Baby 5 - A Birth Story

I have had four babies before so I know how painful labour is, but still I found myself looking forward to it in a strange way as I approached our due date with baby no 5.  I think it is knowing what comes at the end of the pain, knowing how worthwhile it all is (and it helps knowing my labours tend to be quite speedy).  I had convinced myself that I was going to give birth on the Tuesday before my due date this time (my last three babies have all come a few days early) so I woke up on Saturday morning determined to use the weekend to get everything ready.

I did three loads of washing, built the crib and took Cora out for some special time as I knew it would be her that will be most affected by the new arrival.  We had a lovely productive day and got home just after 4pm.  Around 6pm, I noticed that I was getting quite a few Braxton Hicks, the painless tightenings but I didn't think they would lead anywhere so I carried on as normal.  At 7pm, after having them painlessly for an hour, they started to change and I wondered whether I could possibly be in early labour. Because my plans for a home birth had been cancelled due to staff shortages, I decided to ring up the hospital and find out what the options were if things progressed during the evening and was told that the midwife led unit was also not able to take any more women due to staff shortages but the labour ward had spaces when I felt ready to come in.  We left it that I would ring back if things progressed.

I called my mum next, who was on standby to look after the other children and told her that I thought this could be it.  I have a history of short labours so I knew I needed to get plans into place early.  My body was telling my to walk so I decided to go for a walk.  As it was already dark, I walked round to the local Asda and paced the aisles.  With Cora, my contractions came fast when I walked and stopped completely when I sat down and I felt like this one would be the same.  I came home and had a quick dinner and then carried on pacing upstairs as things started to kick in more.  Cora could sense that things were happening I think and decided she wanted to hold my hand as we walked around the house. 

I didn't time the contractions and was still able to walk and talk through them, but when my mum arrived around 7.45pm, I decided it was best to make the 15 minute drive to the hospital and then I could walk around the grounds if I wasn't ready to go in yet, but at least we were in the right place.  We parked up just after 8pm and I decided we would go straight in and explain that although I hadn't rung back, I was definitely in labour now.

We were taken into day-care/triage so they could assess whether I was ready for the labour ward yet.  They did my blood pressure and other checks and asked me how my pain was on a scale of 1-10 - I answered a 7, and then left us whilst they checked me in on the system. A few minutes later I felt strong pressure and my waters burst all over the floor. My first thought was to panic about my boots as I hadn't brought any spare shoes with me so I made Ed remove them before he went to get a midwife.  They came back and could see that things were progressing very quickly, so they helped me into a wheelchair and raced me round to the labour ward.  They knew I wanted the MLU so they took me to the room with a birthing pool.  As I stood up from the wheelchair I could feel the baby's head coming, so I had two midwives peeling off my now very wet jeans as I stood up leaning on the side of the pool and gave birth in two pushes to the most perfect baby boy. The midwives passed him up to me and helped me to a bed and left the cord for over 5 minutes before cutting it.

He was born 8 days before his due date at 8.28pm weighing a smaller than expected 7lb 13oz.  I don't know if it has just been so long since I held a newborn but he felt so much smaller.  Just like his big brother and sister before him, once he decided to come, things went very quickly! 

The placenta came naturally soon after and after a few hours just the three of us, baby and I were transferred to the ward for the night.  Due to a complication during the pregnancy, it needed to be the paediatric doctor doing the new baby check rather than the midwife so we had to stay until we could be seen (which ended up being 6pm the next evening).  Thankfully everything was signed off and we could take our healthy baby boy back to the madhouse to meet his excited big brothers and sister. 

We are now 8 days into life as a family of seven (which still feels like a strange thing to write) and this baby has settled in perfectly.  He is so calm and tolerant of the others who want to be hands on and he almost seems more settled when the house is noisy and chaotic than he does when it is peaceful.  He is the final piece we never realised was missing.

After nearly two weeks, we finally agreed on his name  - Rex Arthur

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Planning a Homebirth

I know that you can't plan your birth.  I know that my body will go into labour spontaneously whenever it is ready and this labour may last 20 minutes or 20 hours.  I have come up with my ideal situation though and I am choosing to be positive,  but with a back up plan. 

One of my babies was born in the hospital, two in the midwife led unit and at the moment I am planning a homebirth for baby number four.  If you had asked me in any of my other pregnancies I would have told you that I would absolutely not have a baby at home.  I really didn't want a homebirth, I didn't think it was right for me or for us and it was never an option.  With this baby though, I can't help feeling that it is the right place.

My three labours so far all started just before midnight with the active stage getting shorter with each subsequent birth.  I am hoping that this baby follows the pattern and that everything happens at night whilst the boys are asleep.  My best case scenario plan means the boys go to bed with a calm mama and wake up to find a little baby asleep in the bed beside me, the midwives gone, the house cleaned up.  I know that should this not happen I have family and friends who can help out with the childcare though, just as they would if we were in a hospital.

I love the idea of sitting in my own bed after the ordeal of birth, with a cup of tea.  Curling up in my own bed with my brand new little person.  My shower is hands down better than any hospital one, my snacks are right there. I don't have to worry about moving again a few hours later when we get sent home, about getting dressed when I have only just given birth and about not remembering enough vests/nappies/muslins.

With all the time we have spent in hospital over the past year, I think part of my decision is the fact I have had enough of the place! I no longer feel as relaxed there as I used to as my memories have changed from wonderful births to weeks in scbu, uncertainty and fear.  I have so much trust in my body after it has birthed three babies already and I am confident and hopeful that it will know what to do a fourth time without needing to be in the hospital.

My labours have been quite quick and I know that at home I can just let it progress without having to go to the car, talk through any notes or see anybody.  I will have midwives here that will stay with me, dedicated care - something that isn't possible in a busy ward or midwife unit.  I would love to use a birthing pool at home, to have another water birth like I did with Archie.

I know that things don't always go to plan so I will have a hospital bag packed incase we need it.  I am planning to follow the same hypnobirthing course I used with Finn and I know what I want with this pregnancy and birth so even if we do get transfered to the hospital I will be planning as natural a birth as I can.  I am going to try and use cord ties again and will be asking for delayed cord clamping and a natural third stage as I did with the others as well as immediate skin to skin.

Birth is such a personal thing, no two are the same and we all have a different idea of our perfect scenario.  Despite everything I thought in my last three pregnancies I think this is the right path for me.  I am seeing a consultant this pregnancy (something new), but at the moment everything is still low risk and the birth I want is looking possible.

Have you had a homebirth before or would you consider one in the future?  I love hearing positive stories

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Hypnobirthing - My Experience

I hadn't heard of the term Hypnobirthing until after Dylan was born, and I wasn't convinced enough to try it until after Archie.  I was lucky enough to have two relatively quick and simple labours and when I found out I was pregnant with Finn, I knew it was something I wanted to try.  I have never felt quite as powerful as those moments after giving birth, and with both births  I had been utterly amazed at what my body had accomplished.  I wanted to trust in it even more this third time, be more in touch and have a third fantastic labour.

I was offered the opportunity to try out The Calm Birth School's online program and it seemed perfect for us.  It comprised of a series of videos delivered straight to your inbox along with podcasts and a facebook group where we could chat to other mums and the two ladies behind the idea, Suzy and Holly.  Being a busy mum of two already, being able to take the course at my own pace was ideal and the facebook group means you can ask questions whenever they pop into your head, even if that is 3am.

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