Birth Story: Homebirth

Knowing that I had got through a twin pregnancy without any problems and had a natural birth gave me a huge sense of empowerment so when I found out I was pregnant with Charlie I knew I wanted a completely different experience. At my booking appointment with my GP I asked her about the possibility of a homebirth. She thought it was a great idea, she was so encouraging, she said that because of my previous birth and the fact that we lived close to the hospital, there was no reason i shouldn't consider a homebirth. I enjoyed every second of my pregnancy with Charlie, we even git married in Florida when I was 16 weeks pregnant. I researched homebirths and natural pain relief to help at home. My only hiccup was about a week before my due date I had a bleed. I had never experienced this with my previous birth and was really concerned. My dad drove me straight to hospital and the check baby out. It turns out that what I had experienced was probably a show. I woke up late at night with contractions, I popped the tens machine on and called the midwives. Two incredible midwives turned up. One was a lovely softly spoken lady called Emma and was full of cuddles, support and love and the second, Ailish was a little more stern and no nonsense. Between the two of them they were exactly what I needed. Earlier in my labour Emma was by my side, helping me with the tens and encouraging me to walk around. Everything was so different to my last birth. I couldn’t believe how much more bearable the contractions were when I was standing up, as soon as I laid down they intensified to an unbearable level. The labour seemed to plateau so the midwives decided it would help to break my waters. I did find that very painful (mainly because I contracted during it). It did seem to work as once my waters were broken, within fifteen minutes I crawled off my bed onto all fours on the floor and push Charlie out in just a few pushes. It was so liberating letting my body find its comfortable position and being in control of where I birthed my baby. The midwives were so accommodating and encouraged me to go with what my body was telling me and they would work around me. Charlie was born after a five hour labour. After a cuddle with him I passed him to Mike and got in the shower....MY shower. Ailish helped me into clean pyjamas and when I went back in my room, Emma had made my bed, plumped my pillows and made me a cuppa. I slid into my fresh sheets and Mike passed me Charlie. If I could live any day of my life again it would be that day. The midwives supported me with feeding Charlie and made sure he and I were comfortable. I breastfed him for about two months. The twins adored Charlie from the minute they saw him, to enjoy cuddles with all my babies and Mike was so special.

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