Welcoming Baby Quinn C Noelle into the world;
At 9:16am - 28th November 2015!
Where do I start?
Well, it all began at 1:22am very early hours of Saturday morning I woke up feeling pretty uncomfortable I felt as if it was just Braxton Hicks contractions so I went to the bathroom as I thought it was brought on by a full bladder, but it didn't go away.. I couldn't go back to sleep so I went into the lounge with my pillows & made myself 'comfy' with my laptop but soon enough I couldn't distract myself and felt a moderate amount of pain in my lower back and occasionally in my stomach.
I kept needing the loo and kept changing my pants (TMI- I was just so weirded out by how damp I was) then at 3:22am I went to the bathroom again and lost my mucus plug also known as "bloody show".. I felt even more pain and called into the bedroom to Kurt - who was fast asleep and didn't realize I left the room, so we were both up by about half 4 in the morning. He was panicking asking if he should take me to the hospital - I wasn't 100% convinced I was far along enough to go to hospital and I could still breathe through most of the contractions, I didn't like sitting or laying and only standing or adopting the "doggy" position and rocking my hips helped.
I had been to a midwife appointment on Friday 27th and she did say baby was head down and engaged but we couldn't have forseen that baby was really on the way already! I had only been to 1 parent class by this point with my mum and had booked myself for another appointment for the Sunday 29th, but little did I know i'd never need to be at that appointment!
I waited it out and practiced my breathing and managed the pain all by myself and had a hot chocolate to keep me going as by this point at 5am I was feeling hungry and sick at the same time as well as having a bad tummy - apparently that's a very common sign something is happening! Kinda disgusting and painful as I felt contractions while going to the loo! Some people say having a cold a week before is a start sign too - which evidently I did have, I was supposed to get better and then have a flu and whopping cough injection, but that never happened because the baby was ready to come before I could get vaccinated!
Anyway, I got the rest of my hospital bag ready and my pregnancy notes, baring in mind I didn't have a birth plan just yet or even an idea on how I wanted the birth to go or even which hospital I wanted to deliver at. All I knew was that I didn't want too many painkillers/relief and I was 80% sure I wanted to try a water birth! I had a choice of 2 hospitals 1 that was 10 mins away if I didn't want much intervention and this was midwife led care or the other hospital was 45mins away but had more facilities in case something happened and has a drs unit and emergency care.
We had a shower each by 6am and I felt a bit of relief from that but it wasn't enough, the contractions were coming on fast and very close together, we got into the car to go to the closest hospital and the journey was hell! The back contractions were so strong and sitting down whilst having pressure down on everything made me feel so uncomfortable - the pain I can only describe was the same intensity as when I had food poisoning! It's not as bad as some women make out or how it's portrayed on TV and movies! My experience was fast and I felt very in control the entire time - perhaps it's because I didn't fully believe what was going on!
We got to the hospital and it took over half an hour to get from the car park to the MLU - not because of distance but because I was having very strong contractions and walking helped but I had to stop and lean on Kurt until they passed and continued to walk again. There's 2 flights of stairs to the unit and I remember nearly crying out saying "Oh you've got to be f*king kidding me, there's no lift here"... Much to Kurt's amusement!
I reached the top of the stairs to the ward and had to have my hand over my mouth to stop screaming out as finally the adrenaline kicking in and I did start to panic, we got into our room and I had no choice as strong and as quiet I had been all that time I couldn't help but scream and swear (with much apologizing to the midwife who saw me) She and Kurt were having to remind me to breath in for 3 and out for 5 and it worked but then the pain got too much and I wasn't making sense talking anymore and my legs felt like jelly! Kurt had to hold me up and communicate for me to the midwife. I do remember telling the midwife I did want gas and air and a water birth and they got that set up while the checked out how far I was. I remember her asking permission to check my cervix and my reply was yes get it over with but do I have to be on my back?! She handed the gas and air to me as I was in a lot of pain now and it was around 8:15am by this point. Kurt whispered in my air telling me I was 8-9cms dilated and they were ready for me to get undressed and get into the birth pool!
I reached the top of the stairs to the ward and had to have my hand over my mouth to stop screaming out as finally the adrenaline kicking in and I did start to panic, we got into our room and I had no choice as strong and as quiet I had been all that time I couldn't help but scream and swear (with much apologizing to the midwife who saw me) She and Kurt were having to remind me to breath in for 3 and out for 5 and it worked but then the pain got too much and I wasn't making sense talking anymore and my legs felt like jelly! Kurt had to hold me up and communicate for me to the midwife. I do remember telling the midwife I did want gas and air and a water birth and they got that set up while the checked out how far I was. I remember her asking permission to check my cervix and my reply was yes get it over with but do I have to be on my back?! She handed the gas and air to me as I was in a lot of pain now and it was around 8:15am by this point. Kurt whispered in my air telling me I was 8-9cms dilated and they were ready for me to get undressed and get into the birth pool!
