Testing an uncategorised post…
Darcy’s Birth Story
November 16, 2008 – 7:54 pm
By Ashleigh McHugh
I was 20 years old, in my final year of the Bachelor of Nursing course and keen to continue studying midwifery the following year when I discovered I was pregnant. My relationship with my partner broke down shortly after and he chose not to have anything to do with us. Luckily, I was living at home with my parents and brother of whom were tremendously supportive and excited about the new arrival.
I was eager to investigate my birthing options, but living in a rural community it seemed a hospital birth was my only option until a friend of mine told me about a local private midwife, Victoria Jones. I contacted her soon after and we discussed my birthing options. I really wanted a water birth but Victoria informed me that the local hospital did not have a policy for water births and that therefore they didn’t allow it. I was extremely disappointed until Victoria explained that she does home births. In all honesty, I was hesitant at first after finding out that independent midwives do not have indemnity insurance, however after our initial meeting I was positive that a water birth at home was for me. I knew at this point that it was the best start I could give my baby - a smooth transition into the world.
I chose to find out what I was having and was delighted to know I was expecting a boy. I remained very healthy throughout my pregnancy and in the weeks preceding his birth I prepared my body using raspberry leaf tea and the Epi-no which is a device that stretches the perineum. In addition, the week before his birth I had used evening primrose oil on the cervix to soften and prepare it - apparently this worked!
Ashleigh labours in the pool
So it was 3 weeks after completing my university course and 11 days before my due date when my little boy decided to arrive. It was Friday the 31st of October and I was supposed to go in to help my mum at her coffee shop. When I woke up at about 9:00am, I had initially though I had wet myself and ignored the idea that it might have been my waters as we certainly weren’t expecting an early baby. I was still enjoying being pregnant and assumed I would go over my due date.
I sat at the breakfast table with mum, my brother James and his girlfriend Elle, not mentioning anything to them. However, a couple of bites into my weetbix I felt the need to go to the toilet again, followed by a trickle down my leg as I ran up the hallway. Sitting on the toilet and realising the reality of what was starting to happen, I called mum from the kitchen and told her I wouldn’t be able to go into work. Her confusion and concern was quickly taken over by excitement as I told her we would have a baby sometime soon.
There was a buzz of anticipation and enthusiasium by everyone, but I remained calm and relaxed as I expected this to be a long and lengthy process, presuming my baby would arrive the next day. For this reason I encouraged mum to go to work but she refused to go as she wanted to stay with me for the early part of labour. We rang Victoria and although I didn’t need her to come around, she said she would drop in on her way out to lunch to listen to the baby’s heart rate and see how I was going.
Ashleigh and Victoria share a quiet moment
James and Elle went out for the day so that I had more privacy and mum and I relaxed at the table as I sorted through pregnancy photos and wrote a list of things for dad to bring home that afternoon - all the essentials like phone credit, a frozen coke and non-alcoholic champagne to celebrate with after the baby’s arrival. When Victoria arrived at 11:00am I was only experiencing mild cramping as I had for the few weeks beforehand. We confirmed with the amnicator that I was leaking amniotic fluid so there was no turning back. The baby’s heart rate was great and it was at this time when I started to feel the discomfort intensify. Although I didn’t mention anything, Victoria had said to mum that I looked scared - this was probably the point where I realised that I was actually going into labour and had a long journey ahead of me.
Once Victoria left for lunch, I set up in front of a music DVD and mum began making pikelets because we were predicting a long wait. However, only a couple of songs later I was rocking on the fit ball on my bed and noticed a pattern of contractions every 8-10 minutes. I made a conscious decision to remain forward facing and upright as Victoria’s palpation found that the baby was slightly lateral and I surely didn’t want him to turn posterior. Mum and I began setting up our labour equipment in the wide hallway beside the bathroom where I had planned to have the birthing pool. We used my labour aromatherapy blend which included clary sage and myrrh to stimulate and enhance contractions. I pulled out my birthing affirmations and read one: ‘I welcome my labour as the perfect one for me and my baby,’ needless to say I never had a chance to look at any more.
