The birth story of Tobias Edward Joseph Stirling (his dad gave him lots of names )
Written by his mummy on the 6/11/08

My pregnancy with Tobias was pretty easy although it was quite hard to find the energy to run after his older brother Ethan so I was pretty tired alot. I had yucky morning sickness until about 16 weeks and from 6months onwards I had lots of groin and sciatic pain because Tobie?s head was engaged from 32 weeks!
From 36 weeks onwards I had lots of Braxton Hicks (practice) contractions and a couple of times I thought maybe labour was on the way but Tobie had other plans and decided to come 3 days late even though i was sure he'd come early! His estimated due date was 26/10/08. The week before Tobie?s birth DH and I had a guess at when he would arrive. I guessed early the following week (maybe 27th, 28th or 29th) and thought I?d go into labour at night and that he?d weigh 8pound 1ounce. DH guessed he?d come Wednesday 29th and that I?d go into labour in the early morning and that he?s weigh 8 and a half pounds. It turned out DH was nearly right!

About a week and a half before Tobie?s birth I started to lose my mucous plug which I continued to lose on and off until the day of his birth. The day before Tobie?s birth (Tuesday 28th) I had little niggles and period type pain throughout the day and a bit at night and I also had a feeling I needed to get everything ready (nesting) so I repacked the hospital bag and made sure I had everything I needed for the birth. I was also feeling really tired and grumpy and just generally washed out.
I went to bed that night hoping labour was on the way but I didn?t want to get my hopes up.
At 5am I woke up to some painful contractions that felt different to Braxton hicks contractions. They seemed to be coming about every 20mins but I managed to sleep through some of them. At 7am Ethan woke up so I got him up and gave him his breaky and DH got ready for work. By now the contractions were coming every 5-6mins and lasting about 40-50seconds. I said to DH that I thought maybe this could be it but I wasn?t sure. Then when I was eating breaky I got a fairly painful contraction and I said to Wayne that I might be calling him later that day to come home.
The contractions kept coming at 5-6mins apart until about 9am when they slowed down to every 11-13mins but lasting for 1min each. I kept thinking about calling DH to come home but I still wasn?t entirely sure I was in labour because my contractions weren?t regular. I jumped on the computer and chatted on BB for a while to get some opinions about whether this was really labour
By about 11am I was starting to get a little nervous and it was getting harder to ignore the contractions. Each time I had one I?d stop what I was doing and breathe through it but Ethan kept poking my belly and screaming at me so it was hard to concentrate!
At around 12pm I called DH at work and asked him to come home because by now I was pretty sure it was the real thing. My contractions were coming every 10mins at 1min each and I really needed DH home to look after Ethan so I could concentrate on relaxing. I called the maternity ward and told them things were happening but I didn?t think I?d go to the hospital until later that evening since Ethan?s birth took so long I figured I still had a while to go. Plus my contractions weren?t anywhere near as painful as my first birth (although they were still pretty ouchy!) so I figured I must still be in early labour.
At about 12:30pm DH got home and put Ethan into bed. Around this time i had a bloody show and was having lots of lose poos (sorry TMI ) so i knew things were really happening, it was a bit scary but so exciting as well. By this stage I had retreated to the bedroom and was finding it most comfortable to get on all fours when a contraction hit with DH rubbing my back (most of the pain pressure was in my back since Tobie was posterior..just like his brother!)
By about 2pm the contractions where getting really strong and I was starting to get a bit scared. Every time I got up to walk to the bathroom another contraction would hit and I?d quickly drop to all fours.. it was a pretty funny sight, not so funny at the time though!
I decided that I wanted to go to hospital so that if the pain got really bad there?d be drugs handy!
I called the hospital and told them we were coming in and DH called some friends from church to come and mind Ethan (who by the way was still wide awake and calling out from his cot.. he must have sensed something was happening!)
