We decided on a home birth quite late - although I'd been keen from early on my partner Dan didn't think it was the best option for us until we went through the options in detail in our hypnobirthing class. So it was around week 30 of my pregnancy that I asked to be transferred to the home birth team. From the first phone call with Harriet I felt confident we'd made the right choice and it made such a difference to have my appointments at home and for Dan to be involved in them. Harriet was so lovely and very thorough, we looked forward to her coming each time.

At 40 weeks + 2 days we went for a long walk after lunch. I had tried to stay active throughout my pregnancy but after walking for a couple of hours I was exhausted! When we got back I noticed what I thought was a bit of my mucus plug and I felt a bit weird and said to Dan that I thought the baby was on the way. I was still completely comfortable though and so had a nap on the sofa. I then started to experience a sort of mild period pain which was the beginning of my surges. 

We ate dinner around 8pm and my surges started to intensify a little bit and I had to keep going and leaning over my birth ball. After dinner I went and rested (kneeled) on the edge of the bed in the dark and listened to a couple of relaxation mp3s that I'd used a lot during late pregnancy. Dan used an app to track my surges which gradually intensified but were not that consistent in hitting the 3 in 10 mins for at least 45 seconds goal! Dan held off calling the midwife for quite a while, basically until I was begging him to do it. Dan spoke to Abby around midnight who said we should wait another hour or so and suggested that I have a shower to help me to get more comfortable. I got into the shower which felt good but after a short time I found it really difficult to stand and so ended up kneeling at the edge of the bath. It was at this point I felt a change in my surges and it felt like my body was starting to push and I became really scared. Dan called Abby again who then set off, whilst he was on the phone my waters broke which felt very intense. 

Abby arrived around 2am and came and crouched with me in the edge of the bath. I immediately felt reassured and safe having her there. Philippa arrived a little while afterwards. After a little while Abby asked to do a VE, we moved to the bed to do this and Abby said I was fully dilated. I stayed on the bed on my side for a little while and actually dropped off between some of my surges. At this point I felt like I didn't have any energy left. I was also desperate to get in the pool but it was taking ages to fill (we have very low water pressure and the pool was on the third floor!) . Eventually the pool was ready but I had to go upstairs to get to it, this felt like a mammoth task but I managed with Abby’s and Philippa’s help! 

I got into the pool around 5am and it was such a relief as i was able to get onto all fours without hurting my knees. As soon as I got in, the pushing intensified. I have a vague memory of hearing the shipping forecast and Abby and Philippa saying that the baby was nearly there. Dan was at the edge of the pool holding onto me during each surge and reassuring me. Philippa said that if i reached down during the next surge i would feel babys head, i did this a few times and each time felt more. Finally Abby asked me to adjust my position to a lunge and then to stand for the final push and baby came out into Abby’s arms and into the water where she passed baby to me. We sat there in absolute awe and relief just holding and staring at baby for quite a while until we even thought to see if it was a girl or boy. Then we had a look and it was a girl. Our little baby girl, Orla!!! 

The rest passed in a bit of a blur, i lost quite a lot of blood (700ml) and had a second degree tear but it all felt fine now that little Orla was with us. We moved to the sofa where I had a managed 3rd stage and then in between skin to skin with Orla, Abby gave me stitches whilst I enjoyed some gas and air. It turned out Orla was big at 4.1kg/9lb 1oz and had come out with her hand on her face! 

We stayed cuddled up on the sofa for hours, all day actually. We felt so lucky to not have to move from our home, it has made the first few weeks feel very calm and natural and my recovery has been really fast because of it. I'm in absolute awe of the midwives and how calm they made me feel and how they seemed to know exactly what was happening just by the noises and movements I made.

Thank you so much Abby, Philippa, Harriet and to Anna (Hackney Hynobirthing) for preparing us so well! Xxx