Due date: 1st of April
Birth date: 5th of April
Weight: 7lb 5 1/2oz
Length of labour: Established labour was under 2 hours.
Baby no: 3!

How did you feel during pregnancy:

Very tired with regular nights shifts to fit around two children and school runs, and a bit sad that I wasn’t able to enjoy the pregnancy as much as previous ones due to nausea, tiredness and pelvic girdle pain. But I was also incredibly excited about having a new baby again.

What were you most looking forward to?

Seeing my children meeting and bonding with their new sibling, seeing all three of them together.

What did you do to prepare for the birth of your baby?

I did hypnobirthing/breathing and relaxation exercises. I also read lots of positive birth stories of women having their third baby (3rd ones are unpredictable), tried to chill and trust my body and my baby.

Your labour story:

After going overdue and lots of false starts, I didn’t actually believe that I was going into labour when I woke up to tightenings at 23.30. I’d had nothing at all before going to bed. Thinking it was just some more random tightenings, I decided to ignore them and went back to sleep.

When I woke up again at 1.30 I was surprised to find the tightenings were still happening and decided to see what happened. Around 2am my back was uncomfortable so I got up to sit on my ball and put my hypnobirthing tracks on.

By 3.15 I started to believe that it was actually happening, so I woke up my husband to help put my tens machine (my BFF) on, and then downloaded a contraction tracker app so I had something to distract myself with.

Once the contractions were coming fairly regularly and getting a bit more uncomfortable I decided to ring Zoe as she had over an hours drive. I’d been excitedly planning this moment in my head for weeks, and then when it finally came to it I ended up saying something lame along the lines of ‘sorry to wake you up this time of the morning!’

Once Zoe arrived and we started chatting I found the hypnobirthing tracks annoying and turned them off, but continued to do my up breathing and counting.

By 6am my midwife brain was worrying about the traffic and rush hour starting so I called the hospital and my mum who was coming to look after my older children.

After chatting to the midwife on call at 6.20, the contractions really picked up in intensity and I had to really focus on my breathing.

By the time the midwife and my mum arrived at 7am, I was wanting to get into the pool, so my husband started getting it ready. I remember worrying about what my husband was dressing the children in (no fashion sense) bearing in mind they were going to be in all the photos- (he chose well btw)

By 7.30 I was desperate to get into the pool but it was too hot so my husband and the midwife were hurriedly trying to cool it down. I was starting to feel some pressure but was trying to ignore it as the thought of having to birth on dry land suddenly filled me with dread. 10 long minutes later I finally got in-bliss!!- and just let myself relax. My children popped in and out, apparently my son was smiling the whole time!

Within a few minutes I needed to push, and then at 7.52 he was born.

I lifted him out of the water and then had to untangle him from his cord just so I could hold him properly and finally find out we had a new son!

It was definitely my calmest and most relaxed birth. I’m so happy it all worked out having my children there, and so glad Zoe was there to capture it all.

How did you feel at the first sight of your baby?

Simultaneously relieved it was over, excited he was finally here and also focused on untangling his cord and encouraging him to breathe, because I can’t turn my midwife brain off even when giving birth myself!

What three pieces of advice would you give to your pregnant self now?

Chill. It’s baby number three, he or she is going to do whatever he or she wants no matter what you want.
Don’t panic about going overdue, there is still plenty of time.
Don’t fill the pool with so much hot water that it takes ages to cool it down again!

How was the first week for you?

Hectic and stressful. Baby had a tongue tie but my usual lactation consultant and osteopath were away,so we had to find new ones and then arrange urgent appointments. My daughter came down with tonsillitis at the same time so it was everything all at once.

Despite all that it was wonderful getting to know my new little man, and so precious watching my children starting to bond with him.