When I first saw that faint blue line back in December 2019, at first I was filled with excitement and couldn’t believe it, so proceeded to take several more tests just to be certain. Eventually, that line was so clear there was no mistaking it, that’s when the fear set in. I have never been good with pain and I dreaded what I had to face in 9 months. I once screamed the house down because I had a shard of glass in my finger... I was at secondary school (embarrassing!).
Anyway, I knew that no matter what, that baby would have to come out eventually one way or the other. I was really lucky as I didn’t experience many pregnancy symptoms at all, besides a little heartburn and nighttime leg aching towards the end - I told myself that it will either mean that the birth is bad and if it’s not then I guess I’m just really lucky.
Well, September rolled around and as any overdue Mumma’s reading this will know, it doesn’t matter how anxious you are about the birth, you want that baby out! The eviction notice had been served (sweep one of two) to no avail. By this time I was so tense and anxious, when it came to the final notice being served (sweep two) even the midwife had to give in. I went home sobbing (after my COVID test) as I was booked in for an induction two days later - my worst-case scenario, especially as my husband was only allowed to be there during visiting hours.
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Fast forward two days and one third and final sweep later, no induction was needed - phew. I woke up at 4.30 am on Monday morning with contractions I could no longer sleep through. They progressed throughout the day and at about 11 pm that night we decided to go to bed and try and sleep - LOL! No sleeping was done, just me crying out every few minutes and what felt like endless calls to the hospital. Eventually at 6.30 am on Tuesday morning I decided I needed pain relief and that baby out. I called the hospital one last time and told them I wasn’t sure if my waters had gone, they told me to come in.
We arrived and I was assessed, 9cm dilated and baby back to back. I was shocked. Shocked and happy I had made it so far by myself. The midwives advised baby would need to turn before being born - queue kneeling for the next 4 to 6 hours. Eventually, I was so tired my contractions started to wear off and baby’s heartbeat was dropping so we ended up with an assisted delivery (ventouse). It didn’t go at all how I would have liked so I came back to the thought of being so lucky to have no problems during pregnancy. It was THAT bad, but would I do it again? Yes! I would do it all over again! You got this Mumma’s!