After everything was in order I returned to the lounge room floor swaying and rocking on the ball with the contractions as they increased in intensity after having walked around. It was around 1:00pm and I was at the stage where I needed the TENS machine but unfortunately I was experiencing all my discomfort in the front, so the TENS didn’t help. Mum prepared hot nappies for my tummy which were an incredible relief. I still didn’t want to call Victoria as I was sure the birth was a long way off - I was expecting him to arrive overnight or the next day. Mum was an unbelievable support as she knew just what I wanted; she had everything ready and was present for every contraction, leaving only to grab things that I needed.
By 2:00pm the contractions were about 5 minutes apart and becoming stronger, mum wanted to call Victoria but I insisted on waiting. However after a couple of contractions I changed my mind. I thought about how I would judge the situation if I were the midwife and considering I was unable to speak during contractions, swaying, rocking and becoming vocal, I thought it would be best for Victoria to come around, even just to observe me and decide whether she should stay. As I began to fade away into focusing on my relaxation, mum called dad, inflated and began filling the birth pool. I had previously felt it would be bad luck to do this before I was sure that I was past the ‘half way point’, but fortunately, mum began doing this without me realising.
Victoria and dad arrived simultaneously at 3:00pm, dad slipped into the background and I hardly noticed his presence as he quietly assisted behind the scenes. Victoria observed a few contractions and was in absolute shock that I was the same person she had seen 4 hours earlier. She suggested I hop into the birthing pool but I didn’t want to until she had checked that I was at least 5 cms dilated to prevent slowing the labour. I was apprehensive about this because I didn’t want to be disappointed if I was not progressing, however Victoria insisted that I was probably further along than I thought. On examination she declared I was already 7cms! I loved those words and felt a sense of achievement and relief. I just about jumped up and dove into the pool but as soon as I was upright and on the toilet I felt a deep intense contraction that almost scared me. Victoria calmed me and reassured me that it was just gravity working and that the pool would help. She was right - I got in the pool about 3:30pm and it was instant relief. I had stripped naked, become uninhibited and didn’t notice the fuss and commotion that was happening around me. Dad prepared the video camera in the corner and mum stayed with me through the contractions while Victoria set up her equipment. James arrived home and sneaked up the hallway, hiding in his room until after the birth.
My time in the pool seemed to flash by in an instant. Between contractions I was still, hands unclenched, jaw relaxed and body unbelievably motionless. There was not a ripple in the water and the room remained silent and almost tranquil. During contractions was a different story - I was thrashing about in the pool like a dying fish but looked more like a crazy whale. I moaned and groaned from areas of my lungs I didn’t know existed. They were deep primal noises that were powerful and loud. After an hour in the pool my moans became more productive and Victoria asked if I had the urge to push. I didn’t feel it initially and it wasn’t until after a few contractions later that we realised I had been pushing, almost involuntarily for some time. It was about 20mins of this pushing on my knees, leaning over the pool holding mums hand when I touched between my legs and felt his head. I asked Victoria to sit behind me and guide my pushing as I couldn’t see for myself. During this last stage it was a relief to push through the contractions and feel the progress. Mum recalled that although I was holding her hands I was not squeezing them - all my effort was focused on birthing my baby.
Darcy, newly born
I listened intently to Victoria’s guidance and after a few pushes, his head was out followed by his vernix covered body. He was passed through my legs and I sat back, bringing him onto my chest. Darcy James Oliver McHugh was born into water at 5:04pm with his proud grandparents looking on. We enjoyed long moments of cuddles, bonding and exhaustion as Darcy experienced his calm transition into the world. He was so relaxed that he didn’t cry, just a small whimper and back to sleep. Given that he was also covered in vernix and his skin tone was difficult to see but slightly blue, Victoria gave him some oxygen which improved his colour. He still didn’t cry, but was breathing well and just happy to be in the warm arms of his mummy. We wiped the vernix from his eyes, he gazed at me and we soaked each other in. It was the most intense emotion I had ever felt but couldn’t and still can’t find the right words for it.
