Jess sent us her birth story recently. She compares her first and second birth experiences using a Labour TENS machine as her main form of pain relief. We love to hear that our Mums have such positive birth stories using a TENS machine, but when we hear the words “Beautiful” and “Empowering” – that’s special 🙂
Jess writes: I heard so many stories that you need to cut the labour in half second time round, you will go into active labour very quickly, have the ambulance on speed dial as second babies arrive quickly. So I was well prepared for this. Nothing of the sort happened!
My second labour was almost the same as the first however I was more prepared, knew the signs and actually found that it was a bit slower 2nd time round. Instead of starting at 1pm and going for 24 hours my contractions started at 1am and went for 21.5 hours. It started with a dull back ache coming on every 10 mins overnight that had me walking around the house then laying back down in bed and so on – all whilst my daughter and hubby slept!
I woke on Monday morning and things were still the same so hubby phoned into work and said he needed to stay home to help with our 3 year old. It was a glorious Melbourne winter’s day and we set up camp outside in the sun. We created a picnic setting and my daughter massaged my back with each manageable contraction throughout the day. Around 5pm things started to get a bit more painful, stronger intense contractions at variable intervals.
Mum collected our daughter (I was so emotional waving goodbye to her) and hubby and I got dinner ready. Around 7pm they really started to hit hard, and this is when the TENS machine was switched on. Please remember to check the batteries and practice prior to using as we lost a bit of set up time. By 9.30pm I actually felt something drop, so we we raced into the hospital and bubs was born by 11.23pm. There was no need for the midwives to examine me, we knew baby was around the corner. The TENS stayed on the whole time in hospital and I had no other intervention for the labour except a little bit of gas for the stitching up of the tears post delivery!
Using the TENS machine definitely raised my endorphins. I was pretty pumped! I actually found this labour to be an amazing experience. I felt it all and found it to be beautiful and empowering. I was glad I felt every twist and turn our baby boy made to enter the world. Having a baby at night was actually quite peaceful, the room was dim and the hospital and roads coming in were in go slow mode. We were so delighted to have a healthy boy – which we had kept a surprise from everyone!
With my first labour I had used my TENS machine towards the end just before heading into hospital and I required a bit of gas in the final hour of pushing. This time round I found the lead up pain completely manageable again. I found breathing, stretching, and watching the Rio Olympics helped during the contractions. Having my 3 year old daughter there for most of the day wasn’t difficult at all. Turning on the TENS machine towards the end again was actually rewarding for me. 8 weeks on I almost feel back to myself.
Thanks Sweet Beats! All the best to the pregnant mummies! x Cheers Jess