I read many positive birth stories during pregnancy (in fact I found them pretty addictive)! We didn’t plan to take photos but we ended up getting a few and they frame the story quite well, so I thought I’d share my experience before it becomes a distorted memory. It’s funny because whenever I say it was pretty amazing, Luke looks at me as if I am crazy, so it’s possible my mind has erased how tough it was.. and that’s also fine ? The point is that if my story helps just one person who’s nervous about their upcoming birth, it’s a good thing!
So clearly I wasn’t in labor at the gym ?.. but this photo was taken the day before I went into labour and I think this session may have got things moving (we’ll never know of course!). I was just coming up to 39 weeks and was keen to avoid being induced so I did a 3km uphill walk and lots of squats that day. I felt fine after the workout and we went out for a lovely lunch. The next day however, I was so tired. Like crazy crazy tired. I remember lying on the sofa just repeating to Luke “I feel totally exhausted” (clever body – forcing me to slow down before a 36 hour marathon session)! I did very little that day and later that evening remember I telling Luke my Braxton Hicks contractions were “really strong and uncomfortable” – you’d think I may have twigged at that point I was going into labour but I was actually a bit oblivious ?… I had a long bath and got into bed at around 11pm, uncomfortable but not in any real pain. The last thing I said to Luke was “take the day off tmr and hang out with me and bump”. He said no, so I said “me and bump will do everything possible to stop you going to work tmr”. And we did ?
At around 1am I woke up to some strong cramps. At first I lay there wondering if I was imagining it, but as soon
as I saw a pattern in the timing of the cramps I knew this could be it ? I wasn’t nervous at all, just filled with excitement. I let Luke sleep next to me until 2am as I knew he’d need his energy too, and I laid there timing the contractions. They were lasting about 45-50 seconds and coming every 4 minutes. I woke him up after an hour and said we’d better call the hospital to warn them. They advised to wait until the contractions were 1 minute long and 3 minutes apart, so I popped my Tens machine on and did my make up (lol)… The pain was totally bearable – like period cramps. At 5am we called the hospital again as the contractions were around 55 seconds long and 3.5 minutes apart – I really wanted to check if they had a water pool free (you can’t reserve them, you just have to hope it’s available when the time comes.. ). They asked if I could feel Ava moving and I realised I couldn’t remember the last time she’d kicked, so just in case they said to come in. This pic is of me on a fetal monitor with my Tens round my neck in the maternity unit around 6am. The contractions were now getting stronger, so they decided to transfer me to the birthing unit for an examination. Ava was doing great, and that’s all I allowed myself to focus on. I just kept repeating “as long as Ava’s okay I’ll take whatever pain Mother Nature throws at me” I lost count of the amount of times I repeated that. ?
This photo makes me laugh.. my massive fur slippers lol. It’s now around 8 am and I’d been having contractions since 1am. I’d been examined and I was 3 cm dilated. The midwife did a sweep to move things along a bit. She also told me Ava had no hair at all… which I was pretty surprised about (I’d definitely ordered one with hair). The contractions were getting stronger and it was really hard to talk whilst I was getting them. Unfortunately they were also starting to get further apart. I remember feeling really confused about that, and to be honest, pretty disappointed when the midwife said this is common in first births (the starting and slowing down). I was so ready to meet Ava now, but the reality was I wasn’t progressing quickly anymore, so we made the decision to go home where I’d be more comfortable and we would wait for the contractions to become more frequent there. I remember I felt annoyed, upset and frustrated that my body was letting us down, but I kept going back to the same thing – as long as Ava was okay nothing else mattered. This was mentally the thing that got me through and when it got really hard I went back to focus on this. We left the hospital around 11am (still in these ridiculous slippers…)
I’ve posted this picture before. It’s the “oh yeah, s**t just got real” photo ? This is about 13 hours after being woken by contractions in the night. By now it was around 2pm and they were pretty painful. I couldn’t talk through them, I just had to breathe, use the Tens and have Luke massage the bottom of my back. It was the kind of pain that takes your breathe away. I walked, bounced, got on all fours, sat a little – keeping active. Around 5pm the contractions were really strong but annoyingly still five minutes apart. I called the hospital as I didn’t know how much longer I would cope at home without gas and air and they said I could come in. When I got there and was examined I was 5 cm dilated (and told I’d done well to get that far on a Tens as I was contracting pretty strongly). I remember I cried tears of joy as I was really scared they’d say I was still 3 cm and I’d have to go home. At least now I was allowed into the birthing pool!
