The birth of our rainbow baby

[Ryatha]

Thank you for sharing skybie

[skybie]

Without wanting to take away from your Birth Story.... But does it take the pain away? Holding a new baby in your arms?

i wish i could tell you it did hun, but no. My heart still aches for Jack.
Addison is so similar to him, especially when she's asleep.
But i will say, that my heart feels like it could burst when i think about how much i love her. She hasnt 'fixed' anything, but she's made things a hell of alot easier ITMS
Big hugs gorgeous

[Manhattan]

Thank you for sharing your journey. I cried through the whole thing, you are one strong mumma. But I had to smile at the butterfly, I too believe in signs, and that was definitely your precious Jack x

[Sopdet]

I'm in tears reading this, thank you for sharing your story Skybie.
to your family

[My Three Sons]

I have only just seen this, but I have to say, you girls have NO idea just how amazing Skye is. She is a birthing goddess. She did SO well and I was so in awe of her and her strength, especially in the light of all the fear she was experiencing. I have been SO blessed that she allowed me to follow her pregnancy journeys and being at the births of both Jack and Addison, and even more so to have Addison given my name for her middle name. You will forever be a part of my family now and I am just so thankful to you and all you have taught me, and for your friendship. I will never be able to thank you enough.
I love reading your version of what happened. Once you have seen mine, I will come back and post them if you are happy with what I have said so everyone can see how amazing you are though my eyes.
You are an amazing woman, and I am SO blessed for having met you and shared some of this journey to your precious little rainbow baby's arrival.

[chody47]

What a beautiful birth story Skybie. I'm another who is in tears reading this. I am so happy for you and your family. Enjoy your special time xxx

[My Three Sons]

Skye said I could post this here also... just another view of Addison's arrival. For those who don't know me- I am a Midwifery student. Skye read one of my posts when I was looking for women to follow through "follow through journeys" or "continuity of Care" journeys, when she was only a few weeks pregnant with Jack. I was so blessed to follow her pregnancy with Jack, and to be at his birth, and so honoured when she asked me to follow her again with Addison. So here is her birth from my POV- written when I was quite tired, after a very emotional day. <3

The Arrival of Miss Addison Jane.

I honestly don’t think I have ever been so emotionally attached to any birth other than mine or my sisters like I have with Addison’s birth. I was very nervous about possibly missing her birth due to my shift on Monday night, the night Skye was being admitted to start the cervidil. Thankfully for me (not Skye) she did not take off in a hurry and I was able to go home and get some sleep, albeit broken sleep, before the big day ahead. I wanted to be there for Skye for as much of the labour as possible. I wanted to give her the belly girls gifts before she was in deep labour and wasn’t able to read them. So I got up early and headed in so that I was there when they removed the cervidil and broke her waters, and arrived there at 8am. I had guessed that having the waters break may be a really rough time for her. I am sure it was, but she didn’t show it other than when they couldn’t find Miss Addison on the CTG for a little bit. I had heard her heartbeat in the background so knew she was ok, and it had flashed up for half a second when the midwife reached for something and wasn’t looking, but it was very frightening for Skye and it did take a little longer than normal to find her again. Certainly NOT what she needed. It also took a long time for the Dr to work up her cervix, and she was soft, and just a multi os (insert 1 finger, but not really dilating yet) and still 2 cm long. But she was able to break her waters and she was started on the Syntocinon drip a little later.

Things progressed slowly. Bubs heart rate was slowly increasing. Often this is a sign of a stressed baby, not coping well with contractions. Thus the Syntocinon drip was lowered and then the contractions would drop off and it would be upped again. A balancing act trying to keep them both happy. After a VE later in that day- I think it was about 2pm, Skye understandably broke down when she found out that nothing much had progressed since 8.30 that morning. We all gave her some time with DF (not long enough IMO) and I went outside and SMSed my mum and sister and asked them to pray for Skye and BC, saying we needed BC’s heart rate to come down a bit and stabilise so that we could get the contractions going more. I liked the midwife Skye had in the morning, and it was nice having my friend (and fellow midwifery student Tara) there too. She helped me a lot when Skye lost Jack, so it was nice for me that she was able to meet Skye and be a part of it. I had really hoped she would be the one to catch Addison, but it wasn’t to be unfortunately. The morning midwife closed all the curtains to the room, and got skye to rest on the bed for a little on her side. Contractions eased right off for a bit, but I think both Skye and Addison calmed down just the right amount and thankfully (after I gave BC another firm talking to to behave herself) things started to improve and the drip was allowed to go back up a little. (it was still on a very low rate!)

