Every time I read someones birth story it usually starts with 'sorry this is so long'... well ditto! This turned out heaps longer than I'd expected but feel free to skip bits - it was a good exercise for me to write it all down before I forgot!
I can?t believe 6 weeks have slipped past already and I haven?t written this down yet! The other day an as yet childless friend asked me what contractions felt like and I realised that I couldn?t actually remember - couldn?t conjure up the sensation in my mind as I had been able to a few weeks ago ? I guess that selective amnesia is what helps us go back for subsequent children! So before any more details get lost in the fog of nappies, nipples and night-time wakenings I?d better hop to it.....
My due date was? officially? August 13th (based on dating scan due to my PCOS).Well the 13th came and went and despite knowing that first babies are often ?late? I started getting anxious as I?d had bugger-all indication that anything was about to happen ? no Braxton Hicks, no show, no frantic nesting instincts. The only sign were period-like cramps I?d get every morning before getting up which would build til I had to go to the loo and empty my bowel ? then they?d stop I was convinced this was some weird late pregnancy bowel thing anyway. Considering birthing Pipsqueek felt like doing the biggest poo of my life I now realise that wasn?t the case! I was also worried that he/she would ?crash? their dad?s 30th birthday (the 24th).
Anyway, on the 17th I went back to the acupuncturist as I had the last few weeks and asked that she ?ramp up? the labour preparation acupuncture to induction acupuncture. During the session and for a while later that day I got some much stronger cramping ? Good stuff! I thought But nothing happened that night/morning or all the next day ? bummer About 6am Wednesday I woke to the familiar cramping sensation ? much stronger this time. By the time DP got up for work I was getting pretty regular cramps about every 5-10 mins ? Good stuff!
I decide to capitalise on the cramps and take a walk in the winter sunshine ? might turn the cramps into contractions? So DP rode off to work reminding me not to get too excited and that pre-labour can last for days (bless him!) and I toddled off for my regular morning walk along the creek. What was normally an hour?s walk took about 90 mins that morning as I had to stop every 5 mins as the wave of cramps passed. They were getting stronger tho I still didn?t reckon they were real contractions ? besides they start about 20 mins apart and get closer and closer together don?t they? By the time I got home they were quite strong and I had to get down on my knees rolling over the fit ball to cope. In between them I was happy as Larry but starting to wonder if these could be turning into contractions ? so I called my doula who asked if I could still walk and talk thru them ? definitely not walking but it takes a lot to stop my mouth! She asked me to keep her posted - she has a long drive to get in from the hills around Melbourne to the hospital and needed to avoid any rush hour traffic.
DP came home at lunchtime - unable to concentrate at work and had a feeling things were going to be happening today. He grabbed some DVDs to keep me distracted from the increasingly intense contractions ? lasted all of half an hour before I had to turn off the telly and focus all my attention on riding out each one. By 2pm I?d come to the realisation that this was indeed ?it? ? so much for the shortening gaps between contractions ? they?d been 5 mins apart from the get-go ? just getting longer and stronger.
From here on I lost all sense of time ? something I had hoped to do as I?m a terrible clock-watcher and didn?t want ?labour maths? to get in the way of my focus (ie ?oh no I?ve only dilated x cm in x hours? blah blah). I must have laboured for about 4 hours in the bedroom on my ?nest? of pillows and doonah, (with DP bringing me a stready stream of heat packs for the intense pressure in the front of my belly) cos it was dark when our doula suggested (by phone) I hop in the shower to ease the pain. She had made the trip in to the birth centre already to beat the traffic ? I felt guilty that she was waiting there for us but she insisted she was quite happy and we shouldn?t come in til we were ready. I was surprised and somewhat annoyed at the pain being mainly in the front of my belly ? we had anticipated and practiced acupressure ?moves? to deal with all sorts of back pain but this was unexpected. Only really hot heat packs provided any relief ? DP?s back rubs etc did nothing . The shower was a welcome change if scene and I directed the flow of hot water to my lower belly where it was most intense. Then we ran out of hot water! Now was the time to make a break for the birth centre ? any later and there was no way I was getting into that car! The contractions were only 3 mins apart by now so we hopped to it. Luckily it?s only a 15 ride to the hospital. DP did a tremendous job of driving carefully yet quickly and avoiding lots of traffic lights ? though we did get stuck for what seemed like forever at a major intersection with four young blokes in an old Gemini net to us ? I must have made quite a sight for them! They stared at me goggled-eyed ? inwardly I had to laugh at the situation and took a perverse pleasure at freaking them out!
