Labour: Pool birth

Before I gave birth I watched one born every minute, YouTube videos, and read a lot of articles on labour. I don't know why I done it because it made me even more nervous! I had no idea what to expect, everyone's labour is different! Reading all those labour stories inspired me to write my own. Enjoy.

CONTRACTIONS
On the 23rd May 2015 in the evening I got a dull ache in my back. It wasn't bad, I could hardly notice it. I went to sleep like normal and when I woke up the next morning it was still there and every so often my back will cramp up. It was uncomfortable but I could handle it. I went on with my day as normal and went to my boyfriends house. I wanted to be with his family in case I needed to go to hospital as his parents have a car. Around 7pm my cramps got closer together and more painful. The pain was bearable but the thought I might be pushing a baby out soon overwhelmed me. I started panicking and crying, I was just a mess. I had one of them big exercise balls, bouncing on that helped me calm down. I pulled myself together and started timing the gaps between contractions. Around 11pm they were 6 minutes apart, so we phoned the hospital and they said to come in.

HOSPITAL
We arrived at the hospital at 23:30, I was 6cm dilated. I had to wait in a ward until I was more dilated. It was a long wait! I could only have one person with me, so I had the babies dad. The midwifes gave me an exercise ball to help move things along. I also brought a hot water bottle with me, the midwife let me into the staff kitchen to fill it up. I was so uncomfortable, and had nothing to do to keep me busy. We decided to go sit on a bench outside the hospital and get fresh air, this is when I realised walking helps so much. We went back to the room, my boyfriend fell asleep on the chair whilst I was walking around in circles. The contractions were getting worse but now I had worked out how to control them it made my life so much easier. At 3:30 I got taken to the birthing room. It was lovely! I had a little bed, the lights were dimmed, and even the decor was nice. I felt so relaxed. I had managed to control my contractions so well that the midwife said I don't even look like i'm having them.

LABOUR
I got into the pool wearing just my sports bra. I highly recommend a pool birth, I could move freely, it was relaxing, and the heat of the pool felt so good on my tummy. Around 4 am was when I started to push. Its not even you pushing, its like your whole body starts to push. It was a weird feeling, unpleasant, and I didn't handle it well. I even told the midwife make it stop, like she can do anything. She told me next time that happens, I need to push with it. Within minutes it came again, and again, and again. Eventually my waters broke, also a weird feeling. You just feel something pop inside you. I had gas and air but ended up using it to bite on instead. Eventually the head came, this was definitely the worse part of the whole labor. It STINGS! I hated it so much so thought it was a good idea to stop pushing. I told the midwife "take it out for me, I cant do it anymore". She calmed me down and said I need to do big long pushes and the head will be out. It took around 3 pushes until the head was out and one more big push for the body. 6:30am I had delivered my beautiful baby boy.

AFTER BIRTH
I had a shower after giving birth, I came over dizzy. Next thing I remember was waking up on the floor with a splitting headache and a midwife leaning over me. I had fainted, and bumped my head. I had a little lie down and ate some food. I then had to change my first ever nappy - which happened to be a pooey nappy - in front of the midwife. It took me ages and I used a lot of wipes but I did it in the end. The hospital wanted me to try breastfeeding before I left the hospital, then I got given a load of information and leaflets, and then finally I got to go home.

All in all my labour wasn't too bad, it could have been worse. Most of it was just new usual feelings and at the time I panicked because I had no idea what's going on. I would definitely say my pregnancy was worse than the labour. People say you forget about all the pain after, its true. It feels like it was all a dream. I'm pretty sure i'll remember the pain if I ever have to go through it again.

Thank you for reading, i'll love to hear your labour stories! Follow me on Twitter and Instagram!