Its hard to believe this was over 5weeks ago already! I may have forgotten some parts of her arrival since sleep these days doesn't happen much and I'm sure our own bodies force us to forget the joy that is giving birth.
On Thursday 9th June just as I hit the publish button for my hospital bag post I felt a cramp like pain. At that point I was 40 weeks and 4days pregnant and convinced I would be pregnant for the rest of my life as I had felt nothing at all until that point. It was almost like period pains so I didn't think much of it, instead I kept working on the next post but not long after I got another pain. I text a friend and asked if the start of her labour felt like period pains. She instantly got really excited but we both know that first babies aren't in a hurry to go anywhere and Mum had really long labours with my brothers and I so I thought that's what I was in for. The pains were getting closer together and were starting to hurt rather than just being uncomfortable. I text Mum and let her know and she suggested to just go to bed as they were properly nothing. I packed B a bag as he was yet to do one himself and he was out sorting out some car stuff.
It had been about half an hour since I started noticing things happened and it had gotten to the point where it really started to hurt, with walking around the only thing that took my mind off the pain. I decided to run a bath and let my midwife know what was happening. Her advice was very much the same as mums, relax and rest. Easy to say but these contractions were getting very painful and I wasn't getting much of a break in between them. I must have been in the bath for around an hour by the time Brendan got home at 10.30pm, he straight away knew something was happening by the look on my face. I asked him to call her midwife and get her to come round just to confirm that I was in labour. Half of me knew I was but the other half was thinking that this wasn't like the movies, My waters hadn't broken in a big dramatic pool and surely things wouldn't happen this fast with a first baby. Waiting for my midwife to arrive I was trying to convince myself I could do this, even if this was just the very start of labour that I wouldn't give in an get an epidural. I wanted a natural birth but if it hurt this much this early on I wasn't sure if I could do it.
My midwife arrived not long afterwards and confirmed I was 4cm dilated. 4cm!! I had only been in labour for about 2 and a half hours. We decided at that point we would head into the hospital since my contractions were so close together, better to move while I at least had small breaks in-between them. B rang mum and she headed straight down to meet us at the hospital, while I manage to call my friend in between contractions and let her know. From here on the rest of my labour is kind of a blur.
We got to my birthing room and the bath was already run and all I could think about was sliding in and taking the edge off this pain. I don't know how long I was in there before I asked for the Gas and Air, which is brilliant! The only downside is it made me vomit which is also when my waters broke. At this point freaked out as I heard my midwife say there was Meconium in the waters and I was so sure I was going to need a c-section. I remember looking at mum and I must have looked terrified as she assured me it was all ok. I guess that's the joy of watching TV, every show makes birth seems so much more medical and life and death than it really is. Meconium in the waters generally means the baby is in distress. My midwife assured me the baby was fine and checked the heart rate with the Doppler. Little did I know that was the last time I would ever hear that sound. Pregnant ladies, record your babies heartbeat! If you are anything like me you will really miss that sound.
When it came time to push I was terrified. All of a sudden it was very real that I was having a baby and that our lives as they were would never be the same again. I had wanted a water birth so when my midwife told me to get out of the bath and try pushing on the bed again I was sure some the was wrong. I found out a few weeks after having her I pushed for over two hours and she had one of her hands up by her head which is what made the birth slightly more difficult. About half an hour before she was born the midwives took my gas away in the hope I would push better, to a I was less than thrilled would not begin to cover what I was feeling. It was my only pain relief and I was convinced I couldn't do it without it. Lets just say I now understand the term "Ring of fire". At 3.02am on Friday 10th June Evelyn Florence McCabe made her grand entrance letting us all hear how well her lungs worked. At 8 pounds 14 ozs she was a pretty big girl. As soon as we had skin to skin she settled well and even started feeding by herself not long after her birth. B and I forgot to check what the sex was until about an hour after she was born, on finding out she was a girl apparently I exclaimed "It's a fucking girl!". The whole time I was pregnant I was so sure that we were having a boy and everyone we knew who was expecting at the same time were having girls. I didn't care either way what we had and in the back of my mind had always wanted a girl. Sure she will be harder work during her teenage years but I hope that when she is older we can be as close as my mum and I are. Not to mention all the pretty dresses and shoes I get to play with in the mean time.
I was so thankful that everything had almost gone to plan apart from actually having her in the water, I got the birth I had wanted. From start to finish the 6hour labour was intents and most certainly life changing. If there are people reading this who are due to give birth soon, my advice to you is don't doubt yourself. You can do this, it sounds corny but your body knows what it is doing and the moment you start to think you can't do it is when it all gets much harder. However you choose to have pain relief or do it naturally, it is one of the most amazing experiences in your life ( I can say that now some of the mental trauma has worn off!) and it is all more than worth it at the end when you get to meet that baby.
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