Forceps delivery

Katie tells her birth story: 'Our baby was due on Weds 28th March 2007, & on the Sunday before my due date I emailed my friend to say that I didn't think the baby would be coming any time soon.

Famous last words - the next morning I woke at 6am with a lower backache & thought "ooh, i wonder?!". Throughout the day my waters were breaking (although I wasnt sure at the time that that was what it was as it was my first baby). I rang my mum & Paul, my husband, at work to tell them what was happening. Paul got a little panicky and wondered what he should do but i told him to stay at work.

I rang the midwife and she suggested i went into hospital to get checked out. I was having mild pains by now too, so I called Paul back & asked him to come home.

So at about 3pm we went to the hospital where I was examined & they confirmed my waters were breaking & they broke the remaining waters but I wasn't dilated.

I was told I could go home but they booked me in a date to come back in case the baby didn't come as they only let you go a couple of days if your waters have already broken to prevent infection. The midwife at the hospital was convinced I'd be back that night. On the way home my contractions started becoming more frequent. At home I knelt on the floor leant over the sofa swaying my hips to try to help with the pain. I also used the tens machine which was okay.

My mum called in on her way home from work to do a bit of back rubbing! After a bit of timing of contractions, we decided to go back to the hospital. We got there about 7pm which was a perfect time as a new midwife just came on shift and we ended up with the same midwife all through the night which was lovely.

My contractions were painful now & all in my back (which I later found out was because the baby turned back to back even though she had been in the perfect position all the way through pregnancy). I used gas & air, but I'm not convinced it did much, although it was something to concentrate on. I had a monitor on to check the baby's heartbeat. Paul felt a bit useless as he couldn't do anything to help me.

I always said I didn't want an epidural but kept an open mind & did decide to have one. I think, had she stayed in the right position, I would have been ok with gas & air. The epidural was great - we are real advocates for it now! I could still feel the top of my bump so knew when the contractions were coming.

By the early hours I was fully dilated but had to wait an hour before I could push - due to the epidural, I think.

I think I pushed for an hour or so but the baby just wasn't coming quite right. The doctor was called in & she found that the baby was facing sideways towards my leg. I wondered why my hip was hurting!

She explained that i needed to be taken for a forceps delivery, but she would only try once & then I'd have to have a caesarean - which I really didn't want.

The epidural started to wear off while I was waiting for the anaesthetist to come back to top me up - that hurt!

Paul called my mum and dad earlier on in the evening as he was struggling a little, so mum was with me & also came into theatre with me, Paul waited outside as he didn't think he'd be much help. I wasn't too aware of what was happening in theatre, I was shaking from the epidural & pushing when they told me to!

As they were pulling, someone said, "ooh broad shoulders, must be a boy". All through my pregancy I thought I was having a girl and then changed my mind towards the end, so when they said that, I thought it would be a boy.

It didn't taken long for the baby to appear & she was a girl! I was so surprised, and she had hair (I was bald as a baby). My mum said she looked like me.

They called Paul straight in (he had dropped off to sleep!) & he was the first to hold her - he couldn't believe how quick it all was.

We named her Olivia Grace Iris. I was a bit sick after but ok apart from that. Olivia had bruises on the sides of her head but they quickly went. Olivia was born a day early at 5.15am, just missing the 5% that are born on their due date. She was 7lb 10oz.

I stayed awake all day and didn't really sleep in the night as I just kept looking at her! Paul went home and said it was really strange me not being there - it was our first night apart since living together.

We went home the next afternoon (see photo) & we are now a happy little family.

My labour was classed as just over 9 hours which isn't too bad for the first time. Olivia is six months old now and I would do it all again, but not 'til she's about 2!'

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