There was on and off chat amongst the new midwife and the Dr’s about IF she was having decelerations etc, but it was very hard to tell as her baseline heart rate was hard to determine, as it has always been, and even so there were not prolonged, nor were they very deep decels. I thought it was incredibly rude to be doing this next to Skye… and very worrying for her if she was listening. Addison did behave but now Skye’s contractions were coming too close together for their liking so again the drip went down. It slowed them ever so slightly but the intensity increased which was perfect (well perfect for getting a baby born). Skye was amazing! She really is. She breathed through the pain, closing her eyes during each one and upping her tens machine. She snuggled up to DF during each one and it was beautiful to watch them both working together to get through this. Softly whispering words to each other, and providing so much support. Skye was an absolute star. The Midwife kept saying that these ones were a “little more ouchy” and I was thinking that it these were great as I had seen Skye labour before and knew that she would be feeling them more than she was letting on, and that they would certainly be doing good things now. But Skye being Skye, never let on to anyone, she just breathed through, occasionally her breathing would become fast and I reminded her to breathe slowly, and she would just snap back into slow calmer breathing. Amazing! The contractions were really picking up and I had really thought that maybe we would be seeing this little girl today after all! There was some worry that she would be born Feb 29th! But no… not this girl. It all kicked in strongly and Skye went and sat on the loo for a bit. A good break from the fetal monitor I thought… she was off for almost 10 minutes. I also noticed that the way Skye was coping with the contractions was changing. She was starting to sound like she was going into transition… there is a sound change that many women make, and she was making it every couple of contractions- not all the time, but it was starting. The Midwife decided it was a good time to do a check (it was due about 6.30 anyway) so told Skye not to pop her pants back on when she was done. So at 6.20 the midwife did another examination to see how much Skye was progressing. I stood next to Skye quietly saying in my head, please be 6, please be 6. The midwife started off saying, “ooh she is nice and thin now” and I willed it more and more… please be 6 please be 6! And then she announced “About 6cm but stretching nicely now”. I burst into tears as did Skye. It was SUCH a relief- not only was she progressing- she was CLOSE, very close as she is a multi. Skye said to me “so I should be seeing her about 10pm going on that” and I replied with I didn’t think it would be that long, that it would probably be sooner. The next contraction she started to do some involuntary pushing. I don’t think she was even aware of it on that contraction. Skye then wanted to go and sit on the toilet again. I was thinking this is it… it is going to go fast now. I thought that BC would be born before 8pm for sure. Not that I dared say so out loud! But as soon as Skye and DF disappeared into the bathroom the midwife said to the Med Student that we would have to be careful that Skye wasn’t doing pushing on her cervix as it may swell, and she was only 6, bla bla bla. I wasn’t very impressed with her. I was thinking that Skye is a woman who has given birth 3 times before- seriously, and I was even more frustrated as I had seen Skye birth before and I knew that this midwife was underestimating her! I didn’t believe the midwife but as I was only a follow through Student – thus really a visitor- I didn’t dare say anything, so I encouraged Skye not to push as I knew that when Skye had the full urge, she would tell us where to go with our “don’t push” and when the time came, She did exactly that.

She came back to the bed (after saying she didn’t know where she would be comfortable, and was really starting to give a good push in the middle of the contraction. I was checking her down below (visually) as she had nothing covering her and I was standing at the end of the bed as there was no room either side of her because of the midwife and the med student (and of course… DF, who never left her side ). There was a bit of a show, but then the midwife saw me looking and covered her up. I thought it was a bit stupid really as she didn’t even look herself before doing so, but when the midwife moved I just tucked it up a little so that when Skye got a contraction I could step forward and still see. There was about 3 more contractions and then I saw a bigger show. So I tucked the sheet back down a bit to show a bit more which alerted the midwife to it and she went “oh there is a bit of a show”. So she told Skye she would do another check. I don’t think she was as convinced as I was that this was it. And this is when Skye told me quite firmly mid contraction “don’t tell me not to f****push. I can’t f***** help it.” (Then apologised for swearing at me lol). I knew and was BEAMING on the inside and possibly on the outside.

