Small's Birth Story

Background:

Two weeks before (37 weeks) I had been told that I was in ‘slow labour’ and contractions were showing up on a trace when I went into hospital due to the midwife hearing an audible decel in her heartbeat. All was fine, but we were expecting her MUCH sooner than she arrived. 

I had planned a homebirth and was totally determined to get it! Luckily I had a very supportive antenatal midwife who was hoping it would be her who delivered me! I ordered my pool and got it set up in the living room at 37 weeks and spent the rest of the time looking after Liv, getting some bits and pieces together for my birth box and generally nesting!

The night before:

OH and I spent a long time talking about her name as we hadn’t really decided on anything by this point…then all of a sudden we came up with two great names in the space of 10 minutes. One weight off my mind. I then went online and had an incredible emotional debrief with a very good friend (she knows who she is!) about various things, including my previous 3rd degree tear. I remember telling her I was terrified of it happening again, but eventually for the first time I felt confident that I knew exactly what I was doing, I was in control of my labour and birth and the worst that could happen was that I tore again and I would go in to be stitched. I think it was a weight off my mind.

The big day

I woke up having been dreaming about having contractions (as usual!!) and felt the odd twinge here and there, but carried on with the morning without saying anything to Rick or wising too hard that this was it. After breakfast, I was becoming more aware of the tightenings, I decided this was definitely ‘it’ after I had a show. I remember popping on to tinternet and then I decided to ring my mum to come round to be a spare pair of hands for Big (14 months old at the time) and put my TENS machine on.

I had been doing lots of hypnobirthing practice beforehand, but when the time came, my body told me that carrying on as normal was the best thing to do. We watched television, played with Big and had lunch all as normal. I took Big upstairs, and breastfed her to sleep for her nap as usual.  Mum arrived and I decided to ring to inform the midwifery team since by this point I was getting tightenings every 3 minutes. She arrived to have a little check on me and I couldn’t believe it but was the same lady who had birthed with me up until 8cm with Big! Her departure was the beginning of the cascade of intervention that lead to my 3rd degree tear.  We had lots of cups of tea (raspberry leaf, naturally!), I bounced on the ball and OH watched the football since it was the first day of the season and he had been on a football drought for 3 months.... The midwife was there making observations and writing (she did a LOT of writing!), but was very happy for me to carry on as normal. She nipped to make a few house calls and came back at about 5pm when I asked her to examine me, I wanted to be sure that I was entering the pool for the final stretch of the labour and I didn't want to be in there for hours and hours.  I was 7cm and if I'm honest I couldn't believe it, I had barely been in any discomfort and was having a great time pottering around the house, playing with Big and chatting to the family.

Then the most memorable moment of the whole labour happened.  My OH and Mum set up the pool. Mum asked OH for the thermometer and he passed her the 'poo sieve'. He then looked at it again and said "actually, no.  I don't think that's it.  I think I know what that is for!" and then he preceded to turn a glorious shade of beetroot.  The ladies in the room all burst out with loud and wonderful fits of laughter, and Big also joined in with the giggles.  I will never ever forget the feeling of warmth and energy in the room at this moment.


Mum popped out with Big to the supermarket cafe to give her some tea and get some cake for us all, and I got in the pool. Bliss. All the aches and pains of the last few weeks disappeared and with my birthing playlist on in the background, I really went into myself and things picked up very quickly. I remember feeling horrendously sick and shouting for the sick bowl. I wasn’t actually sick, and it passed very quickly but I remember thinking ‘this can’t be transition, surely?? I’ve barely felt a contraction yet!’

The next contraction made me go ‘oooohhh’ which was the first time I had made any sort of labour related noise then I realised that OH and the MW both for some reason had left the room.  I felt incredibly alone and vulnerable in the pool and as soon as I found my voice to ask where they were, OH returned telling me he had gone for a wee because “this might be my last chance” he said!   Afterwards I learnt that the MW had gone to call her backup.  It seemed the out of character 'oooh' has sent everyone into a bit of a frenzy!  Another couple of surges come rather quickly and I say I’m feeling a bit pushy, I see the MW grab her phone and send a quick text….I find out later it read ‘bloody hurry up’ and was sent to the other MW!

The next contraction came and I felt myself pushing incredibly, extraordinarily and involuntarily.  It felt like some unknown force had taken over my entire body and I was outside looking in on what was happening. My waters went with a pop and I remember thinking that Small had exploded inside me.  Such a truly bizarre feeling when your waters go in water! The next contraction came with just as much force as the previous and despite my best attempts to breath through it and not give in to the feeling to push (I could feel the burning crowning feeling at this point too) and ….pop! Small's head was born, followed very quickly by her body in the same contraction.  At this point I knew I had torn again, I had felt that same *thud* feeling I did with Big.  

Small swam straight to my boob and latched within seconds. We had lovely skin to skin in the water and waited 30 minutes for a physiological placenta delivery.  Only then was the cord cut by Daddy.

At this point, I was bleeding a reasonable amount, so after getting out of the pool I chatted with the Midwives and we agreed that I would have the injection to help prevent a hemorrhage, even though I was very confident that that wasn't going to happen, I saw no harm now that Small was out and I was well. After the most uncomfortable examination to determine the severity of the tear (I had to have some g&a for this, after a completely drug free labour!) I had to go in to hospital to be stitched with a spinal again, because the big and quick 8lb 13oz lump caused another third degree tear.