chooky
16-05-2010, 10:03 PM
Finally....:)
Morgan’s Birthstory
The journey through my second pregnancy was, for the most part, a breeze. The only exception was that for about 5 weeks in the first trimester a dark cloud of hormonal negativity settled over me. Nothing was right, nothing was good enough and I was convinced getting pregnant was a BIG mistake.
Eventually the cloud lifted and it was a great pregnancy from then on. No major morning sickness, no major aches or pains and just a little swelling in the last two weeks before the baby arrived.
Because I was feeling some residual negativity from the birth of my first child I decided I was going to arm myself with knowledge a team of people to give me the best chance of avoiding another posterior baby. Firstly, I engaged a doula who upon our first meeting I felt immediately comfortable with. I then found a great obstetrician (which was more luck than good management!). My next move was to have several treatments by a chiropractor to make sure my spine and pelvis were all in alignment followed by a series of acupuncture treatments to help with my back (muscle soreness), moving bub into a good position and building oxytocin.
I continued breastfeeding Zarah for the entire pregnancy and I think I was probably already in labor (or pre-labor) when she had her last feed before the birth. I had mixed emotions and some uncomfortable physical reactions to feeding my toddler while pregnant… there were slightly sore nipples the whole time and, towards the end, intense periods of feeling repulsed while feeding. Luckily the latter only lasted for very short time. Sometimes I felt on top of the world that I had managed to persevere and keep feeding, other times I was filled with a sense of panic about how on earth I was going to feed two babies!
I started getting braxton-hicks contractions from about 16 weeks and they slowly continued to increase in frequency and intensity. By 36 weeks I was getting them so often and so intensly that I was beginning to worry I might go into labor at any time. Sometimes I would get them at regular 5 minute intervals and there were many nights I was convinced this was the start of labor, but they would disappear as soon as I would lay down.
The day I went into labor started with an acupuncture session at 11am which involved doing an oxytocin building treatment. Later in the day, probably around 3pm I had a phone call from my neighbor who invited me to her twin’s birthday gathering on Saturday… and I joked that I would be there unless I was in labour. During the phone call I started feeling some period like pain and a twinge in my lower back which caused me to rock my pelvis. I thought it was because I was standing on the hard brick floor without shoes. The feeling continued as I prepared dinner. Eventually I went to bed and noticed I was having regular braxton-hicks contractions… I was by no means convinced I was in labour but decided to listen to my hypnobirthing tracks on the ipod… which got really boring after the fourth round so I put some John Butler on. Somewhere between 11pm and 12.30pm they merged into proper contractions… they had a bite to them that was unmistakeable. I woke Andrew up and we left for the hospital by 1pm. The contractions intensified rapidly and by the time we got to the top of postmans track (10 mins into a 1 hour trip) I wasn’t convinced we were going to make it to our destination. It was also a hellish drive up the track and into Maleny as there was a very heavy fog… this meant we ended up taking the long way to the hospital so we didn’t have to drive at 10km per hour with our fingers crossed! At 2 minutes apart and at an incredible intensity, the contractions were telling me that things were progressing fast. At 1:55am we arrived at the hospital and were asked to have one of those baby monitoring devices attached which would take about 20 min of lying down – I knew there wasn’t time for that so I told the midwife I would sign whatever paperwork was necessary not to do it.
I indicated that I wanted to hop into the tub straight away so my midwife started filling the bath. My doula arrived just as the midwife was trying to do some obs on me… its difficult to take someone’s temperature orally during a contraction! I was struggling through the contractions now which were coming thick and fast and I remember telling Andrew I was scared, that I didn’t know if I could do this.
Finally the bath was full and I climbed in. The hot water was amazing and soothed the pain of the contractions immediately. My doula also worked some magic on my lower back rubbing in just the right spots. Soon I was in transition and I could feel the intensity increasing in my vocalizations… I remember saying that I couldn’t do it anymore and needed some ‘help’ (and by help I was referring to some fast acting drugs!). Fortunately my doula encouraged me to work through it and it wasn’t long before I felt the baby’s head crowning. ‘He’s coming’ I gasped and my doula said to my husband that he’d better call the midwife. I can remember realizing that I hadn’t had to push this baby out at all… he was coming no matter what and I just had to breath through it. The intensity of the pressure of his head emerging was incredible but soon it was out and his little body followed quickly and he was all out and in my arms before I knew it. I couldn’t believe he was finally in my arms.
