Its only taken me 5.5 years to get this down on paper

Some background. DD1 was our suprise baby so it took a couple of weeks for myself and DH (boyfriend at the time) to get our heads around the idea. At 6 weeks I had some bleeding while at work which was scary but reaffirmed that we really did want this little suprise bub. After blood tests and a long overnight wait, with lots of tears, we had a reassuring ultrasound that showed a tiny bean with a heart beat.

I had private health cover but decided I wanted midwife care. At our 12 week midwife appointment I was told they were commencing a new Midwifery Group Practice that I was eligible for if I was interested. I was and so my name was put on a list. The 12 week NT was amazing and had a great result. Then we had our morphology scan which showed our DD had bilateral choroid plexus cysts which are a soft maker for trisomy 18. Im a nurse and checked my scan results before I spoke with my midwife BAD idea as when I spoke with her she had the combined adjusted risk level back and it was 1:3000 so lots of worry or nothing! Met my midwife, Sue, who was lovely. I saw her at a local community centre for half the appointments or at my house. She discussed breastfeeding and active labour and made me think about what kind of birth I was after

At around 27 weeks I thought I had some leaking so went in for monitoring but everything was fine so back home we went.

At 35+3 I finished work and washed baby clothes nested etc. On Sunday we took the dogs for a long walk on the beach. On Monay the 30th October I picked up the bassinett and thought to myslef well thats it we're all set now! On the drive home I had the weirdest sensation which I realised when I looked in the mirror when I got home that she had dropped. Spent the afternoon making the bassinet and then relaxed. TMI but DTD with DH then went to sleep for the night. About 1 am on the Tuesday I woke thinking I felt a trickle/a little bit wet and jumped from the bed into the ensuite and sat on the loo when I had another trickle of clear fluid that definitely did not feel like I was peeing. Grabbed a towel and told DH I think my waters have broken who replied 'you probably jsut peed yourself go back to sleep!' I still haven't let him live that down!

I didn't go back to sleep but got up and called the midwife on call who said if it was clear put a pad on and see what happened and call back in an hour. I had more fluid loss that was pink stained then lost my plug so I called them back and they said as I was only 36+2 I needed to go in for monitoring. Off we went, lots of waiting, monitoring was fine, yes definitely was my waters, I was only 1cm dilated and not contracting. IV antibiotics and wait for the consultant obs to decide what happens next.

DH let family know what had happened and after a very confusing conversation with my father who thought my DH was his neighbour and that some pipes had broken and water was leaking managed to get him to understand it was his daughters partner and that I was possibly about to go into labour.

Apperently the OB came in at 9am and decided without seeing me I could go home on oral antibiotics and come back in 48hrs for an induction or earlier if I had any sign of a temp. I was happy with this as it was going to give me time for things to start spontaneously and I wanted to labour at home as long as possible. I told them I would be back and would have a baby by dinner, I was almost right

Waiting for the medication and I got my first contraction then another one 20 mins later, I didn't say anything though as I didn't want to be kept in. Got the medication which included panadiene forte which I said to DH there was no way I would use as it bombs me out. I also convinced them that as I was a nurse they could leave my IV cannula in for when I had to come back as I didnt want to be poked again. So we left hospital about 11.30 got lunch and headed home.

By 1pm the contractions were regular, about 8 minutes apaprt and bearable. DH put Pirates of the Carribean on and fell asleep on the lounge. I tried to rest but couldn't concentrate on the movie. About 3.30 I asked DH to get a plastic garden chair and put it in the shower so I could have the hot water on me. This was fantastic and helped me cope with the contractions well.....until we ran out of hot water! So at 4.30 I called the MGP and found my midwife was still on holidays and her backup was in with another lady in labour so Julie the third midwife would be with me. She didn't seem convinced that I needed to come in, I don't think anyone expected me to into labour on my own, but I insisted I needed to come in so we agreed to meet at the hospital at 5.00pm.

I got dressed, in a dress as I didnt want anything around my waist, we got our last little bits together and headed off. It was peak hour and the drive seemed to take forever but we got there, I remember telling DH not to speak to me during the drive in, which in retrospect was likely beacue I was in transition. We checked in and headed to labour and delivery. Unfortunatley as I had PPROM I couldn't birth in the birth centre. Met Julie who was lovely. She did some paper work and obs then headed out. I threw up lunch, luckily DH was quick with the bowl. Julie came back in and wanted to do an internal which I agreed with and she was shocked that I was 9cm. There was a flurry of activity and the neonatal unit was informed that our bub was coming and may need to go down there so a paed came up to be at the birth.

I was either standing by the bed on sitting on the bed as I was monitored due to being in premature labour. I kept moving a lot and it was suggested that a scalp monitor be attached so I said ok and they popped it on. I could feel DD rotating all the time as the cord kept spinning, very bizzare. Iwas on all fours and all of a sudden I felt like pushing, I think I pushed for about 35 minutes in this position and she seemed to keep slipping back up after each contraction. Julie suggested I squat to try and open up my pelvis so I did and pushed for about 10 minutes before I felt the burn, ouch!!! I was told to stop pushing so things could stretch but my body had other ideas and out she shot! I ended up with a second degree anterior vaginal wall tear and a labial tear from her forceful entry. DD2 was given to me for a couple of minutes then taken to be checked by the paed team. I was given the synto in my leg and promptly delivered the placenta. A reg came in and did the stitching, I remembered just in time to say NO adrenalin in the local as it makes me feel like hell. I was bleeding a bit from the tear but otherwise things went well.

I jumped in the shower but told DH to keep an ear out for me as I felt woozy. Got back in bed a bit shaky and had our first breastfeeding experience. DD was having trouble maintaining her temperature so they took her to the SCN and I went to the maternity ward. I went down to visit my DD and have a cuddle while I was sitting in a wheel chair. I felt dizzy while holding her so yelled to one of the nurses that I was dizzy as I thought if I stood up to put her in the crib I would pass out. As it was my next memory as opening my eyes to so a Dr looking at me I said 'OMG did I drop her' and was reassured she was fine, that was one of the worst moments of my life thinking I had dropped my brand new baby. I went back up to the ward and was checked over and given some IV fluids. My haemaglobin had dropped from 130 to 80 so I had lost a bit of blood but did not need a transfusion.

I kept ringing all night checking on her and at 6.30 was told DD was fine now and was in a normal crib, so I asked them to bring her back to me which they weren't keen on as it was shift change soon but I insisted and so after an 8 hour SCN stay she was back with me.

We were discharged four days later and had 6 weeks of home visits with my midwife which was essential to get breastfeeding established with a first time mum and a small jaundiced baby.

Not quite dinner time for us but close, our DD was born at 7.30pm Not my ideal birth but it made me think about what I wanted different for my next births. I did get my analgesia free vaginal birth that I wanted. I wonder sometimes if we were given more of a chance to have skin to skin if DD might have regulated her temp better but I guess we'll never know

Stats are
Active Labour approx 5.30 hours
Pushing approx 45 minutes
Third Stage around 15 minutes

Jasmine Rose
6lb3oz or 2.875kg
Length 46.5cm
Head Circ 33cm