Where to begin? Being pregnant for the second time. I assumed that much would be the same as Morgan's pregnancy and labour. How wrong I was! During this pregnancy I developed both SPD and sacroilliac joint disfunction - both relate to my back and pelvis joints and both made my pregnancy, towards the end, very painful and uncomfortable. I was so glad I chose to leave work early this time as I really did need to do a lot of resting - especially with Martin working away quite a bit in September and October. I definitely found the pregnancy harder this time round - Morgan became very clingy and I was unable to give him the attention and time he wanted as my energy levels were low and my joint problems made it hard for me to carry him anywhere. Poor Morgan. On with Ruaridh's story..

Pre-Labour Niggles - Friday Night

Had the sudden urge to clean the house - much to Martin's and Caroline's (Martin's sister) amusement. They stayed in the lounge singing carols around the piano with Morgan and Finn (Caroline's son, 15mths old) while I raced round cleaning downstairs, including under the sofas - what a bizarre scene. Soon ran out of energy so collapsed on the sofa. Not a lot else happened.

Saturday

Every time I went to the loo had a definite feeling that things were changing - felt a great deal more pressure than had noticed before. By evening I was beginning to feel restless and had really achy thighs so had a bath with clary sage burning in the background. Did a bit of stuff online and noticed there were a couple of other women in labour from the homebirth group so added my news to the list suggesting that I was in early labour too. Was late to go to bed and Morgan was even later - poor Martin couldn't get him down until gone midnight.

I got up again at 2.30 a.m. as was starting to get cramps. I wasn't sure if things were happening so began timing them. Although they were not very painful they are coming reguarly every 6 to 7 minutes. I used a heated lavender bag to ease the contractions, as I was still feeling crampy rather than in pain. I tried going back to bed, but was too restless. Lying down definitely made them worse so had another bath, again with clary sage. Morgan woke up and joined me in the bathroom for a bit. I got out of the bath and cuddled up with Morgan in bed until he went back to sleep. Martin was also up by now and downstairs checking stuff. Once Morgan was settled I got back into the bath again.

Early Labour

By 5.00 a.m. I was downstairs leaning over the birth ball and timing the contractions again. They were now coming every 5 minutes and starting to have to concentrate on them by rocking on the ball. If Martin was in the room I got him to apply pressure to my lower back. Martin decided that we needed to start filling the pool as things appeared to be progressing quickly and encouraged me to call the midwife. I was a bit reluctant, as I felt I was not yet in active labour and could manage fine.

At 5.30 a.m. I finally gave in and called for the on-call Midwife - Babs, one of the local midwives, who called back to say she would be coming out to check me over.

More Active Labour

Babs arrived and checked me over, including a VE, and I was 4cm dilated already. This was great news and rather surprising. She talked about going away and coming back when I was in more established labour - but never got the chance as I was rapidly progressing and my groaning was definitely becoming deeper! I started to feel nauseous so a bucket appeared and Martin got me some cereal as I felt I was hungry - one spoon was enough though! Fortunately I wasn't sick although came close a couple of times. Martin continued filling the pool and I was relieved to get in about 7am.

Babs decided to stay for the duration and made some calls to get a second midwife to come out and to cover her calls for the day. Liz, my local midwife, was fortunately on call and was delighted to be able to attend Ruaridh's birth.

Being in the pool definitely helped and I groaned through each contraction, kneeling against the side - a position I used all the way through labour and finally delivered in too. Things seemed to be progressing really well and fast. I was starting to get some pushing urges which I managed to breathe through - although have to admit was being very loud at this point. Martin got in around this time - before 9am. Having him in the pool made him feel useful and meant he was available for me to inflict pain on as needed!

The Boys Arrive

Finn and Caroline were up from about 8am. Martin had gone to get Caroline up so she wouldn't miss anything as we thought it was very close. Morgan stayed in bed until gone 9am - very unlike him! Caroline brought them in to see me. First thing Morgan did was throw the rubber ducks to the other side of the pool. Both boys were brilliant and at one point I could hear them mimicking the singing noises I was making - very funny. Caroline amused them in the family room and just brought them in occasionally to see us. Morgan seemed to accept the noises I was making and took it all in his stride. What a star.

