My Birth Story

Today I am 4 days post-partum with baby Aayliah being born last Thursday 2nd July at 11:33am. This time round I managed to give birth naturally opposed to the emergency c section I ended up having with Macie and what a difference it makes to recovery. I feel so much better this time round especially as I wasn’t allowed to drive for 6 weeks last time; this time I have feel like I did a month after c section just 4 days later.

I did have the choice of how I wanted to give birth this time. I could of chosen to book in for a planned elective caesarian before my due date and not go into labour naturally. Initially when I first found out I was pregnant this is what I wanted to do. However, as my pregnancy progressed and the more maternal I felt and how hard I know recovery would have been with a 22 month old running around not understanding why I couldn’t pick her up, I changed my mind and wanted to give labour a go. I knew that if I went too far over my due date I would end up having a caesarian anyway but that decision would be left up to nature.

2 days before my due date, I had an appointment at the hospital to have a sweep and also to sign my papers just in case I ended up not going into labour naturally and needed a c section. The sweep obviously worked as later on that afternoon I began with regular contractions. I wasn’t getting my hopes up though as those of you that read my blog would know I had had a contractions for a few weeks following a sickness bug however they hadn’t materialised into labour. I went to my friends house that afternoon and did a food shop in Sainsbury’s for a BBQ we were meant to be having the next day. I did feel different though and hoped that this was it! Kris finished work around 10pm and I phoned the labour ward when he got home as my contractions were getting stronger and closer together but not to the point where I was panicking. We prepped my parents to come round and babysit Macie as she was asleep in bed and off we went to the hospital when my contractions were around 3 minutes apart and I had my mucus plug come away or show just before we left also.

Once we got to the hospital I was 2 cms dilated but seeing as I had had a previous section they like to monitor my whole labour so that meant staying in hospital now for the duration. My labour progressed really quick and as I neared 6 cms (which is where I got to with Macie before it all went wrong and I was whisked off for a emergency section) I started to panic. I felt like I couldn’t do any more and asked for an Epidural. I think in my head I knew that if I had an epidural I could cope and i would be able to do it by myself without the need for surgery. turns out that exactly what I did! It was close that I may have needed a little help pushing baby out with the use of forceps but I didn’t they gave me a little longer to push and gave me a small episiotomy and out Aayliah came! I have never felt so proud of myself! I was smiling ear to ear, not a tear in sight I was so happy. I think I even said to Kris “I did it!”

For anyone else that is in a similar situation to me and not sure on what to do about delivery with their second baby when their first birth was so traumatic, I hope this helps you in making your decision. No one pushed me into a VBAC, I wanted to do it for myself and my baby. Whatever decision you make or even if the decision is taken out of your hands it doesn’t matter as long as you and baby are ok. I struggled after Macie’s birth to go through what happened and really felt like I had missed out on the whole birthing experience, especially as I was under general anasthetic with Macie. I am just pleased that I had the opportunity to give birth vaginally; it really is a miracle.

Here are a few pictures of me holding Aayliah straight away and Kris got to cut the cord!

Hope everyone is having a great Monday! I started my healthy eating again today and have been taking pics of my post baby belly to share as I know I was really interested in this after I had Macie but couldn’t find much info! Will keep documenting as I know having this blog will help to keep me on track and I hope to inspire other women to have a healthy attitude towards your post baby body.