Louise and Ross’s story

“I’ve spent my whole life petrified of labour.  I never thought I could do it”.
 
Louise breathes and visualises her way through a contraction during her labour.





"Hi Mia,
 
We came to your Sunday morning classes in Nov/Dec.  We just wanted to let you know that we had our little boy at St Marys as planned. 
 
I started having surges on the Tuesday afternoon and by Wednesday night they were quite regular so we decided to head into Melton...when we got there we were told that we were not yet in established labour so we decided to go home.  By Thursday night I was making good use of my breathing techniques and the TENS machine and at about 3:30 Friday am we decided to head in again.  When we got there at 4:25am I was 4cm dilated so they filled the pool and I got in at about 5:15...BLISS!!!  It just felt so right to be in the water and it really helped me to focus.  The rest of the birthing was very peaceful and we listened to the CD throughout...the midwives kept saying they were going to fall asleep!!  When our little mans head was born he had a good look around under the water before I delivered his body at 10:51am.  It was absolutely magical!!
 
I used the techniques we had learned throughout but did end up pushing, rather than breathing, him down.  He was in a bit of a funny position and the midwives said that as his head was born he almost did a complete turn whilst still inside which apparently gave them all a talking point over the weekend lol!!
 
Unfortunately, about an hour after I had delivered I started bleeding a lot and we ended up being taken to the general which was pretty upsetting (more so for Ross in many ways as he was handed this little bundle and told to follow the ambulance with it's sirens going and me in the back!)
 
When we got to the general I had to have a lot of pushing and poking and needles and I got extremely emotional...particularly when they informed me that on top of the bleeding I had a tear and would need an epidural in surgery to fix it!  I was so disappointed at the time and it was so sad to be separated from my little man after such a beautiful birth experience...It turned out to be a really emotional day for all of us.
 
Anyway...I stayed in the general overnight and then transferred back to Melton on Saturday afternoon and we stayed there till Wednesday 28th to get breastfeeding established.  
 
BUT we're all home now and settling in...it's definitely WAY more overwhelming than we could ever have imagined but he's absolutely perfect and we wouldn't change a thing!
 
We've named our gorgeous little boy Finlay Alexander and he weighed 7lb 8oz.
 
Thank you so much for everything you did...you helped us to have the most beautiful, amazing birth experience and it's genuinely something we'll both treasure for as long as we live!!"

Ross also said a few words on the phone after becoming a dad!
“Thank-you for giving me something to do.  From a man’s perspective, I can totally see why men I’ve spoken to feel so useless at the birth.  I was focussing on Lou, I had no concept of time, I was a part of it, rather than a spectator”.

 Baby Finlay’s early moments “the most beautiful, amazing birth experience”