Calmbirth story of Nora

It was Thursday the 4th of April. I was 39+6 and hoping something might happen soon. I had IRGDM and talks of an induction had been thrown around. I was desperate to go into spontaneous labour and had been doing everything under the sun to make that happen.

Lots of curb walking, expressing, acupuncture, maternity massage, mindfulness etc. … anything to get the oxytocin flowing!

So, we are sitting there watching TV after dinner. I was bouncing on the exercise ball when I felt a little cramp. I had been having a lot of Braxton hicks and the pressure on my bladder was pretty uncomfortable so was sitting there wondering if it was actually a cramp or if I just needed to pee… again! About 30 minutes later I felt another cramp. I didn’t tell George because I didn’t want to get his hopes up if it was nothing. We went to bed, and I was still having these cramps, now coming every 10 minutes or so. They were uncomfortable enough that it was hard to sleep and by 3 AM they were coming every 5 minutes and were really uncomfortable. I got out of bed and George woke up. He was excited things were happening but as a midwife I knew what was coming and knew we still had a long way to go.

I was excited to experience labour but was nervous with how I would cope. I knew I would get in my head if I tried to rest so we got up, made some food, and put on our favourite show. The contractions kept coming 5 minutely for a while but by about 5:30am they had spaced out to every 30 minutes again. I knew this would probably happen and told myself as I have told many women before that it’s not uncommon in early labour for contractions to stop once the sun comes up. I had prepared myself that this might happen for a few nights and knew I needed to rest so we went back to bed.

We had a booking for fetal monitoring in the morning and since the contractions had spaced out, we went to the hospital and had a CTG. The contractions were definitely more uncomfortable sitting/laying down, so I knew being active was going to help me through this. By the time we left the hospital the contractions were a bit more regular coming every 10 minutes. We went to Knox, got some breaky and walked around. Then we came home and took the dog for a walk in the park near our house. Slowly but surely the contractions started becoming more intense to the point where I needed to stop and concentrate on breathing every time, I had one. By this stage it was about 1pm so we headed home and put the TENS on. I alternated walking around the house, leaning on walls and benches and kneeling over the couch. I kept expecting the contractions to get closer together, but they didn’t. Instead, they just kept increasing in intensity and every 5th or 6th contraction would be crazy intense and last for 3 minutes.

I had a crisis of confidence; I was convinced I was still in early labour and that if that was the case, I would not survive the rest of labour. That’s when George became my hero and put into place everything he learned at Calmbirth. He knew this might happen and kept me calm and brought me back to a good head space. Prior to labour we had discussed in depth the kind of labour and birth I wanted, and he kept reminding me the whole time. When I thought I couldn’t do it anymore he suggested I get in the bath. The bath was able to relax me enough that I could have little micro naps between contractions. I stayed in there for about an hour and then the pressure became too much. I knew it was time to go to the hospital.

When visualising my labour, I always imagined the drive to the hospital in the middle of the night with no other cars around. I never thought we would be driving in peak hour traffic on a Friday afternoon. We finally got to the hospital at 6pm and all I could think of was get to birth suite so I can have an epidural. I was still convinced I was in early labour.

When we got into the room I immediately stripped off my clothes. I was extremely hot and sweaty. The midwives had made the room dark with only a salt lamp on and my husband put on the playlist we had chosen. I immediately felt calmer and more “in the zone” but I still wanted an epidural.

I was lucky enough to labour and birth at the hospital I work at and when I got there the midwife looking after me was a colleague and friend. I asked her to do an examination to see how dilated I was, and she told me I was 6cm, fully effaced with bulging membranes. She asked me what I would tell a primip who presented like I was, and I replied, “I would tell her she’s a rockstar”. In that moment I knew I could do it.

The shift in mindset was so powerful. I started using the nitrous which helped me focus my breathing. 15 minutes later my waters broke. Full movie style, epic splash all over the floor. I felt the babies head shift in my pelvis and knew we were making good progress. All I could think about was Amy telling us in the Calmbirth classes that labour is like a marathon and transition is when you’re running up to the MCG for the final lap. I looked up at George and he asked me “are we at the MCG?” Which I replied “yep, we are at the G”.

Then the pressure came and I couldn’t help but push. I sat on the toilet and pushed for about 20 minutes. I asked my midwife if she wanted to make sure I was fully dilated but she told me it was unnecessary and for me to trust my body. I then got onto all 4s on the bed and continued to push. I remember listening to the sounds of my midwife setting up the room. It was so encouraging hearing her opening the birth pack and then call the second midwife into the room to receive. I couldn’t believe we were about to meet our baby girl. The pressure was so intense but then at 7:34pm on the 5th of April (on her due date) our baby girl Nora was born. She was passed straight through my legs, and I brought her up to my chest. She cried straight away, and I cried with absolute relief. She stayed skin to skin with me for hours and 10 minutes after she was born got on for her first breastfeed.

Labour and birth was truly the most incredible and empowering thing I have ever experienced. I am still in awe as to what my body achieved and went through. It was so nice to be “on the other end” and go through the Calmbirth classes as the woman giving birth. It really drilled in the importance of visualisation, mindset and how much of an impact a good support person can have. I will be forever grateful for George for keeping me calm and helping guide me through labour. Calmbirth helped him understand the normal process of labour which kept him calm and helped bring me back when I was losing control.

Thank you again for all your support antenatally and postnatally! You truly are a very special human, and I am so glad we decided to do Calmbirth with you!!