I have had my little one 2 weeks ago and it was the most amazing experience.
Here it is:
Bethany Jane Wickham was born at 9:56am, 3rd March 2010 and our journey to her arrival started a little over 12 months ago.
Even before I had decided to get pregnant, my husband David and I had started researching EVERYTHING to do with pregnancy,birth and babies in general. I tend to over think things and I wasn't sure if this was the 'right' time. We are both 26 with good jobs and I didn't know if I had room to add to our family.
Most of our friends who have had children go through the private hospital (we only have 1 private and 1 public hospital in Darwin), so we knew the experience they recieved which was really positive, but David and I both HATE hospitals. We thought about the birth centre which is apart of the public hospital, I don't know anyone who has gone through the centre but it has a 'good' rep and supposedly hard to get into, as in as soon as you POAS ring them.
We did know one couple who had a homebirth. It was a consideration for us but we didn't really have the right information so we popped over for coffee and a chat about their homebirth experience through the Gvt funded HB program.
Our friends were well researched and knew a lot of stats and information which she kindly lent me books and whatever else I needed. Speaking to her HB became more real, all I needed to do now was get pregnant!
After a few months of slack trying I was VERY excited to find out that I was pregnant. Now that it was real could I in fact have a homebirth? I rang the HB service and the birth centre to cover all bases. The HB midwife came out to our house for an informal meeting to let us know what they could offer for us. After speaking to Marg for an hour I knew it was for us.
My pregnancy was pretty boring. No cravings, no morning sickness and I kept fairly active until I got lazy in the 3rd trimester.
I did have a low lying placenta, low hemoglobin and a posterior babe until the day before labour (not that I or my mw, Jane, had any issues with that). Luckily my placenta moved enough just before Xmas for me to continue on with the plan.
All was going well until my EDD came and went. Due to protocols etc I could only have a HB up until 42 weeks. I felt fine, my Jane was very happy with my progress but the fear of having to d.eliver at RDH was terrifying me.
I was getting pretty desperate. I went to 2 acupuncture sessions which I really enjoyed for relaxation purposes if nothing else and 2 days before labour I had a s&s.
The next day I was 41 weeks 4 days and I rang Jane to ask her about reduced fetal movement as I hadn't really felt baby move since our appointment the day before. There were somethings she asked me to try to do and see if I could feel anything and ring her back after 1/2hr. STILL couldn't feel anything so I had a quick visit to RDH. I was there probably 20mins in total where they checked me out and baby had moved, so they sent me home.
I was feeling pressure of not having this baby yet, even though I knew she was fine and I was fine, I decided to go get some castor oil.
I really wanted Jane to be there, which she would have regardless where I birthed, but it meant so much to me that at this point I wanted to try just about anything.
I took just under the recommended dose on Tuesday night before I went to bed, so possibly 9-9.30pm ish.
Dave came to bed at midnight and I woke up. Felt a bit ick, thought it might be the castor oil, so I got up and pottered around for a little bit. I then started feel REALLY gross, like extreme period pain and intense stomach pains that you want to curl up and die.
I went for a hot shower thinking that might help, it didn't, so I ran a bath instead. Still at this point thinking it was the castor oil making me feel sick as everything I read had said it would take effect for labour in 6hours, so surely this what my insides just turning themselves inside out.
Nup, it wasn't. Soon after my mucous plug came out and I couldn't be happier. Things were finally happening! I was have contractions! They were coming quite strong and fast, about every 5 mins for 30-45secs.
Woke Dave up afterwards - poor thing only had an hour and half sleep. And I laboured downstairs on the fit ball, leaning over the couch. I hated walking, yet in all my active birth books it is recommended, it was just horrible. All I wanted to do was sit on the ball and get some more sleep as I assumed with babe being posterior I was in for a long labour and knew I needed my rest.
About 3am they were getting a bit closer so I asked David to ring Jane just to let her know. She said to call if anything changed etc
So we just plodded along at home. After a few hours of this I could totally understand why people in the hospital would ask or take drugs offered.
