Anastasia's birth story

That was when the consultant came in

He said he'd been watching my case over the last 24 hours and was very concerned. He told me I had done every single thing in my power to have this baby without help, but he couldn't wait any longer. I was so damn stubborn that I begged to be allowed to push for another hour. He told me that the baby was not even in position to push. They couldn't see his head and the only remaining option before Caesarean would be forceps. My birth plan said, in bold, that a Caesarean was an absolute LAST RESORT and only in a serious emergency. Respecting my wishes, he said he would use the forceps in the operating theatre as a last-ditch effort and if it didn't work he would be ready to perform the Caesarean.

It hit me all at once

After 39 hours of labour, my worst nightmare was coming true. The tears flowed as they wheeled me down the corridor and I saw Nick and Sophie's faces looking grave, haggard, and defeated. The 'top-up' of epidural in theatre had me vomiting again and I felt I was losing consciousness.

I was instructed to push at the next contraction, whilst my bum was dragged halfway down the operating table by the forceps. But the baby didn't budge. The heartbeat, which had hovered at around 150, plummeted to 50 and stayed there.

Suddenly, the atmosphere in the room changed completely and I knew something was very wrong

I saw an expression of horror on Nick's face as the blue screen they quickly constructed on my chest was splattered with blood. The next thing I heard was the doctor saying, 'the cord is twice around his neck.' This was how we discovered we had a boy. As Lucas was rushed to the warming table to be checked, I was screaming, 'Is he OK?' and no one answered for what seemed like hours. Laura finally appeared and told us he was fine, and Lucas was brought over to Nick and me. He looked angry, red and perfect in every way. All nine pounds three ounces of him.

Three weeks later I am still upset about how Lucas' birth differed from my expectations

I realise that had I not been so set on my birth plan, I would have had a Caesarean hours earlier and avoided a great deal of the stress and pain that both Lucas and I endured. The surgeon visited me in hospital the following day and told me that barring the OP position and the cord around his neck, he still didn't believe that my pelvis was wide enough to accommodate Lucas' 37cm head, and that a Caesarean would have been necessary anyway. Ah, hindsight.

One of the childbirth conspiracy theories is indeed true.

It is all worth it, without a shadow of a doubt. When I look down at the rosy cheeks of my gorgeous, chubby, greedy son, I marvel at his perfection and forget all about my painful ordeal. I'm glad I have it in print though. I'll have to re-read this story if I ever get broody again.

Read about Josa Young's birth story.

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