This is my labour story. I was wondering how to write this post and if I should separate it in two sections. Reason being that this is the second time I thought I was in labour! (this time it was for real…eventually).

Last Saturday October 5, 2014 I had contractions… what at the time I thought to be the beginning of labour. After having a few regular contractions we thought we better make the relevant phone calls to organise for the children to be looked after. Nanny and Poppy, Gran and Grandad were all called and they all started making their way to us. I also called the hospital as you do when contractions start to let them know that I might be coming in either that night or the next morning. At this point contractions were consistent and every 10 minutes… lasting a minute or so. They weren’t extremely uncomfortable, but they were there, that’s for sure. This went on for 4 hours (pretty much started while I was cooking dinner and then continued until midnight – about the time when everyone showed up and got settled in for the night). Thinking yep we would be having a baby in the morning, definitely be leaving for the hospital at about 4 or 5 am was my guess, I stayed out on the couch with Charles for the night giving up our beds to our guests and baby sitters.

Then this very annoying thing happened… they stopped! I had no idea what was going on, or why they had stopped but I had this sick feeling we weren’t going to be having this baby tonight. I felt terrible. I had called everyone expecting that we were going to meeting our new little man and now this… nothing! I felt like a big, fat, pregnant inconvenience to everyone. There was an odd contraction here and there during the early hours of Sunday morning, but then once more they stopped. I was so disappointed. I thought I would be having my baby and now I wasn’t. Jasper was still snug in my tummy.

I had an OB appointment during the week (not with MY OB though, mine was *cough* conveniently on holidays, so we saw his colleague). After an internal examination he discovered that Jasper wasn’t as far down as he would have thought (after my experience on the weekend with the “false labour”). If he would have been further down and engaged more then it would have been a simple matter of breaking my waters to get labour progressing… but nope, too soon for that. Already feeling like I had put everyone out by making them come when there was no baby I made the hard decision to be booked for labour to be induced on Saturday morning if nothing had happened before that time. This was something that I did with much hesitation. I had hated the experience of being induced for the birth of Preston. I felt like I missed out on so much going through that process. It wasn’t a spontaneous labour like I had experienced with Addison and loved. I knew the date my baby would arrive and the intensity of the labour I could expect, it all made me feel very disappointed with the outcome. After talking it over with both Mums (Nanny and Gran – our two appointed baby sitters while I would be in hospital) I made the decision to cancel the appointment with the hospital and just let nature take its course. I was by no means in any danger nor was the baby. I was only a couple of days over due and had plenty of time (if not patience) for this to progress naturally. I felt so much better once the appointment was cancelled and so thankful that everyone was being so understanding.

It was arranged that Gran would have to head back for the weekend to take care of some things at home and then come back for the following week. As timing would have it this meant she wasn’t around when Jasper finally decided to make his arrival. In the lead up to the weekend Charles and I, with the kids had been doing lots of walks (or waddles by this stage) hoping that it might move things along. Gran got herself all packed up to head back to Toowoomba. While she was helping to bath the kids on Friday night I mentioned to her about a little bit of liquid I’d had come out of me, saying that it might have been my “show”… but how there wasn’t any blood which was a little bit strange. She put the question to me, “it’s not your waters is it?” To this I replied “I don’t think so, there would have to be much more…wouldn’t there?” (we later discussed that she wasn’t of much use to me in this area after having never experience her waters breaking herself during labour…yet I had and still wasn’t sure!).

This bit of liquid continued to come out over the next few hours, so I thought it best to put a pad on. All night this kept up! After getting very suss about it all, I was laying in bed about ready to get up for the day when I got a feeling like there was going to be a lot more than just a little trickle. After a quick dash to the bathroom and saying to Charles, I think this is my waters breaking. A lot more had come but no where near as much as I remember when I had Addison (that was one big gush and boy did you know that it was happening – I was however already well into labour at that stage).

