Birth story of Leni VBAC

Discover the intense and raw journey of baby Leni’s arrival! After weeks of practice contractions, this mom’s labor finally began with a stretch and sweep at 39 weeks and 3 days. Over a full day, she navigated mild but steady contractions, using hypnobirthing techniques, a TENS machine, and support from her husband. By nightfall, contractions had intensified, but irregularly, prompting her to head to the hospital to settle in.​

With her husband’s support and a renewed focus, she pushed through, grounding herself between contractions and leaning on her birth team’s guidance. Finally, after some intense moments, Leni arrived safely into her arms. This story captures every powerful, emotional moment—read the full experience by clicking read more below for a truly inspiring birth journey!

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Wednesday 29th Sept ⁣⁣⁣
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I had an appointment with my OB on Wednesday morning, 39+3. She checked my cervix and told me I was 3cm dilated and .5cm thin. I happily accepted a stretch and sweep and was excited and hopeful it would get things moving. Once home, I noticed some intense and regular braxton hicks which I’d been having for weeks so didn’t think much of it. They lasted all day and only settled down once I went to bed. They came back every one of the 80 times I went to the toilet that night and began again in the morning.⁣⁣⁣
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⁣⁣Thursday 30th September ⁣⁣⁣
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By 9am they started to become a little bit painful but it was hard to work out if it was just the constant tightness and the weight of her in my pelvis or if it was period pain. At 12pm I put both the girls down for a nap and I laid on the bed and started to time them. It was then I realised that it was a dull period pain and approximately every 15 minutes. I called mum to come over. At 3pm I finally had a contraction that was painful and after trying to work it out all day, I knew something was happening. Mum took the girls home with  her and I went for a walk. This made them pick up to 10 minutes apart but the pain was still very mild. At this point, I didn’t know if I should rest or keep active and moving to keep things progressing. I laid on the couch when Ben got home and things slowed back down so I decided to get up and try the breast pump. I almost instantly began having contractions that I had to breathe through every 3-5 minutes. After a while I put on the tens machine and my hypnobirthing tracks and began walking up and down our long hallway. I text my OB and she said make sure you don’t leave it too long. At about 9.30pm I decided I wanted to go to the hospital so I could settle in and focus on what I had planned to do with my hypnobirthing. At this stage contractions weren’t very regular going from 3-10 mins apart since I stopped pumping. When we got to the hospital I was put on the ctg monitor and they noticed Leni’s heart rate drop with each contraction. The midwife said it could be because she’s asleep and or because she was so engaged.

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They gave me some apple juice to wake her up and did another ctg. She woke up and her heart rate stopped dropping as hoped,  but being on the bed for almost an hour and had pretty much fizzled out the contractions. By 11.30pm the nurse suggested we try and get some rest. Ben went into our room which was close by and slept and I stayed in birth suite and did not sleep a wink. I kept my tens machine on and used it to manage what I would describe as bad period pain, no idea how far apart but it kept waking me from my doze. ⁣
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​Friday 1st October ⁣
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By 6am I was ready to get up and get things happening again- I just didn’t really know how. We went for a walk which picked them back up but they were still mild and irregular. My OB came to see us at 9am and we discussed the options. Go home and wait or break my waters. At this point I was so ready and so excited I didn’t want to go home. At 9.20 she broke my waters. We. Were. On. I was on my knees, leaning over the birth ball having strong, regular contractions. This is when our hypnobirthing worked it’s absolute magic. We were calm, I swayed and rocked through them listening to the ‘prompts for birthing’ track. Before long I needed to change positions. It was here I started to panic as the pain all of a sudden was so intense and I didn’t have enough time in between them to work out a comfortable position. I tried waking, standing, leaning on the bed and couldn’t stand any of it. The pain became so unbearable, so quickly. The noises I was making started to change and I honestly felt like I couldn’t do it anymore. All of these things I knew in my mind to be transition but it had only been just over an hour so I thought surely not. I was thinking how tf will I do this for another 10+ hours and I screamed for the epidural, totally out of control. I’ve never wanted anything more in my whole life. I heard the nurse say to Ben I think it might be too late for one. She asked to do a VE which revealed I was 9cm. Sorry, wot? It’s been an hour and a half, how?!? It almost flicked a switch in me as I knew there was nothing to do but keep going and I knew she was close.

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I started on the gas and got them to set up the bed so the back was upright. I got up on my knees and leaned over the bed. The pain was so intense I thought I’d surely die. I’d like to say I stayed calm and listened to the voice in my ears telling me that ‘the contractions weren’t too powerful for me, because they are me’…. But I have to be honest, they felt wayyyy too powerful for me. I remember feeling panicked and trapped in the pain cycle like Hali’s birth but Ben helped bring me back down in between each contraction with gentle touch and getting me to look into his eyes while the nurse was running around trying to close doors so people wouldn’t think there was a wild animal on the loose 🤣 at 10.45 my OB arrived and she pretty much just stood back and let me do my thing (scream/die). I could feel Leni moving down and I started to get the urge to push. I knew I had to try and relax but all my body wanted to do while in that much pain is tense and tighten. I remember my OB saying you need to stop climbing up the bed away from it, relax your muscles and bring her down. So that’s what I did. She crowned (FMLLLLL) and I was directed to hold her head there in between the contraction to stretch me slowly and gently while my OB held a warm compress. It stung like a bitch but it was actually nice to feel a different sensation than the crippling contraction pain. With the next contraction her head was out, and with the next, I reached down and pulled my baby up to my chest.⁣