I was 26 when I discovered that I was pregnant with my son. I already had two daughters who were both school-aged, and my partner had an older daughter, so we really wanted a son to try and tip the balance at home!
My previous births had been long and exhausting so there was some dread as I got closer to my son's due date. But both of my daughters had been planned home water births, so it was quickly decided to have the same birth plan for my son.
At 33 weeks, he decided he was ready to meet us - fortunately we were able to stop the labour and convince him otherwise. Funnily enough, he then decided to go two weeks past his due date before making an appearance.
I was pretty huge at this stage. I am only 1.52m and I had run out of room for him. He was fully engaged in the pelvis and still my fundal height had not dropped. He was propping my boobs up!
On Friday March 9, the midwife told me that I would be induced on the Monday, meaning I would have to have a hospital birth. My daughters were away for the weekend, and my partner couldn't be there, so it was just me and this stubborn baby. On Saturday morning I started popping Evening Primrose Oil pills to try to hurry things along - I was determined to not have a hospital birth.
Baby must have been listening because when I got up on Sunday morning, I had started to have a 'show'. I was so excited that I did a little dance around the lounge, then promptly returned to bed - I figured I should stock up on sleep before his arrival.
I knew my midwife was at an event out of town, so I sent her a text to let her know that all was well, but I'd started having mild contractions. I also told my support person, who also lived out of town, to be prepared because my labour had started.
At 3pm my midwife showed up, concerned because she hadn't heard any further updates from me. But the contractions were still really mild and there wasn't a lot happening - given that my previous births had gone for about 24-30 hours, I wasn't worried.
The midwife wanted to establish that I was in fact in labour so she did her check. She accidentally popped my waters during her check, but it showed that I was 2cm dilated and in labour.
(It has to be said that what they portray on TV about waters breaking isn't always like reality. In my past births, my waters had broken in the birthing pool, so I had no clue what they were like. This time it was so much worse than anything I'd ever seen on telly - the waters just seemed to go on forever!)
By 4pm the midwife had left, promising to come back at 6pm. My contractions were 15 minutes apart and really mild. Before 5pm, I called my support person and said to come over as I wanted some company.
By the time my support person arrived at 5.30pm, my contractions had become only a few minutes apart, and they were super strong and painful. I'd started filling the birth pool earlier but had been told I couldn't get in until I was at least 8cm dilated. When my midwife walked in at 6pm she told me I was only 7cm dilated but that she was happy for me to get in the pool.
I got in the pool, and it was all on. A few minutes later I told my midwife that I could feel a head and that I was pushing. She told me to stop pushing as I'd only been 7cm a few minutes earlier; she turned around to get some gloves and by the time she'd turned back, my son's head was out. She had to scramble to get her gloves on!
My son arrived at 6.18pm, weighing 4.14kg. He was lucky to have been caught.
By the time we had everything cleaned up, the pool drained and put away, we were just in time to sit down with a cuppa and watch the 8.30pm Sunday movie.
I knew my son would be my last baby, and in comparison to his sisters, his birth story is the best. Despite his speedy entrance, I had my planned home water birth. It was so peaceful, and it was so nice to have some energy left after the birth - it meant I was able to really enjoy my new arrival.
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