Amy’s huge transition from maiden to mother.

Story by Amy Wilson

It has taken me a while to get around to it but I thought it would be nice to share my own personal birth story.

My pregnancy:

I loved being pregnant. To me, it was a time filled with awe, wonder, excitement and love. I loved connecting with my baby as she grew inside my belly. I took her so many places with me before she was born, and have so many pregnancy memories I’ll forever cherish.

Going past my EDD:

My pregnancy reached the 40 week mark, and I started to wonder how much longer I will be waiting to meet my babe. I had convinced myself (very naively) that I would be having her 2 weeks early – how wrong I was! Once I had hit 40 weeks, the discussions around induction were becoming very frequent and it seemed not only doctors, but also friends were starting to ask “when are you going to be induced?”.

For me, induction simply wasn’t on my radar. Unless something was wrong, I was quite happy to let my babe cook as long as she felt she needed.

After we reached the 41-week mark, I was asked to attend the hospital daily for CTG monitoring, which I was happy to do and did every day or two for the next few days.

predictions rolling in..

Pending induction:

At 41+4, I was asked to schedule in an induction at the hospital, as I was nearing the 42-week mark. I had no interest in doing so if everything was still okay in there, so I ended up agreeing to book it for 42+1, thinking “surely by then I will already be in labour”. I was a little stressed afterwards, and as I was having the CTG monitoring done and I opened up to one of the midwives who said “have you tried acupuncture?” and surely enough I had tried “everything”, all of the old wives tales, you name it, I’ve tried it – except acupuncture.

I was recommended to see a Chinese medicine and acupuncture practitioner who was also a trained midwife, and I just so happened to be able to get in with her within an hour and a half from the time of that conversation. So I raced out of that hospital as fast as my little legs could move that very pregnant belly and got there just in the knick of time.

Rainbow at 41+1 weeks

Contractions began:

Now I don’t know if it was the acupuncture, the dates, the miles circuit, the spinning babies techniques, the bouncing on the ball, the sex, the kerb walking or any of the other weird and wonderful things I tried but at around 1am on the 10th May I started having contractions. I had been having braxton hicks since around 20 weeks pregnant but I knew this was something else.

I knew I shouldn’t have told my partner, but I was just too excited. Turns out, so was he. I had gone to the lounge room to watch some tv as I was too excited to sleep and he soon followed me out, anxiously keen to time contractions but I said let’s just rest for a while – we could have a long way to go.

I called the hospital and said “I think, well actually, I KNOW I am in labour”. I said I wouldn’t be coming in yet but just to let them know to expect a call a bit later when things were progressing. I told my mum it was time to be on call in case I needed her later on, but that things were pretty early for now.

I remember when we attended the Calmbirth program (a program I cannot recommend enough!) , they told us to keep busy as long as possible and to ignore contractions until you can no longer ignore them. My partner and I went to the local cafe and he got breakfast, all the while I was in my daggy sweater and his track pants, wearing my TENS machine, halting our conversation every 5 minutes or so while I breathed my way through the contractions. We also went to the supermarket to get some last minute things (I cannot for the life of me remember what) – I just remember being stopped in the aisle mid contraction then being fine again afterwards. We also went for a few walks around the block, something we did A LOT toward the end of my pregnancy.

Going inward:

We came home and I put my headphones on and did some of my Calmbirth meditations while Adam played guitar in the other room for a few hours. I just wanted to go inward and be in my own space while things were very slowly progressing.

By 4:30pm I called the hospital again and notified them that I will likely be coming in soon. I remember not being able to talk through my contractions anymore, and feeling like although I wasn’t close yet – things were definitely starting to really ramp up. Within the next hour we had gotten in the car to head to the hospital.

Arriving at the hospital:

Upon arriving, we took the lift with some young teenagers who seemed to be very taken back by the situation (so Adam told me later on), seeming shocked by my noises and body language. All I really remember is being offered a wheelchair once we reached the hospital foyer but adamantly refusing as I knew I had to stay mobile as much as possible.

