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Amy's (2nd) amazing birth story

King Edward Memorial Hospital, Perth

Baby Ciaran

39 weeks + 4 days

Unlike my first birth, this time my waters broke first! They started leaking early morning (3.30am) so I went into the hospital. They tested to confirm and sent me home because I wasn't having surges (contractions) yet. They wanted me back at 9pm to have antibiotics as per hospital policy.

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I wasn't having real surges throughout the day but started having some around 6pm so I went for a walk to the local park and that seemed to help. Back to the hospital at 9 for antibiotics but my surges had started easing off. The nurse who put the catheter in my hand reassured me the fluroscent hospital lights always make people's contractions fizzle out. She made me a cup of tea “in her favourite mug” and made me promise to bring it back when I came back in later. 

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I went home with instructions to be back at 3am for more antibiotics and to discuss induction options. I planned to get some rest and hoped that my surges would be able to ramp back up on their own.​

They did. I managed about an hour's sleep before surges woke me up. I used clary sage to help strengthen my surges. By the time we got back to the hospital, they were 5-10 mins apart and getting much stronger. I was in the Community Midwife Group and so had seen the same midwife all through my pregnancy. Unfortunately she was off sick with glandular fever that night! But I wasn't phased. I was admitted for monitoring and was in the zone listening to my hypnobirthing tracks. My hubby was running back and forth to the car and trying to set up the birthing pool we'd hired. 

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Over the next hour and a half my surges slowly became stronger and longer. I requested a fitball to move into a more upright position and instead of just quietly breathing I'd started making some loud moaning sounds with each surge.I remember coming out of a particularly long and strong surge when I felt a tap on my shoulder and a midwife I hadn't met before gently said “Hi, my name's Sarah. Would you like to come through to the birthing suite?” I started following her and after another strong surge in the hallway and told her my body was starting to push. She calmly ushered me on (but later said she was certain the baby was about to be born in that hallway!).

Two more strong contractions sitting on the toilet, then found out the birth pool was going to take too long so got in the shower. I asked for the gas and couldn't understand why they weren't bringing it (turns out the one they needed was in another room and they suspected there was no time!). They were right because three strong surges later the head was out! I was screaming the house down before that saying I couldn't do it but once the head was out and I knew it was just one more big push I was chanting over and over "I can do this. My baby is coming." One more surge and baby was out, Midwife Sarah caught him and my hubby helped pass him up to me. Apparently his cord was twice around his neck, so tricky for the midwife to catch and detangle but she was great.

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I felt so relieved and happy once my baby had arrived and as I suspected, I wasn't disappointed to find out it was another boy. I was anxious about my placenta not coming because with my first I had to have surgery to have it removed. This time my placenta came straight away, I got heaps of skin to skin time, and we were out of the hospital 5 hours later!

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Nearly everything about this pregnancy and birth were different to my first but I was very happy I got another spontaneous, natural labour with minimal tearing. Revisiting hypnobirthing the second time around was pivotal in helping me and my husband have another amazing birth.

Topics:     premature rupture of membranes (PROM)       

                   second birth       antibiotics during labour

                   clary sage

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