The Hydrant - Labour and Breastfeeding Hydration Aid

During labour, Mr. B was very good at helping to ensure that I stayed fed and watered. It is an important lesson that we both learned the first time around - you need to stay hydrated and packed full of energy to make it through childbirth. In a birthing pool, hydration is particularly important because the warmth of the water causes you to dehydrate easily.. unfortunately when you are on all fours, struggling to raise your own head above water, it is also very difficult to drink from a cup or a bottle, even with a straw, because it is hard to position your drink anywhere other than under water! Thankfully, for Holly's birth we were well prepared with The Hydrant - a hydration aid we had been sent to review.

The Hydrant is a very simple concept. It is a drinking aid for people with limited mobility who can't necessarily reach for or lift a bottle. The bottle holds a litre of water (or, during labour, perhaps an isotonic drink) and has a clever shaped cap that acts as a handle or a clip. The bottle comes with a long flexible tube which acts as a siphon - you place one end of the tube in the bottle and suck from the other end. The tube is more than a long bendy straw because it has a clever bite-valve on the end which means that, when the bottle is well positioned slightly raised above you (like on the back of a chair or on the edge of a birthing pool) then all you need to do to get the drink is to gently bite the tube... you don't even need to suck!

Mr. B. made sure that I was sipping from the Hydrant regularly and occasionally disappeared to fill it up. It was the perfect solution for in the pool because he could just direct the tube towards me and even when I was mid-contraction I could get water with almost no effort.

Since Holly was born on Tuesday I have struggled to keep up my fluids to meet the demand on my own body - I just can't seem to drink enough water!!! On Thursday I suffered 3 migraine headaches in one day (I usually get about 1 per year) and the midwife suggested it could be to do with dehydration. Mr. B has become more strict on me, making sure he never sees me without a full pint of water next to me, especially when I am feeding Holly. Last night I lifted out the Hydrant again and attached it to the back of the chair in the nursery so that late at night, I had an on-demand water supply that didn't require me to use my hands (it also meant Mr. B didn't need to keep rushing downstairs to fill up my pint glass!). It worked really well. Having the bottle clipped just higher than my shoulders meant that the tube was in an ideal position.

The Hydrant can also be converted into a traditional drinking bottle with an alternative cap. There is also a clip which allows you to attach the tube to your clothing so that you don't have to keep reaching for it; in fact, you could attach the bottle to your belt and drink on the move or even clip it to your buggy or pram when out and about.

Mr only negative on the Hydrant so far is that because it was brand new, and I had only rinsed water through the tube a couple of times before I used it, the tube leaves a taste on the air and the first water in the tube. Mr. B is convinced that the whole bottle and tube taints the taste of the water but then it's not him drinking it - I think it tastes just fine after the first few sips through the tube.

The Hydrant can be bought from their own online shop, or from the NCT Shop, Boots, ASDA and Amazon for around £12 - £15.

Holly's Birth Story

Holly Louise Button was born on Tuesday night at 11.41pm after about 5 hours of established labour. She was 7lb 13oz. Here's the story of how she came into the world (it's very different to Lara's birth story).

As you probably know, if you read Tuesday's blog post, I thought my waters had broken... turns out that they hadn't.  My contractions started at 5pm approximately 5 minutes apart but very erratic and mild.  By 7pm they began to get stronger - I consider this to be when labour was established.

At this point I was still pootling around the house.  Mr. B fitted the TENS machine (which definitely helped) and tried to insist that I went to bed but I kinda knew that things were starting to move more quickly and sleep wasn't on the cards.  I asked him to ring his parents who came around to look after Lara.  By the time they arrived, the contractions were strong enough to stop me in my tracks and I rang the hospital.  I'm sure they deliberately put the most miserable member of staff on the phone at the labour ward to try and put you off going in - she nearly managed to persuade me not to go.  During the half-hour drive to Frimley Park Hospital I only experienced 2 contractions (they had previously been coming as frequently as every 2 minutes) and I really began to panic that I'd made the same mistake as last time by coming to hospital too early and letting everything slow down.

We arrived in the delivery ward just after 9pm at the point when the midwife shift was about to change.  A stern-looking midwife asked me a load of questions and obviously thought I was fussing about nothing.  She didn't believe me when I said I'd had a urine infection earlier in the week, and she didn't believe my waters had broken.  I think she thought that when the next midwife examined me, I would be going straight home.  My contractions were gaining frequency again but still mild enough for me to almost continue my conversation.

The new midwife was a lot friendlier and by the time she examined me at about 10.15pm, the contractions had come back much more frequently and continually growing in strength.  I was VERY relieved to find that I had made it to 6/7cm dilated with just the TENS machine to get me through.  We asked her to fill the birthing pool with water (which takes about 20 minutes) but both myself and Mr. B were wary of getting into the pool too soon because we didn't want it to slow down labour too much. As we waited, I was in a lot of pain and the TENS machine was no longer helping me get through the contractions - a lot of concentration was needed to breathe through each of them.

I got into the pool just before 11pm and the relief was instant.  As suspected, things did slow down a little but it felt good to be in the warm water. The midwife left us alone for a little bit and told us to ring if I felt the urge to push - we both thought she was joking. At about 11.30 there was a lull in contractions and we stopped to joke with one another about whether we would have a May 1st or May 2nd baby and both of us felt pretty sure it would be the next day before we saw our baby.  I realise now that this lull was probably the point of transition into the second stage of labour.  From the very next contraction I felt the urge to push and tried to ignore it.

Thankfully the midwife arrived again before we needed to pull the emergency cord. She told me to ignore the urge as long as possible.  I ignored it for one more contraction and then my own body took over. It only took 3 contractions and 6 minutes for the second stage of labour.  Holly was born in one push and took both midwives by surprise because there was no pause between head and body.  She literally plopped into the water and they had to drop their tools to grab her.

