A positive induction: Nathan James’ birth story
Trigger Warning: Miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy
We had been trying for a baby since August 2018. We had one 'chemical' pregnancy at 6 wks in May 2019 and then an ectopic pregnancy at about the same gestation in October 2019.
I turned 40 in Nov 2019. In January 2020 I had a positive pregnancy test but then bled for a week a couple of weeks later; we assumed that we had miscarried again and were advised to go to the EPU . I explained I believed I had miscarried again but was told we were 9 weeks!! We were overjoyed.
My pregnancy was very normal. I took aspirin everyday due to my age, which was the only risk factor. This also meant we had more scans, which was great. The 30 week scan showed our baby boy to be small and so they growth scanned him again at 36 and 38 wks. The femur length was on the low side but we knew the measurements are difficult to get accurate when he moved around so much in the womb.
At 38 weeks my team decided an induction at 39 weeks was the safest course of action so I set about trying every method to bring him into the world naturally! HPHB had told us all about these methods as well as what we might expect during induction. I felt prepared for what could happen. I wanted my birth to be as natural as possible. I made a book of affirmations and bible verses. My birthing Spotify playlist was ready and I packed my bag using the HPHB checklist.
I was given Propess at 12.30pm and monitored for an hour to check baby was ok. Nothing much happened for the first few hours. I had a good book and my phone for entertainment. Around 8pm there were obvious surges and I wanted to know how far along I was and so requested an examination. The midwife told me baby's head was really low and it was difficult to access my cervix but she could only get a fingertip inside. This didn't seem fair given the frequency of the contractions but my hubby reminded me that it would all be worth it and very soon we would meet our gorgeous boy. I read my affirmations and bible verses and listened to my playlist.
Around 10pm I decided I should try to sleep but as I did, the contractions began to get more intense and there wasn't any way I could sleep through them. I continued to try to breathe through them but needed more pain relief. I was offered pethidine. Just after 1am my waters broke while I bounced on my ball, using gas and air. I got on the bed to be examined and told the midwife I was feeling the need to push but didn't want to tear. She reminded me my body was designed for this and I should listen to it. My hubby set up my music and held a fan on me. My midwife coached me brilliantly & hubby helped with breathing. 5-6 big pushes later and he was here at 2.31am.
I was overjoyed to have my baby on my chest. I was overcome with emotion and cried happy tears. He needed a back rub to start crying and just looked perfect. Hubby was a little freaked out (he told me later) at the initial sight of him, purple and covered in vernix but it didn't take long for him to get colour in his skin & we could see just how cute he was. My placenta didn't come out on its own so I had to be taken for a spinal block and manual removal. This meant hubby had over an hour of skin to skin and invaluable bonding time which I think has helped massively with his involvement with baby since.
I had managed to express 4 x 1ml syringes of colostrum before we went to hospital which meant my baby could be fed with my milk from birth, even though I was in theatre. This was also invaluable as though I tried many times during the day, baby didn't properly latch until 11pm that evening so we were able to use the syringes to feed instead.
I used what I had learnt from the HPHB feeding specialist to help with latching a what to expect when feeding. We knew from HPHB that baby could lose weight and that up to 10% was expected. Our baby was at 10.2% below at 3 days so needed a feeding plan. We took shifts to give each other sleep and introduced formula after every other feed to top him up. We decided to cup feed rather than bottle - this works really well for our baby so far and he has gained weight well.
We would definitely recommend the Happy Parents Happy Baby antenatal course - mainly due to the excellent descriptions of birth & all the possible interventions/pain relief options.
Top Tips:
Get as much second-hand baby stuff as you can.
Lots of snacks for labour!
You can still create the birthing environment you want in the hospital.
Everyone deals with pain differently so don't worry about needing to ask for more relief
NHS staff are amazing and will do everything to put you at ease and encourage you. Do ask all the questions you can & keep asking them for things you need/want.