Labour Slowing Down

Liz arrived mid-contraction and as soon as it was over was able to chat freely with her. I found this really bizarre - able to have completely normal conversation between contractions - I wasn't like this in Morgan's labour! I started having contractions that were more pushy and I was encouraged to go with the feeling rather than to fight the urge like I had been doing. I noticed that my very low singing note I was using during the contractions got higher if I was fighting the pushes so by bringing the notes low again I was able to control, to some extent, how much pushing I was doing. During some of these contractions I remember giggling in the middle as I felt the noises I was making were so silly!

Around this time - now maybe 9am - things started to slow down. I was completely exhausted and starting to nap between contractions. My contractions had got further apart but more painful when they did arrive. My waters were still intact at this point and Babs had a suspicion that they could be slowing things down. I was encouraged to get out of the pool to go to the loo and did - although threw myself across the sofa on the way to the loo as couldn't bear to stand up for a contraction. Managed to pee a little and had a contraction while there. Babs did a VE to see how I was doing and I felt completely deflated to find I was only 7cm. And boy that VE hurt - but my own fault as I completely tensed up. Poor Babs - I screamed throughout the whole VE - I just couldn't relax at all.

Babs got me to eat a spoonful of sugar to give me some more energy and also had some fruit juice to sip. I stayed out of the pool for a while, having contractions draped over the birth ball. Eventually I couldn't take any more and literally jumped back into the pool as I so needed the water on my body.

Second Stage

Once back in the pool things finally got moving again and I started to feel like the end was in sight. I basically told myself that this baby was coming out and fairly soon. This is where I start to lose track of time and I have no idea how long I was in second stage or when I went through transition.

Things were definitely happening now and the contractions were much stronger and closer together. I continued to kneel in the pool, against the side, with Martin behind me. The midwives were keen to keep monitoring the baby's heartbeat and fortunately had an underwater sonicaid. To make things easier I was taking the heartbeat between contractions - all was going well.

I was keen to minimise the risk of tearing and Babs helped me breathe out the baby when I finally came to pushing. This seemed to take ages and I'm sure I was pushing between contractions as I was getting impatient and wanted it all over with. Liz guided Martin, telling him not to touch him until he was completely out. Finally my little boy arrived and I stepped over the cord so I could cuddle him.

My not so little boy - Ruaridh Colm Burns - arrived on Sunday 21st December 2003 at 11.50am. What a cutie he is

Cuddling and Third Stage

I had problems with my third stage last time - it took two hours for my placenta to be delivered. With hindsight possibly a combination of a full bladder and not having ds to my breast straight away. This time as I am sure you will understand I was a bit nervous about what would happen and the MWs were well aware of this.

As soon as Ruaridh arrived and I had stepped over his cord I held him to my breast. Unlike his big brother he was eager to feed straight away (and has in fact been like this ever since!) and was having a good nustle. We were still in the pool at this point and the MW asked Martin to let her know when the cord stopped pulsating so we could cut it (no hurry though) - I thought that was pretty cool as I didn't realise you could feel the cord pulsing - I must have missed that last time round! Anyway after lots of cuddles and photos in the pool we decided I should get out onto dry land. Caroline clamped and cut the cord and I was helped out of the pool, rubbed down with a towel - thanks Babs - and sat on the sofa to resume the cuddling and photo taking. Not much seemed to be happening on the placenta front so Babs consulted a list I had prepared for this and found the relevant homeopathic remedy. It seemed to work as soon after I got another contraction and started to work on the placenta. It still took another 10 minutes or so to arrive and I was all shivery while this was going on - it looks like I am just a slow placenta deliverer! Anyway once it had arrived (about 35 minutes after Ruaridh) I was able to get cleaned up and put some clothes on and get a little warmer and get back to yet more cuddling. I remember taking some Arnica and paracetamol to help with all the bruising and after-pains.

Looking Back

Things I did right this time:

• Peeing frequently
• Listening and trusting completely in both Babs and Liz
• Taking homeopathic remedies throughout the labour and continuing to do so afterwards - has definitely made life easier. I would recommend as a minimum taking Arnica 200 postnatally - I swear it has made me heal a whole lot quicker than last time when I had a very similar delivery.
• Aromatherapy - early on in labour I used clary sage in a burner while I had a bath. In the first stage of labour I also used rose oil to smell on a flannel which I found uplifting and clearing. (I sound like an old hippy don't I?)
• It goes without saying that having a homebirth is so important to maintaining the things that are important to you.