This week’s birth story comes from a gorgeous couple Lucy and Jake who attended a TCBS Hypnobirthing Course with Laura Clarke of The Birth Cloud covering Solihull and the West Midlands, UK.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful birth story of the beautiful Erin with us!
During our pregnancy we were told from an early stage that our baby girl would be delivered by 37 weeks the latest. This was due to her measuring small only on the 2nd centile.
Along came 37 weeks and I was booked in for an induction on the 23rd of December.
We woke up on the 23rd really excited that it was the day the journey to our baby girl entering the world was about to start. At 8am I rang the induction suite to see if there was a bed available for us to come in. Unfortunately, there had been a lot of emergencies in throughout the night and I was told that we would most likely not be called in until the following day. We were gutted but remained positive and calm and spent the day watching some Christmas films. Then at around 6pm we got the call that we could finally make our way to the hospital.
Once there I had to have a covid test done then wait for the results before I was allowed onto the induction suite, which felt like the longest wait ever but was only about an hour and a half. Once on the ward we were shown to our cubical which is where we would be for our entire induction process, we made our selves comfortable then we waited. Around 9pm the nurse came round to me to give me the pessary, which would be in and hopefully working for around 24 hours, this is where the breathing techniques learnt at our hypnobirthing courses really came in handy!
For the next 24 hours we pretty much made ourselves at home in our cubical and got comfortable. I started having pains but very manageable pains nothing to heavy. I noticed around 12 hours into having the pessary that I hadn’t felt the baby move much, so straight away I mentioned this to the nurse looking after us. I was popped on the monitor for what normally should only be for around 20 minutes, I ended up being on there for an hour and a half as there wasn’t much movement from the baby, but her heart rate seemed perfectly fine. The nurse eventually took me off the monitor and told me to go for a walk and to get some lunch and that they would check me again after an hour or so.
Back on the monitor I went and this time I ended up being permanently on the monitor for over 5 hours. Again, no movement from the baby but her heart rate stayed normal. A doctor came to see me and check the monitor results, she agreed that the baby wasn’t very active but wanted a second opinion and that a consultant would be along to see me shortly. Despite all this we actually kept pretty calm as we knew that the babies heart rate was normal and that we were in the right place with the right people around us to keep an eye on our baby. So, as it was Christmas eve, we watched yet another Christmas film, The Polar Express. It was lovely and kept us really positive and content.
It was finally 9pm and our 24 hours with the pessary in was up. The nurse came round, and I had the pessary removed. I was advised right at the start of our induction process that the first pessary that was in for 24 hours would most likely not start anything and that a second pessary would be inserted for an extra 6 hours if needed. I was examined and nothing had started, I wasn’t dilating yet. Before the next pessary was to go in the nurse and doctor wanted me to be seen by the consultant. He came to see me and check my monitor results and he agreed once again that baby wasn’t being active at all and that it was unusual and as we already had a small baby that she would need to be constantly monitored. He explained to us that we could carry on with induction if we wanted to and have the second pessary inserted or we could potentially have a c-section delivery, as our baby clearly wasn’t coping very well. It was totally our decision, and we were left to think about it. We decided that as our normally very active baby, wasn’t being very active that she clearly wasn’t coping well and as she was very small anyway that we didn’t want to carry on with induction and cause her any more stress. So, an hour later we were dressed in our gowns and scrubs and being prepped for our c-section.
At around 11.30pm Christmas eve I was being walked to the operating theatre by one of the surgeons, who asked me if I liked Christmas songs, to which I replied yes. As we walked into the theatre there was Christmas songs being blasted, which I absolutely loved, and it instantly made me feel so calm and somewhat even forget about the operation I was just about to have. Epidural was done and my partner came to join me. All the final checks on me were done and the surgeon asked me what my favourite Christmas song was, ‘last Christmas by Wham’. At 11.52 Christmas eve our beautiful baby girl entered the world, being blasted right at that moment was ‘last Christmas’ it was the most magical experience, one I will never forget.
Erin Emelia was born on the 24th of December at 11.52pm, weighing 4lb 4oz. She is perfect.
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