{Birth Story} : Daisy Birth story
Daisy birth
I was nervous about this birth. After having a beautiful, and albeit long, home birth with my first I was grieving not being able to give that gift to myself and my second (and last) baby, but the logistics just didn’t work out this time. Limited intervention was very important to me and I was worried about a cascade of intervention at the hospital… but I figured second labours are usually quicker so I would be in and out of hospital in no time - and boy was I right!
It was a Friday and I had impatiently reached 39 weeks and 6 days pregnant and feeling all sorts of tired, but as usual I had FOMO and had to go along with my partner and toddler to a toddler class in Manly. By this point I was an expert waddler, and feeling discouraged that I was still pregnant. Sitting in my toddler class I started getting cramps around the lower front of my tummy.. I closed my eyes, concentrated, and breathed them away, only to open my eyes and see a number of women looking over at me. They subsided. As we left the class the teacher said “I think you will have a baby by the weekend”.
The cramps were on and off most of the day. I called my girlfriend to come over that night in case I went into labour she could stay with my toddler. That night the cramps became nauseating but I managed to get to sleep around 10pm. I woke up at 1:30am with painful contractions that were very hard to ignore, so I woke my partner up to let him know things might be moving along. By 2am they were roughly 2mins apart and lasting less than a minute. I called the hospital and they advised us to come in.
On the drive there I casually called Nadia to let her know that I thought I was in labour. I remember how excited she had sounded, like she had been up waiting for the call! I told her I still had some time and that I would contact her when things ramped up.
Walking through the corridors of the Northern Beaches Hospital I had to keep stopping on the spot to let my contractions pass. I made it to my room at around 2:30am where the midwife, Julia, examined me and determined I was only 3-4cm dilated. I couldn’t believe I wasn’t even in active labour yet! Julia suggested that it probably wasn’t far off and that I should get Nadia to make her way to the hospital.
I stood in the shower for a while trying to get things going.. almost immediately the contractions rocked me. This felt completely different to my first labour which I felt only in my back. This was all in the front and it felt way more intense and unrelenting even though I wasn’t very dilated.
After about 40mins of laboring I was really starting to worry I wouldn’t be able to continue on without an epidural. I asked the midwives to fill up the pool. They declined as they wanted me to get in the pool closer to actually birthing my baby. Instead I laid on the bed, fruitlessly sucking on the gas that did nothing by dry my throat out. My partner, Andy, and Julia had to comfort me as the pain was so unbearable and yet I was still so early in my labour - I wasn’t even in active labour 40mins ago, surely I have hours left of this! I asked Julia to help relieve the pain and we breathed together while my partner gave me words of encouragement.
I spotted Nadia out of the corner of my eye sneak in to the room and quietly unpack her camera. I took a pause between contractions to greet her and then went back to try to focus on wiling the pain away. I had been laying in the bed for less than 5 minutes when all of a sudden I felt the urge to push. “I feel like I need to push” I said out loud. Julia stood up, “oh! Ok!” and directed another midwife to start filling up the pool.
Another 5 mins later and I was in the pool and the innate need to “push” became automatic. I pushed a couple of times with my contractions and then inserted my fingers to see if I could feel her head, but it felt empty. I said to Julia, “I think it’s slowed down, I can’t feel her” and Julia advised that we would give it a little longer but if nothing happens I would get back out of the pool. I agreed. A few seconds later I felt an unworldly pressure bearing down, winding me as I felt like I was exploding from the inside out. The incredible burn from the ring of fire immediately caught me off guard as she began to crown. This was too quick for my body as I instinctively tried to slow her down, letting her slip back up as the contraction eased. My legs began to buckle as I knelt in the birth pool and as my awareness came back to the room between contractions I heard Julia excitedly say “she’s still in her sac!”
While I waited for the next contraction I knew I would have to birth her in a few seconds. I was scared, I was scared of this next step and how much it would hurt. I felt like I was boiling alive in the birth pool while my partner pointed a hand held fan at my face and held my arms. Julia very calmly said, “Victoria, I want you to take a deep breath and on the next push, I want you to reach down and grab your baby”. That’s exactly what I did. I pushed with everything I had, the pain and the pressure peaked and then it was done, I felt her float between my thighs as her sac released from around her. I reached down and grabbed all my daughter, all 4.2kg of her. I had nervously awaited this moment for so long and it was here.
I moved to the bed to seamlessly birth my placenta and the midwife noted zero tearing which was the cherry on the cake. Andy and I were so happy and laughing at how quick everything happened! Little Daisy, born at 4:02am in her sac and on her due date. Another due date baby, just like her big sister Charlotte.
If you would like me to document your birth like Victoria, you can find all the information here note that I have special offer for 5 future mum to get your birth photograph all on film