds to realise what I’d just done, all I remember the nurse saying was ” Pick your baby out the water, grab your baby”. That first hold, the first time I got to see her and hold her was a absolutely amazing feeling. Carrying this little human inside you, wondering what he/she will look like, will they look like daddy or mummy and a few moments of pushing to being able to hold them in your arms for the first time, living the moment you’ve been dreaming of for 9 months is breath taking.
I looked up at my fiancé, smiling ear to ear saying ” She’s here babe, our baby girl is here”. Her daddy cut the cord and they got us both out the water and onto the bed. The midwife explained to me what was going to happen next, delivery of the placenta and then explained that she needs to check me to see if there’s any tears and to look at the bleeding. If I’m honest it all went in one ear and out the other, I was too mesmerised and in love with my baby girl. Unfortunately for me, I had to have stitches. This was the one thing I really didn’t want to have but I kind of expected it. We had to wait a little while for the doctor to come in and see me so they could stitch me, which felt like the longest wait ever, all I wanted to do was to relax and feed my baby. I won’t go into too much detail about having my stitches as to be honest I don’t really remember that bit. Once the doctor had finish I was finally able to get up, move around a little bit and have a shower, feel a bit human again. We were left in the labour room till 4pm, which we weren’t too happy about because we were hoping wed be able to go home that evening as I didn’t have any other complications and I felt okay which the nurses were happy about. So I decided to try and feed Bella. I wanted to try and breast feed her but I wasn’t sure if id like it but I was okay and happy if it didn’t work out. One of the nurses came into help me and make sure I was doing it right and make sure she latched on. It took us half an hour on both boobs but she didn’t latch on and when she did it hurt me, so we stopped. Few hours pasted and the nurse came in and said we could move to the other ward. I was so happy, after a long night and day I could finally get some sleep! My parents came to see us at 7pm that evening to see their first grandchild, I couldn’t wait to see them and show off my new baby.
When they were visiting my midwife that delivered Bella came to see us and told us that they wanted to keep us in because she hadn’t been drinking as much as they wanted her too before we were discharged. Obviously it would have been nice to go home and start our little family properly but we knew that she needed to be at the right level of formula before we went home otherwise it could have ended with us going back into hospital a few days later. The night in the hospital wasn’t too bad, Bella woke up every 2 hours to feed like she was meant to and then went straight back to sleep, which means me and my fiancé good a good nights sleep.
In the morning we had to wait for the doctor to come round and do a check up on Bella and on me before they could discharge us. She was happy with Bella as shed gone up to the right amount of formula, she was happy with me and I felt comfortable going home. So we were discharged, they gave us both notes and we could leave!
All the nurses and midwives at Princess royal Haywards Heath hospital were all so lovely. They made me feel comfortable and they looked after us as best they could. I was so happy with were I chose to give birth, I will defiantly go back when/if we have another bubba.
What you have to remember is every ones story isn’t exactly the same but you need to remember that your body was made to do this and many many women have given birth for years and years. If it was really as bad as what some people say, ask yourself would they really do it over and over again. But I hope it can reassure new Mums, expectant Mums or women who want to have a baby but are worried about the labour and delivery. Just remember that you get a gorgeous baby after 9 months of waiting….. it really is worth the wait!
LauraAlice
XOXO
LauraAlice 