Ivy - January 2007, 6lb 7oz
When pregnant with my first baby, Russell, we asked for a homebirth. With our midwife in full support of this, he was born at home on 24/12/02 weighing 6lb8oz after a 9 hour labour during which I used gas and air for pain relief and found it to be a very relaxed and positive experience.
So when I was pregnant again with our 2nd baby Ivy we knew another homebirth was for us.
All my check ups went well and apart from slight concern about her size at 36 weeks which a scan showed was normal my pregnancy went well and I continued working until 3 weeks before my due date.
On my due date 03/01/07 at 5pm I felt some mild pains but they settled by bed time and I slept well.
The next morning 04/01/07 I had my 40w appt with my midwife and was getting some 'pully' feelings again, a bit stronger than the night before. I didn't really experience Braxton Hicks with Russell and had not been getting any this time so thought this could be it and mentioned it to her. She said, I thought jokingly, we might see you later then, see how you go and phone when you want me to pop round.
Well, as soon as I got home things got a bit more regular about 3 every 30 mins and not lasting very long but by 12.30pm I had to call Dh at work to say 'pully' feelings were getting stronger and I thought he might want to come home at lunch time and tell his boss he'd not be into work afterwards!
He dropped Russell off at nursery at 1pm and at 3pm we decided that with contractions now coming 3 in every 10 mins we should just let the midwife know what was happening. At 3.15pm my mum popped in to see how I was doing, she had dropped me off for my appt earlier and wondered if I feeling any stronger contractions yet. I managed to grimace my way through 3 contractions saying that it was all getting a lot stronger at which point she said maybe it would be best if she collected Russell from nursery and took Alfie the dog with her too so we didn't have to worry about them.
I'm so glad she did because after that I decided to go for a wee and try to rest a bit. No such luck, I pulled my legs up onto the sofa and feeling a 'pop' and being wet knew my waters had broken. Waddled off to try to change and was hit with very painful contractions which didn't let up and seemed to just keep coming every time I moved a tiny bit.
Dh was now getting concerned as I seemed to be getting to later stages a lot earlier than with Russell. Just as we were going to call to say things were speeding up our midwife appeared like an answer to prayer. With almost a flourish she produced the gas and air for me which helped, but only briefly as I was already feeling like I needed to push. I was worrying it was all going so fast but she said if it felt right go with my body which was what I needed to hear.
As the contractions got stronger I moved to lean over the sofa and knelt up slightly. This felt great (Russell was delivered from this position too) and Ivy came whizzing down with what felt like minimum effort with each contraction. (During both my pregnancies I have taken raspberry leaf tablets from 36 weeks and I have great belief this is why my contractions are so strong and effective). In 2 pushes she was born at 4.16pm, just 20mins after the midwives arrived, weighing 6lb7oz, and latched on straight away for her first feed.
I found labour number 2 was more painful as it progressed quicker, but equally I lasted a lot longer without my trusty gas and air and the actual birth was easier as I felt I more was confident in my ability to give birth.
Emma BB
Fast Labours - is quicker always better? What do you do if your baby is arriving faster than your midwife?
Pain relief - what are your options at home?
Siblings at a home birth - what to do with your older children? Should they be present?
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