A tight squeeze
It was lucky Maisie was small enough to be born naturally!- I waited as long as possible
- We were in time for the carpet fitters
- I was coping very well
- I didn't need the pethidine
- Things started going downhill
- My legs were like play-doh
- It was a tight squeeze
Maisie was due either on the 18th or 25th of December so, from the 18th onwards, we were fielding daily "Have you had it yet?" phone calls. After a brisk, very cold walk round a local nature reserve we came home and I started to feel familiar regular pains. It was Sunday 21st, around 6pm. The pains continued to increase in frequency and intensity but weren't much different to the false starts so we carried on watching TV and timing them.
At around 11pm, I had a bath and rather than easing off, they got worse. I got out of the bath around midnight, had a show. Having been warned that we should go in at the first sign of labour, due to my Caesarean last time, I put it off until I was sure it was real and called in around 1am. We were told to go straight down so we called my Mum, had a bite to eat and headed down to the hospital around 2am.
We were in time for the carpet fitters
The hospital were very 'hands-off' which I appreciated. I was monitored for around an hour, then given a chance to go for a walk round the maternity unit before being monitored briefly again. Then we were left to our own devices so Noel slept while I read my book between contractions (can't remember much of the story now!). At around 5.00am they offered me the chance to go home as the contractions were still 'mild'. I said no because I didn't want my daughter to see me in pain. At around 7am I was given an internal only to be told I was 1cm dilated - gutted! I went home with my second dose of co-dydramol in time to see Jasmine off to nursery and for Noel to let the carpet fitters in!
By 9am the pain was far worse and my spirits were low. By 11am, I was sobbing, convinced it was all a waste of time as I'd end up with another C-Section anyway and unable to understand why all that pain hadn't got me anywhere. We went back to the hospital…
The next midwife was lovely; she'd experienced two sections herself and understood my concerns. She read, liked and followed my comprehensive birth plan, helping me to stay on my feet, use gas an air and cope well. I was a little disheartened to read on my notes that she still considered my contractions to be mild though!
At change of shift I met another fantastic midwife. She delayed making any decisions regarding the hospital's 'VBAC protocol' for as long as she could. At around 3pm, she finally did an internal and found me to be 5-6 cm dilated - I was over the moon! She said at that point that the 'trial of labour' would begin. She'd effectively given me 21 hours more than I should have been allowed to get the baby out. I was using gas and air heavily now but coping well and feeling very positive.
I carried on through increasingly intense contractions with brilliant support from Noel and eventually decided I needed pethidine. I had asked for an epidural but my midwife stuck to my birth plan and told me I was managing perfectly well without and, in fact, I was!
In the time it took for the midwife to get the pethidine, my endorphins must have kicked in, all of a sudden I just didn't need it! This was the funniest part of the whole labour. I was high on gas and air, coping well and saying the most bizarre things. Noel was supporting me (quite literally) during contractions and the midwife was monitoring, supporting and being there without me really noticing her. I remained either upright leaning on the back of the bed or sitting on the birthing ball throughout.
At about 10pm, things started going downhill. My lovely midwife had to go home and was replaced by an ex-army cow! During their handover I was shouting in pain, needing to push and had been told it was OK but my support suddenly diminished and I felt totally out of control.
I was given an internal on my back (unbearably painful) to find I was 8cm, not 10cm! This finished me off. The air was blue with expletives mostly directed at the midwife. She said they wouldn't give me a Section and that I should've taken the pethidine when I first asked for it!
At about 11pm, they decided to 'speed me up'. Throughout the birth plan I had expressly refused this due to the risk of scar rupture. I did however refuse to have this drip without an epidural as my own insurance policy in case they needed to do an emergency section. So, in the space of an hour, I'd gone from upright and in control to on my back, in a hospital gown with pethidine, syntometrine, epidural and a monitor on the baby's head. Apparently the waters were broken at this point too. They found meconium in the waters but Maisie's heart traces remained good so they weren't too worried.
The next hour or so is a blank. I guess I must have dozed. At around midnight I was ready to push. Luckily the epidural hadn't been 100 per cent effective so I still had feeling on my right side, this was enough to help me push. Now the midwife's army training came into play, she was really motivating. With the pain under control I felt like I could do it, I also felt it would've been more productive had I been upright but given that my legs were like play-doh that wasn't really an option.
An hour later they decided it was time to get Maisie out as she was beginning to suffer. They gave me a local anaesthetic, popped the ventouse on, pulled … and out popped the ventouse! No baby! I had visions of a headless baby at this point so I was reassured when they said the ventouse can slip sometimes. On the third attempt they managed to get a good grip and, after three pushes/pulls, three distinct 'snips' and the feeling that my insides were being turned inside out, Maisie slipped into this world, crying beautifully. It was 1.20am on Tuesday 23rd December and she was 7lb 2oz. They showed her to us so we could find out whether she was a boy or a girl. I couldn't really see anything but the cord and got it wrong - oops! She was checked quickly, then put onto my tummy for a nice snuggle.
During this part, they told me it was a really tight squeeze and, had Maisie been any bigger, it was doubtful they could've got her out. They said this might explain my 'failure to progress' with Jasmine (8lb) - I doubt it though as I never got past 7 cm with her. Still, it's nice to know you're 'dainty' down below!
About half an hour later I was sitting up in bed and was promptly sick! I think it was the shock of actually doing it. Throughout the pregnancy and birth I never thought I'd achieve a normal delivery and I'm so happy I managed it.
Where to next?
- Read the full birth story
- To read more birth stories, click here!
- To talk to others considering a VBAC, visit our forum