Meeting our suprise prince Leonardo
If you've followed our story you'll know we started thinking our little girl was coming at 35 weeks. Bouts of contractions every few days got us all excited but turns out it would be more than 6 weeks before we got there.
Our bubba was sitting high at every appointment. We were booked to be induced on the 21st but when they went to break the waters it was decided the little one was too high and it wasn't safe, so we were sent home amidst many tears and told to come back on the 23rd.
We came back to hospital on the 23rd and at 40 +9 weeks we were still floating and only 2cm dilated. It was time though so after having tried everything natural to bring this bubba into the world, we were booked to be induced at 6pm.
After spending the afternoon together talking about finally meeting our princess DF and I made our way back to hospital. At 6:30pm I was given prostin gel and within an hour or so was having contractions every 6 minutes. Things levelled out so at 10:40pm I went to sleep only to wake up at 11:30pm to my waters breaking. Contractions ramped up to 3 in 10 minutes but then by 4am had slowed to 1 every 10 minutes so I went to sleep but woke at 5am as they contractions became stronger.
We were taken down to birth suite and after an examination showed that bubby was still high it was decided it was time to start the Syntose drip. Synto went up at 7 and things went from there. By 10am I was having 4 in 10 minutes and was 4cm. I was tired and with no pain relief was starting to think I may have bitten off more than I could chew. As syntose was started at exactly the same time with DS1 I expected to be labouring till 11pm just like I did with DS1.
By 11am I was having 5 contractions in 10 minutes which rapidly turned to 2 contractions on top of each other with a minute or so break in between. I felt like I couldn't do it anymore if I was going to be there till midnight. I asked to be examined and told the midwife if nothing was happening I might need some pain relief (looking back, I didn't want pain relief I still knew that, I just wanted someone to tell me that the pain I was in was making something happen down there lol). She told me I was 6cm and at the look of deflation on my face explained that with 2nd babies getting to 6cm is often the worst part.
At this point things got super intense. I had been quiet till now but the pain became incredible and suddenly I was moaning through the contractions and praying constantly that I would have the strength for the next one. At 11:20am I started feeling pressure and told the midwife I wanted to push. She examined and told me that I was only 8cm and needed to focus on breathing through them for another 30 minutes. She explained that I would know when to push because I wouldn't be able to breathe through them anymore.
10 minutes later I knew I couldn't breathe through them anymore. "Just let me push now" I said and desperately tried not to push as DF held me and the midwife quickly checked. "It's ok, you can push now sweetheart" I was told as another wave of contractions came.
17 minutes later our baby was born. DF went to sit down as bubba was laid on my chest and I saw his eyes glaze over as he looked at us from across the room and exclaimed "It's a boy!" We all looked down and sure enough our princess was a prince!
We donated the cord blood and within a few minutes our little man was feeding away as we all sat around and laughed about how 2 scans could be wrong and what on earth we were going to do with a room full of pink. DF cuddled as I had a shower and then DS1 was bought in by my dad.
He looked concerned when he came into the room and then his eyes lit up as he saw his brother. He sat on my lap and patted the baby's face and munched away on my sandwhich (which I was soo looking forward to eating lol). Looking at me confused he pulled my shirt up and pointing at my tummy said "gone". Then he looked at his brother and laughed.
After 24 hours I can safely say we are all in love with this little man and I am so proud of myself for overcoming my fears of being induced again and suceeding with my dream of having a drug free birth that I was in control of.
Massive thank you to Sara student midwife who's soft words and gentle touch helped guide me through my doubt and give me faith in my ability to bring our bubba into the world the way I wanted.
We've just decided that this little cherub will be named Leonardo Domitrius Martin.
Thank you to all who have followed our journey and wished us well. Your words have truly meant the world.
