Montana & Aurora's Birth Story: Preparation Over Perfection

When I first found out I was pregnant I knew I wanted to do everything as naturally as possible when it came to giving birth. I never imagined that I would have an induction or a c-section, and I especially never imagined I could have a positive experience with either. So when I started having issues with my blood pressure getting too high and the conversation about being booked in for an induction came about I was slightly worried, but also knew in this instance it was necessary to keep myself safe and prevent further complications.

I started the induction process on the Friday with a stretch and sweep, which, while being unsuccessful in starting labour, proved to have done some good. I was told on the Friday I was 1cm dilated, and initially when I went into the postnatal ward on the Monday for the next steps I was told by the first midwife that I was still 1cm dilated and the dilapan rods would be needed. So it was a nice surprise when, after the first midwife struggled, a more senior midwife told me I was actually 2-3cms dilated and we could skip straight to breaking my waters. We were given the option to stay on the ward and wait for the labour ward to have space, or go home and come back the next morning. We decided to stay in the private side room on the ward and at 6am the next morning were told that they had space for me, so off to the labour ward we went.

I got lucky that a friend of mine that is a midwife was just finishing her shift, so she came in and broke my waters before handing over to the next shifts midwives. The process of breaking my waters was extremely easy and I barely felt a thing. I was then given 2 hours to walk around and see if the contractions came on naturally. After an hour of doing laps in the hospital we decided to go back to the labour ward, where they were ready to move us to one of the birth pool rooms that I had requested. We got ourselves set up in the room, complete with putting on our diffuser, starting the playlist created by Elle, and changing the lights to a warm lighting, and turning on the disco ball. I then spent the rest of the hour on a birth ball, until a doctor came in to ask if I had felt any contractions. At that point I hadn't so she gave me the option of starting pitocin or waiting a little longer. I asked for another hour just to see if labour would start naturally and then spent the next hour relaxing. Unfortunately labour didn't begin on it's own, so when my midwife and student midwife came back we started with the pitocin.

This is the bit I was particularly nervous for, as I'd heard contractions can be more painful with the pitocin and I really didn't want to have an epidural. The midwife was great at explaining how it worked and the process, where she mentioned that they start it at the lowest dose and then turn it up every half an hour. At this point I asked whether they would ask before turning it up each time or if they would just do it. She said that usually they would just do it, but asked if I would prefer them to ask everytime, which I said I would. The initial 3 doses of pitocin weren't too bad, with the contractions getting more frequent and stronger each time, but I managed to cope with just a tens machine and breathwork through these. When it came time to turn the dose up again I was aware that I had been sat on the birth ball the whole time, so I asked if I could change positions first before turning it up, which the midwife agreed to, and this proved to work, as the contractions amped up quite a lot now I was standing and we didn't need to turn it up any further. My midwives then went on their lunch break, leaving us with anothee midwife who was just as lovely, grabbing a crash mat for me to kneel on when I wanted to be draped over the birth ball and also getting me started with the gas and air. When my midwives came back I changed positions a few more times, including kneeling on the bed, leaning over the top of it in an upright position, which proved to be my favourite position. They also helped facilitate multiple bathroom trips, which were slightly tricky with needing to move the CTG machine and the drip, but nothing was too difficult for them. I then asked if I would be able to get in the pool soon, and they agreed, filling it up and getting the wireless monitors set up. At this point I was offered a vaginal examination, being told that I could absolutely say no if I didn't want it, but I decided to have it done to see where I was at, and after being told I was now 5-6cm dilated I got in the pool.

It's worth noting that all throughout my labour we had been struggling to monitor my babies heartbeat, due to her moving so much, but this was never a problem for them. They would ask if I was okay with them moving it or even holding it in certain positions and I was more than happy for them too. But due to this I was only able to be in the birth pool for about half an hour because they kept losing the heartbeat. I didn't mind this so much though as I wasn't finding it helpful and was missing the tens machine. So after getting out of the pool I then moved to laying down on the bed with a peanut ball between my legs. At this point the contractions had gotten stronger and I was beginning to think I might need stronger pain relief. I had a conversation with the midwives about my options, but decided I wanted to try and stick it out a bit longer with just the tens machine and gas and air. I carried on with my relaxation breathing, managing to get into a bit of a trance, only just registering when my midwife friend came in to do handover to start her shift. It was around this time that it was decided to turn the pitocin down slightly as my babies heartrate was beginning to dip. I carried on for a couple of more hours with the tens machine and gas and air, having another exam and finding out I was now 7cm dilated. At one point the doctor came in and mentioned potentially needing to use a clip on my babies head to track her heartbeat, as we were still struggling to keep it monitored, however I said I didn't want this if avoidable, and she listened and accepted my answer. A little later on she did mention potentially needing it again, but the midwife mentioned that we weren't struggling to monitor anymore due to changing the placement of the monitor, and we'd only lost it briefly when going to the bathroom. The doctor accepted this and it wasn't mentioned again. Soon after this I was checked again, only to find out I was still only 7cm dilated. The doctor came back in and agreed with this finding and we realised baby had moved back to back. We were told we would up the pitocin again and then check me again in 2 hours. I changed position to be laying on my side again with the peanut ball and at this point I started drifting in and out of sleep, waking up to the contractions. It was at this point things got a little scary, with my babies heartrate dropping more, and it was quickly decided after another check where I was still 7cms that it was necessary to go for an emergency c-section. Everything from this point moved very quickly, with lots of very supportive, knowledgeable members of the labour ward working to get me into theatre and my baby was in my arms within 40 minutes, and I was in the recovery room soon after. It was also found that my baby was wrapped in her cord twice, which was the reason for me not progressing past 7cms.

Admittedly to some this experience may not be seen as postive, but I found the whole thing very positive. From the support I received from all the staff, the fact that I was allowed to make decisions for myself and have the final say with everything, and the way staff bent over backwards to facilitate what I wanted. I also ended the experience with an immense amount of pride that I'd gone through 14 hours of labour with just gas and air, a tens machine, and breathing. Overall an experience that could have been very scary ended up feeling really positive.