Ava's unexpected breach home birth!

Well it really is hard to know where to start with this story, there were a few ups and downs during my pregnancy with Ava but the end result was my gorgeous DD who is nearly 10mths old.

Sorry about the length, there was more to it than i thought.

12th Feb 2008 - It was the 20yr anniversary of my brothers death, he had passed of SIDS when i was 4yrs old, something felt different, i had been telling the girls at work i couldn't remember if my period was before or after my friends wedding and i thought i was late.
I generally had a regular cycle but had been off the pill for over a yr due to medical advice.
I had done a PT a couple of days before but had seen nothing, i told my DP that i needed to do another one i felt that something wasn't right.
We shared our house with a friend so i quickly did the test and went and hid in our room, i had to yell out to DP to come in, as soon as he saw me start to wimper he knew i was pregnant so we rushed off to the after hours without our friend having any idea what was going on.
The doctor confirmed the test was right and put me down as being around 6-7weeks, we called our parents and siblings and gave them the unexpected news.

On the friday before my birthday (21.02) i was at work and had a bleed, a friend and i went straight to the Mercy to get everything checked, we sat there for about 4hrs waiting for bloods etc and then i had to come back on the Monday to have an IU.
We cancelled the dinner i had planned for that night and i spent the entire weekend feeling sick and not being able to eat properly.
Monday came and we saw the heartbeat of our beautiful little girl, it was the most amazing thing ever!

Over the course of my pregnancy i had another 2 bleeds, the Dr's advised it may have been due to pressure during intercourse and nothing wrong with the baby.

I was due around the 17th of October, we slowly started buying all the furniture and things we wanted, we found out we were having a girl and even though attempted to purchase neutral clothes it didn't work.

We decided to take up an offer from a relative to move to a property of theirs about 30min away from where we were living at the time and decided on moving about 2 weeks before i was due.
I finished work and started slowly packing up the house, my cousins wife was due a couple of weeks before i was and she came for a visit to see how i was going.
We were joking about if she went over and i went early we could have bubs on the same day... be careful what you wish for, we weren't far off.

On Friday the 3rd October my cousin and his wife welcomed their gorgeous little boy Zac into the world, a i had my OBS appt that day i got to pop in while she was in labour and see first hand what it was like... i could only wish i had of seen that hospital room first hand.

On Sunday the 5th of October we had everything packed in the truck and headed to the new place to get everything sorted out, we had plenty of boys to help and i was under strict instruction not to LIFT any boxes or anything, kicking them along the ground seemed to work well for me anyway.
I had dropped a bit by now and started getting a bit of back pain but i had over a week and a bit left so didn't think much of it at the time.
On Monday i started to unpack the kitchen stuff but found i had to stop in between boxes as i was getting quite tired and my back was annoying me no end.
My DP got home from work ran me a nice big bath and i disappeared to relax for a while.
Bubs was moving heaps so i thought there was def no chance she was on her way as everyone told me they slow down before birth, so i relaxed for the rest of the night and went to bed as normal.

TUESDAY 7th OCTOBER 2008: D DAY
1am: i woke up with sharp pains between my back and stomach, what i assume preiod pain would feel like, i kept trying to get back to sleep but kept getting woken by this awkward feeling, i nudged DP to tell him i think i was having contractions, at this stage they were roughly 15min apart but didn't really seem regular.
We just tried to roll over and get some rest, nothing seemed urgent at this stage

4am: The contractions were regularly 15mins apart at this stage and i was finding i wasn't getting much rest, we decided to call the hospital and see what they say as i had the strep bacteria and lived 45min from the hospital, i let DP sleep as i wandered off to the lounge to find my mobile charger so i could ring the hospital.
I was told this was my first baby, i hadn't had a show and that these contractions could last for days, so i toddled back to bed and attempted to get some sleep.

