When brittany met harry
The birth of Brittany’s first, Harry, was a rollercoaster. Two weeks into her third trimester she was hospitalized for bleeding, as her cervix was slightly opened with a risk of pre-term labour. She was determined to keep Harry in as long as possible, for both his health and hers, but was back in hospital four weeks later with regular contractions, soon to be diagnosed as irritable uterus contractions. They started monitoring Harry’s irregular heartbeat with a ride of “will they/wont they do an emergency c-section” at the time. Her waters ended up breaking two weeks later and just under four hours Harry was born.
Brittany tells her birth story in her own words…
When people ask whether Harry was planned, the response is "kind of" - I was already 5-6 weeks pregnant with him when my husband and I decided to start trying for a baby. He was a very happy surprise!
The first trimester was unproblematic, though it felt like it took forever to end because we had only told our immediate family the news and not announced more widely. It also felt like a struggle sometimes keeping the morning sickness under wraps - I was worried work colleagues were going to cotton on as to why I had suddenly started eating toasted cheese sandwiches for breakfast, instead of my usual Greek yoghurt with honey!
The second trimester was a dream. I had that lush pregnancy glow, my hair was amazing and I had the nicest bump (if I can be biased). I was eating well (mostly) and exercising normal and felt health and happy. I felt supremely lucky that I had it easy and had thoughts of "I was made to be pregnant".
The third trimester was a nightmare and nearly broke me. About two weeks in, I was hospitalised for bleeding and it was discovered my cervix was slightly opened with no apparent reason for it. I was given a couple shots of steroids to help develop Harry's lungs, because there was a risk of pre-term labour. I wasn't put strictly on bed rest, but was told I needed to take it easy because each day I could keep Harry in was better for both him and me.
About 4 weeks later, I started getting regular contractions. After a night of no sleep, I went back to the hospital where I was monitored over the course of the day. It was determined that I wasn't in labour however I was experiencing "irritable uterus contractions" - something which could apparently be managed with panadeine fort. This was not the case for me and over the course of the coming week, I continued to experience regular bouts of painful contractions and ended up in hospital again. The registrar wanted to send me home with a note on my record to say I had 'pelvic girdle pain' and a referral to see the physio, but luckily another doctor checked me over and discovered more cervical bleeding. I was admitted again and given stronger pain relief for the irritable uterus activity.
I was woken through the night by a team of concerned nurses and doctors - Harry's heartbeat had been dropping for periods of time too long for their comfort, and they started battering me with information about emergency c-sections in case I needed to have one. Over the course of the next 24 hours, it was a bit touch and go. Harry's heart rate was monitored continuously and there was one point where they started to wheel me back upstairs to prep for an emergency c-section. Luckily, Harry's heart rate came good again and the doctor decided to keep monitoring. They were in a hard place - they didn't want to keep him in if something bad was happening but they also didn't want to prematurely cut him out if he was just doing something as simple as rolling on his cord on a regular basis. I had another scan done while in hospital to determine how Harry was doing, and luckily he was healthy with no cord issues and plenty of fluid around him.
I went back home but continued to experience frequent irritable uterus contractions which resulted in a severe lack of sleep for me. I was physically and mentally drained. I was told there was nothing that could be done for me and I'd just need to wait it out until Harry was born.
Two weeks after the whole emergency c section - will it happen or won't it - fiasco, my waters broke at 4:20am on 15 October, the day ACT came out of lockdown. My husband was not allowed to stay with me due to restrictions and was told to go home and he'd be able to pick me up later. The midwives were confident I'd be sent home to labour because it would take a while being my first pregnancy and all. The contractions were ripping through and due to meconium being present in my waters (something I couldn't clearly see at home), I was told I needed to stay. I was given happy gas for the pain which did nothing. One midwife was checking how dilated I was, so she could give me morphine, and initially said I was 5cm dilated. Luckily, another midwife completed her own check and found me to be 8cm dilated, well past the point of morphine! Overall, things escalated pretty quickly and I gave birth kneeling upright, leaning against the bed head. 3 hours and 40 mins after my waters broke, our little Harry was earthside. I had no tears and minimal blood loss. Given how horrible the third trimester had been, it was a miracle my birth was pleasant in comparison.
I was up and about about an hour after giving birth. I showered and had breakfast, and was cleared to go home after the minimum 6 hour mark. After the amount of time I'd spent in the hospital during the third trimester, I just wanted to be at home!
The first few months at home presented their own challenges. I had trouble breastfeeding, was shamed for giving Harry formula (did you know week old babies can manipulate you into feeding them formula, according to some...) and Harry wasn't gaining weight as quickly as hoped. It turns out he had a severe tongue and lip tie, a bubble palate and was also interolerant to dairy. Just our luck! Harry was a really unhappy baby because of it all and I found it hard to bond with him and enjoy maternity leave. Why couldn't I love being at home with my baby like all the other mums? I ended up getting him into daycare and going back to work much earlier than planned because I wasn't coping. This was a good outcome for our family - I enjoyed being at work and valued my time with Harry when I was home, and Harry enjoyed the mental stimulation at daycare. Over time, the more Harry became established on solids and the more mobile he became, the happier he was.
Harry has a strong personality (apparently that's my fault) and there are times I still get really frustrated by him, but I couldn't imagine life without my little boy now. When he looks at me and gives me that cheeky grin, everything feels right.
What do you wish you knew before birth?
Just how painful the contractions actually are, and that it's not true that first labour will last hours on the end!
If you could, would you do anything differently?
Not in the given circumstances, I was a bit limited in what I could do given labour was so quick and Harry required monitoring throughout!
What did your partner do that really helped during labour/birth?
Well he walked in just as I was about to start pushing...he wasn't allowed in with me initially due to COVID restrictions and had been sent home because the midwives were adamant I would be in labour for hours because Harry was my first.
He just let me be, he didnt take offense to anything I said and he was quick to act when I needed him to - if I wanted cold washers on me, he was there. When I wanted them taken off also immediately, he got them off quick smart.
What advice/honest truth would give a mama-to-be about birth?
It's actually probably the easiest thing in comparison being a parent...LOL. But seriously, you are much stronger than you think and while it is nice to have a birth plan, sometimes the best plan is knowing the options available in different scenarios, and being flexible and going with the flow.