My due date was the Monday 12th of August and, as expected, baby didn't make an appearance. I kept busy the whole day out at shops in town and continuing to tidy our house. My boyfriend and i live with my grandma whilst we wait to have a house sorted out, so my grandma and I generally spend the day together while SO is at work. I figured that as I had been feeling so super great for the first time in the entire pregnancy it meant baby had finally got comfortable and wouldn't leave until threatened with an induction. So I carried on with my day, and the same on Tuesday 13th.. the looks on peoples faces when they ask ''So when is baby due?'' and you reply with ''Yesterday'' is completely priceless, especially when I was out and about and walking around town as if there may be weeks left.

Tuesday 13th we had to go to the doctors to get a certificate of death, then the registry office to get my great grandmas death certificates processed- she passed away the previous Friday so we unfortunately just missed the 5-generation photo opportunity which would have been wonderful. So it was another busy day. I had been having what I kept calling ''sensations'' which I was describing as ''minor period pain but without the pain'' as it was uncomfortable and more so than braxton hicks, but not painful. When I was having them I figured it'd be a good time to practice my breathing so I’d be prepared for the real deal. Anyway, I carried on busily about my day and ended up re-arranging furniture in the living room and shampooing the carpets. My grandmas friend was over for dinner, and my boyfriend got home from work so I cooked for all of us and we relaxed for the evening. At about 11 o'clock I was pretty awake still but figured it was best to go to bed. My wonderful SO offered a massage which he quite often does before bed and it'd only be rude to refuse!

I was laying on my side facing away from him whilst he rubbed my back when I felt a kind of click. I figured it was my back clicking where he was putting pressure on it, then after about 3 minutes I realised I felt a little 'damp' down there.. I rolled back a little and then I realised my underwear were actually pretty wet. I said for my boyfriend to hold on a second and as I moved again I felt another little warm wetness make its way out. My boyfriend asked what was wrong and I just said ''uh oh''. I explained what I felt then stood up, felt it dribble down my legs and went to the bathroom to sit on the toilet and see what would happen. I had only just gone to the toilet so I knew it wasn't pee but was just so shocked at the possibility that it could he my waters. I made my way back to the bedroom to get a pad and SO was sat up in bed staring at me and asked whether it was my waters. I believe I replied with ''I'm pretty sure I didn't pee but I’m leaking down my legs.'' I went back to the bathroom and put on just a normal sized pad and went back into the bedroom.. that was a mistake! it soaked through the pad, my underwear and my pj's within 2 minutes. Please note: when your waters break find the biggest pad you possibly can, with wings and wear some ugly granny panties because they will only get soaked.

After changing my pad about 4 times it seemed to have slowed down enough to not soak through immediately so I went and lay down in bed. By this point it was around midnight so I was exhausted after my eventful day and just wanted to sleep but SO was nervous and looking up what to do online. He told me I have to call the hospital and let them know what had happened. I already knew it was my waters and figured I could sleep until contractions started or at least waited until the morning before I called the birthing center, but SO insisted. So I called up and explained the situation- they asked for the time it happened, whether there was any pain, whether I had soaked through a pad and what colour it was. She then told me to come in to be checked over. I started to feel a bit of excitement amongst the sleepiness. We woke up my grandma- who was going to drive us when we needed to go. I had already got my hospital bag together and everything I needed for baby in another bag so we loaded those into the car and I quickly informed the lovely bumpers of reddit on the situation.

During the car journey to the hospital I started to get contractions. They weren't painful at this point and I could still talk through them, I was just uncomfortable sitting in the car. Once we got to the hospital we parked up and went into the birthing center. The midwife took us into a small room and did the standard blood pressure/temp business and asked me to give her the pad I was wearing so she could check it was definitely my waters. I did a couple of different swabs and it was confirmed that this was the real deal! The midwife told us to go home, eat some food, get some sleep, take some paracetamol if needed and to wait until contractions were 3 minutes apart lasting one minute for one hour before coming back in unless I really felt I needed stronger pain relief. While she was telling me this, my contractions were already probably 10 minutes apart and I was starting to have to pause for them. As we left the hospital my grandma said ''You wont last long'' The car journey was uncomfortable again, contractions were starting to actually be painful and I was tired as hell.

