The birth plan for my second child was exactly the same as my first birth plan for my daughter 4 years prior. Maidstone Birth Centre, water birth, no intervention, husband to be by my side, fairy lights, hypnobirthing tracks on etc.
When I was 40+1 I opted to have a sweep from the midwife, I'd been having plenty of Braxton Hicks and just felt really ready. So after a sweep on Monday morning, I could sense a shift in how I was feeling.
That evening, my dog became incredibly needy, literally wrapped around my neck and not leaving my side. I knew that he had sensed something was about to happen.
I went to bed and woke up at 3.45am with the familiar night time cramps I'd been having, however this time it was followed by a small gush of liquid which turned out to be my waters! (This hadn't happened in my previous pregnancy so I wasn't sure what to expect!) I woke up my husband who insisted on calling the birth centre straight away, which I thought was a bit premature however he called them and they asked us to go in right away. The contractions had now started however they weren't too intense at this stage. Luckily my mum answered her phone to come over and watch my daughter for us and by 4.15 we were in the car on the way. Contractions were getting a lot stronger and I felt every single bump in the road.
When we arrived at the birth centre, the bath was running, I was examined and was told at 5am that I was only 2cm dilated. So disappointingly, the bath was turned off. They said I could stay there until 6am but if I've not progressed by 6am, I'll need to go home and come back later. The midwives left us to it, but couldn't fill the pool whilst I wasn't in active labour.
So I spent the next 55 mins breathing through some very intense contractions, trying to get in different positions to help ease the discomfort.
However at 5.55am I had the urge to push, and told my husband to go get a midwife ASAP, as the baby is coming! A few seconds later about 3 midwives came in and turned the bath on full. As soon as the first push had passed I waddled to the bath, where it was only filled about 20cm deep but I managed to just about get in before the next push, when my daughter's head popped out. I couldn't believe it, and how quick it was all happening. After what felt like an hour, the next push came along and out came our beautiful daughter, Elodie at 06.04.
My husband cut the cord and we opted for the injection to release the placenta.
Elodie was born weighing 5lb 13oz which was a lot smaller than the predicted weight, with the total labour lasting 2 hours 20 mins!
We stayed in the birth centre until the following evening, getting a lot of breast feeding support as she wasn't feeding very well straight away. Maidstone Birth Centre were so fantastic, despite how unusually busy it was, they made us feel so welcome and a priority at all times.
We arrived at Maidstone birth centre just after 5pm (I had your affirmation MP3 on repeat in the car whilst sniffing on lavender!) and the midwife was superb from arrival. I got in that pool as soon as I could and Cali arrived in the water by 6.30pm. I couldn't have asked for a better birth really.
I decided to contact Rachel, through Strong Like Mama, in my third trimester to see if she was able to offer any additional support and advice when prepping for a c-section.
I was scheduled for an elective c-section at 39 weeks due to medical reasons and personal preference, having carefully considered the pros and cons for a vaginal vs surgical delivery.
I promised I wouldn’t panic if I went to 42 weeks, I promised I wouldn’t let the fear of others pressure me into rushing the arrival of my baby. As 42 weeks loomed, I began to freak out. My patience was running thin and I wanted to meet my baby more than anything, I was also so done with being pregnant. I had felt ready to give birth at about 30 weeks.
