"My pregnancy was pretty straight forward with no problems apart from the usual low blood pressure, anaemia, etc. I loved having a bump and enjoyed being able to eat whatever (and however much!) I wanted. I worked up until 36 weeks and left work feeling on top of the world and wondering if perhaps I had left a little too early.
The first three weeks of my maternity leave were chilled out and ! was pretty active, going shopping and meeting friends for lunch most days. I enjoyed my penultimate weekend before my due date at my parents' house in the North East, being run around after by my Mum and seeing friends for the last time as non-Mummy!
The week before my due date felt much different - every day I got a little more uncomfortable and began running out of comfy positions. I found it harder and harder to sleep each night and eventually even my sacred place, the bath, was uncomfortable to be in. I felt miserable in the few days before my due date and spent almost three days in bed watching TV and feeling sorry for myself. I'd been having period-like pains for about two weeks but had realised by now that they meant nothing. I felt like I was coming down with a bad cold and my sister-in-law had called me saying that's how she'd felt a couple of days before she gave birth. I ignored her comments and decided not to get my hopes up, as she'd also gone 12 days overdue!
My baby was due on Thursday 14th October 2010 and after feeling totally rubbish since the Monday, being told by all my friends and family that I'd probably go overdue wasn't really helping my mood. On the Wednesday I spent the day in bed again but decided to haul myself up in time for my boyfriend getting in from work. I thought I should try and make a little bit of effort so I cheered myself up a bit by doing my make-up and hair and giving myself a French manicure. I threw on a t-shirt and some Uggs and went and sat on the sofa while my nails dried. My period-like pains seemed a little stronger that day but I knew this probably meant nothing. I kept getting crampy feelings around my ovaries too. These kept coming and going for a few hours but weren't particularly painful.
At around 6pm on Wednesday evening the cramps seemed to get a little stronger and ever so slightly more regular. I timed a few just to put my mind at ease but after about five I realised that there was no pattern to the pains so stopped timing. They kept coming and by the time my boyfriend got in at half seven I was pacing the living room. He was excited but I was adamant that the pains weren't contractions. They didn't feel like people had described so I figured they must just be Braxton Hicks.
At about 10pm by boyfriend decided maybe we should have a bath as it could help with the pains, then I could go to bed nice and relaxed. We squished in the bath together and he timed a few of my cramps but still there was no pattern to them. After about 20 minutes I got out of the bath to get ready for bed. I went into the bedroom and sat on my bed on a towel while I struggled to reach over my huge bump to put some knickers on. When I stood up I noticed quite a bit of blood on the towel and (obviously) panicked! I rang my Mum with shaking hands and she told me it'd be fine but to give the hospital a quick call anyway just to see what they thought. The hospital told me to pop in just to double check everything was OK. I didn't feel worried anymore, more inconvenienced that we had to go out at 11 o'clock at night when all I wanted to do was go to bed!!
My boyfriend and I threw on some clothes and his parents came to pick us up to drive us to the hospital. I wasn't going to take my hospital bag but my boyfriend threw it into the car 'just in case'. All I kept saying in the car on the way there was, "we'll be home in an hour, we'll be home in an hour"...
My pains were getting stronger and were coming much more often than before. My boyfriend's Mum was sure I was in labour but I was still in denial. When we got to the hospital my boyfriend and I went through to a room where they hooked me up to a machine that monitors the baby's heartbeat. I sat in there for about an hour with my cramps getting stronger and stronger but they still weren't particularly painful, more uncomfortable. A nurse came to examine me and we were all astonished to hear that I was 7cm dilated!!! Well, they whipped me through to the delivery suite quick smart and into a beautiful room with a lovely LOVELY midwife called Erika. My boyfriend ran off to tell his Mum and Dad to go home as they'd be waiting a long time otherwise, and I excitedly rang my Mum and whispered, "the baby's coming!"
I accepted the gas and air they offered me to ease my now slightly painful 'contractions' and sat on the edge of the bed swinging my legs and chatting happily to my midwife. She couldn't believe how fast everything was going considering it was my first baby and it was a boy (and we all know that boys are known to be lazy buggers!) I had asked her if she thought I'd need an epidural but her response was, "if you were going to need one you'd have asked for one by now" - and I felt fine! Although my carefully thought out Birthing Plan went right out of the window - it was all going far too fast to be having a water birth! The thing that struck me most at the time was how fine I felt in between contractions. They eventually got pretty strong and obviously very painful but in between I felt on top of the world!
I was perched on the edge of the bed sucking on my gas & air and giggling in between each contraction for a while before my midwife explained that the baby's heartbeat had slowed down a bit and I should lie down. Within seconds I was surrounded my doctors, nurses and midwives and was being examined again. I think the baby was trying to get out but couldn't because I was sitting down! The next hour or so was a blur as I was examined, my waters were broken and the baby's head needed to be scratched to check the oxygen in his blood. I was still surrounded by medical staff and by this time I was asking for some Diamorphine. My feet were in and out of stirrups as they turned me from my back to my side then onto my back again. At one point I asked to go back on my side with my knees in the stirrups as I found it rather comfy and was ready for a nap! But no such luck, the baby was coming and there was no time for sleeps just yet. I remember looking at the clock and it was 3:15am - "I know it's a silly question but how long do you think I've got left?" I asked Erika. "He'll be here within the hour," she replied. "Wow", I thought, "I can do this!!"
Erika was almost spot on. I pushed for about ten minutes and with the help of my darling boyfriend and the amazing midwives, my beautiful baby boy Finn was born at 4:24am on Thursday 14th October 2010 (on his due date!!) weighing 8lbs 7oz.
My boyfriend cut the cord and had skin-to-skin contact with his little baby son while I went into theatre for stitches (yep, thats how bad my tear was! - ouch!).
The staff at St Mary's Hospital in Manchester were utterly amazing and I feel I owe everything to Erika, my midwife. My boyfriend was incredible throughout the whole labour and I feel so, so proud of myself for getting through it with no epidural and no tears!! I feel so lucky to have had such a relatively straight-forward and easy labour, especially for a first-timer. I would go through it again tomorrow if I could - it was the most magical, special, beautiful thing I've ever experienced and all the pain goes away the second you lay eyes on your perfect little baby.
I'm glad I was able to share my story with you, as it is so special to me and I'd shout it from the rooftops if I thought people would listen!! I hope that someone who is scared of giving birth reads about my experience and feels more confident about doing it. I know it's a different experience for everyone, but for some people it can go pretty smoothly!"
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