It was about 8pm when we reached the birth centre ? our doula met us in the foyer. DP dashed off to park the car while she admitted me. There was an ante-natal class going on when we arrived (Wednesday night ? of course! ) I had to duck into a loo during a contraction cos I didn?t know which room they ready for me ? I?m sure the class heard me! Once in our cosy dim room I stripped off immediately and made a bee-line for the shower (get me that hot water!) directing one shower head of super-hot water onto my belly. The contractions were coming thick and fast now and I pleaded to use the big bath.
All through my pregnancy I?d held this idea that the bath would be the great panacea ? would be the answer to my pain and hopefully I?d birth there (midwife willing!). Strangely enough, once in the bath it wasn?t what I?d cracked it up to be: For a start the room was too bright, the midwife couldn?t get the water hot enough for me so I clutched a shower head to my belly under the waterline ? DP had to keep fishing round under me find the plug and let out water or we?d flood the place! It was in the bath that I had my ?crisis of confidence? too. The pressure in my belly was sooo strong ? I was desperate for my waters to break and relieve this immense pressure. I kept asking my doula if she thought I have the waters broken to which she replied that it could relieve my distress but also if the baby wasn?t in a good position (eg posterior) it could drop into the birth canal in that position and cause more problems for me. I knew she was right My panicked self thought ?gees an epidural would be nice right now!? to which my other calm self reponded ? well that would numb the pain but it wouldn?t actually solve the problem would it? ? you need your waters to break on their own and that?s gotta be soon yes?? ?yeah you?re right? ?ok so no more talk of epidurals right?? ?ok then? .
My doula could see the bath wasn?t working and I was getting more distressed so she suggested we move back into the birthing room and use gravity to help. Looks like I was going to give birth on dry land after all! A new midwife joined us - I had met her during my ante-natal visits and was quite comfortable with her. We had the bed up really high and I leaned my crossed arms on the mattress working through each contraction with lots of hip swivling, heat packs on my belly and moaning (I must?ve sounded like a wounded cow by now! ). Finally there was a pop and my waters gave way. It wasn?t a huge gush as I?d expected ? some had already leaked out in the bath and more would gradually seep out during the rest of the labour but that pop and release made a huge difference ? oh sweet relief! The pain had now also moved round to my back and DP used all his might pushing my back and hips with great results. My doula asked me if I felt the contractions were any different ? I stopped and thought ? yes! They were further apart again and more ?focussed?. I was ?bearing down? with each one as well (not actually pushing anything out as yet) as though I was doing a huge poo. I was in second stage! That meant I must have passed through ?transition? already! I was on the home stretch ? I could do this! There was no going back now! Unfortunately this stage wasn?t the short burst I was expecting either. For a couple of hours (so I?m told) I laboured trying to get the baby ?round the S-bend? as it were to get into ?pushing position?. The midwife was getting concerned at the amount of time this was taking (from the view that she might be asked to transfer me to the main hospital ) so she and my doula went out of the room to consult with each other what to do next. Good thing my doula knew me so well after months of our catching up ? she knew threatening me with a VE would get things moving (there was NO WAY I was going to move onto my back!) That and the suggestion that the baby may have moved into a posterior position ? with all that prenatal yoga my baby was NOT going to get stuck in a posterior position! The psychology worked: next contraction I gave an almighty heave and Pipsqueek plonked down right inside the ?entrance? ? hooray! We were ready to push!
