Hi,
I have been reading some other birth stories its so interesting to read about how other mum's went through the birthing process, So I thought I would like to share mine with you. This is a bit of a read so go and grab at cuppa and sit
down and relax. I have written it in like a story format, instead of point form so it may be a bit more entertaining to read.
It all began on Saturday 1st of June. I woke up on Saturday morning like any other morning nesting to my hearts content, till my mum said lets go out to shopping. Off we went, during one of many toilet breaks I came out washed my hands and lifted my hands above my head to fix my hair up, thats when I felt a "Pop trickle trickle" i raced back into the cubicle to see if I had a show or a leak of some sort? Nothing, just a bit of discharge that is it. Nothing to panic over or even think about calling my midwife over, I found out later I was wrong.
On Sunday the 2nd of June I woke up and had the thought Ebony was going to come today, it was either a thought or instinct maybe both.
Being a massage therapist I knew all the key points to bring labour on, I worked on my points for 2 hours, I would get a twinge, then I would walk it out to see if it brought on stronger pain, again nothing.
Then my mum needed to go out to the shops once again this was about 10.30am we went out at 11.50am I told mum we had to go she asked why I said in a urgent tone we just have to go. We made it back to the car and we managed to sit down in the car when my very first real contraction hit. It was 12pm.
My mum excitedly exclaimed this is labour it has started.
After the contraction eased we drove home, My mum wanted to go to bingo so at 1.45pm she left as she was walking out the door she said to me call me when they come at 5 minutes apart. Then at 2.30pm my friend arrived, I told her I was in labour and I would like her to stay and count my contractions with me.
As the time passed and the contractions kept comming at regular intevals My friend who has never had a baby was trying to stay as calm as she could, then all of a sudden the contractions went from 10 mins apart to 8 minutes apart then dropped to 5 mins apart then to 3 minutes apart in that time order one after the other, from that time onward there was no amount of time repeated twice except every 3 mins.
My mum walked in and went into a panic when she found out that they were 3mins apart. Nothing was really ready as in my hospital bag, I was meant to do that during the day but I was too focused on my contractions and making sure they werent going to slow down or stop.
My mum made me ring the hospital, oh the stupid questions ( well they seemed stupid to me as i was going through my contractions) they asked me, in the end they said come in and we will see you when you get here.
I called my sister and got her to come and pick me up to go into the hospital, we finally got in there at 7.30pm that night as I made my sister stop the car several times so I could walk my contactions out, this helped me with the pain. So the drive into the hospital which would of taken 30 mins took almost an hour due to all the stops I made my sister do.
When I was checked I was already 6cm dialated 7cm on contraction. My midwife was very proud of me for staying home that long with out any pain relief.
In regards to pain relief I was adement that I was not going to have any needles I am scared of them and I hate them with a passion, how I got through my pregancy with all the blood tests I will never know. I ended up having a drip put in as since I felt that pop trickle trickle on Saturday the day before that was my waters which had broken and was considered a slow leak. My midwife said that I had become dehydrated because of it, but I felt fine. AS soon as she took that drip out which felt like hours in which it was only 20 mins I could do my thing and walk it out. I also chanted as well, I kept saying I can do this I can do this or we can do this. This too helped me with the pain. Another thing I kept telling myself is "this is just period pain i can handle this" This was another piece of advice a very close friend of mine told me. During my labour I was in and out of the hot showers oh they were a god send on my back.
The transition period was interesting for me, everyone that knew me were having bets that they would hear me swear, even my mother was concerned. I only swore once yes once!! and that was at my mother!!. Poor mum she told me to shhh. Oh what a bad thing to say to me in my transition period. I said don't %$&*($ shhhh me!!. that was the only time I swore I was very good My mum sat back down and didnt say a word till after ebony was born. I am sorry but I guess that was a bad moment for anyone to say anything.
I believe when you are pregnant and in labour especially you are very sensitive to peoples energies, they either work with you or they don't, they asked me if I would'nt mind having a trainee midwife come in and help monitor and watch Ebony being born. I didnt have a problem, till she came in and what felt like she forced her hand on my stomach when I asked her not to, it was a extremly strong contraction at that time and I wasnt ready for her to touch me. I smacked her hand away from me and walked away. I opologised profusly to my midwife when she came back in, she was fine and very understanding.
I was so very thankful my midwife was trained in natural therapy midwifery, which meant she knew how to massage my trigger points which helped me pass the placenta instead of having a needle to bring it on.
Towards the end I became very vocal as all mother's could relate to, My midwife gave me the best advice, she asked me to channel that voice down into my belly to help get ebony out, from that moment on there was quietness. In between contractions I just laid back and closed my eyes and rested, I remember my midwife asking my mum if I was going to be awake for this baby to be born, I said to her with my eyes closed I am here I am just relaxing. By this time I was really tired and was taking as much rest as I could to get my energy up.
To soothe the pressure down there My midwife got me a face washer which was heated with hot tap water and placed it on me. That eased a lot of pressure off the skin. I remember my sister saying "They didnt do that for me when I had my kids"!!
At 21:21pm (9.21) on 02/06/02 Ebony came into the world. She was placed on my belly and with her big blue eyes she just gazed at me, as I said "Hello Ebony May" My mother was in tears my Brother (who was my birth partner) was in tears my sister had sore teeth as she was trying to push for me. Ebony weighed 7 pound 8 ounces and was 51 cm long.
I tore unfortunately and since it was such a nasty jaggered tear I had to have stiches, in which my midwife got a more experienced midwife who dealt with such tears, unfortunately the needle was blunt they didnt realise that until about 30 mins into the stitching. Once they got a sharper needle everything seemed to go a lot smoother, it was facinating just before I would yell out when the needle went in Ebony would let out a sqwark, as if she felt it before I voiced it.
I was shown how to breast feed and since my midwife had some paperwork to do she told me to sit there and try to feed Ebony, while she stood at the desk to do the paperwork. She walked out for 10 mins came back and Ebony was already feeding. My midwife gave me an awesome tip, as Ebony did'nt have her toungue in the right place, she showed me how to get my little finger and gently rub her toungue down into the bottom of her mouth, before I placed her on my breast. My midwife was estatic.
Ebony was quiet and settled after she was born until we went into the ward as soon as we walked into the room, she made a grand enterance and let out a big cry and woke all the other poor mum's up. I opologised profusely and settled Ebony down.
The next morning mum and my sister came to visit us, Ebony and I were facing each other, she was in her crib and I was in bed, laying exactly the same way. My mum woke me up as she and my sister were laughing at how even only hours old Ebony was like her mum.
As you can tell by Ebony's birthdate she is over 6 years old now. And to this day I still remember her birth as if it were yesterday. There are some things you just dont forget.
I hope you enjoyed reading this. I consider this a very positive experience and i hope you consider this to be positive also.
Good luck with the birth of your beautiful baby, and I hope that you are blessed with a wonderful midwife or doctor like I was.
(August 3rd) (
