The Birth of Piper Joy

Background…

Throughout my pregnancy, I was having 4-weekly growth scans due to a low PAPP-A detected in my 12 week bloods. All of these scans were followed by a consultant appointment. Up until the scan on 11th August, these scans had all been fine, but had always found my baby in the breech position. I had always planned to have a vaginal breech birth if Baby was still breech at term.

 

Monday 11th August 2014 – 40+1

I had a routine growth scan booked for 13:30, which confirmed my baby was still breech and also that growth was now stalling. Because of this, my consultant didn’t want me to go much further over term, as it could pose a risk to my baby. With the added complication that Baby was breech, she told me an induction was out of the question. Here was the plan – have a membrane sweep now, and if that didn’t work, have a scheduled Caesarian section on Wednesday 13th August… my 29th birthday! I agreed.

So, she checked my cervix and did a sweep, which wasn’t as uncomfortable as I’d anticipated; she told me I was 2cm dilated, and that my cervix was very favourable. At my last midwife appointment, my midwife had said the consultant would probably offer a sweep, and ever since she’d said that, I’d been a bit anxious about it.

Anyway, my consultant phoned around, and got me on the surgery list for Wednesday. She said I’d have to be pre-assessed now, so my husband and I made our way to the labour ward, where they’d pre-assess me for my scheduled C-section.

After the midwife on the ward had pre-assessed me, I used the loo and noticed a small amount of blood from the sweep. I then experienced some period-like cramps, which are common after a sweep.

We had to make our way to the pharmacy to pick up my pre-meds, and all the while we were there, I was getting these cramping pains with Braxton Hicks contractions. I was taking them with a pinch of salt, because I knew after a sweep, they were quite common and often a sign of false labour. I was convinced they’d go away as the day progressed.

 

False labour?

By the time we left the hospital, it was 4pm – 1.5 hours after my sweep. I was still experiencing the pains, which were coming every 4 or 5 minutes, and lasting only about 10 seconds each time. I was able to talk through them, and if I changed position during one, the pain went away. These facts all indicated to me that this was false labour, so when my husband suggested we call the labour ward to see what their advice would be, I told him they’d only tell me to take paracetamol and have a bath, but I agreed to call them anyway.

When we got home, I phoned the labour ward at our preferred hospital and told them what was going on, and that I thought it was false labour. They told me to take some paracetamol and have a warm bath to see if the pains went away. While I did that, my husband sorted out my son with his dinner etc, and my mum left, under the impression that we didn’t need her to have our son should we leave for the hospital.

I took my Kindle into the bath and had a soak. The pains did go off while in the bath, so I got out hoping real labour would still happen before my scheduled C-section date. I noticed that I had lost a small amount of plug in the bath, so I put a pad on as well as my PJs, ready to settle down and relax for the evening.

 

Real labour?

The pains started up again almost as soon as I was out of the bath and dressed. This time, I decided to use my contraction timer app to see if they were regular, and to establish exactly how long the pains were lasting.

We put our son to bed and I showed my husband the timer app. Pains were now regularly coming 3-4 minutes apart, and lasting 30 seconds each time. He told me to ring the labour ward to let them know.

I phoned the ward, and explained everything – the breech situation, my history of a short labour with my son, and that I’d had a sweep earlier. The assistant on the other end of the phone told me she’d ask the advice of a senior midwife, then came back to me and told me to make my way in.

By this time, it was 7pm, and our son hadn’t yet settled in bed. My husband phoned his parents to meet us at the hospital to take our son back home and look after him overnight if I was going to be kept in. We spent some time getting the hospital bag topped up with last minute things like chargers and my toothbrush, and got him out of bed.

 

Here we go!

We piled into the car, and set off on our way at 7:30pm. Contractions continued to be around 30 seconds long, and 3-4 minutes apart. They were getting stronger, but were still very bearable.

At about 8pm, we met my in-laws just outside the hospital, and dropped our son with them. I was still unconvinced that the ward would keep me over night, but at least our son was being taken care of if we needed to stay. My mum had just got home, and I phoned to tell her what was going on.

We parked in the hospital car park, and remarked that, this time, things hadn’t been such a rush as they had been with our first. We got to the labour ward, and were shown to our room. I was admitted onto the labour ward at 8:15pm, and put on the CTG monitor to monitor Baby. Everyone knew our baby was breech, and the midwife told us she had volunteered to look after me, after hearing I wanted a vaginal breech birth.

The registrar came into the room and introduced himself. He then asked a fair few questions (“Your first labour was how long?!” – 4 hours from show to birth!), and went through the risks of a vaginal breech birth, and cited the only available piece of research out there at the moment. However, the first thing he was sure to specify was that he is an advocate of vaginal breech birth. That put me at ease straight away. He explained that he suspected I was in early labour, and that the birth would be very controlled and monitored, and that, when it came to the second stage of labour, they would transfer me to theatre to push, just in case they had any need to delivery by emergency Caesarian section. At least we would all be in the right place should things go awry at this point. I agreed – that seemed sensible enough.

