Francisca’s Rapid Arrival!
It was very important to me to have a home birth for the arrival of our second baby following the experience with our first, Daniella. I’d planned to have Danni at home but at the last minute we were told she was too small and we were sent to Poole hospital. Although I eventually had a normal birth and Danniella was healthy, the experience was hugely stressful and extremely painful. I started looking into independent midwives not long after Danniella was born because I wanted to do all I could to ensure we had a better experience the next time round. When we met Caroline I was sure that I wanted her to be my midwife and knew that things would be totally different with her care. Early on in my pregnancy with Francisca, Caroline went through the notes from Danni’s birth with me which was very therapeutic.
My pregnancy with Francisca was enjoyable and straightforward but I was pretty anxious in the first trimester as I’d had a missed miscarriage a few months before. It was very comforting to be able to talk through my worries with Caroline and I always looked forward to our unhurried appointments. As the pregnancy progressed both she and Chrissie (who was due to be our second midwife) gave me great confidence for the birth.
On 24th October, a few days before the due date I had a show in the late afternoon. I let Caroline know and also called my mum who I wanted to be at the birth. I didn’t expect anything to happen too quickly because with Daniella the show had been several days before my labour got going. However I felt ready for the baby to arrive (I’d even managed to have an antenatal massage that morning!) so after dinner I ate a whole pineapple and persuaded my husband, Julian, that it would be a good idea to go for a walk down to Boscombe beach as I thought it might get things started.
We drove to the overcliff and set off for one of the zig zag paths. It was a stormy night, and the sea was very rough which made for a memorable walk! I felt full of energy and sure enough as we walked through the pouring rain I started having Braxton Hicks. In retrospect they were coming pretty frequently and were in fact contractions! I assumed they’d stop when we got into to the car, but I had a couple more on the short drive home.
When we got back I warned our lodger, Adrian, that the baby might be on its way in case he wanted to escape to his mum’s! My mother in law, Esperanza who was visiting from Colombia, was bathing three year old Daniella. Danni was in high spirits, singing at the top of her voice in the bath tub! We’d planned for Esperanza to take Danni down the road to a friend’s house when things started to get tough but that seemed to be some way off so Julian put her to bed upstairs. Once she was asleep we thought we might as well get things ready in the study where I planned to give birth. We kept Caroline posted and she said she would come as soon as we wanted her but I thought it would be premature to call her out as things had been a lot tougher for a lot longer with Danni’s birth before I was even slightly dilated!
At about 10:30 the contractions got stronger and Julian gave Caroline a ring. He started filling the birth pool and helped me put the TENS machine on, which I found really took the edge off the pain. I was leaning on a birth ball on the bed between contractions and started pacing round our the room when a contraction came on – by this time they were coming thick and fast. Just before 11pm my parents called to say that they’d booked a hotel and were on their way. They were coming from Kent - a two and a half hour drive and I started to wonder if they’d make it in time.
Suddenly my waters broke and I could feel the baby’s head coming down! I started doing a funny high knee walk and groaning. Soon after 11pm my mother in law carried Danni downstairs between two of my contractions and made it to the front door just as Caroline arrived (with hindsight they could have stayed at home as Daniella would have slept through it). Julian helped Esperanza out and Caroline in as I started to shout ‘the baby’s coming!’
Caroline and Julian rushed upstairs to the bedroom where I was standing by the bed. Caroline bent down to see how things were going… and out slithered our baby, pink and warm and crying – no doubt rather baffled by her rapid arrival into the world! I was delighted to discover we’d had another little girl. She had Julian’s Colombian colouring and was very reminiscent of Daniella as a newborn, only bigger. Julian cut the cord and Caroline helped me and the baby into bed. I was thrilled to have had such an easy and natural birth - I would even say it was fun! Twenty minutes later Julian bumped into Adrian who said he was off to his mum’s - Julian told him not to bother as Franny had already arrived safely!
After a little while the placenta came out of its own accord and Caroline explained the different parts to me. Some time later my parents arrived, surprised and delighted to find that Francisca had beaten them to it and we opened a celebratory bottle of bubbly. It was lovely to be surrounded by family and so different to the experience at Poole where Julian and my mum had been sent home soon after Daniella was born. As there had been no time to use the birth pool during labour Caroline suggested Franny and I took a dip which we both enjoyed.
I’d been so focused on the birth that I hadn’t given much thought to what would come afterwards. I certainly didn’t foresee any feeding problems as breastfeeding was very straightforward with Danni. As it turned out Francisca had a stiff jaw from the rapid birth and a tongue tie, both of which made feeding difficult and very painful for me. Caroline’s support was crucial during this time. I also found it almost impossible to sleep during the first week as I seemed to be on a high from the birth and couldn’t switch off. Caroline’s genuine concern, sympathy and proactive approach made a huge difference and these issues were quickly resolved.
Franny is now a five week old, chubby baby and it’s lovely to see how proud Daniella is of her little sister. Our family is complete which is a great feeling, although the pregnancy and birth were such positive experiences I’m a little sad that it’s all over and almost wish I could do it again!
December 2011