Jane’s Birth Story
Birth story Jane and baby Tom
Hi Lainey, I hope you’re getting on well. Myself and my husband welcomed our gorgeous baby boy Tom into the world We’re completely over the moon and couldn’t be more in love!
Sorry for the delay in getting in touch but I wanted to put together a little bit about my labour story in case it is helpful for anyone else. Sorry it is so long, I was struggling to condense it!
The week before Tom was born I was diagnosed with intrahepatic cholestasis (ICP). I woke up one morning with itchy hands and feet. When I googled it, it recommended I get a liver function test to check for ICP. I wasn’t that concerned as the itch was very mild but rang the Coombe to check and they recommended I come in for the blood test. The result was slightly raised so the consultant recommended induction. We were very hesitant to do this as I was just over 37 weeks. However after a few discussions with the doctor we realised it was the best for the baby as his growth had also slowed down so they said it would be better for him to come out sooner.
At 37+6 weeks, I was induced using the propess pessary at 10.30. I could feel a stiffness in my back quite quickly but was able to walk around no problem and was sitting up having lunch. The pains started to kick in around 1.30. They were manageable but were very constant, every 2-3 mins without much of a break in between.
I found this stage mentally very draining as they had told me it would likely be Wednesday before the baby arrived so I thought I had a long way to go. I continued to walk around and bounce on the exercise ball. I also used the tens machine which I found really helpful for this stage of labour, particularly the boost function (I got mine in the pharmacy across the road from the Coombe). I know it was mentioned in yoga previously, the hardest part was when they needed me lying on the bed to monitor the baby’s heart rate. I was really in pain at this stage. Around 4.30pm they took the pessary out and assessed my cervix. I was 3cm dilated so the midwife was happy to break my waters and they put me on the list for the delivery suite.
I was transferred to the delivery suite around 7.30. I was 5cm dilated at around 8.30 and was really feeling the pressure to push. I was on my knees leaning against an exercise ball and using gas which also helped with regulating my breathing. The baby’s heart rate was dipping so the consultant was called in. Things then progressed really quickly as I was fully dilated by 9pm. They got me up on the bed and I was pushing at each contraction. They needed to use the vacuum to deliver the baby’s head as they were worried about his heart rate dropping. A small episiotomy was required which was all explained to me really well before they did it. When the baby’s head was out, they told me to look up so we could see that it was a boy when he came out. I got to do skin to skin straight away.
Tom was only 5.5 lb when he arrived but he’s been thriving ever since!