My Birth Story

At around 2pm Sunday 24th of September I started getting my first contractions. Leading up to this day I was getting really over being pregnant, I was tired, uncomfortable and so ready to meet baby boy but everyday felt like another disappointment and one step closer to the induction conversation. Once we put Miss El down for her nap my hubby, Matt, told me to jump in the bath and try and have a rest to get my mind off still not having any signs of labour. I took what I now know to be my final bump photo and had a nice relaxing bath, I got out just before 2pm and when I went to get El up from her nap I felt some tightenings. In the back of my head I was hopeful but nervous to get too excited so I didn’t say anything out loud. After about an hour with a few more of these tightenings I decided to let Matt know what might be happening, they were still very bearable and I decided to get dinner ready and go about our usual afternoon routine. We had a fun-filled afternoon, taking photos on the polaroid camera and playing with El when the tightenings became more intense and I had to breathe through them. They continued like this until around 8/9pm so I was able to do our usual bath and bedtime with El and once she was down I could get in my groove and find my positive headspace,I put my TENS machine on here and it’s my must have for birth. I tried to get some sleep but the contractions were coming more frequently so I couldn’t quite get to sleep in between them. They were ramping up and I couldn’t talk through them anymore. I was in touch with my doula during this time and it was around 10ish (the times are very fuzzy haha) my doula suggested I should call my midwife and head into the hospital. I told the midwife I would wait a bit as I was super anxious about going into the hospital too early but after about 30 mins I was getting much more regular and much more painful so we decided to head into the hospital. WOW I forgot how painful contractions in the car are haha! 

Once we got to the hospital I could feel my anxiety increasing, I was so stressed about going in too early, things slowing down and being sent home (all this anxiety came from El’s birth) but my midwife was amazing and reminded me to get back into my good head space and she wasn’t sending me home. I declined all monitoring and checks and got straight into the bath. Once my doula arrived she set up the space so beautifully with fairy lights and calming music. 

Once I was in the bath I was able to get back into my good head space and I had Matt and My doula pouring water on my back. This was amazing and such a great distraction during contractions. I was basically in here until around 6am, I got out of the bath a few times to use the toilet and the contractions got so intense on the toilet I hated it. I tried the gas while in the bath when the contractions were getting very intense but it made me feel very nauseous and I vomited so I barely used it. Sometime early in the morning, between 4-5am, I could overhear my doula and the midwife talking about how my breathing, noises and movement all looked like I was progressing well and they suggested they check me to come up with a plan and see how close I was. I agreed and got out of the bath, onto the bed (WORST IDEA EVER HAHA) the pain on the bed was horrible and once my midwife checked me this is when my positive headspace spiralled. We discussed different pain relief options as I wasn’t progressing, I found out later that I was 3cm dilated. I was going to opt for Morphine as the pain relief but I was severely sick during El’s birth and I always put it down to the morphine so I wasn’t keen but I also didn’t want the epidural as I knew it could slow things down and it might mean I would have to stay longer in the hospital which I was not keen on but by this stage I was tired, in pain and feeling really tapped out so I decided for the epidural only to be told it will be about an hour away. This felt like a lifetime and I really spiralled from here, I was angry now and every contraction felt unbearable it really showed me how powerful mindset really is during labour. I don’t remember the exact time but I remember how amazing I felt when the anaesthetist walked in to give me the epidural. It was during this time my new midwife came and she was great, she helped get me back into a good head space again and feel excited to meet our little man. She broke my waters and then we waited a bit before looking at putting up the pitocin drip but because my contractions were coming regular and strong she didn’t need the drip I was able to progress without it. I don’t remember much about this time as I was so tired so I was in and out of sleep, Matt went and had a feed and then had a sleep as well. 

At 1pm my midwife said she was going to check me and decide how we were going to progress from here. I was nervous about pushing as it was a long and drawn out process with El so I was scared that because I had the epidural again it would be the same experience. She checked me and I remember her words were “Oh wow, his head is right here” I was so shocked and excited, it was nearly time. At 1:12pm I did my first push to see and then she struggled to get the monitoring on him so we spent a bit of time trying to pick up his heart rate on the monitor to ensure he was alright and I could progress with pushing. At 1:19pm his head was partially out after another push, we then waited for another contraction which came at 1:21pm. I did one more push and his head was out and then followed his body. I was able to reach down and pull him up and out myself. It was such an amazing experience and exactly how I wanted my birth to look. While I was birthing in the bath all I was picturing was pulling my boy up to me so the fact I was still able to get this was perfect. 

At 1:23pm on Sept 25th 2023 Axel Aurellius was born. 

The rest of the time was a little bit of a blur in our newborn bubble with our gorgeous boy. Matt cut his cord after delayed cord clamping, my midwife showed us the placenta which was so cool to see my babies first home and I was able to breastfeed him well. We had all the usual checks and when we had the all clear to go home I was so ready to go home and see Miss El before she went to bed. Once we got home we were able to soak up some beautiful family time, introduce Axel to El, put her to bed, have a feed and then go to bed ourselves. 

Overall my birth experience was absolutely magical, I got to labour in the bath in such a beautiful space feeling supported physically and emotionally and then when I really got out of my headspace I was surrounded by such a fantastic team to help me get through to the next step. I have no regrets about my birth experience with Axel and my biggest takeaway was really how important it is to work on a good mental space and this is not something that can be done during labour..that was my biggest mistake for El’s birth, thinking I could work it out on the day, boy was I wrong. 

If you made it this far thank you for reading it means the world to me. Now here are some photos haha the good part!!!!