Ellie’s birth story.
25 years old
1st baby (2019)
I was fortunate to have a happy, healthy and active pregnancy, and while I’d been having Braxton hicks for a good few weeks and bouncing on my exercise ball every night, her due date soon came and went with her snug as a bug in my belly. I figured if she wasn’t here by her due date then I’d treat myself to a reflexology appointment - that was on a Monday. Tuesday came and went, and I took myself to bed as normal about 10pm. I woke up at midnight to use the bathroom and while washing my hands, my waters broke! I waited a few minutes to wake my husband, just to be sure this was it (I actually started to clean up the bathroom floor!), and boom – got my first contraction. That’s when I woke David who suggested we start timing them.
I was prepared to have a few hours at home while working through early labour, after reading it can take some time for things to progress, however got my next contraction 5 minutes later. A few more came and went within a similar time frame, so David called labour line. They told us that the birth centre I had planned to go to was closed, so we made our way to the birth center at the hospital (we’re about a 40 minute drive from there).
Throughout each contraction I focused purely on my breathing – in for 4, out for 8. By the time I’d done two or three of those I knew the contraction would start to ease.
We arrived at the hospital about 1am and with a few stops to squat and breathe through contractions, we were shown to our room and greeted by my midwife, who by total coincidence was a girl I went to school with! She told me I’d be welcome to ask for someone else but it was actually really nice to have a familiar face there.
She examined me (something I found really uncomfortable purely because I had to lay flat on my back and I’d stayed sat up right the whole time) and I was already 6-7cm dilated! Needless to say that was music to my ears.
I had wanted a water birth if possible, however they were really busy that night and all of the pools were being used, so I got as comfortable as I could in the room. As things progressed, I used gas and air to help me through each contraction, as well as holding David’s hand and the midwife massaging my lower back (heaven!). For me, the lower back pain was not something I had prepared for – that was the most challenging bit for me.
This is where my concept of time isn’t great, but soon enough I felt like I needed to push. I moved onto the bed staying upright on all fours and leant over the top of it. It’s crazy how your body just knows what to do! Working with each contraction and keeping my breathing steady, our baby girl was born at 7:15am on the Wednesday morning! A very healthy 7lb 14oz.
I can’t tell you the relief that flooded my body once she was out – all the pressure down there just disappears and before I knew it this tiny person I’d worked so hard to push out was placed on my chest.
No tears or intervention, just a few internal grazes. Very grateful for such an amazing experience, and midwife who talked me through it all and did everything in her power to make me as comfortable as possible.
I’m now 34 weeks pregnant with our second baby and feel ready and confident to do it all again!
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