We got to the hospital at 2:30pm and talked to a lovely midwife named Sally. She read through my birth plan and was really supportive. She put the monitor on me for about 15mins to check bubs heart rate and my contractions and then she left DH and me to ourselves. By this stage my contractions were coming every 4 ? mins and lasting about 1min or longer. I was still able to breathe through the pain but each contraction seemed to be getting a little bit stronger and more intense.
DH went and got me a mat and a birth ball from the store room and I got on all fours and leant over the ball. Between contractions DH fed me cheese and bacon shapes which I?d packed in the labour bag?it was a pretty funny sight. I looked like a beached whale in just undies and a bra moaning away and DH was shoving shapes in my mouth  We had a bit of a giggle about it between contractions.
At about 3:30pm I asked the midwife for some gas because I was starting to feel overwhelmed by the pain and was feeling shaky and like i wanted to spew (which looking back now i realise i was approaching transition). The gas was good and helped to take the edge off.
I thought I might try a shower to help ease the pain but every time I moved another contraction hit.
At about 4pm I asked the midwife to check how dilated I was so that if I still had ages to go I could ask for some drugs 
She checked me and I was 7cm but could easy stretch to 10cm! Wooohooo!!
She asked me if I?d like to have a bath and I jumped at the chance as I was hoping to have a water birth.
It took about half and hour to run the bath (it was a big bath!) but when I got in it was sooo nice.
I?d been in the bath for about half an hour when I started getting some really strong contractions that made me feel like I needed to push. There was just me and DH in the room so when the next contraction came I said to DH ?ooooo I think I have to push!? and he sprung into action and called the midwives in.
The next contraction was soooo intense and then POP! My waters broke.. The was so much pressure it was like a balloon popped inside me, it actually stung a little which i wasn't expecting. Then the next contraction came straight away and the urge to push was unbearable so I pushed and pushed and in the background I could hear the midwife telling me to just give little pushes but the feeling was too strong!
Tobias? head started crowning and I could see all his beautiful black hair! My contractions slowed down now which gave my body a bit of a rest but the feeling of having his head half out was horrible! I just wanted him out! With the next few contractions I kept pushing but Tobie?s head was stuck. I kept saying to the midwives ?He?s stuck, he?s stuck! Why isn?t he coming out?!? and ?Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeelp!? and "just get him out!" It felt like I?d been pushing for an hour but it had only been 15mins. I tried getting on all fours in the bath but that didn?t help. At this point the midwives thought I might need an episiotomy since he was right there but just a little bit stuck. I didn?t care I just wanted him out! So out of the bath I hopped (not very elegantly with a baby half hanging out ) and into the corner onto all fours and resting on a pile of towels and a bean bag (which was really comfy). The midwives dimmed the lights which was nice and with the next contraction the midwife made a little cut and out slid Tobias in one go! He was born at 5.06pm. I reached down and picked him up..he was really slippery! He was a bit mucousy because he came out so fast the poor little thing. His Apgar was 9 @1min and 10@ 5mins. He weighed 8pound 11ounces, 52cm long and a head circumference of 35cm.
The whole moment was really lovely and private, it felt so natural and although I wasn?t able to actually give birth in the water I am still really happy with the whole beautiful experience.
The midwives asked me if I?d like to birth the placenta naturally or have the shot of oxytocin (I was really impressed by this, they were great midwives!) I chose to go for the natural way. After about 15mins the umbilical cord stopped beating and DH cut it.
DH and I were left alone to get to know Tobie for about half an hour which was really nice. We just sat looking at each other and taking in the moment 
A little while later we moved back across the hall to the birthing suit and I gave Tobie his first feed.
Then I sat up and had some dinner which a nice midwife had ready for me? it was the best hospital food ever, I was starving! A bit later the doctor came to give me a few stitches and then DH gave Tobie his first bath which he wasn?t too impressed about so it was only a very quick one.

The whole birth experience was really natural and calm and DH was such an awesome support. What a gorgeous experience 