Little Miss - A Birth Story

Little Miss was born at 9:38am on Thursday 6th September. She is seven weeks old today.

I had a difficult pregnancy this time. I think I bloomed with Bud but this time the anaemia kicked in early and SPD caused me terrible pelvis pain towards the end. I was not a pleasant person to be around in the last few weeks. Little Miss was due on the 28th August but I was determined that she wasn't coming until September.I didn't want a child who would be the youngest in their school year and, thankfully, she complied. You would never meet anyone so happy to be overdue although I would have much preferred her to arrive on the 1st rather than the 6th. I was always unsure that my anticipated due date was correct as I was fairly sure that I was due around ten days after the date given by my scan so I wasn't too worried about going overdue. At my midwife appointment two days before my due date we booked a sweep for eight days overdue and induction for twelve days over so I knew that the end was in sight.

My sweep took place on the Wednesday afternoon and the midwife was fairly confident that my labour would start before my induction. I was very pleased to hear that. This wasn't the most pleasant experience of my life but if it moved things on, I didn't mind. That evening I had backache and generally felt uncomfortable so I went to bed early with a heat pack to ease my back. By about 2am I was up and wandering in the house as the backache was preventing me from lying or sitting down. My first contraction started just after 4am. All the pain was in my back, exactly like it was with Bud. I dealt with them by leaning against the wall, anything else was agony. By 5:30 I woke my partner and we started to get ready to go in. We rang his parents and his Dad set off to come and sit with Bud then take him back to their house when he woke up. We rang the hospital and were told to come in and arrived there at 7:15.

We were shown into a room with no pool and I wasn't happy. Bud was born in the pool and I wanted to repeat this, it helped me so much. The midwife came to see us and I continued to go through each contraction leaning against the wall with my head against my forearm. Red Rose Daddy attempted to massage my back but I couldn't bear it so told him to stop. I was examined and found to be 9cm dilated, another quick one!

The midwife prepared the pool room and we moved into there at around 8am. I'd pushed for hours with Bud and decided this time that I wouldn't push this time. I would just let my body work with each contraction. I wasn't sure how this would work but I surprised myself. It was so calm and peaceful. With each surge I breathed down, using the gas and air, and the baby moved down well. My waters burst with an audible 'pop', that was very strange. I very clearly remember her crowning and it took four contractions to birth her head. I only gave one push for her body. Her delivery could not have been more different from Bud's. As she swam out into the pool I lifted her onto my chest and had a look to see if she was a boy or a girl. I was so shocked to see that we had a baby girl. I'm not sure why but we both have very male-dominated families and I never thought I would have a daughter. Little Miss was born at 9:38am, weighing 9lbs 3.5oz. The midwife said it was one of the most beautiful water births she had ever attended, which felt really special.

I was enjoying sitting cradling my new little girl in the water and we decided to go for a physiological third stage. The placenta came out with a few little pushes and, while Little Miss was enjoying cuddles with her Daddy the midwives helped me to get out of the pool. I'd lost quite a bit of blood into the pool but it was only when I got out and was lying on the bean bags that the midwife realised some fibres had been retained in my womb from my placenta. A doctor was called to remove them, which he did quickly (although painfully) but then my blood pressure crashed to 60/30 and falling. The midwife pressed the emergency button and suddenly the room was full.

The team got me onto a bed and wheeled me in to a Critical Care room. I had canulas inserted into both hands and fluids were being pumped into me.Another doctor came to examine me and removed more of the errant fibres. I think that this was the most painful experience of the day! It was necessary to avoid going to theatre though and it worked. Everyone was so calm and knew their job and did that so well. I was conscious, if hazy, throughout but I do remember looking at Little Miss and her Daddy and thinking that 'this could be it' and that I was glad I had kissed Bud goodbye and told him that I loveed him that morning. That was so scary but the emergency passed very quickly and my blood pressure stabilised. It made me realise that post-partum haemorrhage is more common than I thought, apparently 1 in 50 births are affected.

We were moved up to the ward that evening and I stayed in hospital for two nights. My iron levels fell to 6.1 and I lost over a litre of blood so I had a transfusion on three units the day after the birth. This made me feel better almost instantly. I don't think I could have walked to the car before this. Apparently the physiological third stage can lead to a higher risk of PPH but I'm not sorry that I had it. Bud came to the hospital to meet his little sister both days and was so pleased with her. He said all the way through my pregnancy that he was having a sister, I think he was the only one who thought she would be a girl and he was right.

Little Miss fed well from the start and is a wonderful baby, very calm and easy. She sleeps for seven hours most nights already! We are very lucky.

No photos of me as I looked like death but here are a few 'newborn' photos.