It got dark again lol! Here I am at 8 pm in the water pool (in labour for 20 hours at this point). I felt so much better in the water – relaxed and happy. Ava was doing great and the gas and air was helping me deal with the pain. Luke said I looked like I was in a spa (obviously not during the contractions as that would have been a pretty weird spa environment). My confidence grew and I thought “right you’ve got this – you can do it”. Unfortunately my body had other plans… as I wasn’t dilating fast enough. I got to 8 cm quickly, but the contractions started to slow again. The midwife asked if she could pop my waters, and I said yes. She showed me what she was going to do it with – I wish she hadn’t and I’m pretty sure Luke regrets looking at the knitting needle type instrument lol, but the truth is that it didn’t hurt at all. The contractions at this point were really strong though, and they got significantly stronger after my waters broke. As I was still dilating slowly, the midwife advised I needed to be induced using a syntocinon drip – this would make the contractions even stronger and therefore I should strongly consider an epidural. It wasn’t part of my birth plan but I was shattered by this point, so we decided it would be best to be transferred to the labour ward to have the drip and the epidural. I cried. I wanted to get back in the water. But then once I decided I wanted the epidural the only thing I could focus on was getting it! ?
I actually love this photo – I’m not sure what it is, it’s just very raw. It’s possibly me at my worst, but also me at my strongest if that makes sense, because waiting for the epidural to kick in was pretty tough! I had left the birthing centre and was taken on a wheel chair to the maternity unit. At this point the contractions were extremely strong, even before the Pitocin drip was put in. There was no guarantee how long I would take to fully dilate and I was shattered so an epidural was undoubtedly the best option. As soon as I had it, the pain started to melt away. I was in control of how much pain relief I was giving myself and I didn’t use it often as I wanted to feel the contractions when it was time to push. This photo was taken 26 hours into labor. Unfortunately it was another 8 hours before my contractions were close enough for me to start pushing. This was the toughest part of the labor – I had a catheter fitted, felt tired, and still felt pain. But I was hooked onto the fetal monitoring machine and with every contraction I reminded myself Ava was doing well and was one step closer to being in my arms – somehow that kept me calm and focused. ❤️
The face says it all… ? So after 34 hours in labor, the midwife said it was finally time to start pushing. At this point something came over me and I was just utterly determined to hold my baby. With the third push her head appeared. But just under an hour later despite giving it everything, her head was simply not making it through (my pelvic floor muscles were very strong and her head wasn’t coming out as a result). An episiotomy was my worst nightmare before I went into labour, and when I was told I needed one to deliver her I remember feeling a bit scared. But then I also knew I would do whatever was needed to get her here safely. The truth was I didn’t feel a thing whilst they did it. I closed my eyes and thought about holding her, was told to push and suddenly the huge pressure I’d been feeling eased – her head was out. Then I was told to push gently, and I felt her whole body slide out. From that moment everything happened so quickly. There was this little wet pinky/purple thing wriggling on my chest. For the first minute or so I was just utterly shocked and relieved it was over, and then the joy, the happiness, the utter euphoria hit. I held her close and took in all of her (this photo above was taken four minutes after she was delivered ☺️) and whilst I was holding Ava the midwife gave me an injection to deliver the placenta, and I was stitched up. I didn’t even notice! I apparently also face timed my sister and my BFF shortly after this (the recollection is very vague but I’m told I did lol…) It’s funny – I don’t remember the pain now. I know it was strong, but I’d go through it again in a heartbeat. You forget the pain, and you’re left with the most precious thing in the world.
The most important thing a woman can do in her life is give birth. But the hard work comes after that. You MUST have a sense of humor when raising children, and if you remember that, you will have plenty of stories to tell your grandchildren. Having children is a joyful experience, but having grandchildren is even better. You have all the fun and none of the responsibility. You raise your children, but you enjoy grandchildren. Life goes on, thanks to the mothers in this world. Have you ever asked yourself “why did God give us the toughest jobs?” Because he knew Mom can handle it.
I read many positive birth stories during pregnancy (in fact I found them pretty addictive)! We didn’t plan to take photos but we ended up getting a few and they frame the story quite well, so I thought I’d share my experience before it becomes a distorted memory. It’s funny because whenever I say it was pretty amazing, Luke looks at me as if I am crazy, so it’s possible my mind has erased how tough it was.. and that’s also fine ? The point is that if my story helps just one person who’s nervous about their upcoming birth, it’s a good thing!
