So on Thursday 28th June (my due date!) I went into hospital for an elected induction due to complications in labour with my first baby. I had the pessary in Thursday lunchtime and began having contractions within two hours. I was so excited thinking it was happening so quickly! By Friday lunchtime I was getting uncomfortable and hadn’t slept all night - contractions were now three in every 10 minutes. The midwife examined me and said I was 3cm and my cervix was ready for my waters to be broken. So she rang labour ward to request a bed, removed the pessary and told me to just hold tight until they could fit me in.

Contractions continued to increase but I hadn’t heard anything by Friday night. I was trying to get through on paracetamol but it wasn’t doing anything. I noticed my contractions were getting further apart, and by 2am Saturday morning they had stopped completely. I was a bit heartbroken! But the midwife told me not to worry. I cried, exhausted and frustrated and begged them to find me a bed!

Finally at around 1pm on Saturday June 30th they called me up to labour ward. They broke my waters around 2pm and I walked up and down the stairs, around outside, jumped on a gym ball and did countless squats but nothing would even twinge. So at around 5.45pm the midwife put me on Syntocinon, a drip to bring on contractions. At 6pm they started, and by 6.15pm I was having 4 in every 7 minutes! It was very, very intense and everything moved very quickly. They turned off the drip after an hour as my contractions were one on top of the other and would not relent for even a little bit to give me some rest. By 8.30pm my body had started to push all on its own, and at 8.34pm our beautiful Erin Olivia made her entrance into this world, absolutely perfect and weighing 7lbs 5oz. We are so happy, excited and in love and cannot believe it’s over! I had a second degree tear so I am sore and exhausted but we couldn’t be more thrilled to be sat beside her this morning. She breastfed immediately and has slept through from midnight to 7am with no problem at all! Hopefully a sign of things to come 😄💕