I thought I should explain my absence from the computer lately.
At 10.30 am on Wednesday morning I had had enough. Having spent all night with strong contractions I was disappointed to be sent home from hospital to be told to return if they became regular and established. You can read more on my 39 week update.
My contractions never became regular and we never went back to hospital. What happened was completely unexpected.
When I got home I went to bed for an hour, still having infrequent but strong contractions. Around 12.30 they started to get stronger and I had a really bad back breaking pain in my lower back. My contractions were still completely random, 8 minutes, 2 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes there was no pattern. I spent an hour in the shower, the water on my back really helped but the steam started to get too much and I had to get out.
I can remember looking at the clock at 2pm and really wanting to push. Only the contractions still were really infrequent and had not formed any pattern. By now I was in a lot of pain, not only with strong contractions but the pain in my back had intensified and would not go. My husband kept coming up to check on me but could not stay for any length of time as my youngest needed him and I did not want her to see me in so much pain.
My Mum arrived at 3.40 with my eldest having collected her from school. What happened next is a slight blur, I can just remember the pain and my body trying to counteract the desire to push. I was really confused and worried.
Almost an hour later the community midwives arrived and my waters broke. I knew that baby was back to back, and having heard that they usually need extra help to be delivered, I was panicking. I can remember every push, and every pain from then on. I listened to the midwives who were monitoring baby very closely. After 20 minutes of pushing baby arrived, back to back.
I had Thing 3 at home in bed with no pain relief, no gas and air and with my Mum and Husband present. The girls downstairs with Granddad. It was far from the birth I had planned and the water birth I so desired, but I was beyond relived that Thing 3 had arrived safely and with no help. I was also incredibly shocked to discover that although Thing 3 had been back to back I had no tear and required no stitches.
I was allowed delayed cord clamping, which is something I was denied with the girls, and Thing 3 came straight for skin to skin. After all the worry about a big baby, Thing 3 is the smallest of all my children. The birth might have been far from perfect, but the calm atmosphere afterwards was an amazing experience.
The midwives did an amazing job of cleaning up, even changing the bed sheets, and after a shower I got back in my bed and cuddled Thing 3. The girls came upstairs to meet their new sibling and we were left in peace as a family of 5.
This day I love expect the unexpected.