When we made it to the birthing suite I was actually greeted by a midwife I know very well, as I had her as a client in my previous workplace. She walked in to see me in tears (having a much needed emotional release) and gave me an enormous hug. She said the birthing suites with facilities for a water birth were not available which was a little bit of a disappointment, but in that moment I didn’t mind, I just asked for a room that had very dim lighting. At this point I had been having contractions for 17 hours. I was feeling them very intensely and trying to ride the waves which were seeming to grow in intensity and get much closer together.

She suggested having a shower for some hydrotherapy to try and help with the pain which I did. I don’t know how long I was in there but it must have been a while as when I got out my partner said “I am glad you wanted to get out I was getting a really sore back!” (HAHA)

Breaking my waters:

I got dressed and put the TENS machine back on and was just trying to focus on my breathing at this point. I felt quite shaky and hot and cold between contractions. The midwife did a cervical check and let me know how dilated I was. I knew in my heart and mind that I shouldn’t feel defeated but at this point I was 19 hours in and I was only 4cm dilated. She offered to break my waters, which I gave consent for her to do, and I wasn’t prepared for how much more intense things were going to get and very quickly.

I don’t remember much from this point aside from being exhausted and laying on my side with my partner controlling the boost on my TENS machine. I was trying to move when I could, but there was a lot of pressure throughout my lower body and moving was incredibly uncomfortable. Meanwhile, there had been a shift change and I had a new midwife. She asked me to try and sit on the toilet and empty my bladder as it could be affecting my baby’s descent. But when I tried to sit on the toilet – sheeeeesh I couldn’t stay there long.

She is right there:

I remember coming back out and laying on my side with the peanut ball between my legs. I had been asked numerous times throughout my labour if I felt pressure in my bum or the urge to push, which each time I answered not so confidently “maybe”, but when I got into this position, suddenly I knew exactly what they were talking about and I said “I feel like I need to push”. My beautiful midwife said “would you like me to just take a little look?” to which I consented.

She barely even had to look before she said “Your baby is right there!”

Transition:

Now I can’t really remember in detail the order of things, but somewhere in this mix transition took place. I remember screaming for my partner to “help me”, “I want to leave” and “I can’t do this anymore”. I remember him telling me if we leave the baby still has to come with us and basically there is no getting out of this one – I have to do it.

I remember being helped to a new position – leaning on the top of the bed with my knees bent in an almost all fours position. After what seemed like a lull, a moment where time stood still and I had some very deep calming rest, the urge to push came on incredibly strong. My partner had nudged me and told me to look to my right, where they had wheeled out the little bassinet and blanket. I couldn’t believe the time was finally approaching.

Foetal ejection reflex:

What happened next was actually crazy, I just focused on my breathing and my body just knew what to do. The sounds coming out of my mouth, and the lengths of my exhalation I never even knew were humanly possible. I felt so much relief in feeling my baby descending and found this to be my favourite part of labouring. I know it can be different for everyone and funnily enough, prior to going into labour I feared this part. But it just felt so intuitive – I can’t explain it any other way.

After 55 minutes of pushing, at 1:17am on May 11, my beautiful baby decided it was time to emerge earth side. And boy did she make an entrance. In what I can only explain as the foetal ejection reflex, she shot out of my body, the midwives scrambling to catch her as she came out in one giant push.

I was in complete shock, awe and disbelief.

I needed a minute.

You don’t see this a lot online or in the media, but sometimes mama just needs a second to comprehend this enormous thing that just happened to her. The huge transition from maiden to mother.

When I was ready, I held my beautiful baby girl. We requested delayed cord clamping and a natural 3rd stage which did take some time but we did get to have that. I had beautiful skin to skin for 3 1/2 uninterrupted hours after her birth in the birthing suite.

After passing out on my way to having shower, and having my first post birth shower, I was wheeled into the maternity ward for my first day as a mother. It was the day before Mothers Day and I couldn’t have asked for a more amazing first Mothers Day gift.

My placenta:

Here’s a sneak peek at my beautiful placenta!

http://www.labourlandbirth.com.au/