Birth Stories

Due Date: 24th June 2023

Born: 7.59am, Tuesday 4th July 2023

Weight: 9lb 6oz

Planned: Homebirth

Actual: Home labour, transfer to hospital, forceps delivery 20 minutes after arrival

Pain relief: TENS, gas & air, birth pool

I went in for CTG monitoring on Sunday 2nd July 2023 for being “overdue” and George and I left feeling completely deflated. I felt pressured into booking in for an induction (unsuccessfully), and the words “so you don’t let anyone down” were uttered, as if it was everyone's decision and everyone's pregnancy but ours. Thank goodness for Nat, who gave me the reassurance pep talk I needed on the phone afterwards and reminded me to trust myself and that my baby will make his way when he's ready. What they hadn’t told me at the hospital was that the monitor had already picked up some light contractions that I just didn't feel yet. Nat had reviewed the CTG results later and let me know.

At about 1.30am on Monday 3rd July I woke up feeling mild contractions and saw my bloody show. I tried to get some more sleep and we rang the homebirth team around 6am. At that point things were still manageable, but by 11am the contractions were ramping up and we rang again to see when they could be with us for. I’d started using the TENS machine and was having oretty intense contractions (or so I thought!). George brought me toast and snacks in the lounge but I had zero appetite.

When Nat, Sarah and student midwife arrived, they helped George get the birth pool ready. At one point the hose thay we'd fed from upstairs down to the pool came off and flooded the bathroom, and when I eventually got in the pool, I was lucky not to be electrocuted by George, who was trying to cool the water down with an electric fan. Music was playing, fairy lights were glowing, affirmations were up, and it looked like the dream homebirth setup. I laboured in the pool, on the sofa and on the downstairs loo, which had been nicknamed “dilation station".

The midwives were absolute superstars. At one point, Nat, who was on a pre-op diet, was hiding under the kitchen table eating boiled eggs, while Sarah made herself a lasagne in the oven. Meanwhile, I was trying to relieve some of the discomfort with copious amounts of gas & air, which did nothing for me. I still managed to go through every single bottle the ladies had brought though. I was drifting in and out of conversations, beyond exhausted and very ready to throw in the towel and let baby chill in my tummy a little longer.

Our old cat was still with us at the time and he kept curling up near me while I laboured. His litter tray was in the downstairs loo, so when Nat was in there holding my hand, she knelt right in the cat litter everytime. She still had it stuck in her tights when she got home.

Hours went by and baby’s heart rate luckily was totally fine, he was completely unbothered by the whole ordeal. But contractions were slowing, so Sarah said they’d need to break my waters which meant that contractions would ramp up and I remember thinking: how can they possibly ramp up more?! 

After more time passed with me pushing and pushing and baby still not making an entrance, they gently said it was time to transfer to hospital. I remember saying I needed a shower because I could smell myself and Nat, as lovely as ever, told me I was fine. The ambulance came in what felt like seconds, but the actual journey there was not fun, even getting to and into the ambulance was a chore. Every bump triggered another contraction and I was so grateful for Nat being there with me, reassuring me and coaching me through every contraction.

We all made it to the hospital: Nat in the ambulance with me and Sarah and George in their cars. I barely remember getting to the delivery suite. I vaguely remember wanting to take my legs out of the stirrups on the bed I was on when yet another contraction came, because it was so intense. Apparently I asked Nat if this was definitely the right decision (I don’t remember doing that), and then seeing the forceps, seeing his little head emerge, and then the sensation of his body being born.

And there he was.

Nat and Sarah stayed by our side, Sarah made sure they didn’t clamp the cord too early, and made them wait until it turned white. I remember watching her face while they did my stitches, trying to work out from her expression whether everything was okay (and whether they were doing a decent job).

One of the most surreal things that I didn't expect was that the second he was born, the contractions stopped. Just like that.

I’d lost about a litre of blood and needed to stay in for what ended up being two nights. Once again, Nat had my back, arranging for her contact at the hospital to come check in on me and make sure I was immediately supported with breastfeeding. And I do think having that support from the get go made a huge difference, again, I will forever be grateful to Nat for that!!

From start to finish, Nat and Sarah were by our side advocating for us, supporting us and being absolute rocks. I’ll never be able to thank them enough. They really held us through every step of becoming parents.

Sarah & Baby Jude