The midwife however was still crapping on about that this could show how quick she was progressing blab la bla to the med student. And skye then gave a good push and there was labial separation and slither of BC’s head. The midwife then told the student Dr to get her gloves on … LOL. Poor girl had no chance when she slowly walked over to wash her hands… No time for that love I thought, glove up NOW girl and HURRY UP!! I had moved to the other side of the bed when the med student moved and was holding skyes hand. She looked right into my eyes and said “I’m scared” and I could see it clearly in her eyes for the first time that day since they were struggling to find BC’s heart rate first thing that morning. I lent down next to Skye and cuddled into her and told her BC’s heart rate. That she was good. She was there, she was coming and she was OK. I prayed SO hard that she would be ok! Skye was pushing like a champ, and got to the ring of fire (crowning) in no time. A head of dark looking hair appeared, It did look very dark, despite us knowing what colour it should be, so Skye didn’t believe the midwife nor me. I didn’t get another good glance at Addison though as I wanted to be there for Skye and DF so stayed up close looking into Skye’s gorgeous eyes. She soon delivered the head and then quickly her chubby body followed. I think the student had finally got her gloves on by now and maybe got to guide her body. I held my breath waiting for her to breathe. I could feel her cord pulsating under my hand as I dried her but I needed that cry/breath. Skye needed it. And then it came. It was amazing. “She’s real” said Skye. “She’s really here and she’s ok”. I was crying, I couldn’t see through the tears, just so much relief and joy. Skye had summed it up perfectly. She’s real… she’s here, she’s safe! I knew I would cry, but it was just so special. A moment I will never forget. I will never forget the elation on Skye’s face. She was here… she was safe and she was ok, she was warm and she was breathing. She was OK. She was OK, She was really OK. RELIEF.

Addison Jane was born at 7.05pm. Only 45 minutes after Skye was told she was 6cm. Skye was amazing… absolutely amazing and Addison, with her huge chubby cheeks and grumpy face was just adorable. And she was here… she was safe!

I took some photos for them, and then did the obs as requested for the midwife as she went out to check the placenta with the Med student. I knew Addison would be whisked off to SCN, so I wanted to clear out quickly so that Skye and DF would have some private time with her before she was taken off them. My heart broke knowing they wouldn’t just be able to hold her as they would have wanted. So cruel, but I did understand the need for Addison to be closely watched, as ultimately what they all needed most was for Addison to be ok and healthy, so a SCN separation was sadly needed to ensure that. So I left them to it. (at this point I had NO idea of her full name). I went to the car and just cried for a good 10 minutes before heading home. It was all good tears, just relief that it all was OK. Addison had arrived safely and I knew Skye could breathe a little again!

When I got home, it was so hard. Skye had not officially announced it all yet, and Facebook was very quiet. I wanted to shout from the roof top that she had arrived safe and sound. I knew she had SMSed a few key people, but as I had a few of them on my facebook I tried to be very careful not to say too much. It was Skye and Adam’s moment and I wasn’t going to deny them that announcement. So I quietly stalked facebook and Belly for the announcement that everyone had been holding their breath for all day.
When I read her name on facebook when Skye did post, I bawled again. She had been clearly keeping her middle name a secret for a reason. I already felt SO honoured just to be a part of Jack and Addison’s journeys and births and can never thank Skye and her DF enough for letting me be there, so to have Addison given my name as her middle name was the most special gift I have EVER been given.

Little Addison Jane… the most special little gift in the lives of so many who love Skye and DF. I have no doubt her big brother has sent her here and will always be watching over her. A beautiful little gift.

[Mum2twoBoys]

Gosh this is an absolutely beautiful story, bringing tears to my eyes. Im so glad that you have your beautiful little girl skye. You are an amazing and strong person.

[Beautiful Disaster]

That's the best story from a different perspective. Such an hour to share and so do many tears.

[chody47]

I'm in tears again after reading that account. Well done again Skybie.

[~MummaBear~]

I have held off reading this because i knew exactly what my reaction would be.

It is a beautiful birth story and i am in tears. Well done Mumma!!

[Danielle_NZ]

What a beautiful story with a magically ending, you did so well <3 Welcome Baby Addison

[young_mumma87]

What a beautiful story! Congrats Skye and family x

[Lily Dust]

ohhhhh Im bawling AGAIN! Beautiful Jane, what a honoured moment you shared with such beautiful people. You are going to be one incredible midwife!

[Anila]

Thankyou for sharing hun, it was also great to read another view as well..

[~Minny~]

Amazing! So happy for you guys, congrats on little addison!

[~Hestia~]

Thanks for sharing your side MTS, I was captivated! DH walked in as I was reading and wanted to know what was wrong I was concentrating!

[KimB]

Congratulations Skybie on the safe arrival of Addison. What a great birth you had