Our second sons birth story, Jayce.

If you missed part one of this amazing journey, click here to read her first birth!

From our previous boys labour (early at 35 weeks), coming into the last trimester was scary… I thought it could happen again, with baby coming much earlier than planned! My husband is FIFO so getting time off for the birth(not fun, was a struggle.

I had horrible tooth pain for a week, due to a tooth cracking (not fun!) It needed a root canal but being so pregnant, at 37 weeks, nothing could really be done right now. The tooth pain was really bad at 38 weeks, so I called my midwife and asked what I could take to help with the pain. She advised me to take some Panadol and put ice on my face, and see how I went. Later on this day, I noticed some discharge with blood in it… assuming it was my mucus plug, I also started having some cramping, which I advised midwife of also. She said it can happen two weeks leading up to the birth and keep an eye on it., it could be early labour. That night I begged my mum to come and look after my son, so my husband could take me to the hospital - this tooth pain was worse than ever!

Once I got to the maternity ward, I had cramping again so I was strapped up to the CTG machine, to check and monitor bubs heart rate for about 4 hours. This showed contractions happening, but I couldn’t feel much tightening, just slight cramping or maybe it was because of my tooth pain was all I could think of. Everyone also told me this labour would be super short, as that’s what generally happens with the second baby, so whilst my first son was 8.5 hours of active labour, I was assuming that this would be quicker this time around.

The doctor gave me some pain relief and sent me on my way home expecting they would see me in the next few days, to give birth. That night I went to bed trying to get as much sleep as I could, the tooth pain had eased off a bit. I then noticed more mucus with blood, I put a heat pack on my back, as it started to get achy. I said to my husband “I bet in the next week, we will have another baby earthside”.

Early that morning I woke to have a shower, that’s when contractions started! At 4.45 am they were manageable and 15 mins apart. By 6.30 am, they were painful and getting closer together - I was timing on my app, just how close they were. I didn’t use the app in my first pregnancy, this helped so much as I was able to show the midwife the pattern they were happening in. My midwife advised me to stay at home for as long as possible. I basically stayed in the shower from 6.30 am - 7.40 am and they were painful by this point, I said I needed to go to the hospital. We left at 7.50 am arrived, at the hospital and I was checked over.

I was in early labour and after a while, I was admitted into the labour ward. Bubs head was low down in the birth canal. I felt so much more pressure and lightening pain this time around, from about 36 weeks on. 

At first, it all seemed good with dilation and I was like “yep the baby will be here by lunch. ..” However, nothing was progressing with every assessment done. 

1.30 pm rolled around and my cervical dilation had not changed, but my contractions were coming on strong! I requested an epidural at this point. However, at this point my midwife was going to send me home due to ‘slow progression’. I was not happy and I started crying, I was in so much pain. I had another shower, my husband was putting the warm water on my back which helped a bit. Once out of the shower, my midwife said the epidural was on its way (yah!)

Once I had the epidural I felt so much more at ease. It actually made me dilate more and I wasn’t whaling away through the contractions, though I did pretty good from 4.45 am - 2.00 pm dealing with the pain. Oh, and the gas did nothing for me!! 

The midwife broke my waters at 4.30 pm and I started dilating slightly. However, still not ‘enough progression’, so they used an induction drip to speed things up! Finally, progression was showing and by 8.30 pm I was 9cms dialated! We were waiting till 10.30pm, to get to 10cm and give the baby ta chance to move lower in the cervix, which felt like he already was with all the pressure! At this point, I wanted to push but the midwife said: “let’s wait until we know your 10cm’s”.

Which I was by 10.45! The pressure in my lower body was really building up by this stage. I started light pushes, at 10.55 pm. 2-3 big contractions later bub was out by 11.14 pm!

The pushing this time around, was easier than my first pregnancy! Maybe because I was calm and had done it before? I don’t know, but it was so much easier. As he came out he twisted his head which by the way OUCH! When he came out, unfortunately I didn’t get to hold him much as he was limp and started going pale and blue. Scott quickly cut the cord, and they had to give him oxygen as he wasn’t breathing. He was taken straight off to the nursery to be checked on, as his lungs needed some help. The pead and midwives were great, keeping us updated all the way! Scott went to nursery, he once again couldn’t hold our second bub due to being on equipment but had some one on one bonding , holding his hand whilst I got cleaned up, the epidural taken out and some food quickly as this labour I felt like I didn’t want to eat anything so I was starving by the end!

The midwives checked all my observations, and I was given some painkillers to help with the pain of my uterus contracting down. Scott and I were able to go see our beautiful boy, before Scott had to leave and I needed some rest! So while my labour was long with dilation, it was quick with the pushing and I had no stitches just a small graze and slight tear but nothing crazy! Seeing my baby boy limp and not breathing was really hard and put me into a panic, as I’ve never felt before. I remember pushing the midwife away slightly whilst she tried to give me an injection because I was in a panic. But I knew he was in the best hands. Well, my not so quick second labour was 18 hours of active labour!