He did a vaginal examination, and told me I was 3cm dilated. He had a good rummage to confirm that Baby’s feet would not be the presenting part, and told me he’d be back to check me in a couple of hours to see how we were progressing. The midwife told me to have a walk around, and that she’d go and get a ball for me to bounce on. I asked about gas and air, because straight after the registrar had checked me, my pains had become stronger. She said that I couldn’t have the gas and air just yet, because I wasn’t in established labour. “Okay, no probs.” I remember saying. We would see how I was after our little walk.

 

Rapid Progression!

So off my husband and I went. He planned to get my hospital bag from the car, so we walked to the main entrance of the hospital, all the while having strong contractions every 2 minutes now. We phoned our parents, and I spoke to my mum while my husband went to the car. She told me she had just started watching ‘Long Lost Family’ on TV, which was making her cry. Going by that information, it was now just after 9pm.

My husband got back with my hospital bag, and I told him I wanted to get back to the ward. My contractions were coming thick and fast, and I was unable to walk or talk through them. The short walk back was interrupted by two or three contractions.

When we got back to our room, I felt I had to be forward, on all fours during contractions – just like with my son. I told my husband to call the midwife to let her know I needed gas and air now. She came in and saw I was in established labour, and faffed around trying to get the G&A to work. She had to call another midwife in to help her connect to the wall, but as soon as it was in my hand, I went into my own world with it.

I was in the zone now, and was aware I had transitioned; from now on, my body ruled my mind. I let go, and felt the urge to push, so I did, telling the room (my husband and the midwife) that I was now pushing. I don’t recall anyone telling me not to (not that I’d be able to stop it anyway!).

 

In the zone

Pop! Gush! My waters broke all into my pyjama bottoms and down my legs. From this point on, it is all a blur. My husband tells me this is when lots of midwives started pouring into the room. The registrar also joined us and wanted us in theatre. The senior midwife told him that there would be no time to get us into theatre now; she was cannulating my left hand, and I was now lying on my back on the bed. It had only been half an hour, at most, since the registrar had checked me and had confirmed I was 3cm dilated.

He told me I needed to be in ‘lithotomy’ position – legs up in supports, and I obliged. The bottom of the bed was removed, ready for my baby to be delivered. During the next contraction, and my involuntary pushing, I heard the midwife tell him that the ‘presenting part’ was visible, and confirmed Baby was breech. I just continued to do what my body was telling me to do, all the while staying intuned to the sounds of my environment. I was able to hear voices directed at me, and obeyed commands when I was told to do things (“Shuffle your bottom to the right.” etc.).

My husband was a constant in my left ear, telling me I was in control. I could feel that he was stroking my head; I can’t remember, however, if we were holding hands. :cloud9: I knew my left hand now had a cannula in it, and the gas and air was in my right hand. I could hear midwives telling me I was doing really well, and that I was amazing… always nice to hear!

I continued to push with every contraction (3 or 4 to get Baby down and body out), and heard the registrar giving specific delivery directions to the midwife, who was actually delivering my baby. When I had pushed my baby’s body out, I heard the registrar say that Baby’s body was born at 21:45. The midwife asked him if she needed to rest Baby’s legs on either side of her arm. He said yes, then spoke to me.

I opened my eyes and looked at him: “Rebekah, everything is out but Baby’s head. With your next contraction…”

I interrupted him, “Big pushes, yeah?”

“Don’t push until we tell you to.”

“Okay.”

We were waiting for the last contraction. I was having a bit of a breather, because it was taking a bit longer than between the other contractions, but was back in my zone again. My husband tells me the senior midwife stimulated my bump, which brought on the contraction. I started puffing on the gas and air and heard the registrar talk to the midwife about Baby turning on its own. I didn’t really understand, but was waiting for my body to tell me to push, as well as the registrar. When I got the urge, I heard no-one tell me not to push, so I pushed for a longer time than usual, and felt I was also consciously pushing to help things along.

 

Piper Joy is born!

Then, there was relief. The pressure had gone, and my baby was born! She was placed on my chest, but hadn’t started breathing yet, so she was taken to have a bit of oxygen. As she was being taken away, my husband said to me, “I think we’ve got a girl!” and the midwife confirmed this, saying, “I didn’t want to say, but it is a girl.” Of course – they had known since the presenting part had been born!

Our little girl was brought back to us, and I requested skin-to-skin contact. I took my crop top off, and put her on my chest. My husband and I then confirmed to each other that her name was Piper Joy. She started routing and being interested in feeding, so we gave it a go. She latched like a pro, and stayed there for a good while.

After feeding, and being left for a while for cuddles with her daddy, Piper was weighed – 6lbs 7.5ozs, 6ozs heavier than her big brother at his birth.

After all the checks, we were discharged home the next day, at 12:30pm, only 15 hours after Piper was born.

 

The End… The Beginning!

I am still in shock that we have a girl. It’s what we secretly wanted – one of each, and it is still such a novelty to say ‘she’, and change girly nappies. A few pink clothes have filtered in, but she’s only been in unisex outfits so far.