Kind Hearts, Streetwise Coffee

which meant that all available staff were called away to help them. It ended up being two more hours before I received the epidural. While I was waiting my midwife gave me some fentanyl to try and reduce my pain, but I don’t remember it being much help. The epidural was amazing! Within minutes of it taking effect I was able to lay down comfortably and relax. Then an internal examination revealed I was at 8cm, wahoo! I felt great to know that during all that pain I had achieved something. Surely I would get to meet my baby soon. My labour stalled. Contractions died away, not that I could feel anything. I was hooked up to the syntocinon drip to try and get things going again, and the hospital midwives advised me to try and get some sleep. But I was still too excited, and since the midwives would pop in frequently to check our vitals, it’s no wonder I didn’t sleep a wink. All night my partner and I waited, talking quietly to each other, our baby’s heartbeat thrumming away in the background. In the morning I was examined again several times, by several different doctors, but I was still at 8-9cm. My cervix was swelling rather than dilating - we found out later it was because my daughter’s head was jammed against it sideways. Throughout the second half of my pregnancy I’d tried a lot of exercises to keep her in a good position for labour but she obviously had other ideas! By mid-morning it was clear I wasn’t going to dilate any further, and by now there was meconium in the waters and baby’s heart rate indicated she was going into distress. It was time for a caesarean section. The midwives and doctors were wonderfully supportive. I didn’t feel stressed or pressured into anything. We were making the right choice for our baby. The surgery itself was remarkably quick, and there was a happy, relaxed atmosphere in the operating theatre. Hearing my daughter’s first cry was fantastic. She arrived at midday, over 20 hours since my induction started. Another special moment was seeing my partner have the first cuddle. He’d never held a baby before! Then she was brought over to me and I got to stare into her beautiful wide eyes for the first time. Instant love. I want women to know that even if their births do not go according to their birth plan, and end up being very medicalised, they can still be a positive experience. The most important thing to me was the safe arrival of a healthy baby. I was pleasantly surprised by how smoothly my physical recovery went in the weeks following the birth.

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