The Birth of Oscar
Our little baby boy arrived safe, healthy and by a really positive and calm birth on Wed 18th October at 2.05pm in Pinderfields Hospital. We’ve named him Oscar Dennis Banks and he weighted spot on 6 lbs.
As you know I wasn’t due till the middle of November, I was in my 36th week of pregnancy and my last week of work.
Looking back on the week, for me my body kinda started to show signs of getting ready for the arrival of Oscar on the Monday. I started to feel a lot of pressure in my pelvic region and I had gone to the toilet even more times than usual. I even sent my hubby a few texts joking that baby was on his way! Then on the Tuesday when I was heading home from work and really looking forward to our second class of Hypnobirthing, I decided to go for a tactical loo brake so I was more comfy during the drive home. Whilst on the toilet I suddenly felt a very discreet pop and a couple of trickles of liquid which didn’t feel like a wee fall out. I wasn’t sure if it was my waters braking or not as it wasn’t a gush and so decided just to keep calm and get home.
When I arrived home, hubby had our dinner all ready to eat so that we could head straight out to Hypnobirthing, but when I got home I told him not to worry as I’m not sure but I think my waters may have broken, we called Pontefract Birth Centre (where I planned on going) to see if I need to be checked out. The midwife at Pontefract Birth Centre told me to go straight to Pinderfields triage to get checked out. At this point I was still hoping that I could get checked out quickly and still make it to Hypnobirthing haha! 😀 Or maybe at least catch the end of the class.
As we were waiting to be checked out in triage I was pretty sure by then that my waters had broken as I was leaking everywhere. It was about 10pm by the time they’d checked me all out and confirmed my waters had broken. Because I was one week away from full term they recommended that I stayed in overnight which I did. However, I didn’t have anything with me, the midwife allowed me to go home first to get my hospital bag (which hadn’t been packed!), have something to eat and get back to the hospital. My hubby dropped me off back at Pinderfields and went home to wash all the baby’s clothes and blankets at2am in the morning lol! Another task I planned to do whilst off haha!
Once I got settled in bed in hospital at about midnight I straight away put my headphones in and started listening to the Hypnobirthing MP3s on repeat to get relaxed and get some sleep. I started to get minor surges at about 3am, they were every 10mins lasting for only about 30 seconds. The baby was monitored from about 8am, he was still nice and happy inside and I was still listening to my hypnobirthing MP3s on repeat which blocked everything else going on around me in the ward. I also found counting out load to roughly 20 really helpful. Along with the MP3 playing, counting to 20 helped me get in the zone and stay calm and focused, also once I got to about 12-15 I knew I was past the peak of the surge.
At 10am my surges got a lot more intense, more frequent and more regular. I was examined at about 10.30am by a doctor and was told I was 1cm dilated and should be looking to be moved to the labour suite. Literally 1 hour later at 11.30am I was examined again and to my surprise I was told I was fully dilated! At which point I started to get the urge to naturally push (such a strange sensation!). The midwifes I had where really respectful of my wishes and really helped me when I wanted to change positions etc. My hubby was brilliant too and was on queue every time I called for the gas and air. Once I was in the full swing of pushing I didn’t even need the gas and air! As I didn’t feel I even needed it.
After about 2 hours of pushing I was told by the doctor that even though the baby was still nice and calm inside and there was progress being made, I may need a little help in getting him out with the aid of a KIWI suction cup (the midwife said they only usually allow women to push for an hour but because I was doing so well and staying calm and baby was fine they just let me keep going). I asked if I could push for another 20mins which they respectfully allowed me to do.
After another 20mins of pushing I started to feel exhausted so I accepted the help from the KIWI suction cup. About 10mins later Oscar was born! It was such an overwhelming and happy moment, and even though I did need some assistance at the end I felt such a sense of achievement in keeping calm and focused, which in turn kept the baby relaxed too whilst coming out. I had some internal tearing which needed stitched up afterwards, I actually thought the stitching was worse than the labour haha!
Because Oscar arrived at 36 weeks we needed to stay in Pinderfields for an extra 3 days till Saturday. Apparently bacterial infections are a common reason for waters breaking early so Oscar needed to have his blood checked for infection which took 3 days to get the results. Once he got the all clear we were discharged on the Saturday. It felt great going home!
Over the past two weeks we’ve had family visiting and I’ve been telling them all how great and positive the birth was which I think some of them think I’m a bit weird haha and I’m not sure they even believe me. As soon as one member saw me she whispered ‘’… was it traumatic?!’’, expecting me to say yes, but I was like no it went really well because I used hypnobirthing techniques. The midwives who were present also recognised I was doing hypnobirthing methods. Some of the younger midwives were asking how I stayed so calm and a more experienced midwife said ‘’she’s a hypnobirther!’’, which I was really chuffed about. I’m so glad we read through the book and had already started practicing the tools before starting the classes, but I’m also mega gutted I don’t get to finish the classes! I also watched all your Facebook live videos.
I just want to also show my gratitude for your Beyond Birth class too. Before the class I had almost no knowledge of breastfeeding or what to expect becoming a new parent, and as I mentioned in the class I’ve never viewed myself as someone with natural maternal instinct so it was really nice to chat with someone who had the same fears as myself before becoming a mummy of not having that instinct. I’m happy to say Oscar is feeding really well through breastfeeding. Again, everyone keeps asking me, is it difficult? Do you have sore nipples etc.? And I just don’t, and I believe it’s because you helped me build that confidence to trust in my natural instinct and provide me with the facts rather than the myths and hearsay, so thank you!
Everyone keeps also asking me was I scared that he was coming early, before full term, and I’m like ‘no’, because even though I was down as 36 weeks (which is only 1 week away from full term), I truly believe that Oscar and my body were ready for the birth. Especially because I felt all the signs on the Monday of him wanting to come out.
Throughout the whole birth I just trusted in my body and baby to know what they were doing, and so I didn’t feel scared or any anxiety, I was just really excited to see my baby!
Casey and Paul, Pontefract