After a few contractions, the placenta came away and was delivered into the water - still attached to Darcy. I cut his cord, signifying his entrance to the world as his own little person. Following this we had a quick breastfeed and shared a shower together to get rid of the excess vernix.
Darcy takes his first look at the outside world
Nanny, Poppy and Uncle James then shared cuddles with the newest addition to our family and we celebrated his birth day with champagne and pikelets in bed. My labour and birth really was perfect - I never once wanted pharmacological pain relief as I viewed my contractions as necessary for my baby’s birth - they were an integral part of the transition into motherhood and I could only accept the pain rather than fear it. I couldn’t have done it without my incredible parents and amazing midwife, Victoria.
Abbey Raine’s Home Waterbirth
November 26, 2007 – 10:34 pm
Trisha relaxes in the pool after Abbey's birth
My birth story should begin with some of my pregnancy story. I found out I was pregnant with my 5th baby on April 5th 2007. It wasn’t a planned pregnancy and was filled with many a stressful time and many uncertainties. The one thing I was certain about was my love for this unborn baby and my dedication to it. My due date was 10th December 2007 going by my lmp. However by these scan’s I was due 15th December, this is the date I chose to go by.
I had some bleeding early on in my pregnancy and was sure that I was loosing my baby due to all the stress. When I finally had a scan they couldn’t find any baby. I was devastated. I needed have worried though. This was one strong and determined little baby; she was just taking her time to grow nice and strong.
We found out on July 13th at 18 weeks that I was expecting another little princess. WOW, after actively trying to get a girl with Tehya here I’d gone and got a little girl without even trying. I was a very happy mummy.
My pregnancy continued pretty normally, the only upset was the blood sugar levels. Thankfully they ended up being fine and I continued on problem free. Tiredness was the only downside I guess.
I had decided early on that I was going to have another home waterbirth with this baby too. Victoria kindly offered to attend this baby’s birth just as she had done with Tehya. There was no way I could go back and birth in a hospital after already experiencing the wonders of homebirth and how much more gentle it was.
Jumping forward to a few days before Abbey’s arrival. I had been feeling off in the stomach and just not right. By Saturday 24th I had a nice case of the runs. Contractions started that afternoon and by around 4pm I had to concentrate. I called up the hospital that I had booked in to just to see what they would say and of course they told me to come in for a check. I was put on the monitor and was having definite contractions with really good peaks. I had explained to her about the stomach cramps and the gastro, my thinking was that the cramps were making the contractions more painful than what they should have been. My stomach muscles were killing me.
The midwife was quite nice and read my file; she knew that I was a planned homebirth and that also I was a VBAC. She told me that I had 2 real options. I could be checked out to see where I was at and then get up and go for a walk. Or I could remain there but if I did so it was hospital policy as a VBAC for continuous monitoring. I told her I would get her to check out my cervix, see where I was at and decide from there but more than likely I will be just going back home. A quick check showed that I was only 1cm dilated. So up I got and left the hospital.
The minute I got out of the labour ward doors I called Victoria, my midwife to let her know what was happening. It is worth noting that she lives around 4 and a half hours drive away. Victoria has a shift that night but was happy to be picked up after it. So quickly the ball started rolling. It was approx 6.30 pm when I left the hospital.
Mum and I called through to the shop and grabbed some last minute birth things for me, like Gatorade (that never got drunk) and lollies (that never got eaten). My dad and DP were driving up to Port Macquarie that night and doing a return trip with Victoria. I only hoped that I would hold out that long.
