Every birth is different, some are positive and some are negative. I would love to share all different kinds of stories with you, and hopefully put some new mums who are due their baby soon minds at rest. My labor stories are here if you want to have a read.
Today’s post is the first from Zoe at Mummandlissblog.com She shares her amazing story with us.
No Pain Relief! A Positive Birth Story FT Mummy & Liss.
I was 16 when I found out I was pregnant going through a tough time with my mental health and was struggling severely with anxiety, I had left school and was finally getting back on my feet when I found out I was pregnant, I had planned to go on to do an apprenticeship in a local hospital and sort of had a plan with what I was doing until I missed my period and saw the 2 lines on the pregnancy test. I never thought I would ever be able to have children after what all the doctors had told me, I was severely underweight at one point and my periods were all over the place – hence why I never thought I was pregnant until I saw the 2 lines.
I was living with my boyfriend and his parents at the time and when they found out I was pregnant, we got kicked out. I moved back in with my mum and she supported me emotionally & financially until I was stable and I cannot thank her enough for that. On the 3rd of August we went for our dating scan and found out that we were having a little girl.
“I was absolutely over the moon and nothing compared to the love I was feeling at this point”
Myself and Rob (My partner of 2 and a half years) moved into our first home together in December. A few weeks later at 36 weeks pregnant, I start to get these awful back pains – I kept mentioning these pains to my health visitor and they called the hospital for me and made me get checked out. They examined me and I was already 2cm dilated, they hooked me up to the machines and monitored me continuously for 10 days. We were on edge every night wondering ‘will today be the day?’ until I was discharged at 37.5 weeks pregnant – she clearly wasn’t going to arrive anytime soon. I suffered for the last month with this horrible back pain, I hit my due date & still nothing… so my midwife booked me in for a “stretch & sweep” at 41 weeks. I was absolutely mortified at the name of the procedure & really didn’t want it done…
Luckily on the morning of the “stretch and sweep” my waters broke before my appointment. At first I honestly thought I had wet myself (It was 5.40am, I was still half asleep) I text my mum and (stupidly) told her not to worry as I was in no pain whatsoever. Within 20 minutes, I was eating my words… by this time it was 6am and i was bent over on the bathroom floor in absolute agony. It was the most painful excruciating pain ever, but all the pain was in my lower back. This was not what I was expecting and definitely not what the midwives had told me to look out for.. I was timing my contractions they were approx 1 to 2 mins apart (they say ring the ward at 4mins apart but mine were close together from the start).. we rang the maternity ward & they told me to come in straight away, so I did.. well I thought I did..
Little did I know, it took me just over an hour to get off the bathroom floor. The pain was so bad I couldn’t stand, walk or even sit down – I was just lying there on the floor fighting the pain. I should have called an ambulance, I now know for next time. I eventually walked outside to the car in my dressing gown, I live in a ground floor flat so it was literally just outside. By this time I couldn’t cope with the pain and my mum stuck the tens machine on my back – it helped so much. It felt like I was being electrocuted a million times but it felt amazing compared to those horrible contractions I was having.
It takes us approximately 30 mins to get to the nearest hospital from my home, and the traffic wasn’t brilliant at school run time.. I was in the back of the car shouting “I need to push” when my mum & partner both told me not to, for any of you who have had children – you will know that when you need to push.. you need to push – There’s no going back now.
My contractions were so strong, I seemed to just zone out of my body for a few minutes each time – they completely took control of my body and it is the strangest feeling ever. We finally got to the hospital at 8am. My mum abandoned her car literally just outside of the maternity reception & ran in shouting for help… I was pushing & was in so much pain. From then it was all a blur, I remember about 5 midwives came running out to the car to help me, bundled me onto a wheelchair & sped me down to my own room where I got on the bed and continued to push.. there was no need to examine me as it was clear that I was 10cm dilated already… how scary is that! Within 40 minutes of being at the hospital, my baby girl arrived at 8.40am weighing 8lbs exactly. I could not believe that I had just given birth to an 8lb baby with no pain relief whatsoever. I have to admit the memory of pain does subside fast, and it seems way more manageable now than it did at the time.
I felt so relieved, the first thing I said was “oh my god, I did it” and burst into tears. I fell in love with my daughter, the second I set eyes on her. I was absolutely exhausted after pushing for so long, but I was so happy.. finally the wait was over! But then it was time to push out the placenta, you forget about this part, it’s not really something they make you very aware of If i’m honest. I did not want the diamorphine injection – I wanted a physiological third stage (meaning I wanted to do it all naturally) they can only give you a certain amount of time to deliver the placenta yourself so the midwife went ahead and rubbed clary sage oil onto my empty stomach – there was no baby in there anymore, my belly was like jelly.. literally! Unfortunately the placenta did not want to come out and all of a sudden I started to lose a lot of blood & was at risk of clotting. The red alarm button was pressed & loads of doctors came running in, I didn’t have a clue what was happening – I was terrified. The midwife stabbed me in the leg with needles & I had to push again – minus the strong contractions. The bleeding slowed down after the injections & thankfully I seemed to be okay..
Until I was then told I needed to go down to theatre for stitches. I was in there for hours and luckily Rob came with me for support, Alyssia spent the first hour of her life cuddling her nanny. Being in theatre was scary, I had never had an operation before therefore I was petrified. I had a spinal in my back & a cannula drip in my hand.. within minutes my body was completely numb and I didn’t feel a thing. I kept drifting out of consciousness due to the morphine, time seemed to be flying by – it felt like 20 minutes but little did I know we had been in there for a whole 2 hours.
I am so thankful to have Robert in my life, my labour was scary but positive and the midwives have told me for my next baby they think I’ll have to have a home birth or call for an ambulance. I still to this day cannot believe that my tiny 7 and a half stone body carried a baby for 41 weeks & then gave birth without any pain relief whatsoever. I am so proud of myself and I am hoping I am just as strong the second time around.
Would I do it all again? Yes definitely! Nothing compares to the love and achievement you feel after delivery.
Our bodies are made to do this, and we are much stronger than we think.
Thank you for reading, Zoe x
To find out more about Zoe and her family click here.
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Thank you so much to Zoe for sharing her story with us, and i hope you enjoyed the read. If you at all would like to share your story please contact me! Through twitter, facebook, Instagram or email.
Thank you for reading x
Becca x