Olivia's Birth
2013
First birth
Lived in: Kerikeri, Bay of Islands
WHERE WAS YOUR PLANNED PLACE OF BIRTH?
Kawakawa Hospital
WHERE WAS YOUR ACTUAL PLACE OF BIRTH?
Kawakawa Hospital
OLIVIA'S BIRTH
After nearly 3 years of trying to get pregnant (with one miscarriage), I really couldn’t have asked for a more easy laid back pregnancy and labour.
My health was great during my pregnancy. I did have morning sickness (nauseous but no vomiting) from 6 weeks to 12 weeks. And I did get pretty large swollen feet, but then again who wouldn’t near the end of their third trimester in the height of summer! I did manage to end up with severe back pain but that was because I decided that camping at 36 weeks pregnant would be a great idea. Turned out my back really didn’t like it but it was fine as soon as I got back into my own bed.
11am - first signs of labour
I ended up being 6 days overdue. I remember the day I went into labour so well.
It started at 11am with a midwife appointment. Up until this point I had been happy and not too worried about being overdue, uncomfortable and tired. But this day I was feeling over it all and wanting to meet our little baby asap I must admit I shed a few frustrated tears at that appointment.
My midwife tried to do a stretch and sweep but my cervix was only about 1cm dilated. She decided that we would try again the next day but in the meantime booked me in for an ultra sound at 3pm that afternoon to check how much fluid was around the baby and make sure everything was going well in there.
So we had our ultra sound – which everything looked fine. The sonographer did find that the baby had dilated kidneys which she said once baby was born would require further investigation.
I got home from the appointment and found I had wet my pants! There wasn’t a big flood or anything like you see on the movies but enough to wet through the pad I was wearing and wet my pants. I rang my midwife straight away with lots of nerves and excitement – it was finally happening!!
My midwife called in to check that there was no meconium in my waters and explained that labour could still be a day or two away and just to try to relax and rest.
6.30pm
I had just finished dinner, about 6.30pm, when I felt my first contraction. I text my Mum and said “I hope you don’t have plans for tonight’ She rang me in super quick speed and said to let her know when we were leaving for the hospital.
From this contraction there was no slowing down or easing off. They started coming on quickly and were about 4-5 mins apart from the first one! I rang my midwife who explained that they may slow down and or get stronger and longer and to keep her updated with how they were progressing.
They quickly started to come 2-3 mins apart. I was still quite calm (even though it was getting pretty sore by now). My step daughter ran me a lovely warm bath but I could only stay in there about 10 mins. As soon as I got out of the bath I started shaking and the contractions were really intense. My husband rang my midwife. While I was talking to her I managed to have a few really good contractions. She asked what I wanted to do. By this point I felt like I needed to be with her and get to the hospital.
There is no way you can explain to someone how I just knew that I needed to be with my midwife and get to the hospital as soon as I could. I guess my body just knew what it needed and that it was gearing up (quickly) to get this baby out.
9.30pm
I think we got to the hospital at 9.30pm. Mum arrived just as my midwife was doing a internal examination. I was 5-6cm but she could stretch to 7cm. She said that my waters were right there and when they broke I wouldn’t take long to deliver my baby (apparently the waters I thought had broken earlier had been my hind waters, I didn’t even know that you had hind waters!)
I got up and leaned on the bed with my Mum rubbing my back as it seemed to help take the edge off the contractions. My water broke pretty much as soon as I stood up. The contractions started getting more painful and seemed to move more into my lower back so I hopped in the bathing pool to try to help me get through each contraction as I wasn’t planning on having any pain relief. To be honest I never even thought about pain relief during the whole labour.
I LOVED that pool. It was so nice to be able to be in there. My contractions got stronger and stronger and I was finding it harder to get through them. I just kept telling myself that each contraction I got though would bring me closer to holding our beautiful baby.
11pm
I felt like I needed to start pushing. I think I was about 11pm.
My midwife wanted me to get out of the pool after a few pushes as she couldn’t be sure if there was meconium in the water or not.
I tried a few different positions. I felt like I couldn’t move so I stayed leaning on the bed pushing. This didn’t seem to be getting anywhere so I moved onto my hands and knees on the bed. This didn’t seem to be working for me either so I ended up on my back on the bed. I ended up pushing for nearly 2 hours I guess but it sure didn’t feel that long.
12.56am
Little Olivia was born at 12.56 on the 15th February (just missed Valentine’s Day) weighting 8lb 6oz (3.8kg) she was born just over 6 hours from my first contraction after a natural pain relief free vaginal birth with my Husband, mother and step daughter their supporting me. I had a slight tear and a bit of grazing but it was all healed up in no time.
Looking back now (3 ½ months later) I cannot really remember the pain and I am a little sad that I cannot remember everything as clearly as I would like to. A lot of people told me their ‘horror’ stories which I think is a pretty mean thing to do as it can scare the hell of you but I think I managed to stay calm by working my way through each contraction at a time. I think another big thing is to trust in your midwife and don’t let people you aren’t comfortable with be in the room with you. The last thing you need is to be worried about anything.
Things you would do the same?
I would try to stay as relaxed and put all my trust into my midwife and support people to know what I need and how to help and support me.
Things you would do differently?
I would get a video or photos of the labour as I am sad that I don’t remember much of the actual time I was in labour.
What advice would you recommend to other Northland mums / families?
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