The beautiful freebirth of Lucinda Molly

[Lisa]

The birth of Lucinda Molly

My due date was Feb 6 2011. I had an ante natal appointment booked for Feb 8, where I had already been told that they would be discussing induction with me, as they didn’t want me going too far over because of the fact that this was pregnancy #6 over 20 weeks and I am 35 years old. I had written up a birth plan stating things like ‘no vaginal examinations to be performed’ but that was completely ignored by my midwife who told me they would like me to have a S&S (strip & sweep/stretch & sweep) done at the next appointment.
Because of these facts, I decided to skip my ante natal appointment and just hope for the baby to come out asap.

I had a feeling about Feb 10. Maybe it was wishful thinking, but Feb 10 stayed in my head.
On Feb 9 I started to do some acupressure and almost instantly the Braxton hicks contractions I had been having began to intensify. I got excited that thought it was the real thing. I was sorely disappointed when they all faded into nothingness. The best thing about them fading was that I got to have a decent night sleep.
On the morning of Feb 10 I woke at 6am with more Braxton hicks contractions. I told DH to stay home as I was rather exhausted and the pains were coming fairly regular. By 7am I was ready for DH to go to work as I wasn’t convinced this was the real thing. DS1 & DD1 had school photos on and DH drove them to school. I asked DH to drop in to Bi-lo on his way home to buy some snack type foods for the little ones, just in case the Braxton hicks amped up and I went to hospital later in the day.
I went for a shower while DH was gone and DS2 joined me. We had a sing along and splashed each other. I felt fine even though the Braxton hicks were bugging me. I got out of the shower and put on a top. Something told me to fold my towel and sit on it on the bed. I grabbed the laptop and hopped on facebook to keep me occupied until DH got home. I got another Braxton hicks contraction and suddenly I felt my water break. I was really confused at first because it was so opposite to what happened the last time my water broke naturally. Last time I was in what I knew was labour, I lost my mucus plug and not long after my water broke. This time, my water broke while only having Braxton hicks. That’s when I thought that perhaps the pains actually were the real thing and I was probably in labour. I called DH and told him what had happened. He was shopping in Bi-lo and decided he’d best hurry home. I decided to get back in to the shower and clean myself up a bit. It was around 8:15am.
DH arrived home and I hopped out of the shower. I got back on facebook to distract myself for a bit while DH got the kids their breakfast. Pains were coming every 7 minutes and lasting for 1 minute. I wondered if I should head up to the hospital. I decided not to as I thought the baby would be way off as the contractions weren’t really intense and they were still 7 minutes apart. I had no problems talking through the contractions.
So I basically sat in bed with DS2 & DD2 and we watched a movie. DH put a whole heap of pillows behind my back so I could be semi reclined and comfortable. DH dozed off while I watched TV and got through my contractions.
DD2 was being really clingy to her Daddy and was a bit sooky. She wouldn’t leave DH alone and wouldn’t settle next to me. DH went to take her into her bedroom but I didn’t want him to leave my side. DH asked if we should head up to the hospital and again I said no. I told him that they contractions were not strong enough and there was no way I was going to be in labour up there with the little ones unwelcome and bored. I had previously been told that this time around it was highly likely I would not be allowed to have the kids in the room while I birthed the baby. This really upset me.
So, I sat back in my mountain of pillows while DH timed my contractions and talked to me. Suddenly, I felt a massive need to push. Once again, DH asked if we should head to the hospital and I told him I was going no where! The baby was going to be born where I was sitting as I couldn’t move.
Between contractions & pushing, DH & I discussed little things like him slipping the cord off the babies neck should it be wrapped around it and what we would do in regards to the cord etc. We decided that I would birth the baby and he would call an ambulance. I guess being told so often that I would haemorrhage played on my mind a fair bit, so there was a part of me that wanted that covered just in case.
DD2 was still clinging to her Daddy and DS2 was sitting up next to me with his play stethoscope. I explained to DS2 that the baby was going to be born soon. Through contractions, DS2 would place his stethoscope on my belly and listen like a little Doctor. It was very cute.
It was lovely having my babies there with me. I kept pushing & pushing and I felt like I was getting nowhere. Part of me kept thinking “call the ambulance and get me to the hospital right now” and the other part of me thought “this is transition, you CAN do this”. DH grabbed a spare doona and some extra towels and we put them underneath me as I moved into a less reclined but still semi reclined position. I started pushing some more and DH then told me he could see the babies head and there was lots of hair. DH was telling me how great I was and how well I was doing. I pushed and pushed some more and out popped the head. I told DS2 to move down by my leg and watch the baby come out. I kind of expected it to be easy from here, like it had been for my others but it wasn’t. I felt like the baby was a little stuck so I asked DH to help me. Not real sure what he did but it hurt a little and it made me push really hard. The rest of the baby slid out and I felt instant relief. DS2 & DD2 watched the whole thing and when the baby came out, the first thing I heard was DD2 say “Bubba”. The time was about 10:50am.
I grabbed my new little baby and put it on my chest. DH grabbed the towel we had bought for it and placed it over us. DS2 looked at the baby properly and said “It’s a little boy”. I realised I hadn’t checked to see if the ultrasounds had been telling us the truth. I moved the cord aside to discover the ultrasounds were right and I was holding my little princess. I showed DS2 that she was indeed a little girl and told him her name is Lucinda. I sat there with the 3 of my babies cuddled up to me while DH called the ambulance.
The operator asked if I had delivered the placenta yet and DH said no. I told him to tell them it wasn’t far off and with that, I pushed and out it came. DH went out to the kitchen to find an old ice cream container but there were none, so he grabbed an old salad bowl and came back and put the placenta in it.
Next thing we hear a quick siren sound outside. DH went to the door and let the ambulance women in. They were lovely and joked that I had left nothing for them to do! By this stage the only thing left to do was to clamp and cut the cord. The cord had stopped pulsating so we clamped and Rob cut it. I was feeding Lucinda all this time. We then wrapped Lucinda and talked about how she & I were to go to the hospital to just get checked over. I handed Lucinda to DH and went off for a quick shower. I cleaned myself up and the ambulance lady carried Lucinda out to the ambulance as I walked beside them. I hopped onto the stretcher and continued to feed Lucinda. We arrived at the hospital and we were wheeled past what felt like a thousand different people who all turned to look at me. I couldn’t take the smile off my face as I wondered what everyone must be thinking.
We arrived at Labour & Delivery and I hopped on to another bed where I was checked over and offered something to eat & drink.
DH then arrived shortly after with DS2 & DD2. They both hopped on to the bed with me and we shared the dessert that came with my meal. The midwives came back in and weighed & measured Lucinda. She weighed 4160kgs or 9lb 3oz, was 53 cms long with a 35.5cm head circumference. DH was praised for keeping such a cool head throughout the birth and the midwives were so proud of how well I did. We arrived back home around 2pm with our newest little perfect princess.