My due date was 1st Jan 2005. On 28th Dec I woke up that morning and announced to the family (husband, 7yr daughter and 22 month daughter) that we were going out to wash the car. So we all drove to the car wash and I vaccumed the whole car and husband washed the outside. Then we came home and I put the baby car seat in but couldn't find the extension strap. So off I went to KMart to buy one. I was on a mission. Got that all sorted and was happy that the last thing was organised. That night I practised my relaxation and when I was finished I said, "OK, everything's ready. You can come out now, I'm really looking foward to meeting you and holding you." Went out to the kitchen and ate a mango (about 11.30pm) and then went to sleep.
At 2.30am I was woken by a contraction. I looked at the clock and waited to see what would happen. 2.35am another one. I woke my husband and said I think I might be in labour, please call my parents (40 mins away) so they could come and look after the girls. While he was on the phone saying to them, "Lea thinks she might be in labour" I had another contraction and said, "This is definitely it, tell them to come right away". My legs were shaking a bit, almost like shivering. When the contractions came I relaxed completely and they felt like a strong sensation but didn't hurt.
I got up and went into the shower. The warm water felt great. The contractions then went to 2 mins apart but they only lasted about 40 secs. So I got my husband to call the Birth Centre and tell them we were coming in. He then went and put the girls in the car and called my parents and asked them to meet us there. I wanted to get there quickly as my last labour had been short (3 hours) and I wasn't sure if this one would be even quicker.
Got to the Birth Centre, parents took the girls back home to sleep. The midwife said I had just got the room by 5 mins - phew. Spent some time on the toilet and then walked around the room, stopping when a contraction came to relax and lean on husband. Still no pain but very strong sensation. After a while I lay on my side on the bed to be able to relax more but the contractions slowed down so I got up and walked some more. After a few they got really strong and I thought if I don't lie down they will start to hurt. So I lay down on my left side and concentrated on completely relaxing.
Don't know how long I was like this. I didn't look at the clock - just kept my eyes closed and focussed on relaxing. After a while I could feel a sensation at my cervix. Yaay, I thought, something is changing. Then I felt like I needed to turn onto my right side since I had been on my left for a while. So I turned over (with husband helping) and after a few contractions I started to hold my breath at the peak of a contraction. I told my husband to call the midwife. She came in and said, "Do we have 5 mins, I need to help someone in the other room." I said yes and she went out.
Husband helped me up and I got down onto the floor at the foot of the bed where there was a gym mat with a sheet over it. I squatted with my back leaning on the bed and pushed a bit with each contraction (husband kneeling in front of me so I could lean forward when I had a contraction and hold onto his arms). The midwife came back in and sat to the side. I said to her, "It's interesting that I am pushing with the contractions but I don't have that real BM kind of feeling." Then with the next contraction it kicked in and I had the overwhelming urge. I put my chin on my chest and PUSHED. "Oh, there it is."
Next contraction was the most amazing thing I have ever experienced. I pushed hard, went "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAH" and felt her head going down under my pubic bone and then up around it. Her head was now crowning. Midwife told me to breathe her out, so I lifted my head up and just did lots of short breaths and concentrated on not pushing. At some point I put my hand down and felt her head. She came out nice and slowly, husband caught her and put her on the towel in front of me (that's what I had asked him to do, when we were talking about the birth during the pregnancy, because I wanted to have a gentle, unhurried meeting with my little precious baby). So I was overjoyed, touching her and lifted up her leg to see that she was a girl. Born 6:36am 29th December (my FIL's birthday). I gathered her up into my arms and was amazed at her.
Midwife went to help someone else. Husband went to buy a disposable camera (we had forgotten ours) and I got to spend some nice time just with Ella. They both came back and about 20 mins after she was born the placenta came out. Husband cut the cord and I got up and went back around to get on the bed. Ella latched on and sucked away. Then the other side for a while. I had a shower while she was weighed and measured. We stayed in the Birth Centre for 4 hours and then came home.
She's such a lovely little thing and she smells SO GOOD.
