Dixie's WaterBirth at Home

After a very straight forward pregnancy I approached my due date with a mix of excitement and trepidation but above all I felt very well prepared and supported by my midwifes and in the best possible state to have a positive birth experience.
It was July 06 and had been a particularly hot month and as my due date came and went I became more and more keen to get going. My daughter had different ideas and after an extra 10 days I finally resigned myself to being one of those people who goes well and truly overdue. With this thought I tucked into a roast chicken and the best part of a bottle of red wine and waddled to bed. Twenty minutes later as I am about to drift off I get my first contraction. It was about 10.30pm. I did as advised and tried to ignore it and get some sleep but just a few minutes later I get another one and within a further twenty minutes a pattern was established. Quickly, the contractions become uncomfortable enough for me to leap out of bed each time and I feel sure that this is the real thing.

Before long they were 5 minutes apart and coming very regularly so I called Melody to tell her things seem to have started. She told me to call back when I wanted her to come over so I rang off. By 11.30 I wanted her to come over but am thinking that I should probably try and manage a little longer on my own. But I couldn't. So I called her back and told her so. Melody arrived by midnight, examined me and told me I was 5 cms dilated. This was a great relief because it means that at least this really was it and that the contractions were real and productive. My husband had dutifully been filling the pool all this time and I eagerly got in as soon as it was ready. With the exception of one trip to the loo I didn't get out again until my daughter was born.

The contractions got more intense and I insisted on regular unnecessary examinations so that I knew how far I had dilated, just when I thought I couldn't take anymore and started muttering the words 'hospital and epidurals' I got the good news that I was 9cm dilated and I knew I would have my baby at home, as we had both wanted so much. My husband got in the pool at this point and gave me the last bit of support and motivation I needed to get to the end. A short while longer and I felt a strong urge to start pushing and with the guidance of the midwife, my daughter was born about forty minutes later, keeping everything intact! It was an incredible moment, it was just after 7.00am the sun was rising and it was just getting light in our flat. After the placenta was born I clambered out of the pool, and straight into my bed. My husband spent a precious few hours with our new baby while I slept and it all began from there.

I feel so lucky to have had the experience I did and I know that it was this positive beginning that meant we were all able to start our new lives together in the best possible state of mind, with an incredible sense of personal achievement and the most relaxed start to life possible for our daughter, Dixie.