Doubt started to creep in and I didn't know if I had the ability to do this. David was perfect, everything a support person should be. He brought me back to ground and kept me calm.
I thought maybe I would get in my birth pool for a bit, that might help, HELL NO. I hated it, was so uncomfortable and felt like I couldn't move. Went for a shower and the same thing, just hated the water.
After some more labouring on the fitball and slow circling around the lounge room that was quiet and dark, I went back into the pool, it was early morning by then, probably about 6am. I didn't want to ring Jane too early so I said to Dave to ring her at 7.30am.
I was okay in the pool at this stage, things were heating up and the contractions were quite painful. The birth pool wasn't this elixir of pain relief that I had imagine, but I kind of just kneeled and made strange noises like an animal getting hunted or as David described them afterward - someone was having some great sex.
I was imagining HOURS to go since bubs was posterior in my mind, and I wanted to go to the hospital but Dave said we would have to wait for Jane and used other distraction things as he knew that isn't really what I wanted.
I was getting pretty antsy and really wanted Jane at this point. It was probably 8.30am ish when she arrived.
I think the hardest thing is not knowing how far along I was, I thought in my head that I was going to have hours to go and I was already in so much pain how was I going to cope.
Jane and David were wonderful though, when I started to freak out they were there calming me down and never giving into my fears.
Jane sat in front of me while I was in the pool giving me sips of water and reassuring me that everything was fine.
She suggested I get out of the water to pee and move around a bit. Moving was so painful! I made it to the door (where our laundry is and about 3 steps away from the loo) and I seriously could move anymore. I had these strange cramping feelings which is my body pushing but I thought something was wrong as to me, they weren't really 'pushing' feelings. Nothing that I had expected.
Jane was setting up her equipment and rang the 2nd midwife, Meryl. All of a sudden I felt something 'there' and totally freaked out as to me it was waaay to early, I still had hours to go.
I was completely freaking out, it felt like my pelvis was going to rip apart like when you rip the legs off a cooked chicken. Jane helped me sway during contractions while I held onto David. After awhile I got into a groove and as Jane told me afterwards I danced my baby out. All of sudden I could feel her right 'there'. I called out for Jane and then at the next contraction her head crowned. It burnt a little bit but I had expected that. I knew to breathe her out and Jane just panted with me, next contraction her head popped out, that didn't hurt as much as her shoulders but once they were out - OMG relief.
My 2nd stage was 26mins and then 23mins later my placenta came out with a gush. It was so quick my 2nd midwife didn't arrive until everything was finished
After a little while the cord was clamped and David cut the cord. I couldn't believe we had a little girl! She was perfect, went straight to breast with no problems.
I did have a little bit of blood lost and I was dehydrated. My blood pressure was really low and when I tried to moved I went deathly white and had to be laid down. After a bit we tried to move me again and I almost fainted again, so back down I went. It was then talked bout whether I should have some saline, decided that I should and had an IV inserted and I had 2 bags of saline to try and get me better.
After a bit I went back into the birth pool to wash off as our shower is upstairs. Jane and I just chatted while David had some baby bonding time.
Bethany wasn't weighed or measured until Jane came back later that night and thats when we found out my little babe was a very healthy 3.94kgs
I did end up having a small issue the following day. My uterus wasn't clamping down as much as Jane would have liked and then that evening I passed quite a big clot with heavy bleeding. Jane and I spoke about what it could mean but I decided to go up to the hospital just in case. What a horrible experience!
They knOB in emergency had no idea and when my Hb level came back at 73 and I was trying to discharge myself he pulled out the whole you are going to die line. I knew not be to bullied into anything and I refused to be admitted unless David could stay too. On the maternity ward, partners are not allowed to stay
if decisions needed to be made, I wasn't in the best state to make them.
Next morning I spoke to Jane before she headed up to see me and we went through the possibilities of what the Docs would say when they came round. When they consultant did come round, she was happy to send me home. I hadn't had any more bleeds or clots, and my uterus was SLOWLY doing what it was meant to do.
Jane came and saw me at home and we had a chat about everything, and she has been visiting as well as Meryl, every day.
