Jess' story - Ella Grace

ELLA GRACE

My labour started at 4.45am on 18 July. I was having contractions and they started off coming regularly at about 10 minutes apart. Then they varied from six to eight minutes apart for the next 15 hours before I went to hospital. My midwife came to see me at 3pm that same afternoon. She did an internal to find I was only 2cm dilated but my cervix was thinning out.

When I arrived at hospital, my midwife checked me again and told me that I was still only 2cm dilated, but my cervix was super-thin. So, knowing I had a while to go, I hopped into the hot tub and tried to relax as the contractions got more intense. At about 10.30pm, I was given pethidine to help me sleep as I had been up since 4.45am that morning with no rest. I woke up half an hour later to more intense contractions, so I wandered back down the hall to the hot tub and got in again.

At about, 2am I hit transition phase and vomited into the sink. I had been feeling nauseous for a while and this was the peak. With no pain relief, all I had was Cory rubbing my back through the contractions, which now had a tendency to come one of top of the other. I needed to wee, so got out of the hot tub rather hesitantly, as whenever I changed positions, I got more contractions. I wandered down to my room and went to the toilet, where I had a contraction while on the loo -- which wasn't too great, so I decided there was no way I would make it back to the hot tub in one piece.

I stayed in my room, bent over the bed, and had some really strong contractions that were at the point of being unbearable. I felt like I couldn't do it any more, but then I felt this urge to push. My midwife said to go for it and I did, to feel a gush of waters.

After that contraction, the next one came along about one minute later and I started pushing at 2.30am. I remember my midwife saying that I was going to be a while, but another couple of pushes put my midwife into shock as my little girl was coming NOW! The midwife told Cory to push the emergency buzzer to get the other midwife in to help with the delivery.

Just as she arrived, so did my baby girl, Ella Grace, at 2.42am. It took 11 minutes to push her out. She came out with her hand on her face, which gave me a graze, but otherwise no tears, no stitches -- nothing!

I was so proud, as I had managed to stick to my birth plan to a degree. I didn't get the water birth I had wanted, but I got the no pain relief/drugs that I had requested in my birth plan.

Ella Grace weighed 8lbs 8oz and her Apgars were 9 at one minute, as she was still a little purple, and 10 at five minutes.