Baby Cameron was born on the 29th January at 2.25pm, weighing in at 8lb 13ozs (4kg) and 56cm long… He’s going to be tall like his daddy!
After having a reflexology treatment the night before to try and bring on the labour naturally, which I believe worked a treat (had never had one before either, so it was just nice to have someone giving my feet a massage!!), my labour started at 2am in the morning of the 29th, I managed to not wake Gordon (my hubby) until about 5.45am, when I felt I needed some company, things were getting a bit stronger but not too bad.
All the time we were at home I had my relaxation CD going non-stop, Gordon just kept hitting play when it got to the end each time and with each surge I was swinging and swaying my hips to get through it and doing a lot of talking out loud to myself, saying whatever crazy thing entered my head at the time, sometimes this would come out in a sing-song way. Gordon just stood by on hand whenever I needed him. The hypno-birthing kinda went out the window a little but I definitely used the breathing techniques that we learnt and it is also helped Gordon, he would just keep reminding me of the beach and waves in and out, little things to keep my focus on my breathing.
Once at the hospital, we were met by my wonderful midwife Diane Hirst, we went to our birthing suite and I continued with my swinging hips and breathing each surge through. This was when I discovered I had forgotten my relaxation CD but luckily had downloaded it onto my phone, so on went the headphones and we were able to continue on ‘merrily’. The birth pool was filled with water and I stripped down for emersion. Although for some crazy reason I did put on my bikini top?! The water was a great relief for a while and at times I almost went to sleep with Gordon holding my head out of the water, I was on my hands and knees you see, face down! 🙂 I was in the birth pool for quite sometime, can’t remember how long! And according to Gordon I was ‘mooing’ my way through each surge. (So true what you were saying in pregnancy yoga class Jo!!) Eventually Diane (midwife) had to make a call as things were getting a bit tricky down below, Baby Cameron’s head was getting stuck on part of my cervix, so each time I was trying to push he just wasn’t able to go anywhere, the hands and knees position that I had been in for so long was hindering progress. So I had to make the great move from water to bed between surges and get my legs in the air basically. With a lot of coaching from Diane and Gordon, it got to the point where it was time to bear down and get him out, unfortunately lil Cam had decided that his head did not need to form the bullet shape it should to come down the birth canal and I ended up having to push out 37cm circumference head! Diane had to make another call to save me from further damage and give me an episiotomy, I was completely happy with her suggestions as I had complete trust in her, she of course has done thousands of deliveries before and could see the signs of what could happen! I guess from the beginning to the end my birth experience was 12 hours long, a big day for all involved but an amazing experience, something that changes you a little forever inside and brings you something to treasure for the rest of your life…
Many thanks to you Jo… For the lovely massages that you gave me in the later stages of my pregnancy and coming to your preggy yoga classes was helpful in so many ways for me, I looked forward to seeing you and the other mums to be, it was nice to be able to share our thoughts for the week if we wanted and your words of experience and comfort through the class were hugely appreciated by me, I’ll treasure those classes forever!!
Hugs and love
Mummy Debbie and Daddy Gordon