I had always imagined my baby’s birth to be an amazing, memorable event, but I didn’t expect it to make me feel so empowered. It was a fantastic experience that made me want to jump up and shout, “I did it!” I had a very easy delivery – only 7 hours, unmedicated, and relatively painless. Here’s the story…complete with Thomas’ tweets from during the event.
It all started October 29th. If you remember previous posts, I was convinced that our baby would arrive in October despite her November due date. As we neared the end of the month though, I was starting to doubt myself. I had not had any contractions yet, and actually, I had complained that I just wanted one to know what it would feel like. That night, I woke up with light contractions. They’re right – you know what they are when you feel them – like strong abdominal cramps for me. Unfortunately, they only lasted a couple hours and were gone by morning.
I was trying all the wives tales to get things started – lots of walking, spicy food, raspberry leaf tea, etc. On Saturday, Thomas and I went on a long walk in search of spicy pizza. On the way back home, I had slowed down significantly, feeling lots of pressure in my cervix. We puttered around the house the rest of the afternoon, and then I took a nap. Around 7pm, I woke up with light contractions again. I relaxed in a bath while Thomas timed my contractions – about 7 minutes apart. They felt frequent, but Thomas was skeptical because they only lasted 30 seconds each.
That night, I tried to eat some dinner, but the contractions continued – now about every 4 minutes. It helped to walk around during them, but I still felt like we might need to head to the hospital that night. Thomas still wasn’t convinced they were real and wanted to wait at home as long as possible.
Around 10pm, after another shower and some last minute packing, we finally called the taxi.
Waiting while Thomas calls the taxi
I had two more contractions during the taxi ride. Even though they were uncomfortable, the contractions, so far, had not been that unbearable. At the hospital, while we waited to get into the maternity ward, I had 5 more contractions. Finally, they brought us into a room for monitoring.
Waiting through a contraction
The nurse was very calm and friendly. She monitored my contractions for half an hour and explained that although they were not regular, they were frequent enough to be real labor. She also informed me that they were were actually starting before I could feel them. My cervix was very thin and dilated to 5cm, so she called my gynecologist and physiotherapist to head on over. Thomas went downstairs to check me in.
Shortly after, my physiotherapist arrived and helped me with exercises and stretching. The best one had my head and arms against the wall, Thomas’ foot between mine in a lunge and me sitting on his knee. When he pulled back on my hips, the pressure and pain was very manageable. Thankfully, I wasn’t having any back pain. After a while, the nurse returned to break my water. Wow, what a huge gush! I jumped from 6.5cm to 8cm dilation.
After a couple hours, I was getting tired and moved to the bed for some other exercises. The nurse recommended one that she liked when she was in labor – with a stool-sized foam cube under my calves, the physiotherapist and Thomas held my legs and pushed down on my hips. Suddenly, I felt an urge to push and the nurse called my gynecologist again. With a deep, primal grunt, my body started pushing. I was surprised that it was all happening naturally without me thinking about it.
I had wanted to avoid giving birth on my back, but since I wasn’t having any back pain, I stayed where I was. The nurse removed the cube and put my legs in holders. I was very focused during this final stage. I remember that I gripped Thomas’ arm throughout it, and felt a little nauseous at times. My legs were shaking, but the physiotherapist said it was just my hormones. As the baby crowned, I was invited to reach down and touch her head, but I was afraid I would lose my concentration.
The baby was almost here. There was a little burning, and then I felt her body twist and slip out; she felt so long. They had me reach down to pull her out and place her on my chest. It was really bizarre – there was a warm, gooey thing laying there on me. I wasn’t quite sure what to do, but thankfully she did – she quickly latched on to feed. Thomas cut the cord and her time of birth was noted – a Halloween baby. Meanwhile, I was given picotin to deliver the placenta.
She's here!
So that was it. My baby was here and all was well. They dimmed the lights and everyone left the room while Thomas and I snuggled our baby. About half an hour later, the nurse came back to measure and weigh her, put her in some clothes, and clean a little of the blood and vernix off. The three of us were then left to rest for a few more hours until our maternity room was available.
First family photo
I don’t know how I lucked out with such an easy birth, but it was a wonderful experience. I can’t thank enough my gynecologist, physiotherapist, the delivery nurse, and especially Thomas. Together, they made it calm, comfortable, and helped me have the natural birth that I wanted. I can only wish that future births will be so easy.
A couple more photos are posted on PicasaWeb:
- Halloween Birth (8 photos)
