Sukie's Story

I went into labour at about 5.30am with stomach cramps, wasn't sure if it was the real thing as you probably never do with your first.  The contractions started to get closer together, so I was using the all fours position, rocking from side to side etc to stay in control and practised the breathing techniques you taught us on our bed.  My husband, Shane, started to count the frequency and length of the contractions and was surprised how close & long they were.  Then I started to bleed quite heavily and thought it best to contact the hospital (General).   They asked me to come in to get the bleeding checked straight away, so Shane rushed about making sure that all our stuff was packed in the car. 

In the car I found it really useful to hum as I couldn't move about much and the bumps were a bit uncomfortable.  By the time we got to the hospital it must have been nearly 8am.  The contractions were getting closer and more frequent, I think I had about 5 on the way to the delivery suit!  I had to lean against Shane & the humming got louder!  Once the booking in midwife had examined me I was already 7cm.  She was really impressed, but being on my back for the examination was really uncomfortable.  All I wanted to do was to get onto all fours again.  The hospital was really busy, so there were only normal delivery rooms available, no home from home, but quite honestly at that point I didn't care. 

Shane didn't even get any time to go out and get the bags before I was ready to push by 10am.  Every time they examined me it seemed to speed up the process.  Thankfully they found that the bleeding was most likely from the speed that my cervix had dilated so the doctor did not need to intervene.  They did break my waters though. 

I did most of my pushing kneeling on the bed against an upright back.  There was no time for any other pain relief than gas & air, which was fine, I didn't feel like I was struggling with the pain too much.  However I did find it really difficult to focus on where to push.  I kept using my stomach muscles which wasn't doing the job.  The midwife got me to lie on my back, which I wasn't very happy about, but this way she could put her fingers where she wanted me to push which really helped.  But after an hour of pushing I wasn't really making enough progress.  She asked me to feel her head coming and feel myself pushing her out, but I just wasn't getting it!  She decided she needed to get the doctor and maybe use forceps of vonteuse.  Thankfully all the doctors were busy so she came back as said 'right we need to get the baby out now!'.  Shane really helped to encourage me on.  By 11.09am she was out.  I ended up delivering on my back.  It turned out it was harder to push her out because she had her hand on her head and came out face first with the cord around her neck. 

It was just amazing to see our  little girl for the first time and have her on my chest.  She weighed 6lb 5oz, so quite tiny really.  We have called her Nyah Ruby Procter. 

We are all doing great, breast feeding is going well.  After a week of sore nipples she now latches on really well and is gaining weight.  She's a feeding machine and I'm just so pleased that breast feeding is so convenient and definitely worth the persiverance.

I never appreciated the feelings you get as a parent, I just look at her and can't believe she'd really here.

I wanted to say how fantastic your course was and how much it gave me confidence to have such a great birth.  The partners course was great too... Shane & I practised before the birth which really helped him.