Mum and I got home and the pool was already blown up as was the mattress. Good boys. Dad and Mark left around 9.30pm.
Mum went home and the kids were all tucked up in bed so I got on BB for a while. I chatted back and forth with Alan and was on msn with BG. Thanks for keeping me sane guys. I went to bed around 12am. And was up again by 5.30am with stomach pains I lay there wondering if it was contractions. Nope, I needed the loo again.
Mark, dad and Victoria returned around 6.30am on Sunday 25th and of course overnight everything had settled. Victoria walked in to a smiling face. Not what she was expecting I am sure.
I asked Victoria to do a VE on me to see if I had made any progress. Nope, still only 1cm, looks like the gastro was the cause of all the contractions. We all had some breakfast and a good chat. Around 10.30am my waters broke. There didn’t seem nearly as much as there was with Tehya, but then bub’s head was so low in my pelvis she was probably blocking half of it. Contractions didn’t start up though so here I was with no water’s and no contractions.
I called up a lady I know that does acupuncture and she came out and gave me a good strong session late in the afternoon. Victoria and I took a drive up to mum’s house then came home, had some dinner and went for a walk.
With kids and DP all tucked up in bed, Victoria and I sat and watched the Idol final. My choice, not her’s. I was dehydrated from the gastro so Victoria gave me some IV fluids. My contractions started up at around 9.30pm hard and fast. They were every 3 minutes and lasting only 30 seconds. Not long later they had jumped to 2 minutes but still only lasting 30 seconds. I was starting to become a bit more vocal during then. And the thoughts of “there is no way I can handle hours of this” came into my head. I honestly though I had ages to go, given the length of the pains.
Jump forward an hour or so and I tell Victoria that I need to poo. She tells me it’s not a poo I need but a baby, but with my days of gastro I’m not risking it. It sure didn’t feel like baby pressure. I get up and go to the toilet and of course there is no poo, its bub moving down. I stand up and get a big contraction, one that has me pushing. I say to Victoria I think it’s time you checked me. At this time DP, was fast asleep, mum was at home sleeping and so was Nadine who was to do my photographs.
Ok so a VE later and I am 7cm dilated!! Crap !! Time to get that pool filled, Victoria wakes Mark up and he promptly falls back to sleep. I try to call mum and the phone rings out. She calls me back and gets “Get here now, quick !!” Victoria calls up Nadine and she too is on her way. By this time it is around 12.30ish perhaps a little later.
I get into the pool at 1am, ahhhhh heaven. That is what I needed. The warm water was sooooooo nice. Still my contractions are around every 2 minutes. I’ve given up timing them now, but they aren’t lasting long. I wonder how the hell am I going to push a baby out on such short contractions. My stomach is killing me. Not so much the contractions but I am thinking more from the gastro. It hurt way too much to push. In a weird way though. Not like pain in the vagina or anything like that. The pain was solely in my stomach, very low down, like across my scar. I couldn’t verbalise this though at the time.
So I did what every one does when it hurts too bad, I just wouldn’t push !! Not sure how I thought I was going to get bub out but it wasn’t with me pushing. I was still in denial that we were that close to meeting our little girl. The contractions weren’t lasting long enough and I didn’t have the urge to push at all. Victoria had told me several times that she was right there, and I even felt in and touched her hairy little head. This did inspire me to push though. So I tried and tried, although not as hard as I could have, and Abbey just would not move. She had been posterior up until her birth. We figured she turned sometime before coming out. Eventually I turned over and got on all 4’s. I didn’t want to birth this way. I wanted to be the one to catch Abbey. I wanted my hands to be the first to touch her.
I pushed so much better this way. I felt Abbey moving down the birth canal further, still no huge urge though. Not until she was almost crowing did I really feel that overwhelming urge. I pushed but only a little bit. I let my body push her down with little pushes from me, and pushed again without contractions to get her to move that bit more. It hurt less to push without the contraction there.
