Earth Babies Blog

We were pregnant with our second child and had decided on a home waterbirth.
According to my ovulation dates our baby was due on the 5th Feb 2010, but as with our previous pregnancy the date came and went, while our friends and family harassed us about whether we’d forgotten to tell them if the baby had arrived.
I’d been having painful Braxton hicks at night for weeks and we had one night where we were convinced labour was starting but after a bath and some time it all just petered off again. The BH were painful, but irregular and always disappeared in the early hours of the morning. I found they were most powerful after sex, so we tried often to kick start labour with “passion”, but I was getting frustrated and exhausted from the sleepless nights that passed with no result.
On the night of the 15th Feb we were discussing waiting another week for our baby, and I was contemplating asking my midwife if we could try the castor oil and orange juice route the following morning when I was due to see her. As time was getting on I was worrying more and more that as the pregnancy was so similar to Seth’s that this labour was going to be similar to his too. We decided to give the passion another go and finally turned out the lights sometime before 11pm.

At 11:30 Seth woke up crying. I hadn’t really fallen asleep but had been dozing and gradually noticing my back was aching quite a bit, as it did with my braxton hicks most nights. Settling Seth down took a little while and once he was quiet again I told Daryn I was going to get a hot water bottle to try soothe my back a little. I climbed back in bed and was lying there and starting to breathe through my BH, again as I did most nights, to help ease them and practise for the actual birth. At this point the baby was extremely active and I took that as a bad sign for labour as I’d read babies are usually suppose to quieten down during labour.
Daryn finally asked if I was ok because I seemed to be having quite a few Braxton hicks, and I said I was actually feeling pretty uncomfortable, and I thought I might as well have a bath so if they went away I could at least get some sleep that night. Daryn said he thought it was a good idea because he’d been checking and it seemed the BH were about 5 minutes apart. We weren’t too worried, as they’d been that close before to no avail, but decided to go ahead with the bath.
So at about 12:30 I climbed in the bath, where Sharon our midwife had told us to stay for an hour to see if it was real labour or not. I told Daryn not to bother getting out of bed as I was sure the contractions would stop. I tried to read my book in the bath but quickly gave up as I couldn’t seem to get past the same few lines before having to breathe through another contraction.
After a few Daryn came through and said they seemed to coming faster since I got into the bath, and he asked how I was feeling. I said they were quite intense, but I still didn’t think this was the real thing and it might take some time for the water to work. Daryn timed the next few and said they seemed pretty regular to him at every 3 minutes and he really thought he should at least call the doula. I agreed and so he called Andrea. She said she was going to come right over and we should call Sharon too. I finally agreed because at this point the contractions were starting to feel quite intense and I didn’t want to be in the bath any more. I also felt like I wouldn’t be able to handle Seth if he woke up upset again, so I asked Daryn to call his parents to come and fetch him.
Daryn spoke to Sharon and she asked him to try go farming to see if I was dilating at all. So I got out the bath, but Daryn didn’t really have enough time to check between contractions and there was no way I could stay on my back through one. So he called Sharon back and organised his parents while I started trying to do things.
I kept being interrupted by contractions though and I was having to get down on my hands and knees to get through them. Daryn later told me once I got out the bath they were coming every 2 minutes. I managed to get dressed, stick on our celebration music and start getting my altar ready while Daryn was busy setting up the birthing pool. At some point my In-laws arrived to fetch Seth and I was suddenly mortified at the thought of having them see me go through a contraction, so at the first moment I had between contractions I high tailed it back to our bedroom. Daryn then brought Seth to say goodbye to me and he was just a star, he said hurrah for having a baby and gave me a big kiss and hug goodbye.
After they left I went to the kitchen because I wanted to start baking the birthday cake and I managed to start tumble drying some towels I’d put in the wash that evening, but I was finding I didn’t even have enough time to move from one room to another between contractions any more even. I was also finding I was having to moan to get through the contractions. At this point I started feeling like a real sissy…I thought I was just at the beginning of my labour which could potentially still continue for 12 or more hours, and here I was already struggling to get through contractions, I had no idea how I was going to make it.
Andrea arrived around this time and started trying to help me and Daryn at the same time. I was still trying to complete my altar but kept having to climb on the couch to get through a contraction. Andrea started rubbing my lower back through contractions and it actually felt wonderful, it was a great help. I made my way down to the bathroom and Andrea was concerned in case I was going to have the baby there. I told her not to worry, I really did need the loo because in my mind there was no way I was ready to have a baby. When I was on the loo I had a blood stained show, and told Andrea because she’d been asking about it earlier, and for some reason I completely dismissed it even though we had learnt it was usually a sign of transition.
Andrea helped me light the candles on my altar while I had some more contractions on the couch, I was struggling to catch my breath between contractions, it felt like they were all coming too quickly now and suddenly I needed to vomit. I was hanging onto the bucket when Sharon arrived and commented that she took it I wouldn’t be making my appointment later that day.
She asked me to get on the mattress, which had been set up, between contractions so she could try see what was going on. She then told me to reach down and have a feel of the baby’s head, which was amazing, I could feel the hair on the top the head because it seems my water had broken some time, although we have no idea when.
I was on my hands and knees and Sharon started checking how the baby was. After trying to find the heartbeat she spoke to me and said the baby seemed to be stuck and wasn’t very happy, so I needed to reassure her and push as hard as I could to try help her. Strangely I felt very calm about it and with the next contraction I started pushing. The heartbeat picked up again and she got happier with each push.
I was doing 2 or 3 pushes with each contraction but it took me a couple reminders not to push in my face and throat. It was really strange, I can’t remember feeling the same sensations when I was birthing Seth, I could feel the baby moving down and slipping back up with each push. Suddenly there was a big movement and I felt the head move past my tailbone and start crowning. I could also feel the baby trying to move about. The sensations were very intense, but pushing did feel good. It took a couple more pushes and between pushes I reached down to feel my baby’s head. Suddenly the head was out, the body followed really quickly and I had my baby in my hands.
I couldn’t believe it; I was holding a tiny little girl. She was born at 2:38 am on the 16th Feb 2010, after about 2 and a half hours of labour!
Sharon had to suction her a little and we blew in her face a little and waited for her to come into her body. After I spent a little time with her we handed her over to her Dad so I could birth the placenta. It came really quickly and then Sharon asked if she could check me as I had torn a little while the baby was being born. The tear wasn’t bleeding and didn’t seem to bad, which was great.
After that we all got in the birthing pool together and let our little girl float in the water for a while. Andrea put on our welcome songs and then she and Sharon left us alone with our little girl, and we all gazed into each other’s eyes.
Sharon in the meantime spoke to my gynae who said there was no need for me to be admitted, I could just pop into his rooms early and he would do the stitches there and just charge us a normal consult.
Then Sharon and Andrea settled us all in bed together and said they would meet us in the morning at the gynae’s rooms. And they left…
It was all so quick I’m still processing it, and all completely opposite from Seth’s birth, from the length, to my progression, to the baby’s weight and gender!

Read Daryn’s story (a dad’s story) about Neve’s birth
and
Here is Tanja’s birth story about Seth’s Birth … Birthstory Friday: Seth – 18 days overdue and 4,15kg!