A positive induction: Isaac’s birth story
This was our first pregnancy. I suffered with bad cramps early on in the pregnancy, so had a trip to the Early Pregnancy Unit at Guys at 10 weeks to check all was ok. Thankfully all was. Our next scan was the 12 week appointment, which actually confirmed we were 14 weeks pregnant!
As I’d had an uncomplicated pregnancy, I wanted to have a natural birth in the birth centre. However, having attended the HPHB course I knew the importance of being flexible and not to feel disappointed if things didn’t go “perfectly”. The course taught me that a healthy mum and baby after delivery is a success story. It’s doesn’t matter how this is achieved!
At my 38 week midwife appointment, the midwife said that Isaac’s growth had tailed off and my bump was measuring small and so I was booked in for a growth scan the next day to check. He was fine, actually predicted to be a healthy 8lbs but nonetheless his growth seemed to be slowing, so we had a discussion about whether I’d wait until nature took it course, even if that meant 42 weeks for Isaac to arrive. At my 40 week appointment we decided to begin the induction process. I had a sweep there and then and was booked in for a Cooks Balloon induction on the Wednesday if the sweep hadn’t worked. All of these methods of induction, extra scans and bump measurements had been covered in the HPHB course so I was very calm and knew that Isaac would be fine. A safe delivery, induction or otherwise was the best thing for him and I.
The balloon did its job and I was in full blown labour by 5am Thursday morning and was then admitted to the Labour Ward.
It took 19 hours for me to become fully dilated. Thankfully I had some hypnobirthing techniques in the locker that I had learned on the course to get me through. At midnight I reached the transition stage, James was prepped on how to spot this happening - he knew to look out for the change in attitude and what to say to get me through the feeling of helplessness during transition!
With the help of James, the midwife and the hypnobirthing breathing and mindfulness, Isaac arrived 10 minutes later! 19 hours of contractions...and a 10 minute second stage labour!
The first time I saw Isaac I was honestly I was in shock! I remember asking over and over if he was ok, had we really done this! Was he here?!
Attending the HPHB course taught me that there’s no right way to feel immediately after the delivery, there’ll be a whole host of emotions and none of them are wrong!
The HPHB course coverage was excellent for someone like me who was a complete novice with babies - therefore the basics of how to change and essentially keep Issac alive were brilliant! We did struggle with breastfeeding as Isaac had a tongue tie which wasn’t sorted until he was 2 weeks old. However, Hannah from HPHB was on hand with who to contact for advice to help me get through the worst of it.
We have already recommended the Happy Parents. Happy Baby course to our friends!
Top Tips:
Be flexible in your ideas about birth and labour; this leads to less disappointment. My labour didn’t go how I initially thought it would as it involved and induction and an epidural...however I still had a really positive birth experience because I was prepared to change my “ideal” for what was best for Isaac and I.
When baby is born, relax and breath, get that skin to skin and let nature do its thing!