Just as Abbey was ready to come out Tehya woke up and out she walked. Mark was about to take her back to bed when I told him that if he did he was going to miss the birth. So Tehya sat on her daddy’s lap, next to the pool and watched with big wide eyes.
Victoria asked me if I wanted to turn back around so I could birth Abbey the way that I had planned. I couldn’t verbalise but I didn’t move either. I knew within myself that if I moved all momentum may have been lost and I didn’t want to ruin what was working.
As I made no effort to turn around Abbey was going to be born with me on all 4’s. Now came the next issue. I kept lifting my bum up. So it was out of the water. If I was to birth Abbey in the water I needed to keep it down and under the water. I just couldn’t do it. My back was breaking and I kept arching my back so my bum was out of the water. Abbey was going to come out into the air rather than the water. A couple more good pushes with and without contractions and her head was out. Didn’t seem to take much and it sure felt smaller than the other kids.
Everyone was gushing and saying how cute she was and all I could think of was it’s not fair, they can all see her and I can’t. I had my head buried into the side of the pool and kept telling Nadine to take photos, take photo’s. I was listening for my camera as it makes a sound but Nadine was using her own. That’s why I couldn’t hear it. The poor girl must have taken half a dozen pictures of Abbey with just her head out. (thanks hun) Abbey tried to give the tiniest cry but it was only a whimper and that was it.
The next contraction came and so did Abbey. Ouchies. That bit hurt. My beautiful little girl was out. Victoria caught her and waited for me to turn around to nurse my baby girl.
When I finally found the energy to turn around I was greeted with the most perfect little angel. All I could think of was how small she was. And OMG no red hair !! Abbey and I snuggled up in the pool for a while and Abbey made her way slowly towards the breast. She latched on perfectly. Wow this baby can suck.
All the while Tehya sat there quietly looking on. She stuck her head over the side of the pool after Abbey was born and I asked her if she wanted to hop in but she chose not to. Can’t say I blame her.
Abbey’s cord was left attached for 40 minutes until it stopped pulsating. I clamped and cut the cord of my final baby. What a bittersweet moment. This was the end of us being as one. Moving from one stage in her life and onto the next.
Victoria and newly born Abbey
I handed Abbey over to Mark for him to nurse. Somewhere in the 5 minutes before this Noah woke up too. My 3 youngest children all got acquainted with each other. And many pictures were taken.
My uterus was not contracting enough though and I started to loose some blood. I knew that this was a possibility being my 5th baby. Sometimes the uterine muscles are just too stretched to contract back in and this is what was happening. The placenta was checked and was found to just be sitting inside of me and after a couple of pushes it was out.
I was feeling very weak in the legs. Mum and Victoria had to just about pick me up out of the pool and put me onto the mattress I had set up. Victoria sat there and rubbed my stomach, trying to get my uterus to contract. I lay there just about in tears. It was really hurting me. Eventually we succumbed and I had some synto to help me contract and stop the bleeding. Thankfully I still had the canula in my arm from the fluids I’d have earlier so no need to it again.
Abbey had cuddles with my mum, Victoria and then Nadine. And of course there were more pictures taken. Then it was time to check and weigh her.
Weight 3.2kg or 7 pounds
Length 50cm
HC 34.5cm
Abbey was a full pound lighter than Tehya who was my next smallest baby. No wonder she felt smaller.
Everyone had lots of cuddles of Abbey and we were finally tucked up in our makeshift bed for the rest of the night. Nadine packs up her camera’s that she’d been busily snapping and videoing with and said her goodbyes. Mum leaves too. Mark has already taken the kids back to bed with him. And all is quite, just Abbey and I.
I’m not sure how long I lay there, just her and I. I could not take my eyes of my princess, she was finally here. And oh my, how gorgeous is she. The more I looked at her the more I thought that the name Abbey would really suit her. We hadn’t yet decided on a name, but here, now, looking at her, she was so petite and a girly name seemed to really suit her. I told Mark we he finally got up that I though Abbey should be her name. It was settled.
