Synchronization of Us

Im not even sure where to start, after the false labour i was pretty sure things were never going to get going . I felt fine for the most part and was really thinking i would still be pregnant come October.

Both Thursday and Friday were pretty crampy days for me , i felt exactly as i do when i am about to come on. BH were increasing to and getting annoying but not painful.

Friday night dinner at my mums and for the first time i felt something was going to happen, twice through out the evening i had what felt like proper contractions . What i still wanted to call BHs were coming frequently and starting to be uncomfortable and slightly painful (nothing i could not deal with - maybe a 2 on the pain scale) . I spent the evening relaxing and playing Mario on the Wii and went to bed around 10.

Im not sure how many times i woke up to go to the bathroom, im thinking maybe 3 before the final time at 2am. It was obvious then i was contracting , i was so excited the last time when i realised i was losing my mucus plug - this happened the same way the last two times and i knew then without a doubt if was the real thing.
I went through the living room expecting DH to be passed out on the sofa but instead he was still up playing on his laptop, i tried to send him to bed but he said he would not have been able to sleep and instead worked on a report for his PhD while i wondered around the living room . I watched some TV while spending time just keeping mobile and using the birthing ball. I was using Contraction Master to keep an eye on contractions and they were coming roughly every 3 minutes and lasting for about 40 seconds. They were still easy to deal with .

Rebecca woke up around 2.30 and she was crying for me, i did try and get her back to sleep which took around 15 minutes. I had 5 painful contractions during that time , it was evident that keeping still would not work for me. I finally got to leave her but she woke again and would not settle at all for Craig. She eventually got up and just came through the living room .

Together Craig and Rebecca started to get the room ready for the birth (not including the pool) while i yet again concentrated on moving and breathing through contractions which were increasing in intensity . I put on the tens machine and tried to relax as much as i could between them (i was feeling so very tired at this point and hungry although eating was making me feel sick) . I also took a shower.

Around 4am i called my mum saying we were going to drop Rebecca off, things were getting intense and as much as i loved the idea of Rebecca staying i knew i would not be able to truly relax with her in the room . Craig went to drop her off (Eilidh was still sound asleep so we just let her be for the moment) . It was while Craig was away that i first got the urge to push during a contraction , it was not an over whelming urge but took me by surprise . It did give me hope that the birth was not going to be much longer BUT with Eilidh i started feeling the need to push long before she was born (i was feeling the need before i went to the hospital and i was only 3cm when i arrive there).

Craig returned and started getting the pool set up while i called the hospital and spoke with a midwife, was happy to discover the midwife on call was one we knew. She has been my midwife when pregnant with Eilidh . Contractions were coming for longer by then, lasting for a good minute each and i really had to work to get through them. A combination of breathing and using visualizations (waves seemed to work well , imagining the wave getting bigger and bigger and crashing to the shore as the contraction ended) was getting me through. At some point i took of the tens (i think as the contractions were all in the belly it was not helping much) and went to the toilet . My waters started to go at this point, it was such a strange sensation - with Rebecca they exploded everywhere (remember i had way to much fluid with her) and with Eilidh the midwife burst them during an examination. They were just leaking out of me, felt exactly as i had always seemed it described - like doing the toilet but being unable to stop or control it.

Our midwife L arrive at around 5am - not completely sure. She checked me over and listened to babies heartbeat. Everything with both of us was fine, head was about 2/5ths engaged . I was not wanting checked for dilation so we had no idea how far/close i was on that front. She was wonderful and let me know i was in charge - everything was my choice and she was there to support me .

I was wanting to hold off getting in the pool as long as possible but really felt now was the time to do it, the strain on my bump during a contraction was incredible and i just knew the water would help with that. Straight away it made a difference, it really took the weight off it and gave me just that extra bit of strength.

I tried to get through the contractions as best i could but i was starting to loose control a little by now, the pain was so intense and i was barely getting a minute between contractions . L was telling me not to push yet - she had nothing set up and the second midwife had not arrived but i just could not listen to her. I let myself listen to my body which was saying push.
I knew i was letting it get to me, with each contraction i would scream and beg for some help (mind you not drugs as i knew it was to late for any of that) , Eilidh slept through it all . Contractions were getting so huge and so sore and with each one i pushed with all i had - this was not a choice but something my body demanded. I could feel his head moving down my body and all of a sudden i felt this massive POP. Im not sure what it was - the rest of my waters maybe or just the babies head fully engaging but i knew from that moment that Ruairidh would be born any minute now. I think it took two contractions for him to be born. I know i lay back in the pool to push him out - not the most helpful position re gravity but it felt most comfortable for me at that moment. Im not sure if it was a third time mum thing or the water (im going with the water) but the birthing part was by far the easiest of it all . No burning or pain, just pure joy - i could feel plenty of pressure and i could feel the head/body move but that part was completely painless .

At around 6.10am my little boy entered the world, he was born straight into the water and i lifted him into my arms. L was on one side of the pool and Craig held my hand on the other, i was the first person to touch and hold him. He was a little unresponsive, breathing but a little grey looking and floppy . We think he was a little shocked at how quickly it had all ended to.

L cut the cord wanting to get him warmed up quickly and i got out the pool and into a nice dry house coat. The next hour was spent cuddling and bonding with Ruairidh , plenty of skin to skin while he pinked up and a couple of attempts at breastfeeding . DH enjoyed a nice snuggle as i delivered the placenta (which came within around 30 minutes of the birth) and Ruairidh finally took his first feed at around an hour old.

The midwife’s left shortly afterwards and i just sat on my own couch cuddling my newborn and eating a bagel, Craig finished off the clean up operation while Eilidh told stories from her cot. I was so excited about getting her up and letting her meet her brother but in the end she was only bothered by Rebecca not being there . Craig took her to my mums just before 9 and i got to take a lovely shower and get fresh pjs on.

Ruairidh and i spent the morning snuggled up together on our own couch catching up on sleep.

I have so much more to say on the subject , it was an amazing experience and just wonderful being at home . For now i just wanted to get this down before i forgot any part of it.

23 Responses to “Birth Story”

Leave a Reply