Maeve’s Birth Story
During my third pregnancy I requested and was cared for by the same MGP midwife I had with my second. I was sure I was going to go into labour earlier than with the others, and I was certain in my mind it was boy. The weeks went by and there was no action, then on the night that I was 40+1 weeks we were having dinner and I felt an uncomfortable tightening sensation. I noted it and continued on with dinner. The tightening’s continued sporadically, not close enough together to start timing, but definitely strong enough to notice. They continued until around 11pm when they finally eased off.
I woke up the next morning and had a brief time before irregular tightenings commenced again. They were inconsistent and then would settle for long periods. This was unexpected because my two previous labours had been consistent and progressed from the very start. I thought it might be a good idea for the kids to go to their grandmothers for the day to allow my body to rest and for labour to establish. Throughout the day I had some periods of more intense frequent tightenings, then they would peter out for a while. I passed time by using moxa sticks and doing exercises for optimal positioning. I recognised that I was getting impatient and focussing on it too much, so I decided to lay down and listen to some affirmations. I ended up falling asleep and having a much needed nap.
When I woke up everything seemed to have stopped. I updated my mother and said to bring the kids back when they were ready. I wasn’t sure what the night would bring, so my mother decided to stay the night incase she was needed. We had dinner and did the bath time routine. I joined the kids while mum read them some bedtime stories. At this point I had no uterine activity and was certain nothing was going to happen that night. I was tired from little sleep the previous few nights so I kissed the kids goodnight and off to bed I went.
I finally laid down and closed my eyes and within 5 minutes I had a very strong uncomfortable tightening. A couple of minutes passed and there was another. I couldn’t lay down through them, so I knew this was something more. I was needing to focus on my breath through the sensations. I came out to my husband who was still up in the loungeroom and asked him to attach the TENS machine for me. I noticed the surges were very close together and lasting a long time. I had my husband call the birth photographer to come to our house to catch some of the early labour.
I started timing at 9.50pm, the duration was 2 minutes and I had only 20 seconds break before the next one! They were coming hard and fast so we called my midwife at 9.57pm to tell her we needed to come in to the birth center. My husband called our photographer back and caught her heading out of her driveway to let her know there was a change of plans and we would meet her at the hospital.
We let my mum know that we were leaving and grabbed our bags. We got in the car at 10.10pm and I had a brief reprieve from surges and said to my husband “I hope we aren’t going in too early”. He reminded me of the frequency of the surges and that I was right to think I was ready for the birth centre. We got to the hospital and as with my other labours made a very slow trip up the long corridor to birth suite. My surges wouldn’t allow me more than a couple of steps in between them. We got to the admin desk where we met our photographer and she got to work straight away. My midwife came out to greet us as I steadily made my way in the door. She could see I had difficulty walking far between surges and offered me a wheelchair to make the trip into the birth centre quicker.
The birth pool was still filling when we arrived, so I mobilised at the side watching it fill and using my birth comb/TENS machine. Once the pool was ready I jumped straight in. With my TENs machine off, I really focussed on utilising my breathing techniques and birth comb. I was very aware of my surroundings but very calm knowing I was where I needed to be, and I could fully relax. I was even cracking jokes with my husband until a few minutes before I started involuntary pushing. I remember feeling like I knew exactly what point I had reached in my labour and I told my husband “a couple more contractions and bub will be here”. I felt the familiar sensation of my body beginning to push my baby out, so I did my best to breathe for a gentle birth. My midwife had the mirror in the pool to check progress, we have some shots of my baby’s head emerging. Another surge and my baby was born (11.05pm), straight up onto my chest for skin to skin. The sense of relief caught on film by my photographer. After having a moment to cuddle and calm our baby we checked and found out it was a GIRL! I had guessed the previous two children’s genders and was in shock I got it wrong this time.
We moved from the pool to the bed to rest and initiate feeding. I’m so glad we decided on a photographer for this birth because she captured some of the sweetest moments getting to know our new baby girl. We rested and waited until 5.30am to head home.
Mum and the kids hadn’t received any updates overnight, and were still asleep when we got home. We snuck into another room to sleep before they woke up. Only a short while later I heard little feet coming up the hall. My husband was in the kitchen when they woke up and he told them we had a surprise for them. I was still pregnant went they went to bed, so much to their delight they found Maeve sleeping soundly in the bassinet. It was a perfect surprise and they were instantly in love.
Every birth has taught me something new about patience and the strength of my body. Even as a Midwife in the throws of labour we can forget that every labour is unique and progress is not always linear. Maeve’s birth reminded me that sometimes, when we finally let go and trust the process, everything unfolds exactly as it should.
-CM.