Holly and I chilled out in the water together for about 10 minutes before getting out to lie down for the third stage - delivery of the placenta.  In that time, she naturally rooted for my breast by snuggling up my chest towards me.  I felt so relaxed it was unreal.

We had to wait for me to dry out before I could have my stitches (by far the most painful experience of the night and the only point at which I tried the Entonox gas).  We had a cuppa, some toast and a bit of a chill out while the painkillers for the stitches kicked in.  I grabbed a quick bath, got dressed and then we were discharged.  We arrived home with baby Holly at 5am and when Lara woke at 7 we had a lovely family reunion.

I am so happy that my second birth went entirely to plan.  It certainly has helped me get through the last couple of days with more energy and less pain.  The stitches are healing and we are both generally well.  I'll blog more about our first days together soon.

What to pack in a hospital bag?

According to my ipod app, I should have my birth plan written and my bags packed just about now... just in case of early onset labour. I haven't but now is as good a time as any to start thinking about what I need.

My memories of my time in hospital (including a day and a half after the birth) is all a bit of a blur so its hard for me to remember what I found useful and what I didn't bother using. I can't even remember whether there was anything I really felt I was lacking and then wished I had taken with me. Mr. B's memory is just as blurry.

I have read all of the standard lists from all of the mummy websites that include the following:-

For labour

• Snacks and drinks


• labour aids such as a TENS machine, music, massage oil or a birth ball


• fully-charged camera


• hair-ties


• birthing shirts or loose-fitting t-shirts

For baby

• nappies


• cotton wool


• two or three vests and body suits


• a blanket


• scratch mitts and hat (although I dispensed with both on my midwives' advice)

For the ward

• breastfeeding nighties and bras


• breast pads


• disposable briefs


• hairbrush


• dressing gown and slippers


• shampoo and facewash


• toothpaste and toothbrush


• A change of outfit for going home


• Cash (or credit card these days) for phoning home if mobile's aren't permitted

Now, here's the thing. I need your input for things that really don't matter AND for those little pieces of genius that you just couldn't have survived without. Here's a few ideas of things people told me last time (and I now totally agree with, even if I ignored them the first time around)...

• Energy drinks for you and your birth partner during labour


• A sponge scourer for cleaning the bath - shared hospital baths can have some hidden surprises (cobwbebs in my case)!


• A small cup for pouring water over an episiotomy wound when going to the toilet to reduce the sting of the urine


• Vaseline to put on baby's bottom to prevent maconium sticking to their skin

A Mellow Birth?

Today's guest post is written by Sian at You're not from round here. You can also find her on twitter as @HelpfulMum.

Is it possible to have a mellow birth? Can you prepare for a mellow labour and does that mean it will be?

Childbirth could be one of the most stressful events of your life. Could being the operative word. It could also be calm and, whilst probably not relaxing, certainly a chilled out experience. I have had two children and both were completely different labours. However, one thing stayed constant throughout. I remained calm. Here are my top tips for a mellow birth.

1. Ignore all the stories you hear pre-birth
2. Accept that it will hurt
3. Don't panic
4. Stay in control
5. Remain calm

When you are pregnant you will hear every labour horror story going. Even your aunt's sister's cousin will have a say. Don't listen to them. With my first pregnancy I was bombarded with scary stories (and the odd good story too). I decided to ignore them. Pregnancy and childbirth are unique. I will never experience what they have. Something similar maybe, but not the same. So ignore the stories, they will only stress you out. Also, try not to have too many expectations of how it will be. I'll admit that with my son I refused to even read the labour chapter of any pregnancy book. I just didn't want to know! Ultimately, it was going to happen whether I liked it or not and nothing could prepare me for that.

Accept that it is going to hurt. I'm sorry, but it's true. It will hurt. Maybe not a lot. Maybe loads. Either way, it will hurt. I didn't have any pain relief with either child. Not because I'm hard, or have a high pain threshold, but because, when it came to it, I opted to deal with the pain myself (mainly using deep breathing techniques).

With my son, I had a very slow and long labour. Nothing out of the ordinary. I took it all in my stride. I found that, for me, staying silent was the best option. Apparently (according to my Mum) I said 'ouch' once, right near the end. With my daughter I again stayed silent. It's very odd. I always thought I'd be someone who was screaming and shouting, but when it came to it, I couldn't emit anything!

It might be an old wives tale, but my body certainly instinctively knew what to do. When the midwife told me that my body would soon start pushing, she wasn't wrong. It is one of the most surreal experiences to have your body start doing things without you telling it. I found it very useful to override this and control the pushing myself.

It is very easy to say to someone 'just stay calm', as if it were the easiest thing in the world. Trust me, when you're having contractions, it's hard. It is, however, rewarding. Looking back, I think that staying silent was my way of staying calm. It disabled me from shouting, screaming and potentially losing control. I saw each contraction as a step closer to meeting my baby (which can surely only be a good thing).

I don't think it matters what kind of birth you are hoping for, these tips can cover them all. Expect the unexpected. I guess that just means don't have too many expectations. With my daughter, I hoped for a nice relaxing water birth. She had other ideas, and arrived when the pool was half full! She came so fast that I had to catch her between my legs!

I think you definitely can have a mellow birth. Certainly, I have had two very different, but equally mellow labours. Preparation for a mellow labour is hard. You can only second guess how things will be. Even if you have had a child before, it is not a guide as to how labour will be this time. It definitely is a case of taking it as it comes!

I wish you a mellow labour. Childbirth is amazing, that much is true. Enjoy it!