So after a great hypnobirthing course with Reena and a fairly straightforward pregnancy I was very positive about giving birth to my first baby boy.
At 37 weeks pregnant I went to my appointment with the midwife for the usual checks only to be told that my bump hadn’t increased in the last 3 weeks.
Although alarming I wasn’t worried as I had been told this in the previous appointment and after being sent for an ultrasound it was nothing to be worried about and was probably down to inaccurate measurements taken. I had 4 different midwifes in my checks so this didn’t help.
I was booked in for this ultrasound that evening and I even said to my partner not to bother coming as it was probably the same thing again with inaccurate measurements. Once the sonographer scanned me she said that she too had seen a drop in the measurements of my baby and was worried that the placenta may not be working properly. She quickly said that I would need to be induced possibly tomorrow if they’re not busy.
Panic set in immediately and I called my partner to get to the hospital so we could both speak to a doctor. I thought about all the questions Reena had spoke about in hypnobirthing and prepared them, induction was the last thing I wanted and my perfect water birth seemed to be slipping away.
The doctor seemed surprised when I said I didn’t want an induction, she said ‘why wouldn’t you’. I quickly realised that dealing with the nhs was going to be annoying. I asked what was the alternative, was it absolutely necessary to be induced. We agreed on monitoring scans every 2 days and they wanted me to see a consultant the following week.
So at 38 weeks we went to see the consultant expecting another annoying conversation and questioning on why we didn’t want to go for that option. It was a really hard decision but we weren’t seeing any warning signs on the scans so we were comfortable with waiting. The consultant was actually really nice and said she understood our decision but she could do a check of my cervix to see what stage I was at. On first look she said actually you’re already 2cm dilated! She then offered me a sweep and I thought at the time that’s a better option than a full induction.
Within about 5 minutes I felt strange, I said to my partner I bet I’m going to have the baby tonight. We went home in a taxi and was stuck in after work traffic for about 45 mins and I started to feel cramps. I didn’t think it could possibly work that fast but after initially freaking out when we got home, I listened to some motivational music (Beyoncé) and bounced on my ball and felt loads better.
The waves came every 30 minutes by this point so we had time to eat, watch a film and rest. Once it reached about 10 pm my partner suggested having a lie down in bed to get some rest. As soon as I got in bed the waves started coming every 10 minutes. My partner was secretly timing them to not distract me and suggested we call the hospital to see what they think.
They were positive but said I didn’t really need to come in unless they were every 3 mins. That soon came and I called the hospital to say I was coming in, I really wanted to get checked because everything seemed to be happening quite fast.
Once at the hospital I was taken into triage and checked, apparently I was ‘only’ 2cm. I was shocked because it felt like the waves were quite intense and every couple of minutes. She said she wanted to monitor the baby for 20 minutes and then left us. I was on an incredibly uncomfortable bed with quite intense waves so I got up to stand. She appeared later and said oh the monitor has moved we’re going to have to do another 20 minutes.
Another midwife then came in and said she was sending me home and if I didn’t want to go home I would have to go on the ward. I was getting very angry at this point and felt like I wasn’t getting listened to.
The hypnobirthing helped me to focus and not to let the anger come out but I was fuming. Within 5 minutes of being on the ward I was checked and I was 7cm dilated. Unbelievably I’d gone from 2cm to 7cm in 40 minutes, so back downstairs I went but this time to the delivery suite. Finally I felt a sense of relief and I could calm down.
With a wonderful midwife, my partner rubbing my lower back and giving me great support and with the aid of some gas and air, the surges came thick and fast and I was soon pushing. Lennon came into the world at 5:15am and it was the most incredible experience of my life.