Tria's beautifully peaceful homebirth
I woke up around 11.30 in the morning after a late night of rumbling tummy. I saw a message from Peter asking if baby is out yet. I haven't spoken to him in weeks as I know Peter is very busy. Replied his message by saying that there's a show when I was going to the toilet so I suspected the baby will arrive today. The same message was sent to my birth companion Stephanie and my Hypnobirthing teacher Nadine. I told them to come by around 3 or 4pm as the surges at the time were less than a minute n more than 5 mins apart. My husband was off duty from the movie shoot so he was around to see how excited I was everytime I went to the toilet n see a slight show.
Peter, Janet and Zalina came around 4 and Stephanie around 4.30pm. They helped time my surges and I remember Zalina thought they were just BH as they were not consistent in length and time apart. Well we never thought that my baby was in posterior position so surges can be inconsistent. We spent time joking basically to keep me relaxed. Nadine came by at 5 to check on me n left later as we decided that baby might turn up by midnight. Around 7pm surges were longer n 2 - 5 mins apart. Still not very consistent. At around 8pm i didn't feel like talking anymore so I sat in my bedroom by the pool. I did the pelvic spiral exercise n lunge stretches. My husband joined me in the bedroom n we kissed during surges. The surges transformed into warm fuzzy sensations. This relaxed me more. I waited until the surges became a lot stronger before getting into the pool, by 9.30pm I knew it was time. I sat in the pool n Zalina walked in to say she had to leave. Peter, Stephanie n Janet came in the room n kept the water warm for me while I concentrated on relaxing my body. Hubby wasn't actually ready for homebirth so he was looking for some emotional support n he must hv found it from my brother whom I didn't actually invite to the birth 'party'. My brother n his wife arrived n they looked worried but their expression changed when they saw me smiling wide. Peter was taking photos while keeping Esfahan out of the way. Nadine dropped-by again at 10pm n baby was getting ready for the 2nd stage. Peter n Janet waited outside, my brother n wife watched tv downstairs with Esfahan while Hubby, Steph n Nadine stayed with me. The next hour seemed like ages to me. The surges were intense n I wasn't really sure if my breathing was correct as I would change from surge breathing to birth breathing n vice versa as I felt like it. I was changing positions too, from on-all-fours to squatting then kneeling in the water. I felt like I needed to vocalise so I did. It felt good. There was a point I actually did a soprano high note with vibrato. Not sure what note it was! At this point my guiding lights were the loving gentle voices of Nadine n Stephanie's. Nadine soft touch massage helped ease my back labour. My left hand was keeping me in balance n right hand was holding on to my husband's. He was extremely quiet not really sure what to say to me. His only fear was that things might not go as planned. Well, he didn't attend any of the birthing classes so I didn't expect him to know what to do either. I was glad he kept calm as this is crucial in keeping me confident to birth the baby gently. As the surges grew intense my left hand could feel the head crowning, I concentrated on my breathing, I felt what they called the-ring-of-fire. Then Peter n Janet walked in to document this monumental entrance, I could feel baby's head went back in so I said to them, 'too many people in the room'. Peter n Janet had to leave so sadly we don't hv photos of baby during her grand entrance. Perhaps Shamimi was camera shy. Then another surge n her head was out, then her shoulders, I needed to balance as my knees hv weaken after kneeling for so long. So I thought I may not b able to catch my baby as I planned. The floor of the pool was soft so I thought I should let her drop to the floor first before I could get her with both hands. But baby was smarter than I thought she floated up once she was out. My husband moved to give way for Nadine to catch the baby, she handed her to me n for the first time, I saw two beautiful eyes looking up at me. She was cooing then she cried n we realised her cord was entangling her neck. I thought how beautiful the cord looked - still providing oxygen n goodness for my baby. She latched on immediately while I visualized the placenta's exit. Peter came in to announce the time of birth 10.58pm. The placenta was expelled an hour later. |