Lorietta is Buffy's fourth baby and she was born in 2004. The baby's birth was straightforward but Buffy had complications with the delivery of the placenta, which she has written about on a separate page.
I was woken by the first niggly contraction at 2am and just laid there wondering if this was it. After a couple more at what seemed a regular interval I found the clock and timed them - 7 minutes apart - tho still not convinced things were really happening!
At about 2.30 I woke dh and asked him to put our 4 yr old back upstairs in his own bed - got the "Why?" LOL (= Laughs out loud) I said I thought it was it and didn't want ds being downstairs in case he got woken.
At about 3.00am I knew things weren't going to stop and I had poor dh emptying the bin and sweeping the floors lol He lit some candles for me and put my chosen cd on - Westlife giggle. He rang the midwife just after as we knew there was a possibility that they could be quite a distance plus the contractions were now coming a steady 3-4 minutes apart though still totally manageable. I knelt in front of the sofa on some cushions leaning into a spare duvet and dh leant over the back of the sofa holding my hand during this time, which was really nice as I couldn't bear being touched.
The midwives arrived around 3.30ish possibly 4am - we had a trained mw and a student which was great and they loved the Christmas light beacons we had turned on for them!
The mw were both fantastic and just left us to get on with it - they sat at the table drinking coffee and eating cookies and chatting while leaving me and dh to cope as we wanted, which I loved - totally hands off. They monitored occasionally with a sonicaid but always asked me if it was ok and always in the position I was most comfortable in. Dh afterwards said it was nice as with the student mw being there everything was being explained to her in a very basic fashion, which meant he could understand it as well.
At about 5am I asked for some gas and air to be told that they only carry a small canister and that if I run out there could be up to a 50 minute wait for the next mw to arrive with extra EEEKKK!! I said I'd wait a bit longer lol and I did - I waited for about 30 minutes then decided that I really wanted to see if the gas and air would help - tried it, it did so asked for an internal as I wanted to know how long I had and how much I could use the gas and air! At no time before now had I even been asked If I wanted an internal, which was great - mw double-checked I wanted to be examined and I said yes so shifted onto the bed to make life easier (I know I didn't have to but didn't mind in the least)
Mw told me I was 4-5cm but stretching to 8cm and I remember saying oooo If I stay upright itll be here soon! She agreed so I stayed on my knees and she called the second mw as they knew I could move fast from here.
At 6.13am my waters broke and I clearly shouted mid contractions "waters" and heard a "oh yes so they have" from behind me - I then apologised for my butt view lol!
I was told there was meconium in the waters but not to worry as that was expected in a postdates baby but that they would want to cut the cord to check the baby was ok when it was born - I was fine with this. And especially as my mw said they would not want to transfer me regardless of the meconium - I was expecting an argument over that issue!!
By now dh was sitting on the sofa and I was leaning against him and looking into his eyes which I remember so clearly, it was very reassuring as he was saying come on, you can do this.
Then my mw said with the next pain we will have a head. Ooops here we go, catch your baby! And our beautiful baby was passed up under my legs into our arms.
We both got to cuddle her together straight away and we both saw she was a girl at the same time - it was a truly magical moment.
Her cord was very short and I could lift her head past my belly button and as they wanted to check her dh cut the cord (took him two attempts lol) and I was able to give her a proper cuddle - they had obviously assessed her on the way out as they weren't panicking about checking her over. I needed to shift position so they took Lori and checked her while I leant my back against the sofa and waited for the placenta to arrive.
Lori was given back to me and declared fine and she latched straight on for a feed within minutes of her birth and fed for a good ten-twenty minutes, first one side then the other - I actually said wow good girl that'll help the placenta arrive - how wrong I could be! But bless my little girl, she did her best for me!
The second mw arrived ten minutes after the birth.
Knowing I wanted a natural 3rd stage my mw was fantastic and kept a close eye on me. After a while I got more contractions and the urge to push but things then started going a tad out of plan....
I've written the third stage in a separate post so if people want to read it they can, but they don't have to as its not pleasant reading, could scare some people and to be honest, to me is a separate incident from the wonderful birth experience of our daughter..
Buffy
Update:
Buffy has since had another baby, Theo.
Pain relief - what are your options at home?
The Third Stage of Labour - what are your options, and the pros and cons of each?
Overdue - what are the risks? What are your options?
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