Hi Jo
Happy New Year! Thanks so much for the massage at the end of last year. Below is my birth story!
Saturday morning 06 Dec I felt the usual Braxton Hicks at about 0915 and didnt think much of it as I’ve been getting them throughout the pregnancy. They were very irregular 1030, 1115, 1200 etc so I didnt really pay much attention to them. At lunch when my husband was about to have a beer I said joking that he should have a quiet one just in case they eventuate to something. We carried on our usual activities, I vacuumed the house, did the dishes, watched some DVD’s. We went over to my mother-in-law’s place this was about 3pm and I was still getting the Braxton’s but it wasn’t that bad, maybe a little more painful then usual. We weren’t worried because when we went to the midwife on Wed she said I wasn’t engaged and I didn’t have the waddle that normal pregnant people do when they are about to drop. A good friend of mine was having a party out Mangawhai for the house they were building and all day I was saying I wanted to go up there and have a look around. Dave wasn’t sure because it was so far to go up north and if something did happen it would be too far from anywhere! So after a few hours at around 1730 I gave up and said we wouldn’t go and text my friend saying sorry but I have these strange pains in my belly so better not come up just in case. At this stage the pains got a little stronger and a little stronger but it was strange as they were just on one side (the other side to my bolts in my back) so thought if it was the real thing it would hurt all over.
So at about 6pm I said to Dave to look around for the bits of paper we had from antenanal classes that told us when to call the midwife just in case things got worse. I hadn’t had any of the usual signs, no show, no water breaking and not what I considered labour pains but they were sure getting frequent! So at 1840 we decided maybe we should time how long apart and how long for they were and then after an hour we could call Deb our midwife and see what she thought. Dave was doing the times and cooking dinner at the same time and by about 1900 they were 3 min apart for about a minute which was what was in the booklets we had been given. So Dave started to get the car ready so if we needed to go we could, then at 1930 I had this jolting kind of feeling that I needed to go to the bathroom so Dave helped me down there and all of a sudden I felt like something heavy had dropped from inside me, Dave quickly called Deb the midwife and told her about the pains and times and that I had a feeling to push and she said ok go to the hospital and that she would meet us there. So Dave was trying to get me to get up and I said no something is defiantly happening now and that he should go wash his hands and see if he could feel anything, when he came back he could feel something it was her head, one push and out popped her head and then seconds later her body! We both looked at each other in shock! Dave called Deb back and said it was too late and that she was here and what should we do, she said to call 111 and get to the hospital so I had the other phone calling 111 and getting them to talk us through what to do. Savanna was fine she cried when she came out and we wrapped her up and just both sat there really wondering what the heck had just happened. I asked Dave what it was and he was like, its a girl! I was so shocked because 80% of everyone said it was going to be a boy! I was like really? Are you sure and its not just hiding down there, no definitely a girl! 20 mins later the ambulance arrived and took me and Savanna to Hospital and Dave quickly called the family to say get to the hospital because the newest member was here and drove himself to Takapuna Hosptial. Once we got there Deb checked me over, delivered the placenta and a couple of hours later we were sitting in the hospital still in complete shock that we had just had a home birth with no drugs and we now had a tiny little baby girl 5 pounds 11 ounces!
So yeah Savanna Paula Miller is on the scene, she has a tight connection with her Daddy as you can imagine since he delivered her and cut the cord etc. I just had to keep her warm and safe for 9 months lol.
I think I was very lucky that I could have her at home. I’m not sure if my focused breathing counted as each breath was a focused breath! My thoughts on how Hypno-birthing classes helped is that they made me realise that I could have a natural birth and my body does know what to do. My mind was relaxed and let my body take over. Also that my baby was the perfect size for my body.
Rachel
