I woke up the morning of March 7th
feeling a little crampy but didn't think much of it as I had had
contractions before, just irregular with no rhythm. It took me almost
an hour before I came to the conclusion that I may be in early
labour, as the contractions were coming every ten minutes or so.
Ben was still sleeping and I was smiling through every short
contraction, I eventually went into the bedroom woke him up quietly
and said, “I think we might have a baby today.” He smiled quite
sleepily but seemed rather pleased. I went on to call my mom and let
her know that I was pretty sure I was in early labour. I was very
concerned about making a leap and saying I was in labour because I
really didn't want for it to be false. My mom asked me a few
questions and then after discussing things with me dad decided she
needed to leave promptly to try and make it to my wee ones birth, a
trip that usually takes almost 14 hours.
By 10 o'clock Ben was
up and I was having contractions about eight minutes apart that were
lasting about thirty seconds. We were getting pretty excited. I had a
bath and then the contractions slowed, there was more space between
them and I thought maybe I was dealing with false labour. I became
pretty worried as my mom had already started on her way and I would
feel so guilty if it wasn't the real thing. Ben and I went for a walk
in hopes to speed things along and make things fall back into a
rhythm.
We got home from our walk and Ben's mom was there
shortly after us. She spent some time tidying up our wee place and
then made us lunch. I sat on the couch waiting for more contractions
to hit, I really wanted to feel them so that I would know they were
real. It took sometime but by 4:00 we were at a place where they were
consistent again, I was so relieved.
Now, I had always
planned on labouring and birthing without any medical interventions
but, after dealing with my contractions slowing down I was even more
adamant that I wanted to feel them. I wanted to be sure that they
were still happening and I was still going to have this baby. Feeling
them was the most reassuring thing for me.
By 8:00 the
contractions were coming every seven minutes or so and were lasting
from 45 seconds to a minutes long. Ben's parents decided it was time
they head home, they prayed over us and the for the safe arrival of our wee babe then headed off. We heard from my mom, she was not far off
from arriving just waiting for the ferry, she would be here around 1:00am. Ben called the
hospital and I soaked myself in the bath, swaying and humming myself
through each contraction as it passed through my body. I had a
rhythm. I wanted to labour at home as long as possible. Home was
comfortable. The nurse on the phone let me know that as long as my
membranes were still intact I could labour at home until my
contractions were closer together. So I paced and swayed up and down
the kitchen, feeling as though I was wearing a line in the floor.
When a contraction hit I would lean up against the closest object and
and sway back and forth.
Throughout my entire labour Ben was
so in tune to my needs I hardly had to speak. He was a perfect
partner holding me when I needed to be held, giving me the silence I
needed to focus on the contraction and breath through it. He knew
what I wanted and helped me achieve it. He was amazing.
By
11:00 my contractions were closer together and we thought it best to
head up to the hospital. I was really nervous we would be sent back
home or that they would stall out again, so getting me to finally say
yes to going to the hospital was a task of itself. Once we got there
we were directed to the perinatal unit I remember looking at Ben and
just grinning, we were there!
I got checked out, and I was
indeed in active labour and five centimeters dilated! The rest of my
labour at this point just seemed to flow and I can't remember time or
space really. I remember being asked if I wanted them to call my
family doctor and being so excited to have my doctor rather than the
on-call. I sat in the bath for quite sometime swaying and breathing
as my nurse poured the warm water over my contracting belly. Ben was
making me laugh between contractions and keeping me up to date with
my mom's travels. Reading me as I asked for silence through the
contractions, shushing people as I swayed and rocked as waves passed
through my body bringing my wee one closer to arrival.
My mom
and Auntie Vonnie finally arrived at 1:45 am, as I sat in the tub
rocking back and forth. My Auntie Vonnie who once was a nurse and
quickly started timing contractions. “Wow, that one was
close....and a minute and a half long.”, “Lainey you hit the peak
on that contraction, not much longer now.” My mom and Vonnie would
make conversation and I would laugh, Ben would sit there watching me
for my signals. Ben knew exactly when a contraction hit and would
help remind others that I wanted quiet. I wanted silence and would
“shhhhh” anyone talking to me while I was contracting.
(Auntie Vonnie said, "Lainey look and smile!" I did my best.)
Eventually, probably an hour or so later, my doctor came in
and I had to move from the bath to the bed. I felt as though every
step I took I contracted. My doctor did an internal and found that I
was about 7 cm so we went ahead and ruptured my membranes. Things did
get fairly intense and progressed quite quickly from this point on. I
had initially intended to go back to the bath after this but my
contractions were coming back to back and I was not wanting to walk
at all, instead I waved my head from side to side breathing through
each contraction as they pushed through me. Rocking my body back and
forth with my head against the pillow and my backside in the air
feeling the pressure knowing my body was preparing and soon my baby
girl would be in my arms.
Within an hour I was fully dilated
and was able to start pushing around 4:00am. I had heard that pushing
was a relief, that it felt good, and was so looking forward to being
able to start. I in the hour between my membranes being ruptured and
my being fully dilated I had such an urge to push I was saying, “I
want to push” over and over again to Ben in whispers. I said
everything in whispers. Unfortunately, my little Isla was not in the
most optimal position to be pushed and it made for a long 2 hours.
At one point I was so done with pushing that I allowed the
contractions to wave right through me, ignoring them and resting
myself. My nurses and doctor didn't realizing this and thought I had
stopped contracting, they started discussing the idea of putting me
pitocin, luckily my mom advocated for me as I wasn't very coherent at
this time and pleaded with them to just give me a little more time.
The threat of having medical intervention was all I needed and within
the hour my little girl was born.
(letting some contractions pass through me as I recoup.)
The moment they placed her
perfect little body on my chest was bliss. Her cry was music to my
ears and then the perfect calm as she curled up against me making me
whole. She was mine. After carrying and nurturing her inside me and
nearly 24 hours of labour she was finally in my arms, and I was
completely and entirely in love.
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(the oh-so necessary photo of Isla) 
