Elodie's long-awaited arrival!

Babyworld member Nutsandbump devoured a lovely steak after her waterbirthing experience.

• Niggle, niggle
• I didn't want to jinx it!
• My dad drove in record time
• It was like being in a disco
• I had an enormous steak for tea

Niggle, niggle

I went to see the midwife, after being told from 36 weeks that I was to expect the birth 'any day now'. When I went overdue, and with no end in sight, I was really fed up. I begged the midwife to book me in for induction as I had had enough of being heavy and unable to move or rest. The midwife booked my induction for the following week and told me to expect to be in hospital for a while as they don't always work first time. The idea of spending more than a few hours in hospital was even worse than the thought of my water birth going out the window. Little did I know that my baby had a different idea as to when she wanted to arrive!

The next day, a little after midnight, I was rudely awoken by a niggle. I hadn't experienced any Braxton Hicks contractions throughout my pregnancy, so I assumed that this was one of them and tried to go back to sleep. Unfortunately, the niggle had other ideas: it kept me from sleeping by reappearing every ten minutes or so. This went on all through the day.

I didn't want to jinx it!

By lunchtime I knew it was finally labour and got really excited. I didn't tell anyone I was in labour in case I jinxed it! By 7.00pm I decided to go online to waste some time chatting. After much nagging from the girls I decided to get off the internet and give the midwife a ring as the contractions were down to seven minutes apart and were getting more uncomfortable.

At a little after midnight on Saturday, I woke mum and went downstairs to phone the delivery suite, who contacted my on-call midwife to come out to see me. At 1.00am she arrived and asked me the general stuff about timing of contractions etc. She advised that, as I wasn't that uncomfortable, to wait until the contractions were 5 minutes apart and I wasn't able to chat through them before giving the delivery suite another call.

To pass the time mum and I watched TV. With each contraction I went and sat on the loo as I couldn't sit down and my legs were getting tired leaning on the sofa.

My dad drove in record time

The next few hours disappeared and, before I knew it, the contractions were 4-5 minutes apart. The delivery suite said come on in. By this time I was very uncomfortable and mum had put on the TENS machine for me, which was great but I was starting to feel pain and was screaming into a pillow (it was 4.00am and I like my neighbours!). We woke my dad, loaded my packed bag into the car and head for the hospital: me in the back screaming into a pillow my dad looking very pale and my mum chatting away in the front like we on our way for a day trip. What should have been a one-hour journey my dad drove in record time! Mum was so excited she and dad headed straight for reception leaving me leaning against a wall halfway down the corridor screaming into my pillow (again).

More hours and contractions passed and when I looked up at the clock it was 7.00am. By this time I was leaning against a huge pile of pillows on the bed and coping better than I had been before with the pain. My midwife asked if she could check me out to find out what was going on as the contractions were down to 3 minutes. She asked me to lie down on the bed as best I could. I got half my left buttock on the bed and had to get up. As I stood up my mum moved to hold me hand and my waters blew all over the floor and my mums leg!

The midwife still wanted to check me so I hung myself over the back of the bed instead. The pain became really intense and felt like I couldn't move. The midwife didn't tell me at the time but I was only 3cm dilated. She asked if I wanted any other pain relief. I didn't want gas and air as I already felt sick, and asked for the pool or an epidural.

It was like being in a disco!

At 8.00am the midwife went off in search of pain relief and to fill the birthing pool. up. She came back a while later and I had the TENS machine removed. The water was fantastic - I want one of those pools in my bathroom! By this time it was 9.00am and my midwife decide to call in her relief as she didn't think I would deliver before her shift ended. As soon as she left the room I felt the head and was desperate to push. Mum panicked and pulled all the emergency cords to get attention, it was like being in a disco - flashing lights and sirens going off! My midwife reappeared and along with her relief and a nurse.

I started pushing at 9.31am and, after three pushes, Elodie Grace made her way into the world. All I can say is it hurt like hell! When the midwife handed her to me she looked like an alien, grey with the most enormous eyes. The first thing that struck me was she had huge feet and hands. Mum cut the cord and had a cuddle before she was weighed.

I had an enormous steak for tea

Elodie weighed in at 8lb 11oz, a big girl! I was finally out of the pool and dressed at 11.00am. I was moved down to a ward at 12pm, had my lunch and waited for the paediatrician to arrive to discharge me. He finally arrived at 5.30pm, 12 hours after I arrived, and gave us the all-clear. We finally reached home at 7.00pm, after a stop-off at Tesco to buy an enormous steak for my tea!

My Mum is one of the proudest grannies going and delights in telling everyone I had no drugs and needed no stitches at all.

So there you go - Elodie's birth story! Now the uncomfortable bit is over I get to enjoy my gorgeous daughter at last!

Where to next?

• Read accounts of different types of birth
• Read accounts of other natural births