a second birth story - part thirteen

The birth story so far is on the birth stories page.

My waters had broken, 

I'd book in as high risk,

I'd had an epidural at 4cm dilated

only to be fully dilated 45 minutes later.

After an hour I had started pushing . . .

I got a new focus and a new determination

and suddenly I was pushing with everything I had.

It felt different from before,

I had found an extra reserve of energy and strength from somewhere

and I was using it.

Almost straight away I could feel that the baby was really moving downwards

and Lynne confirmed that fact,

changing her mantra of '”push, push”

to “to keep pushing, thats it”

and “pushing, pushing, keep pushing, keep pushing”.

As if I could have done anything but at that point.

I could feel the pressure growing and growing

and there was no choice but to push.

Lynne called for the paediatric team to be ready

as they would need to be present

after the meconium was present in my waters,

just in case the baby was born with any issues.

The student came in and introduced herself,

thanking me in advance for letting her be a part of the birth.

Another midwife arrived too.

It all really felt like it was coming to the end,

like my baby really would be here soon

and the realisation hit me,

that it was really, nearly over.

And then just as I felt like I actually couldn't push any more,

for any longer, or any harder,

it began to burn.

I'd heard crowning described as a ring of fire before,

and as I was in throws of it,

it seemed the most apt phrase ever.

I looked across at the student in the room

and said slowly and clearly;

“Holy mother of God, that burns like hell.”

She looked at me with sympathy in her eyes

and I smiled.

I genuinely didn't care.

It hurt,

but it meant my baby was nearly here

and with the next contraction,

I pushed through the burn

and felt it suddenly disappear.

Before the midwife could even confirm it

I knew my baby's head had been born.

It was the strangest experience of my life,

lying in that hospital bed,

waiting for another contraction to come,

knowing that my babies head had been born

and that with one more contraction and one more push

I would be a mummy of two.

It felt like the longest minute in the world.

Quite literally on the cusp of something life changing.

And then the contraction came

and I pushed with every ounce of energy I had

but barely needing half of that effort,

before the pressure suddenly vanished.

At 6:05am

our baby arrived in the world.

You can read the final part of the story here.