EDITOR'S STORY
The Birth
I had been experiencing mild period-like
cramping pains for about a week, so every day
was a guessing game ‘am I/ aren’t I in labour?’
At 8:30pm on Sunday 20th January, I felt a
sudden wave of nausea and needed to run to the
bathroom, nothing new. I went to bed shortly
after but woke at 10pm with cramping pains,
I was certain this time, early labour had begun.
I slept on and off until about 2am when the
contractions were too strong to sleep through.
I woke Mark, had a shower, washed my hair
and shaved my legs and excitedly made my way
to the living room to begin our birthing plan.
I listened to a relaxing playlist and bounced
on the birthing ball, breathing through every
contraction. At about 4am we rang the maternity
unit to let them know my contractions were
now every 3 to 5 minutes apart and lasting for
just over a minute each. I was advised to take
a bath and wait it out a little longer – that was
frustrating as I was sure they were going to tell
me to head in!
At 5:30 I had my first bout of diarrhoea,
followed quickly by violent vomiting – this
continued every few minutes for about half
an hour. At 6:08, I messaged my mum (our
designated driver) to let her know things were
progressing – the message read:
‘Today is the day for sure. After I was sick
last night the contractions and pain started
very strong, slept on and off until 2am but
been up since then. Very strong contractions,
very painful and sickness and diarrhoea every
few minutes. Spoke to midwife she said ring
back when contractions are every 3 minutes,
it’s heading that way.’
Having endometriosis causes incredibly
painful periods with nausea, sickness and often
fainting so I presumed I had a high enough pain
threshold to deal with labour naturally. Just
before 7am the pain now seemed to be constant
and the contractions had disappeared. What’s
going on? I did what you’re advised not to do
and started Googling. The outcome? Diarrhoea
cramps! I couldn’t believe it, this whole time I
thought I’d been managing my labour well, but
it turns out I just had an upset stomach. I felt
like such a failure, I was supposed to be stronger than this. I remember
saying to Mark ‘I know I said I don’t want an epidural, and I know
I said that even if I beg when I’m in labour not to let me have one –
please, please pretend I didn’t say that as I’m struggling just with an
upset stomach!’
At 7am I ran to the loo, but something was preventing me from
sitting down. I looked down and saw a puddle of blood, it was pouring
out of me – something definitely didn’t seem right. Mark rang the
maternity unit who advised us to call an ambulance immediately.
We arrived at the hospital at 7:30am, where I was given Entonox
(gas and air) to help manage the pain, but as I didn’t know what was
wrong, I started to panic. Once the midwife had checked me over, she
reassured me that I was probably in labour and I would most likely give
birth that day. My membranes were bulging out of my cervix making it
hard to see how far into labour I was, so when my waters did eventually
break, I think we were all shocked to learn I was actually 8.5cm dilated!
Suddenly everything felt real, I couldn’t believe I thought I just had
an upset stomach when I was really in the last stage of labour. Things
took a sudden turn though.
Beatrice opening her eyes at just 18 minutes old
‘It’s breach!’ Screamed the midwife. With the press of the panic
button, I was suddenly surrounded by 10 other people – doctors,
nurses, and midwives. I could feel the fright in the room, it suddenly
felt very intense. The bottom half of the bed was released, and my legs
put in stirrups. With no time for a C-section or pain relief, I was going
to have to push this baby out.
I was given an episiotomy where the doctors then realised the baby
was footling breech. At just before 8:30am, with a mighty scream and
big push, her left leg came out, shortly followed by her right leg. A
couple more big pushes and she was here.
Beatrice Matilda Wilkinson was born at 8:40am on 21st January
2019, weighing a healthy 7lb15oz. After everything we had been
through, from trying to conceive to dealing with a horrendous
pregnancy, I really shouldn’t have been surprised that my labour would
be any less dramatic. It took a little while for everything to sink in, but
when it did, my heart just filled with pride and joy – I now know what
true love is.
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