For those who want an honest and realistic picture of pregnancy, birth and raising three kids, then take a look at my #pregnancydiary and feel free get in touch with any comments, questions or suggestions.
Three weeks ago I gave birth to a gorgeous little girl. My baby arrived right on her due date (technically it was the early hours of the next morning!). My two elder daughters were six and eight days late respectively so I really wasn't expecting to go into labour for at least another five days!
I've written about my baby's development throughout my pregnancy so it's only right that I share all the gory details of her birth with you.
Reality
You may have read my post "38 Weeks - The Birth Plan" where I outlined how I wanted the birth to go.
In reality it went something like this:
07:00
Had some reddish brown discharge and spotting in the morning. I felt fine otherwise.
13:15
Took the kids to Discover Story Centre which involved a short bus ride and a walk, which I'm sure got things going! Once we were there my elder daughter proudly told anyone who would listen "It's my mummy's due date today!". This meant whoever she was talking to looked at me like I was crazy and wondered why I wasn't sitting outside the hospital with my labour bag packed, waiting for baby! "It's ok I assured them, I'm always overdue".
The more I said this, the more I began to feel practice contractions which seemed a little too real to be practice ones! Instead of my belly going tight and uncomfortable like Braxton Hicks, these were more like menstrual cramps.
17:00
On the journey home the cramps became a little more intense. Once home, I noticed they were actually twenty minutes apart and getting more painful. I still wasn't convinced that this was really labour but thought I'd get the discharge/bleeding checked out at the hospital as I hadn't experienced that with my first two births.
17:30
I phoned hubby to come home earlier from work and phoned bro-in-law to come and pick up the kids for their first sleepover (they were thrilled at this prospect!)
18:00
Cooked a prawn curry for my kids dinner, helped them to have a shower and pack for the sleepover at their cousins house. Made myself a sandwich to eat during labour/a check at the hospital. Waved goodbye to two very excited children and said hello to my excited but slightly nervous hubby who was back from work.
20:15
Went to the loo and discovered that my mucus plug had come out, this is known as "the show". It was a deep reddish brown colour so I phoned the birthing centre. The midwife at the other end of the phone assured me this was completely normal and I didn't need to get checked at the hospital. She also told me to eat, get some rest, try and sleep, and to phone back when my contractions were five minutes apart.
Took a shower, painted my nails, watched Ray Donovan with hubby and breathed through the contractions...hubby didn't even realise I was having contractions!
23:00
Tried to sleep which was difficult as the contractions were becoming more regular and intense.
01:00
Phoned birthing centre at 1am when contractions were five minutes apart and lasting a minute each. Midwife told us to make our way in as "third time around things can progress quite quickly". Since my previous labours were really long I still felt I had time to get dressed at a leisurely pace and apply some eyeliner (I can face any situation if I'm wearing perfectly applied eyeliner!)
02:15
Reached the birthing centre at 2.15am. Midwife listened to baby's heartbeat which was fine. She advised me to try sitting on the birthing ball and gently bouncing up and down during my contractions. I did so while eating my sandwich, drinking lucozade and chatting to the midwife.
02:40
Asked hubby to find the remote control for the TV so we could watch the Olympics. He went off the find it and midwife went off somewhere. When they came back into the room my waters broke all over the birthing ball. The pain then suddenly became so intense that my quiet meditative breathing technique nearly went out of the window.
Started taking gas and air like my life depended on it.
The Midwife asked me to lie down on the bed so she could examine me but I felt the natural urge to drop onto all fours on the birthing mat. I used a bean bag to support myself while sucking on gas and air and having sips of lucozade.
The pain was unbearable at this point. The midwife quickly gave me an internal examination between contractions and said the baby's head was "right there" and if I wanted to get into the pool I should "do it now".
02:50
I had just enough time to put on my tankini top (well I wanted to look decent in the photos!) and get into the pool. The warm water made the pain bearable. I was still leaning over the side of the pool sucking on gas and air but not like my life depended on it. I was able to go into myself and breathe again. I was vaguely aware of a women's track event on the TV.
I felt an insane burning sensation and pressure down below and told the midwife I was going to split (seriously, that's how it feels!). She had a mirror in the pool to keep an eye on what was happening to me and she reassured me that everything was "stretching quite nicely" and I should just "do what comes naturally" and could push if that's what I felt like doing.
The midwife then told me that in a minute I would look down and see my baby in the water. I thought she was just being kind by pretending the end was near. Surely there was another hour of this to go?!
03:04
I don't remember pushing, just breathing through the contractions.
Then at exactly 3.04am I was told to look down and sure enough, my baby was in the water.
The midwife helped me to scoop her up into my arms. There was no rush to cut the cord. I held her like this in the water for what seemed like ages. The midwife put a towel around baby's head and shoulders so she didn't get cold. Baby's bottom half was in the warm water.
My husband cut the cord when it had stopped pulsating.
Afterbirth
Baby was weighed and I was helped out of the pool. I decided to have the injection to help the placenta come away. Placenta was delivered on the birthing mat while I had skin to skin contact with my baby.
After pains were horrific. The midwife gave me some painkillers and informed me that the after pains get worse after each baby! On the plus side, I hadn't torn at all down there, I just had a "minor graze" which stung a bit.
Got into bed, breastfed baby for almost an hour. Had a cup of tea and went to sleep next to hubby and baby.
Home sweet home
The next morning baby was examined by another midwife, who said she looked fine and healthy. I took a shower, hubby went out to get some breakfast. We were home by lunchtime. My bro in law brought back two very excited kids back. My parents and youngest sister came over, my sister in law came too. It was crazy to think that I had given birth just a few hours earlier!
I have to say that this was the best birth experience of my life. It was the birth I had always dreamed of (apart from the pain aspect of it!).
I'm so glad I talked myself out of having epidural and chose to have my baby at the birthing centre. It was such a different vibe from the hospital. It was very relaxed and I was encouraged to have faith in my body. It was such a beautiful thing to give birth in the water, my baby seems more relaxed because of it. I'm still shocked that it was so quick. My baby was born just over 45 minutes after we reached the birthing centre. I didn't even get to put on my Sufi music CDs. Oh well I'm sure they'll come in handy in calming me down as I'm juggling three kids.