I woke around 5am and needed to go wee so I very slowly made my way to the toilet but then was stuck there. I sat in there calling out to Mark, trying not to wake the household. Thankfully, finally he woke and helped me back.
Tehya woke at 6 am all bright eyed and wanting to see her new baby again. Yawn, only about 2 hours of broken sleep. What a night !!
In the days that followed Abbey’s birth they have sure been busy. Mark had to drive Victoria back home on Tuesday, so the day after Abbey was born. I packed up and stayed at mum’s house for the night after a break down. There was no way I could look after a 2 year old and cook for the big boys a day after birthing. I was exhausted. Mark got back on Wednesday morning.
I had my GP come out on the Tuesday afternoon do give Abbey and I a check over. Victoria had noticed that Abbey had positional talipes. This meant that the feet both turn in, the bottoms of her legs are also slightly curved. Abbey’s fontanel is also quite small. It is opened and that’s the main thing. It’s just a matter of keeping an eye on it and making sure it stays that way to allow for her brain growth. Hopefully it will pose no other problem to her in the future.
My GP organized for Abbey to see a physio at the local hospital and we got in there on Wednesday, when she was only 2 days old. They aren’t too worried about her legs and we have a follow up when she is 2 weeks old.
Abbey is going well and sleeping fine for now. She is jaundiced and is currently waiting for her blood test results to come back to see how her levels are and if she needs admitting for phototherapy.
So there you have it. My birth story of what I am thinking (planning) of my last baby.
My precious little girl Abbey Raine. (her middle name after my mum Lorraine)
A huge Thank you goes to my Mum for being there throughout my whole pregnancy, for supporting me through the hard times and holding my hand (and bucket) through one of the most joyous moments in my life.
Another Thank you goes to Victoria for making the journey down here and back home again so selflessly.
Thank you to Nadine for being a great friend and for taking some awesome pictures and video of Abbey’s birth.
And finally Thank you to Mark for trying his hardest to be supportive during Abbey’s birth. He was much more relaxed this time even though I know he’s not keen on homebirth’s.
As soon as I get some time I will make up a montage to go along with this story.
I hope you all got as much enjoyment out of reading my birth story as I have gotten out of Abbey herself.
Tehya’s Home Waterbirth Story
March 8, 2005 – 10:48 pm
After feeling ill with flu like symptoms and high temps for the weekend and having contractions on and off from Friday afternoon, I had a show on Saturday morning and started having irregular contractions on and off for the rest of the weekend. They started up again on Monday around 1pm and continued for the rest of the afternoon. Around 4pm I started to feel ill again and had the shakes with temp and decided that I should go and have a lay down. I fell asleep til around 6.30pm when I awoke still have contractions and feeling even worse than before. I got up and went in for a bath thinking that if they were false labour pains that they would stop while I was in the bath. They didn’t, I called my midwife Victoria from the bathtub to see if she could come and check me, also to let her know what was going on as her husband had to work nightshift that night so he needed to know asap to call in. Just as I was about to get out of the bath I got an almighty contraction, one that brought me to tears - of course all of my boys were hanging around the bathroom door at this time and witnessed it.
Victoria came and checked me and I was 4cm dilated, by this time Mum was here. Not long after my gf Jenny who was to be my photographer arrived. We decided that a walk was in order to get things speeding up. Had a couple of contractions on our walk but that was it, things had backed right off, in the mean time back at Mum and Dads house the pool had been set up and everything was ready to go. I conned Victoria into breaking my waters, something that generally isn’t done in homebirths, just to get things happening again. Ok waters done, abit like Niagra Falls, there was so much. But it worked. Contractions started to hot up around now. Tried to stay upright and on my feet for as long as possible, just walking around the lounge room.
