Being Open, Come What May

Contractions started on June 9. Geoff was up with me all night, but I have to admit we were like deer in a headlight.

He had called our doula to give her the heads up, and the following morning he called her to come over. We laboured at home, and she gave us many great suggestions to get through it. I spent two hours in the bathtub at one point sleeping between contractions. When I got out I felt like I had been in there for only twenty minutes!  We had a birthing pool as well, and I got in there at some point. I was having back pain with my contractions and the water seemed to help. I did get sterile water injections as well, which helped the back pain. They stung going in, but it was worth it to get some relief. Our doula had us go for a walk and climb stairs, both of which helped labour progress.

The midwife showed up that evening, and said I could start pushing. My water still hadn’t broken, so the midwife did it. There ended up being meconium in it, so we had to transfer to the hospital. Our goal with the birth was to be open to what came, so we weren’t worried about whether we had the baby at home or the hospital. The ambulance showed up and we got to the hospital in no time. Right away we went into a delivery room and had a wonderful nurse attending us as well. Everyone was so supportive that everything felt like it was happening as it should be.

I pushed for about three hours total, and finally the little one came out!! She may have been posterior in there, but she also came out with a hand up by her face, which really made the pushing a challenge. At one point her heart rate kept dipping and going up, so the midwife mentioned we may need to get an OB in to see if they would need a vacuum or forceps. I wanted the least amount of intervention as possible, so I think when she said that I really dug deep to push her out!! It worked.

My favourite part of the delivery was after when I was getting stitched up and the conversation turned to the new season of Orange is the New Black. The surgeon had to come because I had one bad tear, and she was so down to earth and funny. It just felt like a group of friends hanging out.

Our daughter Emiliana arrived at 12:02 am, and we went up to a private room around 2:30am. We only stayed in the hospital that day and headed home around 6pm after making sure baby was good to go.

We’re now settling in well, finding sleep when we can.

Simone & Geoff