Home Sweet Home {Birth} Pt2

The day we met.

2:38am on Saturday the 6^th of October 2012.  I woke suddenly with a gush that I knew were my waters breaking. I hadn’t moved that fast in months as I jumped out of bed. I had simultaneously called out “its happening’ as I bolted upright so J was very much awake with me. My waters continued to gush everywhere as I moved to the bathroom. We could not contain the excitement; our baby was coming today. I felt fine but J suggested we pump the pool up just so we were ready.

Out in the lounge room, J worked diligently on getting the pool sorted and preparing the area. I’m not sure what I did…I was buzzing with excitement and couldn’t stay in one spot. I faffed around, taking a few photos and trying to chat with J about useless things. “Are you feeling anything?” he asked me every couple of minutes.

At 4am, the pool was up and ready to go. I was still feeling nothing major on the contraction front, a few tightening sensations but they were roughly 30mins apart. I suggested we go back to bed.  Ha! yeah right, we were both far too excited to sleep. Instead we chatted and laughed and enjoyed our last morning as a family of 3, stoping to breathe deeply when another wave would come.  I used a contraction timer app on my phone to work out they were now roughly every 10mins.  J continued to make me laugh, especially when he decided to show me how he thought he would probably act with a contraction!

At roughly 5:30am I decided that it was too uncomfortable to lie in bed any longer.  The waves were coming every 5-7mins and I was starting to have to really focus during them. We thought we should probably let the midwife know what was happening so I rang my midwife’s mobile, praying that Christina would answer. “Yay you’re back” was the first thing I said to her, “you waited for me” was her reply. I told her I was coping fine but that I thought she should know. I asked her if I should start filling the pool, which she thought was a good idea. She told me to call back when things were really ramping up but cautioned me not to leave it too late.

So J got back to work filling the pool. Hoses filling, jugs boiling and pots on the stove all to fill this gigantic pool.

I was in my element, painful but so exciting. I paced around the house. I filled the oil burner and soon the smell of clary sage filled the house. (I must have had it pretty strong because afterwards Christina commented that she could smell it as she walked up the driveway!) I found this smell really relaxing; I put a few drops on a face washer and breathed it in during contractions. My important jobs included setting up the iPod, lighting some candles, oh and breathing my baby down!

It was such a beautiful time, it was a wet and drizzly morning and the windows were fogging as J continued to fill the pool. I walked around the house, stood out on the balcony in the drizzly, foggy, quiet morning, knowing full well I would meet my baby soon.

H-bomb, who had previously been waking at the crack of dawn, blissfully slept on; unaware that we would soon be four.

The pool was mostly full but it was difficult to finish, as I kept requiring him to hold a heat pack to my lower back. I paced around the dining table, until a wave would overtake me and I’d call out “now”, he’d come rushing over to hold said heat pack or push down on my hips. In between waves, we joked around and laughed. I felt that I should eat something but didn’t feel like the red frogs I had bought. J said he would make me some raisin toast but I chose to munch on a few handfuls of fruit and nut mix.

At around 7, we thought we should ask the Bestie to come and get H-bomb because no doubt he would wake soon and we would soon be in the thick of it. We also rang Christina and told her to come on over.  Bestie arrived lightening quick. I had 3 or 4 contractions while she was here, we woke H-bomb, I gave him a quick kiss goodbye and he was off. I was feeling the need to get down on my hands and knees with each wave and I desperately wanted to get in the pool. 5 mins after Anna left Christina arrived. One look at me and she knew it was close. She gave me a quick internal and I was right to get in the pool. That was, until she felt the water. Too hot, “you’re going to cook this baby” she said with a laugh. 5mins with the hose on cool and I was in. To say it was bliss was an understatement! It was totally amazing! The feeling of being cocooned in the warm water; about to meet my baby was such a tremendous feeling.

Josh kneeled down outside the pool and I stayed on my knees resting my arms and head on a towel over the side.  In the background I had heard that my other midwife Yvonne had arrived. I could faintly hear them discussing Christina’s recent trip and the shopping in Hawaii. I could see the candles flickering in the dim light. I could hear my music playing and took great strength in particular from one of the lines in the song that was playing**:

“I may be weak, but your spirit’s strong in me.

My flesh may fail but my God you never will.”

The waves were reaching a peak and I felt myself tense up. I knew I was tensing up because I got a weird case of pins and needles in my shoulders and arms. I remember turning to Josh and saying “I am really scared right now”. (He later told me I looked up at him with the widest eyes he has even seen!) His response of “there is no fear in this house” was all it took to bring my focus back (along with, of course, the obligatory “you are doing such a good job”, “we are almost about to meet our baby” comments.) Christina came into the lounge room and I told her I was close. She checked to see if I was crowning but later told me she couldn’t feel anything yet.

It was hot in the bath and I remember asking J for an ice block. I remember looking at the clock and joking with everyone that an ice block was a weird request at 7:58am on a rainy morning! As J came back in the room, I knew this was it; I was pushing without realising it. Christina was telling me to turn on my side (to reduce the risk of tearing) and I think she took one of my legs and turned me on the side as our baby slid out and into my arms.

Oh my! Words don’t really do justice to this amazing event. “What did you have?” Yvonne asked, Christina helped me look as I screamed, “It’s a girl”, “she’s a girl, I knew she was a girl”.

Our little girl Aurora Kate was born at 8:04am. All credit to our amazing God who not only knit her together perfectly in my tummy but also allowed her to be born in such a calm and peaceful manner.

We sat in the water for a while. I was amazed at how clear the water was but later Christina told me it was because I didn’t tear. I wasn’t rushed, no one asked me to get out, there were no hospital protocols to follow. After the cord stopped pulsing, J cut the cord and I continued to cuddle and breathe her in. J called the Bestie and She and H-bomb were at my side in a flash.

It was with great pride that I told my Bestie that our baby girls now shared a birthday. H-bomb was shy for a little while and clung to daddy for our first photos as a family. I said I would like to get out of the water and as time had passed with still no sign of the placenta I requested the needle to fasten things up. J took Miss R for a bit of skin to skin together in a blanket and the Bestie took H-bomb for a play in his room. Afterwards, I got wrapped in a blanket on the lounge and Miss R had a feed. My amazing friend made the midwives and myself tea and bagels and J started emptying out the pool.

By 10am, the lounge room was packed up, the midwives had gone, I was showered and changed and cuddling my babies on the lounge. It was the most tremendous, life changing experience of my life.

And that was how we met baby girl. You and me. I will treasure those moments for as long as I live. It was miracle... YOU are a miracle. 

Here's the day in pictures...

J doing a stellar job filling the pool

A beautiful & familiar environment to birth in

Going with the flow, listening to my body and focussing on His strength

Don't worry, that's as nude as I'll show!

Seconds after she's born (oh be still my heart...love that vernixy baby!)

Yep, there's my iceblock on the arm of the chair...never did get that!

{ Love }

Cutting the cord

We are four

{Delicious}

Our first visitors::The other birthday girl::The Bestie's gorgeous daughter

Life goes on as normal

*If you are still reading; well done! I prefaced part 1 by saying that it was a long post when in fact it wasn't! This is a very long post, my apologies x If you missed it, you can read part one here

** That song is by Elevation Worship and is based on Psam 73:26. See this clip