George’s Birth Story

I was 3 days past my due date apparently although I always thought I was 40+1 but anyway it was Friday 19th September; teatime. I was really grumpy and moaning at my poor husband Will over just about everything including how heavy he was breathing…poor fella!! Had lots of grumbly period pains since 5pm and was generally tired and whingy!!

18.30 came and normal routine of putting Henry (No1 son aged 18 months) in the bath commenced. While Will was dressing Henry for bed, I decided we needed to empty the birth pool as it was on day 8 of the same water and was supposed to be changed on day 7. We hired a heated pool to make life easier for Will.it was a fantastic pool and can be hired from www.aquabubs.co.uk. Will said it was too much hassle to empty the pool and nothing was going to happen tonight and as he was going to squash club it can be done tomorrow. I huffed and puffed and stormed out of the room saying I would do it myself and promptly started to get the pump together to empty the thing!!

Will came down and took over from me and I told him I was getting some heavy period type pain and things may start tonight. He thought I was being dramatic and just saying that to stop him going to squash….as if I would do such a thing!! So, he took over and I went to feed Henry for bed. While I was nursing Henry the familiar period type contraction pain started but I didn’t think too much of it at that point. Came back downstairs and the pool was emptying nicely. I started to look at the clock as I was getting waves of the pain rather than a constant dull ache. I announced to Will that the baby was coming tonight and I was officially in labour and that the contractions were actually every 5-6 mins apart….of course he didn’t believe me, then he panicked and asked ‘why the hell were we emptying the pool!!’ It had to be emptied otherwise we risked not being able to use it…so we continued to empty it and in the meantime, I put the hot water on so we ensured having a full tank when the time to refill came. By 19.30 the pool was almost empty and so we started to refill with cold water from the outside garden hose. We tried to connect the hose to the kitchen tap with the so called ‘universal’ tap adaptor, but of course it didn’t fit! Will started to panic then and so me being very calm said ‘let’s not find problems let’s find solutions….get some buckets!!’ so we (well he) bucketed in 20+ buckets of boiling hot water to the pool. The temp was around 34 degrees by the time it was full so we popped the cover on and turned up the heater.

At 2030 I called the midwife just to let her know I was in labour but I was fine. She told me her hubby was just dishing up her tea and could she eat it? I said that I was fine and contractions were manageable. She said to call her back when the contractions intensified. By 1030 I had my TENS machine on and things were hotting up a bit. I called the midwife again and explained contractions were 4-5 mins and lasting around a minute each and were painful but ok. She said she would come.

She arrived at 1115 and started taking my blood pressure and listened to the baby’s heartbeat. I was bouncing on my birthing ball in the front room using my TENS machine and breathing and relaxing through the contractions. Relaxing my body deep into each contraction really helped the pain. At 1145 while bouncing, I heard a pop and felt a warm sensation down below….my waters had gone. I grabbed the beach towel that was on the carpet next to my ball and managed to stuff it under myself. I then made my way to the conservatory (towel between my legs) where the pool was set up and sat on the sofa. The midwife (Sonia) said she’d like to examine me which was fine…..the contractions, since my waters broke, were really painful now so I was hoping she was going to bring me happy news and let me get in the pool. I was 5-6 cm dilated…yippee!! I was able to get into the pool at 1205am. The contractions were very painful now and I asked for some gas and air….what fab stuff that is!! I moved around the pool from my front up on to my knees and then sitting back down again. The freedom of movement was bliss. By 1225 I had an urge to push and my body almost took over at that point. Still using the gas and air and moving around the pool 10 minutes later at 1235, I had a greater urge to push and my body began to push without me even doing anything. Sonia was lovely and told me to let my body do what it wants to do. So I am pushing and probably grunting and mooing and at 12.45 the head was crowning and I reached down to feel. Another push and the baby’s head was out. At 12.50 our second child came into the world…his shoulders had got a bit stuck so the midwife had to give him a little tug I think. Sonia reached down for the baby and gave him straight to me. I held him under the water and he was very floppy and looked quite grey. Sonia gave baby a rub on its back and within seconds baby gasped and was breathing. The cord felt quite short so I had to hold baby under the water quite low down. The 2nd midwife then arrived….just a few minutes too late, but it was good to see Dee who I knew.

Will wasn’t in the room as I think he panicked and left looking for towels when baby wasn’t breathing initially….when he came back I wanted us to look to see what we had together. I tried to feel but couldn’t so I lifted up a leg and there we found a little boys bits!! Another son to make us a family of four and a new little brother for Henry. I sat there for 20 minutes and waited for the cord to stop pulsating and then Sonia cut it and handed our little boy to his daddy. He was pleased as punch and grinning from ear to ear. I climbed out of the pool and laid on the sofa ready for the 3rd stage. I wanted to have a natural 3rd stage so we waited…. I had the urge to stand up as I had what felt like cramp in my hips and so I squatted and with a few pushes the placenta was delivered. The 2nd midwife just about caught it in her dish!

I was then examined down below and they found that I had quite a nasty jagged tear with a tag which needed more detailed stitching than the midwife felt she wanted to do herself. This meant a trip into hospital unfortunately. The hospital was 3 minutes up the road so it wasn’t a problem and I was just concerned that I got a good embroidery job!! Before we set off to the hospital, I fed our new baby boy and Will came and sat beside me. We discussed names and decided on George William Roberts. George fed for around 40 minutes (he was a natural just like his big brother!!). We called my neighbour Ali who came and sat with Henry (who was sound asleep throughout the whole amazing event) while we went to the hospital. We got to the hospital at 0245am for suturing which I have to say was far worse than the labour and delivery!! I used gas and air throughout and it was found to be a 2nd degree tear. I was home by 0430 and in bed by 5am. Sent out a few texts and then slept. Only to be woken at 6am by Henry. I gave him a breastfeed in the hope he would go back to sleep and left him in his room. He must have gone back to sleep as we didn’t hear him until 08.30….i managed to get a couple of hours much needed sleep!!

We introduced Henry to his new baby brother which was a lovely moment. Henry adores his baby brother and keeps saying baby and puckering up for kisses!! Such a different birth experience to last time I am pleased to say. We decided that night we would probably have a number 3….because of having such an amazing experience with delivering George. Will was very anxious about a homebirth but now it is over he was glad that I had the birth I wanted and that it was such a positive experience all round. So now I am a proud mummy to 2 beautifully handsome boys and have hopped on board the journey of tandem breast feeding. I am writing this story on day 17 post George’s birth and at this point Henry has upped his breastfeeding 5 fold…he is enjoying mummy’s new found milk supply and is making the most of it!!