It all started the day after my due date on Sunday 16th November. My partner and I were preparing to go to Sunday lunch at his family's house when I became aware that something was 'happening'. My waters were starting to leak. Within an hour my contractions had started, each lasted 30 seconds and they were about 10 minutes apart. I sent my partner to Sunday lunch asking him to bring back mine (as I did not want to leave the house but knowing that labour can take a while I knew it could be a while before I could stomach another meal). I knew I'd need the energy. Then I strapped on my TENS machine and then basically got on with it.

By 5.30pm my contractions were more intense and closer together but lasting the same length of time, I rang the hospital and was advised to come in and we arrived by 6.30pm after dropping off our dog, I was examined and told I was in early labour, and not dilated at all to which I was very disheartened. My midwife had some concerns as some of my vitals were of concern, I had a slight temperature, my white blood cell count was slightly elevated and the baby's heartbeat was on the high side of normal. After being monitored for several hours, my vitals improved and we were sent home at midnight and were in bed by 1pm.

I struggled overnight, the pain continued every 5-10 minutes and I really struggled to sleep or get comfortable. The tens machine which had been effective all day Sunday to take off the edge of the pain was doing nothing at all for me but I didn't want to remove it in case it was helping but I didn't realise it.

At about 6.45am on Monday I decided to try using a hot water bottle to help with the pain but on the way downstairs, in my exhaustion, I missed the bottom step and fell down landing painfully on my side. My partner picked me up but I was shaken, exhausted and in pain with no idea how I could possibly carry on with the labour with things as they were. Not long after, I went to the bathroom and saw what turned out to be Meconium in my waters - I freaked out suspecting this was what it was and knowing this is not a good sign rang the hospital who told me to come in but not to worry.

In hospital, I was monitored as was the baby and finally a midwife and her student decided to do an internal to see if they could feel the baby's head. The student midwife had difficulties so the midwife tried and then said that what she could feel wasn't a head as it was soft and spongy like a baby's bottom. An ultrasound scanner was brought in and an obstetrician scanned the baby finding that my waters were reduced and that he was in the breech position. The obstetrician advised that my best option was a c-section and I was so relieved that I wouldn't have to cope with the pain much longer and that my baby would soon be here I couldn't sign the consent forms fast enough. To be honest I would have signed anything they put in front of me at that point. The midwives prepared me for surgery and explained that the breech was the reason I was not progressing and why I had not dilated at all.

Everything happened so quickly after that, we were taken to theatre straight away, I was given a spinal which was uncomfortable but once it had taken effect took all the pain away. I lost all feeling from my chest down which was very strange and although I could feel people touching me, the touch was like pins and needles or like hot water running over my legs. I felt nothing of the surgery itself. Within minutes, my partner turned to me and told me something must be happening as our midwife was smiling, apparently this was because she could see the baby's bottom. Baby J started crying immediately and was moved to the resuscitator where he was checked, weighed and cleaned (he was covered in meconium) before being passed to my partner and then to me. The spinal and diamorphine I was given gave me an adrenaline surge and I had terrible shakes which I could not get rid of. This made it very difficult to hold my baby as I was afraid of dropping him so my partner held him on me. We held him until surgery was complete and I was moved to recovery where we did some skin to skin and breastfed and then went to the post natal ward where gradually feeling came back to the rest of my body.

Baby J was delivered by C-Section at 13.30 on 17th November 2014 weighing 8lb 10oz.