6am: DP had to work that day and said we should call the hospital again and see what they think as my contractions were down to about 12mins apart, if they thought anything would happen soon he would call one of the boys to come and get the keys for the job and he would stay home.
Again i was told just to try and rest and i could be like this for quite some time.
DP was working an hour away but we both agreed he should go to work (contractor, don't work don't get paid) and i would call him as soon as i thought i needed him to come home.
He got me a hot water bottle and drove to the corner shop to buy me some panadol as ours was still packed away somewhere and then headed off to work.
I tried getting back to sleep on and off but pretty much just layed and stared at the roof.

8:30am: I decided i needed to try and relieve some of this pain so i jumped in the shower, my contractions would roughly have been 10min apart by now but my phone was still on charge and no clocks were unpacked so i wasn't sure, i sat in the shower for about an hour i think until the water went cold.

around 9:15am: I got dried and dressed and went to call DP, i was not quite as comfortable now and my contractions were getting closer to 5min apart, he told me to call the hospital and then call him back, he was going to leave straight away.
I had only just had a show but my water still had not broken so i called the hospital, they timed my contractions and the length but still advised i should stay home for now.
I called DP back and he said he would leave as soon he could, i decided i might as well call mum and joke that it MIGHT be happening today.
I had planned to have my mum, stepmum and MIL present at the hospital so thought might aswell warn mum.
We spoke for a while, well in between me breathing through contractions (not sure i realized i was doing it) when she asked if i was timing them, i said no as i was speaking to her off the only thing with a clock, she sounded worried as she told me i was now down to about 3min apart.

9:50am - My water broke right as my SIL called to see if everything was ok as my DP had called her asking how long he had (hehe) i told her i wanted to go back to talking to mum and that i was OK.
I told mum my water broke so she called DP off her other phone and asked him to call my cousin who lived around the corner to come sit with me atleast until he could make it home.
As she did this i decided i needed to go and get underwear on as there was NO CHANCE my cousin was seeing me like this, i walked to the other end of the house (against mums advice).
Just as i picked up a pad and some undies i told mum i needed the toilet so i headed to the bathroom to sit down, as i did i told her i felt like i needed to push (again against her advice), i thought i could feel something so i put my hand down only to realise it didn't feel like a head.
I looked down and saw TWO BLUE feet staring back at me, as soon as i told mum she called 000.
They asked mum to hang up, they called my mobile and then conferenced mum into the call to try and help keep me calm.

I had the most amazing operator his name was Paul and his voice will stay with me for the rest of my life, he asked what was happening and i explained i had two feet sticking out of me while sitting on the toilet, he asked me to lower myself carefully onto the floor.
I told him i had towels but i'm not sure why as all i had was the towel i had not long used for my shower and one i had used on my hair, we also have a very pretty but very uncomfortable slate bathroom floor.

To be honest b/w now and Ava's actual birth i don't remember much, not the pain, nothing, i have a copy of the 000 phone call so i know what happened but i honestly believe my body just TOOK over as it had no choice.

Paul told me if i needed to push to pull my legs up to my chest and do is i felt i needed to, he was great, constantly reassuring me the ambos were on their way and asking how i was going.
In between pushing and contractions i had enough gall to tell Paul his wife was LUCKY as she had made it to hospital for her baby a week before, we all had a bit of a laugh.
I remember feeling her knees come out, then her bum (i think the hardest part for me) and then her head, I think roughly 8-10 pushes and my beautiful baby girl was out.
Just after she slowly landed on the floor rolling off my big fat bum my cousins wife (baby 4 days before) come flying up the hallway looking at me strangely as to why i was on the bathroom floor.
As she got in she yelled to my cousin that the baby was on the floor, right at that stage we heard her first cry and gasp for breath and she was wrapt in a towel and placed on my chest, none of us could believe what had just happened and my cousins wife was wondering why the baby had its head to close to me and not the other way around... haha

My cousin called DP only to be hung up on thinking it was a joke, he was quickly called back and advised no you have a little girl.
The ambulance arrived about 5min after she was born and DP arrived about 5min after them, we were both checked, i delivered the placenta and then we were taken off to the hospital.