I was down on all fours by now and very low to the ground ? this position didn?t seem to help Pip much so we turned round so I was ?sitting? between DP?s legs and pushing down on him with all my might ? I could feel the sweat pouring out of him through his jeans and onto my palms. Apparently I had the ?strength of ten men? pushing and yelling (well I never promised to be quiet!). Pip?s head emerged and I could feel the enormous stretch it made my skin do ? but I didn?t feel the ?burning? sensation I was expecting. I was disappointed that the contractions seem not to be lasting as long ? making it difficult to get very far with each one. So when the next one hit and I felt the head come through I kept pushing til I felt the shoulders and rest of the body emerge ? stuff tearing ? I?d had enough ? this was gonna be it! And it was! Suddenly this slithery purple body with a great shock of hair was brought through my legs and into my arms ? OMG! It?s Pip! I was marvelling at the beautiful face with ruby red lips and huge eyes that looked around agaze as if to say ?Gees what just happened here? Where the hell am I?? when calls to see what sex we had finally registered ? we prised apart Pip?s legs ? a girl ? just as we thought!
Orla Patience had arrived at 2.05am on Thursday August 20 weighing 3.24kg.
This is soooo long already I?ll spare you the details of the dramas that followed but in a nutshell I had a retained placenta and big haemorrhage so I was sent up to theatre under general anaesthetic to have it removed (and a couple of stitches while I was there) so spent a couple of days recovering in the main hospital.
All in all I was elated and amazed to have given birth without drugs (or a VE!) ? I still can?t quite believe I did it (I?m such a wuss in real life!).
How Pipsqueek became a little girl
About 6am Wednesday I woke to the familiar cramping sensation ? much stronger this time. By the time DP got up for work I was getting pretty regular cramps about every 5-10 mins ? Good stuff!
. The shower was a welcome change if scene and I directed the flow of hot water to my lower belly where it was most intense. Then we ran out of hot water! Now was the time to make a break for the birth centre ? any later and there was no way I was getting into that car! The contractions were only 3 mins apart by now so we hopped to it. Luckily it?s only a 15 ride to the hospital. DP did a tremendous job of driving carefully yet quickly and avoiding lots of traffic lights ? though we did get stuck for what seemed like forever at a major intersection with four young blokes in an old Gemini net to us ? I must have made quite a sight for them! They stared at me goggled-eyed ? inwardly I had to laugh at the situation and took a perverse pleasure at freaking them out!
) I had to duck into a loo during a contraction cos I didn?t know which room they ready for me ? I?m sure the class heard me! Once in our cosy dim room I stripped off immediately and made a bee-line for the shower (get me that hot water!) directing one shower head of super-hot water onto my belly. The contractions were coming thick and fast now and I pleaded to use the big bath.
). Finally there was a pop and my waters gave way. It wasn?t a huge gush as I?d expected ? some had already leaked out in the bath and more would gradually seep out during the rest of the labour but that pop and release made a huge difference ? oh sweet relief! The pain had now also moved round to my back and DP used all his might pushing my back and hips with great results. My doula asked me if I felt the contractions were any different ? I stopped and thought ? yes! They were further apart again and more ?focussed?. I was ?bearing down? with each one as well (not actually pushing anything out as yet) as though I was doing a huge poo. I was in second stage! That meant I must have passed through ?transition? already! I was on the home stretch ? I could do this! There was no going back now! Unfortunately this stage wasn?t the short burst I was expecting either. For a couple of hours (so I?m told) I laboured trying to get the baby ?round the S-bend? as it were to get into ?pushing position?. The midwife was getting concerned at the amount of time this was taking (from the view that she might be asked to transfer me to the main hospital ) so she and my doula went out of the room to consult with each other what to do next. Good thing my doula knew me so well after months of our catching up ? she knew threatening me with a VE would get things moving (there was NO WAY I was going to move onto my back!) That and the suggestion that the baby may have moved into a posterior position ? with all that prenatal yoga my baby was NOT going to get stuck in a posterior position! The psychology worked: next contraction I gave an almighty heave and Pipsqueek plonked down right inside the ?entrance? ? hooray! We were ready to push!
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