Our little peach: The birth story of Bella

After suffering hyperemesis throughout my whole pregnancy, which meant I was violently sick every day, and being hospitalized twice, I was desperate to give birth on my due date. However, after a sweep a couple of days before my due date nothing seemed to be happening. Four days later, I had niggling period pains before I went to bed, so told my husband I would bounce on the birthing ball for a while. I went to bed after a half an hour, feeling disappointed and totally fed up.

I woke that night at 1:30 a.m. with pains that rose to a peak and then died down. I went to the toilet and realized I was in the early stages of labour. After having a warm bath, the contractions were coming thick and fast and only 3 minutes apart. I was advised to come in by the midwife, so we made our way into hospital with my mom, who was my second birthing partner.  I was totally dejected when I was told that I was only 2 centimeters dilated.

Five hours later, I was in absolute agony but had only dilated to 3 centimeters. I asked for pethidine, as the contractions were so close together I barely had a rest in between each one.  At 11 a.m., the pethidine had started to wear off, and the contractions came back worse than ever. After begging the midwives to give me gas and air, they reluctantly wheeled me into the birthing ward. The gas and air made me feel drunk, and my waters eventually broke.

Several hours later, I was still only 5 centimeters dilated and asked for an epidural. I was so tired and in absolute agony. After I had the epidural, I slept for a few hours whilst my husband and mom went to get some food. Eventually, at 10:30 p.m., I was told I was 10 centimeters dilated and that I could start pushing.

However, after an hour of pushing and no movement of our baby’s head whatsoever, the midwives came to the conclusion that she was stuck. The baby’s heart rate started to drop and they made the decision to use ventouse to help me out. As the room filled with doctors and nurses I was totally oblivious to the worry that my husband and mom were going through. They watched the nurses wheel in a resuscitation machine and saw the urgency on the midwives faces. I had an episiotomy, and with a couple of good pushes and the help of the ventouse, our baby girl, Bella, was born weighing 8 pounds 2 ounces at 12:30 a.m. on July 9, 2013. The first thing I said when I saw Bella was, “You have a good cry and let it all out my darling, because I feel like doing the same.” Bella is nicknamed “Peach,” thanks to my mom, because when she was put on my chest she was dark blue, but as she let out a cry, the color slowly came to her, and she turned a lovely shade of peach.

I was in labour for 23 hours in total. Bella had some trauma to her head due to the ventouse procedure and she suffered headaches for a few days after the birth, which I felt incredibly guilty about. In my birth plan I stipulated that I wanted a natural birth with only gas and air so I was disappointed that I had an epidural. However, our baby’s safety was the main priority. I now have a beautiful baby that is nearly a year old, and for that I am truly grateful.

 Send us your birth story! Whether you had a home birth, hospital birth, 37-hour labor or emergency C-section, we’d love to read the tale of your little one’s grand entrance. Write up your birth story (click here for tips on getting started) and email it, along with a few photos, to birthstory@pnmag.com. We’ll share it on our Birth Day blog and may even print it in an upcoming issue!