The pregnancy had been very similar to Emelia's pregancy. The first 3 months were tough with the tiredness and having a cold/cough for over a month! It was made even tougher having to look after a toddler too. Most of that time, I just lay down on the couch and she had to amuse herself, as I literally had no energy to do anything else.

Finding out we were having a boy was incredible. I was shocked and relieved, as we both really wanted a boy. I was convinced it was another girl until the scan.

The rest of the pregnancy was straightforward. Around 36-37 weeks, I felt Seb drop significantly and I found it very difficult to move around a lot for long periods of time. I had seen a chiropractor that had really helped my right hip but this I knew she would not be able to help with. Moving around at night was a particular chore.

From 37+3, I began getting more intense Braxton hicks with period pains every evening. It felt a lot like labour with Emelia. I would then go to bed and they would die off.

At 38+3, my midwives came around for my check. I was really fed up at this point. Seb felt very low and I was finding it increasingly harder to move around. Emelia had been ill, so trying to deal with that was difficult. My sleep was getting worse and worse.

My midwife took my BP and it was higher than normal. She suggested I had a sweep. I was 3cm and his head was low! I tried not to freak out about the BP, as everything else was normal. I certainly played it down to my husband so he didn't worry. I said to my midwife that I’d see how I felt but may want another sweep towards the end of the week. That night I slept very badly, I think I was replaying what had happened and the consequences if my BP continued to be up. I hadn’t even considered going into hospital.

The next day I felt much calmer about it and had more perspective on it. Emelia wasn’t feeling well and I was feeling under the weather, as I hadn’t really slept. So my husband took a sick day and we all had a duvet day. That night I didn’t get to sleep until 2am for some reason!

At 38+5 I woke up and went to the toilet and found that I had passed an enormous show. I let my midwives know. We went to playgroup as normal and we had a fairly normal day. That night around 7-7.30pm I started having more regular intense tightenings, which were actually getting quite regular. I said to my husband to get the pool sorted. They then began to die down again. I went to bed and they did. 

I woke up the next morning with a horrible cold and feeling rough. Emelia was still not quite right either. I hardly slept that night as I could hardly breathe. I was still getting bits of show every time I went to the toilet.

At 39 weeks, I was still full of cold and feeling even worse. I felt I couldn’t do anything, my energy was so low. I txt my friend in the morning to ask how her appointment had gone the day before. She txt me later that day saying she'd had her baby boy at 10.30 that morning. For some reason, I got very upset that she had had her baby and because I was feeling so ill, I knew I wasn’t going to have him any time soon. That evening I had a few intense Braxton hicks but I didn’t think anything of them. My husband hadn’t slept well either, so I said to take a night nurse. I was sure Seb wouldn’t come that night, so would be good for him to get some sleep. I think we were asleep by about 10pm.

Later that evening, I woke up to my waters breaking at about 23.50. It hurt a lot; it felt like someone had punched right through my cervix. I managed to get to the toilet without it going everywhere and confirmed it was definitely my waters. I had a small tightening on the toilet, which felt intense and then another soon after. They were very short.

I then I had to go back into the bedroom and wake my husband to go and get all the stuff for homebirth. He was in a daze and didn’t really know what was happening. He said I needed to call my midwife. At 00.06 I texted her to say that my waters had broken and that I was having tightenings every couple of minutes.

At 00.10 I decided to call her as I presumed she hadn’t read my text. I said I’d call back when I needed her. The tightenings were becoming more and more intense and I wanted to get into the pool. My brother and sister in law were helping my husband fill the pool up. My sister in law and my husband were intermittently rubbing my back, as my back seemed to hurt the most.

At 00.20 I asked my husband to call my midwife, apparently she was on her way already. I think I got into the pool around 00.30 but there was only inches of water in it as I was desperate to get in.

My midwife came around 00.45. Around 00.50 I felt an urge to push and could feel like I was going to open my bowels. The second midwife got there at around 01.00. Seb was born at 01.04 and I was soooo relieved!! 

I had very intense after pains for a few hours after birth, so all I could manage to do was lay there on the couch cuddling and breastfeeding him.