I was called to be induced by a leading midwife on the ward. I was admitted around 2 p.m. when I was able to get to the hospital. There I was greeted by a lovely midwife who looked after us by showing us our room. She made us feel comfortable and relaxed and didn’t make a fuss, which I thought was nice as she was genuinely being kind and really showing how professional she was.

As time went on and my induction got underway, I kept saying to my midwife that this baby is not going to come that easily, as by 3/4 p.m. my waters had broken and I was now bouncing on the yoga ball and stimulating my nipples to get my colostrum going too, but she also said that helped bring labour on too.

It's now 5:15 p.m. or 20 p.m. I’ve got a drip going on to get things moving. Slowly, it was being turned up to bring this labour on. Now we are at 12 mg, and things are starting to happen. While all this is going on, the midwife is still making sure I’m comfortable and happy with the way things are going and the way they were. I was relieved to know that I was in good hands.
It’s coming up to the end of her shift. I felt a bit sad as I’d built a relationship with her, and she just made me feel at ease. She introduces me to Nadine. I'm not completely on board because the contractions are starting to build up and become stronger. Nadine introduced herself and said she’d be taking over and having this baby delivered in no time. I did say I’ve had quick and easy deliveries, so she was excited to get this baby delivered. Which I thought was nice. Nadine was doing some paperwork while keeping an eye on me. She made certain she was monitoring the fetal movements. Nadine made me feel comfortable and let me take control of my breathing. At any point when I felt like I was not coping, she would quickly step in and take control of my breathing and help me get into a rhythm again.

As the labour was progressing. Nadine was again making sure I was doing okay, and if I could bear the pain at this point, I wasn’t able to, so she suggested I get the gas and air. My plan was to go drug-free, but it looks like I needed help, which I wasn’t able to recognise but which she could see because she could see I wasn’t coping with the pain. After some time, I was in a lot of pain, and by this time, it was 8:30 p.m., and Nadine suggested that I get examined. When I got examined I was only 4/5cm. I was not happy deep down inside, but I had to stay strong and not let it get to me.

Later on, my contractions were getting closer and stronger, so the drip machine was switched off and I was re-examined. By 9:30-10 I was 8/9cm. I was so happy inside, and I’m nearly there. I loved that Nadine was our midwife because, even though I wasn't really with it, she was always reassuring me of how well I was doing and how soon we would have this baby. Making me feel positive made me feel like "Yes, I can do this."

After my internal examination, which showed that I would be 8/9cm. I was soon ready to push this baby. I told my partner that I was ready to push this baby out, and he told Nadine that I wanted to do so. Instead of panicking, which I would have done, she didn't; she just instructed me to follow what my body wanted to do, which I exactly did. She was asking and making sure I wasn’t just dry pushing, and I was pushing when I only got a contraction. I confirmed I only wanted to push when I did feel the contraction. While the pushing stage was happening, I felt tired and didn’t want to do it as, at this point, I was exhausted.

Nadine said not to give up as I was so close to having this baby, and she wanted to meet my baby too. Nadine talked me through step by step as to how to push, when to breathe, and how long to push for. Even though I’d had babies before, it had been some time since I’d had my last.

Nadine was constantly encouraging me and instructing me when to push, and the final was the biggest and the last push. At last, this baby was out!