Sharing my birth story

Faye

This was my second pregnancy and my second planned home water birth with a private midwife. The same midwife for both. Neither of my baby’s were born in water or at home due to PROM. My body just doesn’t get into established labor as quick as our hospital systems want.

Both of my labor and birth stories are identical. My waters rupture then nothing for 18 hours, followed by a slow build of contractions at which my 24 hour window is up, then the oxytocin drip begins 😫

Soo here goes....

I woke up on 5am on the 19th October feeling damp. I popped a pad on and went back to sleep. I knew my midwife has Fridays off and wouldn’t be able to attend to me until Saturday morning. I called her number and get diverted to the back up midwife at 10am. She advised me to come be checked. 1pm I get to her and the test strip confirms I’m leaking water, so she goes ahead and preforms a stretch and sweep... the flood gates open, water everywhere! I’m cleaned up and sent on my way, hoping that would get things moving now.

9pm she calls to check on me, I still have only slight mild contractions going on. Ok so time for planning antibiotics, the backup midwife visits me at home at 11:30pm (18 hours from waters leaking) to insert my IV cannula and administration of my first round of antibiotic. She heads home, hoping that with some bouncing and nipple stimulation my contractions may become more efficient. She returned at 3:30am (22 hours from waters leaking) to administer my next dose, the plan from there is that I will have to head to hospital for my third does as I’ll be over the 24 hour mark.

She wasn’t happy with some of little mans heart rate readings so suggested I head down after my second dose for monitoring. No problem we wait for the babysitter and hop in the car at 5:30am.

I go through for monitoring and meet with the hospital midwife and two drs. Baby is fine on the monitor, no worries about him. They see my contractions and see a good pattern and feel a good intensity to them. But they still want to get the oxytocin started to help me along. I REALLY don’t want it. My first experience on the drip with my daughter made me want to die! I voiced my opinion and told them I will accept the lowest dose and then be left to see how my body responds.

My midwife arrives and we head to L&D, the drip is started at 7:50am, and it’s just my partner, my midwife and I. She believes in me and listens to what me and my body are doing. I spend an hour on the lowest dose 12, then move up to the second dose 24. I ask for the gas and air and continue bouncing on my ball. With my daughter they had me maxed at the highest dose by the hour mark, and I had to have an epi/spinal combined to deal with the pain. My daughter didn’t cope, the midwifes were continually yelling for a dr, she was vacuumed out and my vagina was a mess.

This time:

My midwife leaves me at 24 happy with my progress. I jump off my ball to go pee, upon returning I can’t get back on the ball, I need to lay. 10:10am and she asks if I feel pressure or need to push. She is seeing a pattern in little mans heart rate changes on the monitor with each contraction and thinks it may be time.

I wait for my parter to return, he has gone to pay for my last chiropractic session that I had two days prior. Their eftpos was down at the time and with it being 2 mins from the hospital I had asked him to go pay it while I was bouncing 😂

He returns and I ask him to remove my pants, it’s go time! My midwife tells me to follow my body and do what feels right. I’m sucking my gas and air while she potters around setting up. A couple of pushes and baby is out at 10:33am.

It was a totally different experience being augmented this time. I’m so happy with my birth and my choice of pain management. I’m happy I felt in control and had a wonderful supporting midwife who trusted me and my body. No tearing this time and a really easy recovery.

My birth stories are identical, I birthed at the same hospital 19 months apart. But the outcome of having someone who supported me and my body compared to having a team of Midwife’s and DR viewing it as a medical process is incomparable.