a second birth story - part thirteen


The birth story so far is on the birth stories page.

My waters had broken, 
I'd book in as high risk,
I'd had an epidural at 4cm dilated
only to be fully dilated 45 minutes later.
After an hour I had started pushing . . .


I got a new focus and a new determination
and suddenly I was pushing with everything I had.
It felt different from before,
I had found an extra reserve of energy and strength from somewhere
and I was using it.

Almost straight away I could feel that the baby was really moving downwards
and Lynne confirmed that fact,
changing her mantra of '”push, push”
to “to keep pushing, thats it”
and “pushing, pushing, keep pushing, keep pushing”.
As if I could have done anything but at that point.
I could feel the pressure growing and growing
and there was no choice but to push.

Lynne called for the paediatric team to be ready
as they would need to be present
after the meconium was present in my waters,
just in case the baby was born with any issues.
The student came in and introduced herself,
thanking me in advance for letting her be a part of the birth.
Another midwife arrived too.
It all really felt like it was coming to the end,
like my baby really would be here soon
and the realisation hit me,
that it was really, nearly over.

And then just as I felt like I actually couldn't push any more,
for any longer, or any harder,
it began to burn.
I'd heard crowning described as a ring of fire before,
and as I was in throws of it,
it seemed the most apt phrase ever.
I looked across at the student in the room
and said slowly and clearly;
Holy mother of God, that burns like hell.”
She looked at me with sympathy in her eyes
and I smiled.
I genuinely didn't care.
It hurt,
but it meant my baby was nearly here
and with the next contraction,
I pushed through the burn
and felt it suddenly disappear.
Before the midwife could even confirm it
I knew my baby's head had been born.

It was the strangest experience of my life,
lying in that hospital bed,
waiting for another contraction to come,
knowing that my babies head had been born
and that with one more contraction and one more push
I would be a mummy of two.
It felt like the longest minute in the world.
Quite literally on the cusp of something life changing.

And then the contraction came
and I pushed with every ounce of energy I had
but barely needing half of that effort,
before the pressure suddenly vanished.
At 6:05am
our baby arrived in the world.


You can read the final part of the story here.

6 comments

  1. Aww, I am actually tearing up, bloody hormones, it really is a ring of fire, but your right all you think about is the baby not the pain. xxx

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  2. Oh the fire! I can't remember it so much with Harry but I remember it clearly with Charles. It was the only part of labour that hurt with him luckily. xx

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  3. Congratulations! I wish you all the best with number 2. Your birth story really brought back the memories. Can't wait to see the pics. Julia x

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  4. Just catching up on the birth story posts, you tell it so well x

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  5. Ahhhhh she is there, I again almost cried. You write so great that I could imagine every step you went through. I even pictured you looking over at the student. WOW powerful birth stories you wrote. I enjoyed both equally as good. Glad I didn't have to wait like everyon else for time to be between them. Amazing stories Lucy. Glad everything was ok for both in the end.

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