I was EXTREMELY lucky that nothing happend to DD or myself and that she just wanted to hop out and meet us, i had some internal tearing but nothing major.
The nurses explained there had been 23 births that morning and thats why i kept getting put off and its not NORMAL for someone with their first labour to go so quick.



well #2 is on the way and the running joke is if we will make it to hosp or not... lets hope so.
Sorry i couldn't go into much details but as i said i didn't get to find out my stages of labour or how far dialated etc.. i wish i knew but she was in a hurry to meet us and save me a C/S so i am truly blessed with my H&H little girl.

if i can get through that it proves child brith is the most natural thing in the world and your body really does know what it needs.. hope you enjoyed Ava's birth story as much as our family does.

Wow Congratulations what a beautiful story, I had tears in my eyes reading it. Well done

xoxoxo

Wow what a birth. Congratulations and good luck with number 2.

Wow! What an amazing experience! You did SO well doing all of that on your own! It must have been such a shock for you all!!

I wish you all the best with your next labour

Wow, thats so incredible! Great job! Congrats on bub number 2!

holy crap!! WOW!!!
What an incredible birth story!!

GL with number two!

That is such an amazing story. I hope everyone in your family and friends are so incredible proud of you and your body and Ava. Thanks for sharing a truely amazing birth story!

What an awesome birth story!!! Go mumma!!!!

thank you.

great writing. great story.

Amazing birth story! Well done!!! Great to hear such a positive breech birth... and naturally!!!

Wow! Thanks for sharing your incredible story!

WOW!!

My first labour was also very rapid. I was also told that rapid labour first time around is not very common. I have an opinion on that; I think it's more common than they think!!

when mum told me about Ava's birth being dramatic i didnt realise quite HOW dramatic. was only hearing it last weekend from you that i got all the details. you did a fantastic job hun.

next labour - if you want a hospy birth, i'd be heading ther a wee bit earlier!

Fantastic story, I have one question though

what i assume preiod pain would feel like

am I right to assume you haven't ever had period pain? Now I am truely jealous!

Wow such a great birth story! Good luck with #2!

Wow - that is awesome! I tried for a waterbirth at home with number 1 but my labour went on for days and days..... so jealous- I hated hospital and felt so at ease at home in my own space.
Truely - I think the heavens were looking out for you. If you'd made it to the hospital earlier, there's a BIG chance you would have ended up with a c/section due to the breech factor, and consequently all the intervention and risks that come with it (epidural, antibiotics, etc).
It just proves what a woman's body is capable of if she allows mother nature to take charge without fear. You are amazing. Well done!
Just don't let DP go to work this time around coz it will probably happen even quicker!!

Oh - and I would have loved to have heard the reactions of the hospital staff when they found out you gave birth naturally to baby feet-first on the bathroom floor - classic!!

Thanks everyone it is something i know we will definitely never forget and Ava is lucky enough to have her entire birth on CD thanks to 000, they also sent her a gorgeous 000 bear to keep forever which we have named Pauly after the operator.

In reply to ausgirl i have never really had period pain, the odd cramping etc but NOTHING like the onset of child birth, wish i had of i may have been more prepared.

JellyBean the nurses reactions were quite funny, at first one lady said we have written breach on the forms because that is what you have told us, i doubt i will EVER forgot those blue feet, i also had nurses popping in saying OMG your that one and the next day the reception lady on teh ward told me i had caused quite a stir, even she knew the story oh and the hosp told me no choice i would have had to have had a c/s had they know she was breach so she saved me a lot of recovery time.

BG - i bet you thought your mum was exaggerating... hehehe but nope not for lil miss Ava... hehe

Thanks again everyone, i just hope people find some comfort in knowing that despite all the odds things can go right for you, even when you least expect it.

Wow that is amazing, what a wonderful story you told, thank you for sharing..