I had booked myself into a birthing centre for my daughter's birth as I had been doing a lot of reading and felt it would help me achieve a natural birth. No one picked up on the size of the baby despite suffering from policeman's heel and pain whan walking.
I have always blamed myself, that I was studying for my solicitor's finals at the time along with working as a teacher, in that I wasn't taking enough notice.
Comments like "Baby was in posterior but will turn" and the fact that she wasn't engaged should have been red flags but I didn't have a one to one midwife, my choice, as in an emergency the midwife assigned would only be able to work at local hospital which is where I had had a miscarriage - and I didn't want to go back - so I had fragmented care.
I went into labour on the Thursday, but very irregular contractions. By Friday afternoon phoned the birth centre as I could feel the baby moving and my stomach would change shape. I was told that baby was trying to get into the right position. By Saturday evening I had had enough. We went in. I was examined and was 3 cms - can't go home. Well I was on the birthing ball, the pool, the birthing stool. Examined again - 7 cms. By Sunday night they saw meconium and an ambulance was called. I was not happy as this was in my mind the beginning of a bad labour. We arrived after midnight and I was examined - this time Dr. says that he thinks baby is not in right position. He did read my birthing plan for a long time. Strange thing but my labour stopped when i arrived at the hospital, shock I suppose. They wired me up to the electronic foetal monitoring and when I asked after the baby they said "oh baby's okay". Tried an oxytocin drip to speed things up which I was coping with until the midwife turned it up and I screamed that this was inhuman. (after all I had been through). They offered an epidural and I took it willingly. I could now speak to the doctor. I asked what would they you normally do in this situation. Continue with the oxytocin and see came the reply. I knew that I was in no condition to push this baby out. I couldn't even urinate although i had the urge. I had asked for a walking epidural. I had images of a forceps delivery and my baby's head being pulled. I said to the doctor enough is enough, I want a caesarean.
Beatrice was born at 4.14am on Monday weighing 9lb 2oz, very healthy.
Second time around I booked myself an independent midwife. I wanted a home birth and maybe a water birth.
My local midwife was very unsympathetic to my plight, quoting CPD to me, me being 5' 2" and when I went to see the consultant he felt I was reckless in my decision to say the least. The head of midwifery offered me her phone number to talk about my concerns but I felt that a hospital birth would lessen my chances of a natural birth and the fact that she disagreed with the consultant in front of me and started talking to me about the case of a woman who had had a home birth after c-section, which the consultant thought was reckless, only highlighted the conflict within the hospital.
I couldn't have found a more wonderful midwife. She was everything a midwife should be - well educated/informed, experienced, understanding, logical, calm, reassuring, caring beyond belief, realistic and passionate about her job.
I didn't have an easy pregnancy, Sciatica and then pubis symphasis. Baby was in the right position when i went into labour on the Wednesday night. Midwife arrived but labour died down and she realized that I now had rectus diastasis, my stomach muscles had separated and baby was leaning forward, misaligning baby's head and preventing baby from coming. Over the next few days we tried bandaging my stomach to push baby back. This was such a relief.
Anyway, I was in the pool Saturday and I started getting a terrible pain down my leg and on my leftside which I thought was something serious. Midwife's checks reassured me with it wasn't, but when I got out and I asked to examined it showed I was still only 3cms dilated. You can imagine how I felt. Pain was coming quick and fast and I wasn't coping. Ambulance came at about 6pm. However, lying on my back in the ambulance did the trick. Baby no longer shifted forward. Everything you're told not to do. Baby went back and by the time I reached the hospital with me screaming for an epidural, I was 6 cms dilated.
Alexander was born naturally at 12.23 on Sunday weighing in at 10lb 10oz.
I made the right decision. If I hadn't attempted the route I took I know it would have been a guaranteed caesarean. I don't have easy births, which is not true of so many women. I have big babies but i know if i hadn't chosen the VBAC route i wouldn't have experienced the feeling of giving birth. I am still on cloud nine and he is 8 months old.
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