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I honestly can’t believe how quickly the past six weeks have flown, they have gone by in a blur of sleepless nights, milk drunk smiles and projectile voms but oh my god so worth it! If you didn’t know or guessed by the title I have had a baby! Our second little boy, we named him George and are completely in love.

So I thought I’d start my first blog post back after having George with his Labour story. I had definitely forgotten a lot of details about Jacob’s so thought if we ever have more kids I can look back and be throughly prepared this time.

The whole way through my pregnancy I had been told George was on the larger side (as was J when he was born) so I was aware I may have the possibility of induction. Again had the same with J, so that didn’t phase me. I had been back and forth with my birth plan – I was advised to have an epidural again, this time because of not only baby’s weight but my bmi also which would prevent shoulder dystocia at birth.

After lots of discussions and talks of alternative pain relief we decided on the epidural being the best plan for me. So i was booked in for an induction on Sunday 12th of January – 10 days before my due date.

Due to them being so busy we went to Poole maternity unit at 6pm, and I’d had my induction by 7pm. This time around they used the cervical ripening balloon catheter, which I didn’t have much knowledge in, first time around I had the hormone pessary and assumed it would be similar.

I’m not going to lie the balloon is not the most comfortable thing to have put in, but it’s not painful. They put a plastic tube into your cervix which has a balloon attached at the tip, the balloon then gets pumped up with salt water fluid and you have to keep it in until it falls out once you have dilated to 3cm, or they will remove it at 24 hours. Mine took 12 hours to work, once it had fallen out the next morning we were excited that it was all go and I’d go and have my waters broken. Unfortunately they were so busy they had a waiting list of 5 women before me to go to the delivery rooms.

Fast forward another 12 hours of watching films and snacking it was time to head to labour to get the ball rolling. My midwife broke my waters and did a sweep as I was still only 3cm.

It didn’t take long for contractions to start after my waters broke, I found bouncing on the birthing ball helped to begin with, and then they started ramping up. I was offered gas and air (which is a bloody dream!) and discussed that an early epidural had been advised.

Now this is where my birth plan started going a little awry. The anesthetist was in theatre so wasn’t able to administer right away. And as the contractions were getting more full on we started discussing other forms of pain relief. My midwife did another check, I was still 3cm but my cervix was soft and short which meant it was going the right way.

After an hour of hard contractions and the anesthetist still being unavailable we decided on a pethidine injection in the upper thigh. It takes about 20 minutes to kick in, and can last between 2-4 hours. It can also make you feel woozy or sleepy. This bit is a little blurry for me, but Pete says it completely calmed me, the pain went and I dozed In and out for 45 minutes or so.

The contractions started coming thick and fast after this, and I remember needing to wee all the time with the pressure of baby. I got to the toilet as a contraction hit and had to have the gas and air transfered in there. (LOL!)

The pressure I was feeling was very intense by the point the midwife came in with a robe for me to change into ready for an epidural. ( the anesthetist had finished in theatre) I think this was about 1am. I pulled the bottom half of my clothes off as I had another contraction – just as the anesthetist walked in. He literally didn’t know where to look with my vagina out for the world to see. Haha Oooppps.  I couldn’t physically stand up straight to get the rest of me undressed.

I had an epidural with Jacob last time and it was brilliant, I don’t remember there being any pain when being told to push and I never had that feeling of  oh god I need to push, or when people tell you when you think you need a poo it’s actually go time. So I was all a little naive about it this time. I told my midwife how much pressure I was feeling (well not as much told, more cried at her!) and that I wasn’t feeling right. I was thinking oh my god if this is the pain now at 3cm, how can I manage when I get to 10cm!?

This was as the anesthetist was setting up all his bits and getting the needle ready. He advised my midwife to do another check – of course I was at 10cm so all I could do was push.

I definitely went into a huge panic at this point, the plan was to have an epidural and to not have that option was really scary to me. I remember saying to Pete I can’t do this, I don’t think I can do this, over and over again. He of course was my absolute rock throughout and was completely amazing.

So Push time, in total it took 17 minutes. Very quick (I mean it felt like an hour at the time, but I was assured it wasnt an hr to anyone else)! I’m not going to beat around the bush – it hurt. I was not prepared for it having almost being cushioned from the blow with the epidural last time. He got his head out and then his shoulders got stuck and ooh did that sting. My midwife called her panic button (I don’t know what it’s called, help button, assistance button?) and 2 other midwives shot in so quickly. They were absolutely amazing. They grabbed my legs to help my push and bubba was out. Now because he got stuck, they had to give him some extra oxygen and he was purple when handed to me, but all was fine thankfully.

No one really tells you about the after bit but as your in such a baby bubble I didn’t take too much notice. The next part is to wait for your placenta to be delivered which is what I imagine a jelly fish swimming out of your bits would feel like (without getting stung obviously) it really didn’t hurt, just a very strange jelly like sensation.

Now, did my birth plan go how I wanted it? Absolutlely not! Was it painful? Incredibly, I’m not going to lie, but would I do it naturally again without epidural? 1 million percent, yes it was painful – but that pain literally vanishes when your baby is out. It completely disappears, as does your memory of the pain (hense writing this, so if we ever go for number 3 I can read this and not be lulled in! Haha!) and I struggled for a really long time after complications with the epjdural, so to not have those pains was unbelievable amazing!

I want to say a massive thank you to my midwife, who was incredibly kind and patient with me throughout, including the swearing and the shouting towards the end, and of course to Pete who stayed at the hospital with me, slept on a chair and the floor for 2 nights before the birth, took my mind off of contractions with episodes of friends on the ipad and just generally being a very supportive husband!

The first few days after having George were tough on my body. You bleed a lot, and the after labour pains were quite hard where your uterus starts contracting back down to its pre pregnancy size, but other than that I felt good. It was so good to be home the same day and not having an issues with my back which I suffered with after my epidural and were a worry this time around.

This birth was a completely different experience, but I am SO thankful to be able to experience it – pains and all. I am so completely in love with our new family unit of 4.

And there we have it Baby George Arthur Carey is here. Born January 14th 2020 at 1.29am weighing 9lbs. (how glad I am that they induced if he was 9lb 8 days before due date haaa!)

birth story cervical ripening balloon catheter induction Labour story