This photo makes me laugh.. my massive fur slippers lol. It’s now around 8 am and I’d been having contractions since 1am. I’d been examined and I was 3 cm dilated. The midwife did a sweep to move things along a bit. She also told me Ava had no hair at all… which I was pretty surprised about (I’d definitely ordered one with hair). The contractions were getting stronger and it was really hard to talk whilst I was getting them. Unfortunately they were also starting to get further apart. I remember feeling really confused about that, and to be honest, pretty disappointed when the midwife said this is common in first births (the starting and slowing down). I was so ready to meet Ava now, but the reality was I wasn’t progressing quickly anymore, so we made the decision to go home where I’d be more comfortable and we would wait for the contractions to become more frequent there. I remember I felt annoyed, upset and frustrated that my body was letting us down, but I kept going back to the same thing – as long as Ava was okay nothing else mattered. This was mentally the thing that got me through and when it got really hard I went back to focus on this. We left the hospital around 11am (still in these ridiculous slippers…)
woken by contractions in the night. By now it was around 2pm and they were pretty painful. I couldn’t talk through them, I just had to breathe, use the Tens and have Luke massage the bottom of my back. It was the kind of pain that takes your breathe away. I walked, bounced, got on all fours, sat a little – keeping active. Around 5pm the contractions were really strong but annoyingly still five minutes apart. I called the hospital as I didn’t know how much longer I would cope at home without gas and air and they said I could come in. When I got there and was examined I was 5 cm dilated (and told I’d done well to get that far on a Tens as I was contracting pretty strongly). I remember I cried tears of joy as I was really scared they’d say I was still 3 cm and I’d have to go home. At least now I was allowed into the birthing pool!
It got dark again lol! Here I am at 8 pm in the water pool (in labour for 20 hours at this point). I felt so much better in the water – relaxed and happy. Ava was doing great and the gas and air was helping me deal with the pain. Luke said I looked like I was in a spa (obviously not during the contractions as that would have been a pretty weird spa environment). My confidence grew and I thought “right you’ve got this – you can do it”. Unfortunately my body had other plans… as I wasn’t dilating fast enough. I got to 8 cm quickly, but the contractions started to slow again. The midwife asked if she could pop my waters, and I said yes. She showed me what she was going to do it with – I wish she hadn’t and I’m pretty sure Luke regrets looking at the knitting needle type instrument lol, but the truth is that it didn’t hurt at all. The contractions at this point were really strong though, and they got significantly stronger after my waters broke. As I was still dilating slowly, the midwife advised I needed to be induced using a syntocinon drip – this would make the contractions even stronger and therefore I should strongly consider an epidural. It wasn’t part of my birth plan but I was shattered by this point, so we decided it would be best to be transferred to the labour ward to have the drip and the epidural. I cried. I wanted to get back in the water. But then once I decided I wanted the epidural the only thing I could focus on was getting it! ?
my strongest if that makes sense, because waiting for the epidural to kick in was pretty tough! I had left the birthing centre and was taken on a wheel chair to the maternity unit. At this point the contractions were extremely strong, even before the Pitocin drip was put in. There was no guarantee how long I would take to fully dilate and I was shattered so an epidural was undoubtedly the best option. As soon as I had it, the pain started to melt away. I was in control of how much pain relief I was giving myself and I didn’t use it often as I wanted to feel the contractions when it was time to push. This photo was taken 26 hours into labor. Unfortunately it was another 8 hours before my contractions were close enough for me to start pushing. This was the toughest part of the labor – I had a catheter fitted, felt tired, and still felt pain. But I was hooked onto the fetal monitoring machine and with every contraction I reminded myself Ava was doing well and was one step closer to being in my arms – somehow that kept me calm and focused. ❤️
The face says it all… ? So after 34 hours in labor, the midwife said it was finally time to start pushing. At this point something came over me and I was just utterly determined to hold my baby. With the third push her head appeared. But just under an hour later despite giving it everything, her head was simply not making it through (my pelvic floor muscles were very strong and her head wasn’t coming out as a result). An episiotomy was my worst nightmare before I went into labour, and when I was told I needed one to deliver her I remember feeling a bit scared. But then I also knew I would do whatever was needed to get her here safely. The truth was I didn’t feel a thing whilst they did it. I closed my eyes and thought about holding her, was told to push and suddenly the huge pressure I’d been feeling eased – her head was out. Then I was told to push gently, and I felt her whole body slide out. From that moment everything happened so quickly. There was this little wet pinky/purple thing wriggling on my chest. For the first minute or so I was just utterly shocked and relieved it was over, and then the joy, the happiness, the utter euphoria hit. I held her close and took in all of her (this photo above was taken four minutes after she was delivered ☺️) and whilst I was holding Ava the midwife gave me an injection to deliver the placenta, and I was stitched up. I didn’t even notice! I apparently also face timed my sister and my BFF shortly after this (the recollection is very vague but I’m told I did lol…) It’s funny – I don’t remember the pain now. I know it was strong, but I’d go through it again in a heartbeat. You forget the pain, and you’re left with the most precious thing in the world.
Elizabeth Clark
August 15, 2018 @ 11:55 am
The most important thing a woman can do in her life is give birth. But the hard work comes after that. You MUST have a sense of humor when raising children, and if you remember that, you will have plenty of stories to tell your grandchildren. Having children is a joyful experience, but having grandchildren is even better. You have all the fun and none of the responsibility. You raise your children, but you enjoy grandchildren. Life goes on, thanks to the mothers in this world. Have you ever asked yourself “why did God give us the toughest jobs?” Because he knew Mom can handle it.