All in all - I'm fine even after losing 2L of blood I felt fine. So glad I had my lovely homebirth with just David, Jane and myself
Even before I had decided to get pregnant, my husband David and I had started researching EVERYTHING to do with pregnancy,birth and babies in general. I tend to over think things and I wasn't sure if this was the 'right' time. We are both 26 with good jobs and I didn't know if I had room to add to our family.
Most of our friends who have had children go through the private hospital (we only have 1 private and 1 public hospital in Darwin), so we knew the experience they recieved which was really positive, but David and I both HATE hospitals. We thought about the birth centre which is apart of the public hospital, I don't know anyone who has gone through the centre but it has a 'good' rep and supposedly hard to get into, as in as soon as you POAS ring them.
We did know one couple who had a homebirth. It was a consideration for us but we didn't really have the right information so we popped over for coffee and a chat about their homebirth experience through the Gvt funded HB program.
Our friends were well researched and knew a lot of stats and information which she kindly lent me books and whatever else I needed. Speaking to her HB became more real, all I needed to do now was get pregnant!
After a few months of slack trying I was VERY excited to find out that I was pregnant. Now that it was real could I in fact have a homebirth? I rang the HB service and the birth centre to cover all bases. The HB midwife came out to our house for an informal meeting to let us know what they could offer for us. After speaking to Marg for an hour I knew it was for us.
My pregnancy was pretty boring. No cravings, no morning sickness and I kept fairly active until I got lazy in the 3rd trimester.
I did have a low lying placenta, low hemoglobin and a posterior babe until the day before labour (not that I or my mw, Jane, had any issues with that). Luckily my placenta moved enough just before Xmas for me to continue on with the plan.
All was going well until my EDD came and went. Due to protocols etc I could only have a HB up until 42 weeks. I felt fine, my Jane was very happy with my progress but the fear of having to d.eliver at RDH was terrifying me.
I was getting pretty desperate. I went to 2 acupuncture sessions which I really enjoyed for relaxation purposes if nothing else and 2 days before labour I had a s&s.
The next day I was 41 weeks 4 days and I rang Jane to ask her about reduced fetal movement as I hadn't really felt baby move since our appointment the day before. There were somethings she asked me to try to do and see if I could feel anything and ring her back after 1/2hr. STILL couldn't feel anything so I had a quick visit to RDH. I was there probably 20mins in total where they checked me out and baby had moved, so they sent me home.
I was feeling pressure of not having this baby yet, even though I knew she was fine and I was fine, I decided to go get some castor oil.
I really wanted Jane to be there, which she would have regardless where I birthed, but it meant so much to me that at this point I wanted to try just about anything.
I took just under the recommended dose on Tuesday night before I went to bed, so possibly 9-9.30pm ish.
Dave came to bed at midnight and I woke up. Felt a bit ick, thought it might be the castor oil, so I got up and pottered around for a little bit. I then started feel REALLY gross, like extreme period pain and intense stomach pains that you want to curl up and die.
I went for a hot shower thinking that might help, it didn't, so I ran a bath instead. Still at this point thinking it was the castor oil making me feel sick as everything I read had said it would take effect for labour in 6hours, so surely this what my insides just turning themselves inside out.
Nup, it wasn't. Soon after my mucous plug came out and I couldn't be happier. Things were finally happening! I was have contractions! They were coming quite strong and fast, about every 5 mins for 30-45secs.
Woke Dave up afterwards - poor thing only had an hour and half sleep. And I laboured downstairs on the fit ball, leaning over the couch. I hated walking, yet in all my active birth books it is recommended, it was just horrible. All I wanted to do was sit on the ball and get some more sleep as I assumed with babe being posterior I was in for a long labour and knew I needed my rest.
About 3am they were getting a bit closer so I asked David to ring Jane just to let her know. She said to call if anything changed etc
So we just plodded along at home. After a few hours of this I could totally understand why people in the hospital would ask or take drugs offered.
Doubt started to creep in and I didn't know if I had the ability to do this. David was perfect, everything a support person should be. He brought me back to ground and kept me calm.
