I had my 39 week routine appointment on the 3/12 at the hospital to discuss the plan for labour. I had previously mentioned to them that I was okay with being induced due to the fact that Jackson was in our hometown 3 hours away and I was extremely stressed he wouldn't make it if I went into labour naturally.

Luckily at this appointment, the doctor was happy to send off the paperwork to schedule the induction in the next couple of days. We also talked about what the ultrasound said that I previously had at 36+5 weeks. 

Maeve was transverse originally, but luckily she turned heads down into the right position to have the labour I wanted. I was, however, mentally prepared in case she hadn't flipped, and I had to have a completely different birth to what I had planned. 

On Monday the 6th of Dec, I got a text from the hospital saying my induction was booked for the 11/12 at 5 pm. I was so excited that I finally had a date! (I'm one of those people that have to have a plan written out so | I know exactly what's going to happen even though I know birth doesn't normally work that way). 

The next few days were just about spending time with Marley as a family of three. As well as keeping everything on the low as Jackson mentioned to me earlier, he wanted to surprise his family once Maeve was born, so the only people that knew what was going on were my side of the family, as mum and dad were with us in Adelaide. 

Induction day was here before we knew it. We had got to the hospital around 5:40 pm as they had to push my induction time back a bit due to not having a bed for me, which was fine. I was just excited and so ready to meet the baby I had been growing and taking care of for the past nine months. 

Around 8:45 pm, the midwife came in and did a cervical check to see if we were still going with the balloon for the induction method, she told me I wasn't dilated at all, but my cervix was looking thin, so she confirmed that the ballon was the way to go. It was definitely an uncomfortable feeling, but I'd done it before with Marley, so I knew what to expect. Once it was in, it was time to get as much rest as I could which turned out to be very hard to do, even with pain meds and a sleeping tablet, as I ended up being in a lot of pain most of the night. Jackson, however, was sleeping peacefully on his pullout bed most of the night. 

The next morning the midwife came in at around 5:30 am to remove the balloon and did a cervical check to see if I had progressed, which I had and was now 3cms dilated. My waters were then broken to see if we could get things moving a bit quicker. One of the midwife's that was in the room noticed that my waters had some brown in them when I got up to go to the bathroom, and she notified me that it looked like there was meconium in my waters. We got the drip started, and the midwife notified the Paediatrics doctor to be on standby to come into the room once I was ready to push just in case Maeve needed breathing support or other emergency medical attention. 

My contractions came on fast and strong. I was being really stubborn and kept declining the epidural and only using the gas. After a while, I still was only at 4cm and was, and I really had no idea what my body was about to go through in the next few hours. After 5 hours of screaming, being in the fetal position screaming in pain and saying I was done. I was so exhausted. My body and mind were so ready to give up. I knew that it was time to ask for the epidural, so I did. 

Jackson had no idea what to do to help me as I wasn't able to use my words to ask for what I wanted. He just kept giving me water to drink whenever I had the slightest break from the contractions, which really helped distract me for a short period of time. 

While we were waiting for the anaesthesiologist to come and do the epidural, the midwife checked to see if I had made any progress. I was only 6cm. I was heartbroken that I'd only dilated 2cm in 5 hours. I was notified that the anaesthesiologist was called to theatre for an emergency prolapsed cord, and I wouldn't be able to get the epi for an unknown amount of time. I instantly started freaking out as, at this point, I mentally wouldn't be able to push Maeve out without it. My midwives and Jackson did their best to reassure me that everything was going to be okay and just to try and ride the waves of each contraction. 

2 hours later, and with what felt like every bone in my body breaking with every contraction, I was about to tell the midwives I was done and just needed her out as my body couldn't take not having any time between to regroup after the contractions anymore as they were just one after another for the past 7 hours. Jackson bends down and tells me that the doctor is here. This was music to my ears.

It took maybe an hour and two attempts to insert the epidural until something felt off, and I started to get nervous. I was leaning on the gas a lot during this time as you can't move while they are inserting the epidural. 

I got really dizzy at one point and honestly felt like I had moved slightly when the needle went in and went to a different place in my mind. I couldn't wake myself up. I could just feel myself looking blankly at Jackson. All I could hear was high a high pitched noise that just kept getting louder and louder. I was terrified. After what felt like an eternity, I was back in the delivery room holding Jackson's hand and him just looking at me, and I knew I was going to be okay. 

After I got myself together, I knew what happened to me was due to not taking in enough breaths when using the gas, so I basically just got myself high on nitrous oxide mixed with oxygen and started hallucinating. I'm so glad nothing serious happened, but it was definitely traumatic. 

It took maybe 15 or 20 minutes for the epidural to kick in, and when it did, I was in pure bliss. I wasn't in any pain, and the whole vibe of the room changed. 

Just before it was go time, one of the midwives did the ice check to see where I was and wasn't numb. Unfortunately, the epi travelled too far up my chest, so we had to let it wear off a bit, so I didn't end up having breathing trouble. 

At ten past four, we started pushing, and 15 minutes later and some mild to intense pain due to the epidural being pretty much worn off. Baby girl's head was coming out. She did, however, have the cord around her neck twice, which made the pushing process a bit longer. The midwife said if she didn't have the cord around her neck, I probably could have sneezed her out in one go! 

I was just so happy she was here, and she was healthy! At 4:29 pm, weighing 3.55kgs, my second beautiful baby girl was born, and she was perfect.