These beautiful words are written by a return client of mine and reflect her experience and feelings associated with her birth.
Ciara Perry born 29/12/2018
My love, this is how we finally came to meet you, after waiting nine long months.
Your sister was born two weeks before her due date and I expected you would be early too. I was ready all through the Christmas holiday, packed for the hospital and practicing my birthing rituals daily. On the morning of the day you were born, I woke up late, feeling some small surges and hoping it was time. Because of my previous experience I felt there was lots of time, Dad took Saoirse to creche as normal while I relaxed at home. I watched some tv, laid in my darkened comfy bedroom and only came out when Adrian offered me lunch. While we were eating he pointed out that I had 4 contractions in about 5 minutes and that he thought he should call the midwife.
Still thinking I had a long labour ahead, I agreed but didn’t start to rush. Your Dad was starting to get excited, I asked him to pack a couple more things to keep him busy. The surges were getting a little stronger and I realised I was going to struggle to sit in the car for even the very short trip to the hospital. Ade called the midwife to tell her we were coming, and we got in the car. I had three more surges on the way but worked on keeping calm and breathing through them.
The hardest part of your birth was walking from the car to the birthing suite in the hospital. The corridor was very long and seemed to have expanded exponentially. Luckily there was a strong hand rail, I made some frequent stops and felt I was trying to hold myself together. I even received some encouragement from staff walking past; it must have been clear where I was headed.
The staff in the birthing suite read over my birth wishes and were happy not to press for internal examinations or monitoring. The midwife’s strong hands checking your position in my belly were painful but not worse that trying to stay still. They left Adrian and I in peace, he was great at softly massaging my back and suggested a shower. The shower was lovely, but the surges became very strong and I leaned forwards with my hands on my knees and the water running over my back.
I had to get out of the shower before I fell over, so chose to kneel on the floor beside the hospital bed. Our midwife Rachel got a cushion for the floor, I pressed my face into the bed and tried to relax my body for the strong and painful surges. I worried that I wouldn’t be able to cope with such strong surges if labour continued for a long time as it did with Saoirse. But Ade continued his massage and we didn’t have long to wait.
I think there may have been some loud vocalisation as you decided to make your arrival in just a few surges. I tried not to push too hard and let my body do its work, but I still experienced some tearing, although I didn’t know until later. You were born on 4:30 in the afternoon on a Friday and weighed 3.754kg (8lb 2oz). We asked for a delay in cutting the cord, and when it was cut by Adrian I fed you right away. You were happy snoozing on my chest after the baby checks, and we took our time deciding on your name (and the spelling). The birth room had an amazing view across Bendigo city skyline; I took the time to enjoy it while the adrenalin passed, and we marvelled at your perfection. I felt proud of my strength to get through your birth, and to do so without intervention.