Not knowing what on earth was going on I thought I better call the hospital for some advice. After saying that I thought it might be my waters breaking they wanted me to come in. They told me to have breakfast, get ready and get the kids settled and head on in. So this is what I did. Just as I was getting breakfast started I got a contraction. What a relief! I think (maybe) I was finally in labour! Charles was starting to get a little concerned at how casual I was. “Shouldn’t we be getting a bit of a move on” he asked. I got everything together, he put our bags back in the car (remember we had already gone through this once, most of it was still out in the car from the first time we thought we were having the baby), said goodbye to the little people and off we went. Contractions continued.

On our arrival we were settled into our room and I was hooked up to a monitor to see how we were both travelling. Everything was fine. We had to then wait for the OB to come and check on us. (Remember we were supposed to be induced today, before the appointment was cancelled so our “stand in” OB was actually rostered on today). Once again an internal showed that things were not progressing! What the heck was this baby pulling!!! And once more, things started to die down again! Contractions slowed off. With my waters being partially broken (yep as I thought it wasn’t all of it) we were told to hop up and walk around a bit to see if that would help move things along. I also had to be prepared for some antibiotics in case of infection (once your waters break you are at risk of infection in the following 48hrs).

In Labour with Jasper

We asked if we could leave the birthing suite and walk around this hospital. This was fine, so we went down to the coffee shop. This really wasn’t what I expected when we set off for the hospital…to be sitting drinking a hot chocolate in the hospital café. OH yay! Contractions again. We waddled (I waddled, Charles walked) back to the birthing suite. We decided that we should go pay for our room upgrade and get that sorted out, just as we were leaving it was time to be given the antibiotics so the midwife told us don’t go anywhere just yet. After this was done, lunch arrived (well Charles’ lunch, my snack! they didn’t want me eating as they don’t like mum’s to have too much when in labour) so we didn’t end up going anywhere. Good thing too, contractions got strong and fast…game on! After another internal I had gone from 3cms to 8cms within a very short period of time! We were having this baby, and soon. But guess what.. brilliant news (not), there was still a pocket of waters above the babies head! The OB kindly didn’t break it there and then without any warning “he didn’t think this would be very nice” – no kidding! Up I hoped out of bed again and began to do whatever I could to get it to break. Swaying side to side, breathing through the contractions doing my very best to talk myself through the incredible pain I was now experiencing (did I mentioned I haven’t had any pain relief. I was determined to get through this as I had done when Addi was born and after a pathetic experience with an epidural not working properly during Preston’s labour, I wasn’t wasting my time with that again). Success, the rest of my waters broke.

I urgently said “I think I better get back up on the bed” knowing full well that this baby was very close. I was in a world of hurt but just kept trying to talk myself through it. I uttered to the midwife and Charles “keep me focused”. I knew if I let the pain take over I would lose it. I couldn’t let thoughts of “Can’t” enter my mind. They are not useful, I knew that from Addison’s birth. I lost it then and I didn’t want to do that again. With every contraction I gave it my all. I knew we were nearly there by that absolute burning, oh that burning (those that have had natural labours will know what I’m talking about, it’s probably the worst feeling in the world))…yep, the head. 3:13pm Followed up closely by that very odd feeling of shoulders and body and limbs coming out of you. Then that feeling of absolute relief and overwhelming joy, followed by that love that you can’t put into words as words just aren’t enough. That proud feeling, a sense of accomplishment. This little person you now hold that was minutes ago inside your body. You now get to see the person, the tiny human you have been growing and carrying in your tummy for 9 months. All the trips to the bathroom, the back pain, the swelling, the exhaustion all just fades away into a distant memory as you look into the eyes of this little person you have made. There could be nothing more perfect in the world.

Categories: Labour and Birth

2 Responses so far.

  1. Gran says:

    Melissa, That is the most beautiful description I have ever read. As my two sons were delivered by Caesarean Section, I never experienced what you have described so beautifully. I still fell in love with them as soon as I saw them, but how wonderful to have your babies the way God planned it. You love and care for your boys so well.
    Love from your MIL

  2. Melissa says:

    It’s one of the most amazing experiences, mixed with so much emotion. Hard to describe really as there is nothing else like it.

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