I thought maybe I would get in my birth pool for a bit, that might help, HELL NO. I hated it, was so uncomfortable and felt like I couldn't move. Went for a shower and the same thing, just hated the water.
After some more labouring on the fitball and slow circling around the lounge room that was quiet and dark, I went back into the pool, it was early morning by then, probably about 6am. I didn't want to ring Jane too early so I said to Dave to ring her at 7.30am.
I was okay in the pool at this stage, things were heating up and the contractions were quite painful. The birth pool wasn't this elixir of pain relief that I had imagine, but I kind of just kneeled and made strange noises like an animal getting hunted or as David described them afterward - someone was having some great sex.
I was imagining HOURS to go since bubs was posterior in my mind, and I wanted to go to the hospital but Dave said we would have to wait for Jane and used other distraction things as he knew that isn't really what I wanted.
I was getting pretty antsy and really wanted Jane at this point. It was probably 8.30am ish when she arrived.
I think the hardest thing is not knowing how far along I was, I thought in my head that I was going to have hours to go and I was already in so much pain how was I going to cope.
Jane and David were wonderful though, when I started to freak out they were there calming me down and never giving into my fears.
Jane sat in front of me while I was in the pool giving me sips of water and reassuring me that everything was fine.
She suggested I get out of the water to pee and move around a bit. Moving was so painful! I made it to the door (where our laundry is and about 3 steps away from the loo) and I seriously could move anymore. I had these strange cramping feelings which is my body pushing but I thought something was wrong as to me, they weren't really 'pushing' feelings. Nothing that I had expected.
Jane was setting up her equipment and rang the 2nd midwife, Meryl. All of a sudden I felt something 'there' and totally freaked out as to me it was waaay to early, I still had hours to go.
I was completely freaking out, it felt like my pelvis was going to rip apart like when you rip the legs off a cooked chicken. Jane helped me sway during contractions while I held onto David. After awhile I got into a groove and as Jane told me afterwards I danced my baby out. All of sudden I could feel her right 'there'. I called out for Jane and then at the next contraction her head crowned. It burnt a little bit but I had expected that. I knew to breathe her out and Jane just panted with me, next contraction her head popped out, that didn't hurt as much as her shoulders but once they were out - OMG relief.
My 2nd stage was 26mins and then 23mins later my placenta came out with a gush. It was so quick my 2nd midwife didn't arrive until everything was finished
After a little while the cord was clamped and David cut the cord. I couldn't believe we had a little girl! She was perfect, went straight to breast with no problems.
I did have a little bit of blood lost and I was dehydrated. My blood pressure was really low and when I tried to moved I went deathly white and had to be laid down. After a bit we tried to move me again and I almost fainted again, so back down I went. It was then talked bout whether I should have some saline, decided that I should and had an IV inserted and I had 2 bags of saline to try and get me better.
After a bit I went back into the birth pool to wash off as our shower is upstairs. Jane and I just chatted while David had some baby bonding time.
Bethany wasn't weighed or measured until Jane came back later that night and thats when we found out my little babe was a very healthy 3.94kgs
I did end up having a small issue the following day. My uterus wasn't clamping down as much as Jane would have liked and then that evening I passed quite a big clot with heavy bleeding. Jane and I spoke about what it could mean but I decided to go up to the hospital just in case. What a horrible experience!
They knOB in emergency had no idea and when my Hb level came back at 73 and I was trying to discharge myself he pulled out the whole you are going to die line. I knew not be to bullied into anything and I refused to be admitted unless David could stay too. On the maternity ward, partners are not allowed to stay
if decisions needed to be made, I wasn't in the best state to make them.Next morning I spoke to Jane before she headed up to see me and we went through the possibilities of what the Docs would say when they came round. When they consultant did come round, she was happy to send me home. I hadn't had any more bleeds or clots, and my uterus was SLOWLY doing what it was meant to do.
Jane came and saw me at home and we had a chat about everything, and she has been visiting as well as Meryl, every day.
All in all - I'm fine even after losing 2L of blood I felt fine. So glad I had my lovely homebirth with just David, Jane and myself
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