I have no idea what time it was from here onwards, I believe it was around 2AM when we got back home. I made two pieces of toast whilst prancing around the kitchen in pain, and ate them as quickly as I could between contractions. I took two paracetamol, changed my pad and went to bed. I couldn't sleep. contractions were 9ish minutes apart and I was hugely uncomfortable while laying down. I felt really bad because I knew my boyfriend would need some sleep to survive through the day and I was just disturbing him. With each contraction I kicked my legs and wiggled around and at the peak of it I had to jump up out of bed and moan really loudly. after maybe one and a half hours or trying to sleep I couldn't take it anymore so I went into the bathroom. I found that leaning over the sink with my legs slightly apart, and rocking from side to side with my head down and moaning was most comfortable. this went on for a little while, though I have no idea how long. I went between laying in bed for one contraction to in our bathroom for three or four contractions, to standing at the end of our bed against the chest of draws for a couple then back trying to lay in bed again. I found laying down by far the most uncomfortable position to be in but I was so tired and in need of sleep I just wanted to be able to put my head down for a couple of minutes. my boyfriend gave up on trying to sleep and I asked him to time them. until this point I had no idea how close together they were as I was trying to not look at clocks as I knew it would frustrate me. we timed around 8 contractions and they were averaging 4 minutes apart and lasting over a minute, and only seemed to be getting closer together even within that time.

I asked my boyfriend to call the birthing center to see what they suggested and after talking to them on the phone myself and moaning down the phone the best suggestion I had was to take a bath. I'll spare you the details because the bath sucked! I was tired and wanted to lay down but I’m too tall to be able to do so in the bath and my belly was nowhere near under the water so it was freezing, and I climbed on out after half an hour of being frustrated. I got dressed and went downstairs after waking my grandma saying I didn't know what to do to help. with each contraction I breathed like a madwoman- I took huge breaths in, and rather loudly said ahhh as I exhaled. I didn't hold my breath as it just hurt even more. that whole breath in for four, hold for four and breath out for four is bullshite! Once downstairs, I knelt on the sofa facing backwards with my head over the back of it and wiggled my ass from side to side through each contraction. My grandma came downstairs and rubbed my lower back while timing them- they were two minutes apart lasting almost a minute and a half so she called the birthing center again who told us to come in.

my uncle came and collected us all, so my grandma, my SO and I drove pretty rapidly to the hospital. I have never been so uncomfortable! I felt horrible sitting down, it put so much pressure on my lower back it felt like I was about to explode so I leant back against the car seat lifted my ass up and trying to breath through it all. my grandma cursed at lane-hoggers on the motorway exclaiming ''woman in labour, get out the way!'' as if they would hear. when we were towards the hospital we heard some ambulance sirens and pulled over to let them pass. I was really upset by this and called them ''Inconsiderate when there is someone trying to have a baby'' we arrived at the hospital only to be told there were no rooms available in the birthing center and to go to labour and delivery. I was pissed, but just followed the nurse to a room in labour and delivery only to be told there was a room after all and so we marched back on downstairs.

I believe when we got into the birthing center room it was around 6am, though I have no idea. I was introduced to my midwife, who was a very kind and patient, well humored male midwife. he was wonderful. I stood at the side of the queen-sized bed while pretty much shouting through contractions, and he buzzed about doing the blood pressure checks and temperature again. everything was normal and he asked if I was interested in getting into the birthing pool, which I agreed to so he started running it. I felt quite reluctant to get in as I felt that I wasn't going to find anything more comfortable than leaning over the bed. a contraction hit and due to being so tired, my knees almost buckled and I felt like falling to the floor. I figured that I could either lay in bed- which would be horrible, or i could get in the tub and hope that took some weight off my tired tootsies. I walked over to the pool and took my top off, then my bottoms, then reluctantly my underwear with my giant pad still stuck on them and climbed up the two steps and sunk in. the pool was designed so two people could fit in, and there were handles around the edge and different levels of water. I started by sitting on the seat which meant the water didn't quite cover my belly button, and it felt the same as sitting in the car, it was super uncomfortable. so I got in and knelt up in the deeper water. SO sat on a seat outside the pool and held my hands, and I rested my head on the edge of the tub. I was so unbelievably tired, and the warmth of the water made me feel even more sleepy. I think I must have actually caught some sleep during the contractions. [After baby was born, I asked my SO how far apart contractions actually were at that point. he says they must have been every two minutes or so still, though at the time i felt like they were ten minutes apart.]

