Posted : Feb 26, 2009 3:49:26 PM
Subject : 2nd birth after first traumatic one
Hi everyone
I was posting on here after my first birth as I found it quite traumatic. I have since had my second baby and had a much more positive experience. I thought I would post it here so that people can see it can be better next time around.
A quick note on my first pregnancy although the full story is on here somewhere. I was induced due to high blood pressure but knowing I had white coat syndrome and my BP was always fine at home I did not feel it was necessary - cue a bit of a battle with my carers and I ended up agreeing to what they suggested. I was induced and had a reaction to the pessary which led to a very fast labour which was quite a shock to my system. There were problems with my babies heartrate which dropped to a very low level for more than two minutes and led to the room being full of doctors and nurses - i was told this was due to my reaction to the pessary but after this labour I know this may not actually have been the case. I then suffered a third degree tear which i was told was due to having to give birth lying flat on my back and legs in stirrups followed by some shocking aftercare at the hospital. All this left me feeling very angry and upset.
This pregnancy I decided to do a lot of research into induction and knew there was no way i would allow them to induce me again unless there was a very real and immediate threat to my baby or myself. I had decided I wanted a homebirth as I had lost faith in my hospital and felt it was the right thing to do for me. All was going well and I was controlling my white coat hypertension with hypnotherapy. They were initially against a homebirth but I made my case and was finally allowed to book one at 36 weeks. However at my antenatal appointment that week I was told the baby was measuring small. Cue many scans all which showed my baby was fine just naturally a small baby however the hospital wanted to induce just in case. After last time I wasn't willing to be induced again just in case. My baby was fine and I saw no reason that she should have to be evicted. Basically again I researched everything took lots of advice. No one I spoke to, other than the hospital, felt induction was necessary in my case. I could not face battling with the hospital to try to get what i wanted so I made the decision to opt out of hospital care and hired an independent midwife.
At 40 + 3 at 3am contractions started. They were quite regular but not too painful. My midwife saw me at 11am that morning and said I was in early labour. The baby was trying to get into position. By abour 5pm that afternoon I had had enough. I was exhausted and the contractions were still quite mild. i seriously thought about going to hospital for some pethidine so i could get some sleep.
At 8.30pm the contractions got going and I knew they were actually doing something (finally). As I had a fast labour last time I knew it was time to ring the midwife. She arrived at 9.15pm, sat quietly in the corner and let me get on with it. My husband rubbed my back to help me through. They started to slow right down so she suggested we change positions and eventually moved to the bathroom and I got in the bath. This was actually transition and went on for a long time but I was relatively calm through it (didn't say anything silly) so we didn't actually notice that that was what it was. About two hours later I felt an urge to push but it wasn't really happening in the bath. The baby's heartrate started to drop, this had happened with my first baby but instead of alarms going off and the room filling with people in a way that terrified myself and my husband, the midwife was calm and suggested we move into the bedroom and try a different position, the babys heartrate was then fine (the midwife later said that as it had happened before it was probably to do with the shape of my pelvis). At 0:45am baby Thea was born with me sitting on my husbands lap. I had the physiological third stage I wanted but was denied last time at the hospital. I had another tear which I know the midwife did her best to prevent but she was able to stitch at home. Thea weighed 6lb 9oz and looked early as she was covered in vernix. Actual labour lasted 4hr 15 mins
It was absolutely perfect.I feel absolutely over the moon and proud about the birth. I feel immensely proud of my husband who was there with me, helping, all the way through. He said it was the best experience of his life and is proud Thea was born with me sitting on his lap. I had no pain relief but only occasionally did it enter my head that I needed it. i felt in total control and knew exactly what was happening when. It really was 100% more positive experience than the last time.
