My entire pregnancy went smoothly. I hardly suffered any morning sickness and just the standard heartburn and back pain many mothers go through. We did have more scans then most just to keep track of growth as Bub was on the larger size and being only five foot, I became all baby.

I knew the entire time I wanted to go natural. Only use water and breathing for relief. I remember saying at a midwife appointment I didn’t even want gas in the room. As my due date was getting closer and closer it became clear my baby wasn’t coming anytime soon despite me trying every single wives tale to induce labour you could think of. I really didn’t want to get induced as I heard so many stories of how they fail and how much more painful the labour is.

However, as my due date came and went it looked like an induction was the way my birth was heading. I went in for my post due date checkup at 40 and 4 (Wednesday) and the doctor on that day told me Bubs heart rate was sounding perfect and moving well. He was really happy with everything, and I was still considered low risk to a point where I might not be induced until the following week at 42 weeks.

I went home defeated, all I wanted to do was have my baby at this point and I went to sleep that night thinking something doesn’t feel right with my baby anymore. He was still moving fine but something in my gut told me I needed to go back in for another checkup. I called up the next day and booked in for a stretch and sweep Friday in hope that it might induce labour.

The doctor on duty Friday checked everything, performed the stretch and sweep, and told us to rest at home. As we were leaving, she came running after us and asked me to come have a bedside ultrasound to double check that everything with Bub is okay.

My gut feeling from the night before was right. What the ultrasound showed was that I only had 1cm of fluid left, my baby was crimping and raising his chord and my placenta was starting to deteriorate.

If we hadn’t had a bedside ultrasound and waited another week, we might not have had a beautiful boy with us today. She then told us we are performing an emergency induction the following day, Saturday.  

Too excited to sleep Friday night, we packed our bags and got everything ready thinking we would be meeting our little man the following day. I even straightened my hair. Saturday morning, we checked into the hospital at 7am and I went straight in to start the induction. At this point I was only 2cm dilated so the best option was to insert the balloon. This was to not only dilated me but also so that we might be able to go into labour without using the oxytocin drip. We were told to go home for a bit and labour there while the midwives prepared our labour suite for us.

I started getting mild contractions almost immediately and within four hours of having the balloon I was in labour. We came back into the hospital when my contractions reached 3 in ten. Still able to somewhat talk, the midwives checked my progress and to everyone’s surprise the balloon induction didn’t work and I was still 2cms.

They then started checking Bub and found his heart rate was reaching 185 and higher with every contraction. Understaffed, the midwives and doctor on call made the decision to stop the labour. Let Bub and myself calm down and rest and try the drip induction the next day, Sunday. I still had mild contractions during the night and got almost no sleep between the pain and the nerves I was now feeling.

Sunday morning, our midwives came and got us, and had our room beautifully prepped with a water bath, lights and music, trying to make it look and feel as much as my original plan as possible despite being hooked up to monitors constantly. We started the drip at just after 7am and my contractions quickly picked up to four in ten. I practiced Hypnobirthing techniques and used the edge of the bed and labour ball to get through. By 12 pm I had been in active labour for five hours and they checked me again. I had only got to 3 cms dilated.

It was so devastating. I had been trying since Saturday morning to progress my labour and I couldn’t do it. I felt like a failure, and I was getting more and more exhausted. With my birth team we chose the best plan was to increase the amount of oxytocin in the drip and push through the pain. It was excruciating. I was laying on the floor throwing up and screaming. I wouldn’t be surprised if the entire Queanbeyan hospital heard me. My partner was incredible and was massaging my pressure points and holding my spew bag while I screamed and tried to breathe through every contraction which by this stage were coming five in ten and lasting what felt like forever.

Suddenly all the monitors alarms went off and bubs heart rate went down to 60 beats. We tried different positions to make him happier, but nothing was working. At 6pm the doctor decided to turn down the drip to give us a quick break and check me again. I was only 3cm. I progressed only 1 extra cm in the six hours I had last been checked. I broke down. I couldn’t physically take it anymore. I could hardly keep my eyes open or see what was happening and bubs heart rate was staying still at 60-70. That’s when she called it and said a C section was the safest option left. I felt like a failure. Like I wasn’t a real mum, but I knew if I wanted to have my baby alive and with us this was the safest way. My midwifes gave me a prep talk about receiving a epidural and having a C Section and talked me through what will happen while I was being rushed to theatre. They were alongside my partner the most incredible support.

In theatre it felt like a completely different experience to what I had imagined. It was so calm, my music was playing, and the nurses were taking photos for us. The anaesthesiologist was stepping me through the entire process and telling me exactly what was happening and what stage the doctor was up to. It was a Sunday night but within 20 minutes of leaving my birth suite I had my baby in my arms. Kayce James Inwood was born at 6:45pm Sunday the 6th of August 2023.

My partner was able to cut his chord still and helped wrap him up to bring over to me. We stayed there for another 30 minutes or more while I was being stitched up. Once the epidural started wearing off, I had the side effects of shaking, throwing up and blood pressure dropping to 82. We stayed down in recovery until 11pm but finally made our way up to our room carrying our beautiful baby boy. After doing some skin to skin and trying breastfeeding for the first time we swaddle him up and ate pizza talking the entire night about the incredible, crazy, insane experience we just went through.

What do you wish you knew before birth?

I wish I knew that your birth plan could fail but that doesn’t mean you failed.

If you could, would you do anything differently?

I would tell myself it is okay to change plans. I also be more educated in different forms of birth and what might happen in case of an emergency so that I felt more prepared

What did your partner do that really helped during labour/birth?

Constant support and encouragement. Pressure point massages. Standing up for what I wanted and helping me make discissions when things got serious.

What advice/honest truth would give a mama-to-be about birth?

Labour is the most pain you will ever be in, but you can do it. You are far stronger than you will ever know. Be prepared that your dream birth and plans might change and that is okay.