It really is unexplainable what the entire birthing experience is like. No words can describe the physical and emotional journey during those hours in labour. Women who have been through it will give you a knowing nod or comforting smile, and that’s all it takes to know that you’re not alone and what you’ve been through is an experience shared by many.
Being my first pregnancy, I knew it would typically take a bit longer for bubs arrival. I was edging on 41 weeks when my waters broke on Tuesday night. I rang my midwife to let her know, and received a home visit to check in on me. On Wednesday I went about my day and did some baking while having very mild surges at infrequent times. By dinner time, they started to get a bit more consistent and increased in intensity, by 7.30pm I had my tens machine on and we were timing the surges. We called the midwives and decided to head on in at around 8.30pm as they were now 3 in every 10min.
Luck would have it that our car decided to break down 5min from the John 😐. We quickly called an Uber and ubered it the rest of the way with a very confused driver 😂. My partner Eli was very focused on keeping me calm and relaxed throughout this whole ordeal; I just saw it as a funny story to tell Bub one day.
We arrived in the birthing suite and our midwife had already setup some fairy lights and run the bath for me. Eli continued to set up the space on arrival. I laboured throughout the whole night, with Eli as my support and guidance from our midwife to try different positions, I just kept reminding myself that every surge would bring me one step closer to meeting Bub- Every moment felt more intense than the last. I had always planned on birthing in the bath, but once I hopped in, the surges decreased and I felt that I wasn’t progressing as well as I could. It was at this point that I started on the gas and hopped in the shower to try some squatting positions. Time was going really fast for me, but we were in the shower for a few hours at this point. It was here that the pain was unbearable for me. I never wanted to use the word ‘pain’ throughout my labour, but there’s just no other way to describe it when you’re in the moment.
To give my body a break, our midwife suggested I lay on my side with a peanut pillow. We decided to check how dilated my cervix was, and it was exhausting to hear that despite being quite open, my cervix had a thick, swollen side.
I spent a bit of time trying to relax on my side to reduce the swelling but the pain became so unbearable that we discussed an epidural, and I decided it was a good option at this point. 30min later the anaesthetist was ready to administer the epidural, when our midwife asked to check my cervix one more time, due to a few promising signs. It was amazing to hear that the swelling was gone and I was fully dilated and ready to go for the last stage of the labour. From then I decided to continue with just the tens machine and the gas- I wanted the baby out asap! Each subsequent surge was so so intense, there were moments of absolutely blackness where I could have sworn I left my body and went somewhere else.
The final pushing stage lasted 1.5 hours, and with an immeasurable amount of ‘I can’t do this’ and ‘I don’t want to do this anymore’, with the indescribable burning and stretching pain that comes with it, our little girl Sunny finally arrived at 11am on the Thursday morning. The release once her head was out is absolutely amazing. Eli was able to catch our perfect little girl and bring her up to my chest straight away.
The experience was both the hardest thing I’ll ever do in my life but also the strongest I have ever been. I couldn’t have done it without Eli by my side every step of the way, and of course without our midwife Emily’s always calm presence and coaching throughout the labour. I can’t speak highly enough of the Midwifery Group Practice and feel so privileged to have landed a place for my first birth. What an experience ❤️
