In the end my birth was exactly how I envisioned it

Allison’s Birth Story

Being 41+2 at my last midwife appointment the push for induction was lurking. Baby had been measuring small for my last three midwives appointments so there was concern there. With no signs at all of labour and in hopes to avoid further induction I agreed to a stretch and sweep on that Monday.

Tuesday morning, I lost what I believe was my mucous plug. Without letting excitement and adrenaline overtake the oxytocin, I went about my day normally. Wednesday I got the call that I had been booked in to be induced after the doctor put an urgency on it due to SFG (small fetal growth)

I spent a good hour or so crying and accepting that my birth map was changing, which was okay because the end result of my bub was all I was focusing on. My partner came home early, we went to a movie and enjoyed each other’s company before our world changed.

Thursday morning at 4:30am, three hours before my scheduled induction I had a bloody show and surges started almost instantly. Fifteen minutes apart and not too terrible! We got to the hospital to discuss our options now that labour had started. They still wanted to go ahead with the balloon catheter to ensure labour did continue to progress. My partner and I discussed and said we were happy to do so if I had my own time to get things happening before ARM or syntocin.

I laboured up in the ward from 10:30 am, breathing through each surge and using my TENS machine. I jumped in and out of the shower and just focused on baby. 10:30pm, I started to fade. I was exhausted, I needed sleep and to rest for longer then two minutes. I asked for a sleeping tablet and some pain relief, the midwife brought two panadine fort and a sleeping tablet, I swallowed them down and within the minute I was being violently sick and couldn’t keep anything down. Amongst the vomiting I accidentally pushed the balloon catheter out.

Surges intensified and the midwife said she had let the birth suite know the balloon was out and it wouldn’t be long until we’d be down there, maybe an hour or so tops. I started to get into my head and said I wanted the epidural, I couldn’t do this anymore! My partner did incredible at bringing me back and helping me stay calm. I started to feel pressure low and told the midwife I felt like I needed to go to the toilet, she asked to do a vaginal examination to see how far along I was. I agreed and my partner told her to relay the dilation onto him, after she did the examination she promptly left the room. I said to Nath again, I want the epidural when we get to the birth suite and he told me ‘it’s too late for that, you’re 9cm she’s getting a wheelchair and we’re going down now!’

Into the wheelchair and down the lift whilst the midwife asked me to try my hardest to not push until we’re in the birth suite I breathed through each surge again. Once in the birthsuite we had no time to set up any of our affirmations, photos or lights! Nath promptly put on my birth playlist and it was all systems go. My waters broke very shortly after getting into the birth suite and it wasn’t long before I was being helped onto the bed on all fours to start bearing down. The delivering midwife I had was incredible, she made suggestions on how to position my legs to get my pelvis open more and encouraged me through so calmly! After fifty-one minutes of pushing our little boy made his appearance earthside at 1:05 am on the 13th of May 2022.

I had over an hour of uninterrupted skin to skin with him and my midwife encouraged we try for a lotus birth! After thirty-seven minutes my placenta was birthed naturally with bub still attached.

In the end my birth was exactly how I envisioned it, just with a few tiny extras.