It felt so nice and warm and comforting and all this time I was having gas and air! With much screaming and swearing and apologizing I was doing well with pushing and I ended up having the midwife I saw on Friday helping me as well as another midwife on the unit. The midwife I saw on Friday couldn't believe how quick everything happened for me and laughed saying "oh no need for that next parenting class then"..
As I was feeling more and more pain I also felt the urge to push and bare down & with that comes the inevitable messy parts of childbirth - I do remember apologizing again "So sorry for the mess". My legs spread and feeling so hot and sweaty and uncomfortable and I was saying sorry - how many mothers are that polite?! I ended up adopting only 2 positions in the birth pool and all the way along Kurt was being very supportive and calm and I didn't particularly want to be touched but I did like him stroking my hair and talking calmly to me!
As I was feeling more and more pain I also felt the urge to push and bare down & with that comes the inevitable messy parts of childbirth - I do remember apologizing again "So sorry for the mess". My legs spread and feeling so hot and sweaty and uncomfortable and I was saying sorry - how many mothers are that polite?! I ended up adopting only 2 positions in the birth pool and all the way along Kurt was being very supportive and calm and I didn't particularly want to be touched but I did like him stroking my hair and talking calmly to me!
By 9:16am the baby was born and put right on my chest straight away, Kurt saw that baby was a girl and told me, he was teary eyed while I felt so over-come and bewildered about what had just happened!
Let me tell you... The ring of fire is so REAL! The last few pushes your body slows right down and then all of a sudden with 2 pushes her head was out and her body just followed through! Her umbilical cord was a little short so as much as I wanted to keep the cord on her for longer, it was getting caught on the way out and Kurt had to cut the cord while she was in the water! Perfectly fine and healthy! We couldn't have asked for a better delivery, so quick and fairly calm and in some ways the perfect birth I had been wanting, but never knew I could have! Knowing your options and keeping calm and in control is the key, so many people told me that and I read that as well, It's a state of mind and the more relaxed ect you are the easier it is to push baby out with minimal/no complications!
We stayed in the hospital over night just to make sure that baby was okay and breast feeding fine! That was the longest night ever! I only had 2 hours sleep! I was still too wired! We went home on Sunday 29th at around 3ish in the afternoon! It took me 2 days for my head to catch up with my body, at 1st I didn't really love her and felt that it was all so fast for me to process - everyone had said the first born would be late and she would be difficult, but in reality it happened exactly as intended and I couldn't have asked for it to happen any other way! Once we got confident with one another especially with breast feeding, the bond literally grew over night and I fell hopelessly in love with her!
Let me tell you... The ring of fire is so REAL! The last few pushes your body slows right down and then all of a sudden with 2 pushes her head was out and her body just followed through! Her umbilical cord was a little short so as much as I wanted to keep the cord on her for longer, it was getting caught on the way out and Kurt had to cut the cord while she was in the water! Perfectly fine and healthy! We couldn't have asked for a better delivery, so quick and fairly calm and in some ways the perfect birth I had been wanting, but never knew I could have! Knowing your options and keeping calm and in control is the key, so many people told me that and I read that as well, It's a state of mind and the more relaxed ect you are the easier it is to push baby out with minimal/no complications!
We stayed in the hospital over night just to make sure that baby was okay and breast feeding fine! That was the longest night ever! I only had 2 hours sleep! I was still too wired! We went home on Sunday 29th at around 3ish in the afternoon! It took me 2 days for my head to catch up with my body, at 1st I didn't really love her and felt that it was all so fast for me to process - everyone had said the first born would be late and she would be difficult, but in reality it happened exactly as intended and I couldn't have asked for it to happen any other way! Once we got confident with one another especially with breast feeding, the bond literally grew over night and I fell hopelessly in love with her!
There's no point in beating around the bush with the story and making it out that it was easy/harder than it was in reality or missing out bits to "save face" because in the end most women experience childbirth of some description and it's not pretty. A stork doesn't drop off the baby - you have to work hard to get that baby out and although some women get complications of varying degrees, the magnitude of feelings you get when you have your baby is indescribable and unfathomable. It's the highest form of a miracle.
Hands down I would do it all again.
Now for the fun part - the actual parenting...
You might wanna stick around on my blog for those...
You might wanna stick around on my blog for those...
Thanks for reading my VERY long, honest post!
~Ellie
~Ellie
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