Hi Vicky,

Here is the story of Harry’s birth for you...

Love Mel

The birth of Harry

How do you fill your day when you know you are going to hospital that night to be induced? Andrew and I went to the Farmers’ Market, had some nice meals, watched some West Wing and tried to relax together at home. Andrew went for a mountain bike ride in the afternoon whilst I snoozed and practiced Calmbirth breathing. We had dinner together. Then it was time to go. It rained lightly as we packed everything into the car. It was a nice evening and I felt very calm.

On Sunday 14 December around 7pm I arrived at John James Hospital, Deakin, with my suitcase packed (for five nights in hospital), bag of labour goodies, and things for our new baby. I’d included a bunny rug and rattle that had belonged to Jeremy and Ege when they were bubs.

I settled into my room and the nurse administered the Prostaglandin gel to help my cervix thin and get ready to dilate. Nothing to do afterwards except try and get a good night sleep. I was glad I had put the Calmbirth sessions onto the iPod as I listened to a few throughout the night. Ear plugs blocked out the hospital sounds – newborn babies crying, mothers buzzing for a nurse. It was weird – I was in the maternity ward but I did not have a baby in my room yet and I was not in labour. Tomorrow...

I had a pretty good sleep. I didn’t have any of the drugs they offered to help me sleep (Temazapam) – I did not want to feel groggy from them and besides which, they may not have helped me anyway. I phoned Andrew, had a light breakfast and then went down to the delivery suite with labour goodies in tow.

At around  8am Dr Jyoti Ruba had come to see how I had progressed during the night. Overnight, my cervix had dilated to 3cm which was great! Jyoti was able to break my waters and get the labour started which was good news. When the waters broke, it was a pleasant warm gush. I couldn’t believe how much fluid came out! And it kept on coming all day until baby’s head was low enough to form a plug. Andrew arrived just after the membranes had broken, ready to support me and bring our baby into the world some time soon.

Jyoti put a canula in my hand and attached a drip. I was given Syntocinin to start the contractions. It started as a low, gentle dose and increased over a few hours. Waiting for contractions to start, I felt relatively normal. I went for a few walks around the ward with Andrew and ‘Fred’ the Synto drip in tow, wearing my sexy hospital gown. Watched some TV, did some of a crossword puzzle, listened to music.

The contractions started after a couple of hours – I noticed them getting regular around 11am. At this point they attached equipment around my belly to monitor the baby and my contractions throughout the labour. I could hear the baby’s heartbeat which was a nice rhythm, and reassuring. The only downside was the machine restricted my mobility – perhaps one of the greatest mental challenges for me during labour. It was hard to move around with all the equipment attached to me. This is when I started to focus my attention inwards to positively deal with what I was experiencing...

Andrew put some nice music on and burned some oil for me. I put on the TENS machine and started to use the calm breathing technique for each contraction. This was working well for me. I sat on the edge of the bed with my feet on a stool and rocked myself back and forth which was comforting. When the contractions became more intense, I breathed more deeply, used the boost button on the TENS machine, and Andrew squeezed the acupressure points on my shoulders which was an incredibly effective combination. We worked together like this for hours. The atmosphere was quiet and calm. I tried a few alternative positions such as kneeling on the bed with my arms over a bean bag and warm blanket on my back. It was nice to change positions, but sitting on the edge of the bed worked best and was the easiest to hold.

Occasionally the midwife would check to see we were all OK, but she did not intrude. Dr Ruba popped in around midday and was happy with how the labour was going, and the baby was happy on the monitor. Jyoti didn’t do an examination – I didn’t want to know how far dilated I was in case it was not the news I wanted to hear. I just wanted to focus on the moment.

Eventually I got to the point where I wanted to try something else. Around 3pm or so I decided that I wanted to get into the shower. The midwife checked with Jyoti that it was OK to disconnect the monitor around my belly to allow me to do so. The contractions were getting quite intense and I was starting to make some moans and groans as I breathed through them.

The shower was awesome. I sat backwards on a chair with the hot water running down my back. For a while I could hardly even notice some of the contractions, they just melted away. Andrew was keeping an eye on me and the midwife monitored the baby every 15 minutes. I was doing well. It was so nice to be in the shower. Just me, the water running down my back, deep breathing, no clock to look at, and ‘Fred’ the Synto drip even seemed like less of a bother.

After a while I started to become really audible with each contraction. They were getting very strong. I made soothing sighs as I breathed out, and they helped me ride each wave. I could tell the peak was on its way. Eventually I had the ‘bearing down’ sensation and I thought it was worth letting the midwife know. It felt like I needed to push with each contraction. I tried not to. I was not sure if it was the right time yet. However, I did think it was time to get out of the shower and for the midwife to make an assessment... I was fully dilated! This was the best news! I was so happy to hear it. It was around 4pm.

Jyoti hurried across to the hospital. I made myself comfortable on the bed in the position I wanted to give birth. I was on all fours with a bean bag to support me and Andrew at my side. How exciting!
I was ready to push. The adrenaline moment had arrived. Our baby was getting closer.

It felt good to push. It was hard work, effort was required, it raised a sweat, and it was tiring at times. I reminded myself to ‘breathe my baby down’ and thought about having ‘plenty of space’.  I pushed for around 45 minutes. Jyoti guided me to make each push as long and slow as possible. I rested in between each urge until the next one came along. I reached down and could feel when the baby’s head was starting to emerge. It felt soft and I thought ‘Wow, we are so close now’. I could tell when the widest part of the head was making its way through. It did not hurt or even burn. It was a good feeling.

Eventually I had done it and the baby’s head slipped out. The rest happened quickly.  I think it was another push for the shoulders and the rest of the body to follow. It felt warm and nice when our baby arrived. I heard our baby’s cry and turned around to look at him. Andrew cut the cord, he told me it was a little boy, and before you knew it I was sitting back in bed with a baby in my arms. A baby looking up at me, alert as ever. He got the hiccups for a while. Then he went to my breast for his first feed. He was perfect. He was born at 5.07pm on Monday 15 December, 2008.

There was no hurry. I held Harry in my arms for almost two hours. The time went very quickly. When it was time for me to have a shower, Andrew held Harry against his bare chest so they could bond with skin-to-skin contact, and they gazed at each other. They weighed and measured Harry, and before you knew it Andrew and I were alone with him in my room. Our family.

There was no pain throughout the whole experience – only intense sensations. The hospital midwives and Jyoti respected our Birth plan. With Andrew’s help I managed the contractions and strong sensations using what we had learned at Calmbirth, together with the TENS machine. I could not have done this without Andrew. He made a big difference. The birth experience exceeded my expectations. I was so proud of myself. I kept my focus, kept my cool, maintained a positive frame of mind (most of the time, naturally a few doubts crept in when it was really tough), and did not need any drugs – not even gas! I had a few stitches and have recovered from the birth very well.

After the birth I was on such a big high. I think Andrew was too. I kept reliving it in my mind. Everything went so well and Harry is simply delightful...

More information...

Calmbirth: http://www.calmbirthcanberra.com.au

Labour TENS Machine: http://www.labourtens.com.au/

Acupressure: Promoting a natural labour and partner involvement:  http://home.clear.net.nz/pages/debra_betts/Acupressure.pdf