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“I tried the birth breathing but found I’m a tad more vocal at that point, but still felt completely calm and in control…”

Here’s a rather, edge of your seats but fab birth story sent to us by Jane, via her wonderful TCBS Instructor (and our TCBS Training Manager) Liz at www.enhanceyourbirth.co.uk

Thanks so much for sharing lovelies!

“Hi everyone,

I thought I’d share my birth story as it’s not quite what we planned – but that was absolutely fine and we ended up with an absolutely perfect baby!

I was due on the Tuesday so the home birth midwife popped round to give me a sweep in the morning. I’d had a couple with Alice and didn’t really find they did anything but was willing to give it another go. Midwife had said I was 3cm but no contractions so a bit pointless on it’s own! She also said as I was full of cold and Alice ‘a bit’ (more later!) under the weather, that’d be on my mind so things were favourable but not all systems go!

So my poorly girl stayed at home whilst I went for a cream tea ‘due date’ treat with my mum and nan. Alice was sleepy, snotty but nothing overly concerning. We had a lovely cream tea and put the crampy feeling down to the sweep. Just period aches, nothing bad at all.
Driving home we hit a major traffic jam. The M42 was not moving…but my labour was! I suddenly twigged that I was possibly having mild surges so asked my nan to count them. I was trying to remain bright and breezy as I could see my nan eyeing up the stationary traffic all around and getting a tad stressed!

Although they seemed to be every 5mins, every other one didn’t seem quite as uncomfortable so I was reassuring everyone there was definitely more like 10mins between them. No panic there at all! Having dropped my nan home I did admit to my mum I should probably call Sam and ask him to come and drive me back from hers rather than carry on behind the wheel.

However, as I was phoning Sam, he was phoning me. Turns out Alice had actually had a seizure as her temperature had gotten too high so the ambulance was at ours. The traffic was horrendous driving back from my nans – it was crawling. All the while I’m trying not to think about the fact I could be in labour!

When we got back, Sam and I went off in the ambulance leaving my mum at ours. I was still surging regularly, but not too strong or long and I must have said several times over, ‘oh there’s no way this will carry on. The adrenalin will completely cancel out my oxytocin!’
We arrived at the hospital and the paramedic suggested timing the contractions as I didn’t want to be having a baby in the children’s hospital A&E. They were now every 2 1/2 mins but as they were only about 20secs I was still pretty insistent it would die off any minute and it’s nothing a bit of circling my hips couldn’t help.

They very kindly put us in a side room as we waited and I rang the midwife.
She asked if I wanted her to come and see me at home so it was decided Sam would stay with Alice and I’d get a taxi back. This was about 6.30pm and based on my labour with Alice I suspected we had a while.

I got home about 7pm, having rang my mum to come back (she’d left her phone in my bag so had ended up knocking from door to door to find a neighbour who was in. A very kind man actually took her home! Only to come back about an hour later!).
Anyway, by about 7pm midwife and mum were there and I was beginning to realise things might not be quite as I’d planned. The birthing pool wasn’t set up and that was Sam’s job! My music was on Sam’s phone. Sam had been practicing the massages, he was my birthing partner!

As it turns out my labour was a tad faster than first time round. Surges were pretty constant from arriving home and suddenly ramped up in intensity. The midwives (3 at this point) set about sorting the pool and I stayed in a dimly lit room listening to the affirmations. My mum had never heard them so I had to talk her through the ones I liked as my plan had been for Sam to keep reinforcing these to me.
Anyway she was fab at telling me how once it had passed, I was one step closer and kept telling me how calm I was. I stayed on my feet as I didn’t want anything to slow things down. For each surge I found the only thing that offered relief was leaning up against a wall so just kept doing that, then pacing.

I don’t mean to make it sound simple, but by 9.26pm she was out. I tried the birth breathing but found I’m a tad more vocal at that point, but still felt completely calm and in control. I was able to easily stop and pant when the midwife told me to, and consequently Lillian came out without tearing me. No time to get in the water and this time I know I pooed (sorry, it’s what all pregnant woman think about) but I just let it happen as I knew my body needed to do that to get that baby out!
Sam got home within the hour and was able to cut the cord.

So not as planned, but Liz, thank you so much because in my own way I took so so much from our sessions and what could have been a really traumatic time was completely manageable.

Alice is getting better and I have my beautiful baby after the quickest labour ever. Sam might have missed the grand finale but I had my mum and I DID IT!! XX”

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