Heinz - Tinytums

Second baby

'My waters broke at home, then nothing happened for nearly a week' 
Noreen, 30, says she thought she knew it all, but found she didn’t know anything.

‘My first pregnancy had been an absolute dream.  I’d been fit and healthy all the way through, low blood pressure and feeling great.  James was a great baby and I’d had him at home, which was just fantastic.  I hardly even saw a doctor throughout the whole experience; I just dealt with my midwife who was lovely.

‘So when I got pregnant again I was just expecting the same thing.  And it’s not really that my experience was bad, it just felt really different.  Maybe it was because, even though I didn’t know it then, I was having a girl whereas the first was a boy, I don’t know.  The first scan made me really scared.  The doctors said there was a second sack or something, like there was supposed to be two babies, but there was only one.  They said it was nothing to worry about, but it made me feel really weird.  I think because of that I ended up seeing a lot more of the doctor than I had before.

‘Again, when it came to the actual birth I expected to have the baby at home and it to go just like the first.  But with the first the midwife broke my waters after I’d started contractions.  This time my waters broke at home, then nothing happened for nearly a week.  As a result I ended up not being able to have the baby at home and was in hospital for three days.  To be fair the midwives in hospital were fantastic and really looked after me.  I did give birth naturally in the end, which I was really pleased with, but it just goes to show you that every pregnancy and every birth is different.  You never know what you’re going to get do you?’