For my first blog post I wanted to write my birth story. When I was trying to fall pregnant and during pregnancy, I loved reading other peoples birth stories. No matter what, when or how they are all unique and they are all beautiful. I hope you enjoy reading mine.
'It was one of the hottest summer days in January, the boys were all on summer holidays. In Australia we have our long break through December and January. I think I was three days past my due date and although I knew I would eventually go into labor it really felt like it was never going to happen. All four of my pregnancies went beyond forty weeks, so I guess i should not have been surprised!
My husband had already started his holiday, so we spent the morning relaxing at home as a family. After lunch we decided to go for a swim at the river. I was so big and uncomfortable at this point, every step was painful. I needed to pee every 5 minutes. I waddled down to the cool, blue water, I lay back and floated while the boys splashed around me. At this point I was starting to have mild contractions, however this was not usual, I had been contracting on and off for weeks. As the afternoon when on we sat under the beautiful peppermint trees and ate salty hot chips and choc top ice creams. It was bliss.
By the time we arrived home it was 5.30 pm. We bathed the children, fed them some pasta and crashed on the couch to watch a movie. Those mild contractions were still coming, I started to realize that labor could be starting soon. At around 9.30 pm I went to the bathroom and discovered I was bleeding. This had never happened to me before during early labor, I called for my husband and said I thought that It may be time and that I wanted to call the hospital to check about the bleeding.
As expected the hospital suggested that I come in to get checked. I called my mum to come and watch the boys and got ready. Even though this was my forth labor I was nervous, during the drive my contractions all but stopped and I started to wonder if it was a false alarm. By the time we arrived at the hospital it was 11 pm. The midwife looked perplexed by my calm, not laboring appearance and suggested that I could come back when things started to progress after my check up. This is not what any overdue woman wants to hear!
We were given a room to settle and wait for the doctor. It was about 30 minutes before anyone arrived, I was checked over, given the dreaded internal and told again that I could go home if I wanted to. While I did consider the suggestion I had a niggling feeling that I should stay. At this point I will pause to say that I have never had a quick labor before, all three boys took over 12 hours. I politely told the doctor that I would like to stay and I have a walk and shower. My contractions had returned, they were mild but regular now. I set up on a mat on the shower floor. At this point I started to feel dread creeping over me, I knew what was coming and I wanted to run away! Although my labor was still very mild I think my body was preparing very quickly.
It was about 12.30pm now and a new midwife came on shift, she was lovely, calm and seemed to know what she was doing. Up until now things had felt somewhat disjointed and I was not really sure whether I was having a baby or not. The midwife asked if I would hop on the bed for a check. Although I was not keen on getting out of the warm water I needed a change of seen. The contractions were now becoming very intense. There was intense pressure building up down below and I was a little concerned why is was suddenly so intense. After some very uncomfortable prodding during a particularly strong contraction my lovely new midwife told me I was four centremetres dilated! 'FOUR!!' I yelled. I turned to my husband and the midwife and stated that I would be needing some gas as pain relief if this was only the begining. Within 5 minutes my gas was on, labor was very intense now. I was still lying on my back on the bed, a position I never thought I would birth in. I was writhing around on the bed and starting to yell during each contraction.
The pressure and pelvic pain was excruciating, I just wanted to disapear into the bed. I was scared that it was only just begining and I was already starting to loose control. My incredable midwife must have realised at this point, less than an hour into active labor, that this was all happening very quickly. She gently asked me how long I was pushing for in my last labor. 'Three minutes' I exclaimed! She quielty nodded at my husband and called for the other midwife.
I think I was starting to loose touch with reality now, The pain was indescribable (my other labors were not this intense) I was screaming and roaring, completely primal. My waters broke and minutes later our beautiful baby girl flew out, after less than a minute of pushing. My husband still tells the story that he thought he saw testicles as she came out. I was in shock, i remember looking down at this slimy being on my chest and having no idea what had just happened.
Our daughter was born at 1am after one hour of active labor. She was nine pound eleven ounces. It took me at least 15 minutes to return to my body, I was in shock. I had some heavy bleeding after and was given an injection to stop it. After an hour of cuddles I was wheeled to my room and my husband returned home to our boys. I lay (in pain) for the rest of the night staring at my amazing miracle. I couldn't believe she was mine. She was and still is perfect. A firey, determined, spirited girl.