It wasn’t too long before I started to feel the urge to push. I got into the pool which felt like heaven, I was immediately soothed by it’s warmth. After pushing for what felt like forever, around 1 and a half hours and still no progress my midwife did an internal and found that I was only 6cms dilated. At this point I should explain that the whole idea of having a homebirth is to have minimal intervention and to just go with what the body is feeling as opposed to having internals which is why this wasn’t noticed earlier. I was also found to have inpacted bowels, basically I was blocked up after being badly constipated for days. The pushing sensation I had been feeling was poo push not baby push, too hard to distinguish between. Neither poo nor baby could get out for one was blocking the other. At this stage I got out of the pool. This is where it gets alittle grose. My midwives decided to do a manual removal of the poo - sorry if tmi, then to give me an enema to clean me out. Fantastic I know. But it did the job thankfully.
I was absoulutely exhausted by now as I had been going alnight and it was now around 5.30 am I think. My midwife Victoria has a 4 month old who is being breastfeed so she decided that now would be a good time to go and feed her bub. She only lives 5 minutes away so I was ok with that, I still had the second midwife Jan there. My temperature was checked and it was found to be high and bubs heartrate had excellerated due do it. After a few words between my Mum - who wanted me to have some panadol as I’d had some in early labour when the same thing was happening and it worked for me and Jan - who is all for letting things go naturally it was decided that I would have some. Thanks Mum. I stayed laying on the blow up mattress we had just breathing through my contrations, so very hard to do when your not allowed to push and tried to let my body recover abit and regain some energy and finish dilating. This happened pretty quickly, maybe 40 minutes or so.
I could feel bub moving down as the pain in my spine was killing me, all I wanted was some counter pressure and everyone had left me alone, so here I was sticking my fist into my back trying to ease the pain. I started to feel bub coming and yelled out to let Jan know and to tell her to call Victoria up. I wasn’t going to do this without her. Mum and Jan asked if I wanted to get back into the pool or to just stay on the bed as I was progressing well there. I briefly though about staying there then I remember how much I really wanted this bub born into the water and summons up the energy to get up and hop backinto the water. Again instant relief. I was having big pushing contractions and I was abit scared to go with them after what had happened earlier but soon I had no choice and my body took over. Victoria arrived and I was happy to start pushing now.
I pushed for 20 minutes, screamed and swore a hell of a lot, but finally my little girl came out. I had a mirror to loook into while I was pushing watching her progress and I truely believe that kept me going throughout it. Tehyas head came out, perhaps alittle too fast as I wouldn’t stop pushing but Victoria slowed her exit down alittle stopping me from tearing thankfully. The next contraction came around about 2 minutes late I think, a fair while later and brought with it her shoulders and the rest of her body which I quickly reached down and caught as she came out and put her up onto my chest. She was covered in so much vernex that she actually looked preterm even though it was the day before her due date. She arrived at 6.35am on Tuesday 8th March.
We stayed in the pool for a while and Tehya had a little hat ut on her and a bluey put over her to keep in her temp. She stayed attached to her cord until it stopped beating, probably around 30 to 40 minutes later when I clamped her cord and Mark cut it. She was taken oveer to the mattress right next to the pool, still in eye shot, cleaned alittle and weighed and measured. They told me she weighed nearly 4kg but I truely couldn’t see her as that big. The were using Jans scales which obviusly weren’t acurate because I took her to get weighed the following morning at the chemist and she only weighed 3710gm or 8lb 2oz and was 50cm in length, her head 35 cm. So not tooo big afterall. I stayed in the pool until I had some more contractions and delivered the placenta in there naturally and without any shots.
We called the boys up around 7.30am, after I had cleaned up alittle and was laying in the bed. It was so good being able to share it with my boys so soon afterwards.
So there you have it. My home water birth story. Didn’t go quite as planned, and lasted way longer than we had anticipated but still ened perfectly. With my beautiful little girl, who I might add absolutley loves her bath.