Some while after being in there, I don't think I had said anything. I found silence most comfortable. answering questions was not my friend. SO occasionally told me how well I was doing. he gave me a glass of ice water between contractions which I happily accepted. I began to feel hot, so he got a flannel and soaked in in ice water and put it on my back. it felt like haven. the midwife didn't speak to me much. he sat at the table on the other side of the room with my grandma doing some paperwork. he came over occasionally and used a Doppler to make sure baby was okay, and stuck a mirror which looked like a spatula under the water to check on things. I stayed still and carried on with my noisiness through contractions. things were pretty intense, and SO kept reassuring me I was doing well. he asked if I wanted gas and air and I said yes. it was quickly hooked up from the wall and the midwife explained to me how it would be most effective. I heard that it was supposed to make you feel a bit drunk and not stop the pain but to help you concentrate less on it. I just felt pretty certain that it wasn't working for me at all.

i got to the stage which I now assume to have been the transition period. it was really intense. I asked if there was any other pain relief I could take and the midwife said there was pethidine, but I would have to get out of the tub for a cervical check. I knew that if I had a cervical check I could potentially be disappointed if I wasn't as far along as I’d hoped, or if I were too far along then I wouldn't have the pethidine anyway as I didn't want it to make my baby dopey when she or he was born. I asked if he could just stick it into the gas and air tube for me, but apparently that isn't possible. stupid inconvenient drugs! :( I carried on with what I was doing. I moved from kneeling into a squatting position and I wiggled my ass from side to side continuously.

i asked my midwife how I would know when to push. he said that it would feel like I needed to take the biggest poop of my life. well, I have to say, I never had that sensation. but I certainly did take the biggest poop of my life. He came along with his little fishing net and scooped out my poop from the water. I have no shame. I pooped a lot. pregnancy gave me the gift of constipation and I hadn't pooped in about 3 days. birth gave me pretty good relief!

 

A contraction hit and I figured it'd probably feel pretty good if I did push, so i gave it a go. it didn't stop the pain or subside it, but it felt productive. I rested on the next contraction and didn't push. SO told me to carry on breathing through it, and told me I was doing really well. being a woman trying to squeeze a watermelon through a keyhole my reply was 'YOU BLOODY BREATH THROUGH IT!' i carried on pushing with each of the contractions. I was so tired but I could feel baby’s head lowering each time. It got to the point which I figured was 'the ring of fire' and the midwife encouraged me to push through it. turns out that wasn't the ring of fire, it just really fucking hurt.

I pushed about three times during each contraction. I didn't always use the gas and air because it was easier to put my head down and curl over while in my squatting position. I did eventually reach the real ring of fire. I understand why it is called that, and no amount of water will put that fire out! I am pretty sure I felt bays nose scrape out. baby's head was out and two contractions later I fell backwards and collected baby from under the water. the chord was very short and I tried to pull baby up on my chest. I looked down and the first thing I said was ''It's ginger''.

I looked at SO who had tears in his eyes, and sat there for about 10 minutes while baby pooped then realised we didn't know whether it was a boy or girl still! the midwife helped me lift baby up and pull the chord to the side. I kinda laughed and said ''It's a girl'' SO cut the chord and the midwife took my little baby and wrapped her up for SO to cuddle while I rested. He asked whether I wanted to pass the placenta naturally or if I would like an injection, and I was too tired to be decisive. I just said ''I'll think about it'' but stayed in the tub. I turned to face SO cuddling our daughter and the midwife said if I could just tweak my nipples it would encourage the placenta to come out. I gave a couple of pushes and it flopped out. it was pretty gross but much easier than pushing out a baby! The midwife said i could get out of the pool when I felt ready so i moved and climbed out. as I stood up, blood poured out. it went everywhere. I made an impressive path of bloody footprints over to the bed where he then inspected me and informed me that I hadn't got a single tear or graze.. one happy little lady! SO joined me with my little cone-headed baby girl in bed and we just sat in awe for a while.

I couldn't have asked for a better birth.

TL;DR: Water birth in a birthing center where I pooped lots- zero effs were given. Scarlett Emily was born 10.44am 14th August after my waters breaking at 11.50pm 13th August at 40+2, weighing 7lb11oz. Paracetamol, gas+air and a hint of sarcasm.

I am more than happy to answer any questions if anyone has any? Whilst being pregnant I loved reading these stories and I always found the more detail the better, hence my mile-long story I am sharing with you now! So please, fire away if you'd like to :) And now for some photos!!