The Beautiful Arrival of Kieran Heath - 31/10/07
The Beautiful Arrival of Kieran Heath
Sorry this is so long!
My pregnancy and labour was such an amazing journey. My first DS was born in October 2004 and I had a very long and painful labour as well as a lot of blood-loss afterwards which left me anaemic and in a terrible state for a long time. I was really traumatised by the experience and swore I would never do that again! ;)
Well, a couple of years later we decided that DS really should have a sibling as our family dog was becoming too much like a brother to him! We fell pregnant and I decided that this time I would learn as much as possible about birthing because last time I went in a bit blind (I read a few books, but was a bit blase about it all). Luckily for me I found BellyBelly! I learned so much about how the body works during labour and lots of great natural pain relief methods and relaxation techniques. I was starting to feel confident that I could do this and actually have a positive experience, I even started looking forward to labour!
Bub was due on the 26th of October, but following in his brother?€™s footsteps, he was running late. I started worrying that bub would arrive on DS1's 3rd birthday (30th of October) and kept telling him to stay in for just one more day! He is a good boy and listened to his mummy! On the evening of the 30th after DS#1 was in bed I started having a small panic attack about labour and having another baby in the house. I was really surprised because I had been so positive and calm about it up until that moment. I told DH I was so disappointed in myself for getting this far and then losing the plot! DH was wonderful and talked about the relaxation methods I would be using and I started feeling better again. Little did I know that it was my hormones firing up just before labour!
I woke up at 3:30am on Wednesday the 31st with a tummy ache so I got up and went to the loo. I hopped back in bed, but couldn't get back to sleep because my tummy was so uncomfortable. At 4am I felt a light contraction (this was the exact time I felt my first contraction with DS#1!), they then started coming about every 15 minutes. They didn't hurt, but kept me awake. When DH woke up at 6am to get ready for work I told him that my contractions had started, but to go ahead and go to work (about an hours drive away) because I had the same type of contractions with my first labour and DS wasn't born until 37 hours later, so I didn't think this bub would be in any hurry either. DH offered to stay home, but I said it was such a waste of his time last time and that I would call him if things felt like they were starting to happen.
I decided not to get excited and to just go about my day as normal. I was absolutely determined to stay at home as long as I could. So as the morning went on I did a couple of loads of washing, vacuumed the floors, etc. while the contractions got closer together and a bit more "hurty". I felt so calm and happy. By lunch time, the contractions were about 5 minutes apart and getting more intense. DH called and I said that he may want to come home soon, but not to rush. DS#1 was having a nap and my mum was on stand-by to pick him up if need be. DH came home and rubbed my lower back during contractions, it was fantastic at taking the edge off the pain coupled with the deep abdominal breathing I was doing. It is amazing how much these relaxation techniques work! Last labour I was fearful and used short, shallow breaths and I am sure it made the whole process longer and more painful.
At 3pm my contractions were 3-4 minutes apart so I called my mum to get her to come and collect DS1. I went about packing last minute things and got DH to finally put the baby capsule in the car! My mum arrived and DH was keen to take me to the hospital. I felt funny about going because I was coping so well and I didn't think they'd take me seriously! Every time I had a contraction (which were now 3 minutes apart) I would say, "Ok, lets go there now!", then it would finish and I'd say, "Maybe we should wait"! DH made the decision for me by starting the car up and throwing all my bags in it!!
On the drive to the hospital my contractions slowed right down and I told DH that the midwives would probably just send me home. I still felt funny about going there until I got out of the car and got a whopping contraction to make up for all the ones I missed on the drive! I was all of a sudden really glad we were at the hospital! We arrived at 4:30pm and they were absolutely flat-out and asked us to sit in the waiting area outside the birthing suites. Another girl was waiting there with her partner (she wasn't in labour, but was getting checked out because she was in pain) and we got chatting to her. I chatted happily and breathed quietly throughout my contractions. She was amazed that I was having 3 minute apart contractions and that I could just sit there and chat!
Eventually the head midwife came and spoke to me and asked what I was experiencing etc. She was absolutely wonderful and gave me her undivided attention despite the fact that they were flat out and had no empty birthing suites. I told her about my bad experience last time and said that I would like an epidural as I don't want to be exhausted afterwards like I was last time because I laboured so long and hard with just gas. She said that wouldn't be a problem and then went and cleared out a birthing suite for me. She checked me out and I was 5cm dilated. I was so happy because I thought she'd tell me I was only 2cm or something! By now the contractions were extremely intense and I really had to concentrate on breathing through them. DH continued to rub my lower back which still really helped me cope. Next thing I knew, the anaesthetist was in the room and I asked DH, "Am I doing the right thing?" as I was a bit nervous about the procedure and I also didn't want to regret my decision. DH knew were I was at due to my last birth experience and encouraged me to do it if I wanted to and that I wasn't letting him or I down. I felt so proud of myself for getting to 5cm so calmly and decided to go ahead with the epidural so I could rest and maybe even enjoy the rest of the birth. So at around 7pm the epidural was in and started working pretty quickly. I could feel each contraction by the tightening of my stomach, but I couldn't feel any pain, they pretty much stayed at 3 minutes apart. I couldn't stop shaking for ages when the epidural first went in, the midwife said I was shaking because my body was numb and thought it was cold so it shivered to try and warm it up.
By now I had another midwife who had been called in from the emergency department (she had been a midwife for 14 years) due to the shortage of staff. She was absolutely wonderful and so encouraging. DH & I spent the next couple of hours chatting with her and having a great time! I heard a woman moaning and making a lot of noise in another room and I felt guilty that I had it so easy! At nearly 9:30pm I told the midwife that the epidural was starting to wear off and I could feel pain on my right side during contractions. She said she would check me out and then decide if I should have a top up. She had a peek and saw our bub's head! She said I could start pushing, so it was perfect timing that the epidural was wearing off because I would be able to feel when I was pushing. I said that I didn't feel confident pushing as I didn't have full feeling and she said, "Just give it a go, I guarantee you can do it!". I pushed once not knowing if it really worked or not. The midwife said "I can see a head with lots of hair!". I got all emotional and said "Really?" while tears came to my eyes. This made me confident that I could do this! I pushed with the contractions for nearly 15 minutes, it was getting painful by now as the epidural was wearing off, but I actually welcomed the pain. I felt burning as his head was crowning and even laughed about the "ring of fire"!
At 9:41pm on Wednesday the 31st of October 2007 our gorgeous little boy, Kieran Heath, made his entrance. He was so long and so chubby and had so much hair! We were amazed and in awe. It was so amazing to hold my little man and to feel so happy to see him and feel instant love. With my first DS I was so exhausted afterwards that when they handed him to me, I felt absolutely nothing except that I was glad it was over. I was so happy to actually feel normal and to enjoy the experience this time!
Kieran weighed 4020g (8lb 13oz), was 52cm long and had a head circumference of 37cm (my second bub with a big head!).
Afterwards I felt absolutely fantastic and the next day I had loads of energy and actually looked great! I say this because last birth I was ghostly white the next day and I could barely stay standing in the shower or walk more than a few steps without feeling like I would pass out, I remained this way for a couple of weeks. I have to say that what worked this time was maintaining a positive attitude, understanding what my body was doing which eliminated fear and using deep breathing and other relaxation methods. I really had such a fantastic labour and I enjoyed every minute of it! People look at me like I have 3 heads when I say I loved it!
A big thank you to BellyBelly and the awesome ladies on here that gave me so much information and helped give me the confidence to go through labour again!
Thanks so much for reading my story :)