I think it was about half an hour after his birth that Morgan had his first breastfeed and he attached perfectly. I was amazed, a perfect end to an amazing birthing experience.
Morgan’s Birthstory
The journey through my second pregnancy was, for the most part, a breeze. The only exception was that for about 5 weeks in the first trimester a dark cloud of hormonal negativity settled over me. Nothing was right, nothing was good enough and I was convinced getting pregnant was a BIG mistake.
Eventually the cloud lifted and it was a great pregnancy from then on. No major morning sickness, no major aches or pains and just a little swelling in the last two weeks before the baby arrived.
Because I was feeling some residual negativity from the birth of my first child I decided I was going to arm myself with knowledge a team of people to give me the best chance of avoiding another posterior baby. Firstly, I engaged a doula who upon our first meeting I felt immediately comfortable with. I then found a great obstetrician (which was more luck than good management!). My next move was to have several treatments by a chiropractor to make sure my spine and pelvis were all in alignment followed by a series of acupuncture treatments to help with my back (muscle soreness), moving bub into a good position and building oxytocin.
I continued breastfeeding Zarah for the entire pregnancy and I think I was probably already in labor (or pre-labor) when she had her last feed before the birth. I had mixed emotions and some uncomfortable physical reactions to feeding my toddler while pregnant… there were slightly sore nipples the whole time and, towards the end, intense periods of feeling repulsed while feeding. Luckily the latter only lasted for very short time. Sometimes I felt on top of the world that I had managed to persevere and keep feeding, other times I was filled with a sense of panic about how on earth I was going to feed two babies!
I started getting braxton-hicks contractions from about 16 weeks and they slowly continued to increase in frequency and intensity. By 36 weeks I was getting them so often and so intensly that I was beginning to worry I might go into labor at any time. Sometimes I would get them at regular 5 minute intervals and there were many nights I was convinced this was the start of labor, but they would disappear as soon as I would lay down.
The day I went into labor started with an acupuncture session at 11am which involved doing an oxytocin building treatment. Later in the day, probably around 3pm I had a phone call from my neighbor who invited me to her twin’s birthday gathering on Saturday… and I joked that I would be there unless I was in labour. During the phone call I started feeling some period like pain and a twinge in my lower back which caused me to rock my pelvis. I thought it was because I was standing on the hard brick floor without shoes. The feeling continued as I prepared dinner. Eventually I went to bed and noticed I was having regular braxton-hicks contractions… I was by no means convinced I was in labour but decided to listen to my hypnobirthing tracks on the ipod… which got really boring after the fourth round so I put some John Butler on. Somewhere between 11pm and 12.30pm they merged into proper contractions… they had a bite to them that was unmistakeable. I woke Andrew up and we left for the hospital by 1pm. The contractions intensified rapidly and by the time we got to the top of postmans track (10 mins into a 1 hour trip) I wasn’t convinced we were going to make it to our destination. It was also a hellish drive up the track and into Maleny as there was a very heavy fog… this meant we ended up taking the long way to the hospital so we didn’t have to drive at 10km per hour with our fingers crossed! At 2 minutes apart and at an incredible intensity, the contractions were telling me that things were progressing fast. At 1:55am we arrived at the hospital and were asked to have one of those baby monitoring devices attached which would take about 20 min of lying down – I knew there wasn’t time for that so I told the midwife I would sign whatever paperwork was necessary not to do it.
I indicated that I wanted to hop into the tub straight away so my midwife started filling the bath. My doula arrived just as the midwife was trying to do some obs on me… its difficult to take someone’s temperature orally during a contraction! I was struggling through the contractions now which were coming thick and fast and I remember telling Andrew I was scared, that I didn’t know if I could do this.
Finally the bath was full and I climbed in. The hot water was amazing and soothed the pain of the contractions immediately. My doula also worked some magic on my lower back rubbing in just the right spots. Soon I was in transition and I could feel the intensity increasing in my vocalizations… I remember saying that I couldn’t do it anymore and needed some ‘help’ (and by help I was referring to some fast acting drugs!). Fortunately my doula encouraged me to work through it and it wasn’t long before I felt the baby’s head crowning. ‘He’s coming’ I gasped and my doula said to my husband that he’d better call the midwife. I can remember realizing that I hadn’t had to push this baby out at all… he was coming no matter what and I just had to breath through it. The intensity of the pressure of his head emerging was incredible but soon it was out and his little body followed quickly and he was all out and in my arms before I knew it. I couldn’t believe he was finally in my arms.
I think it was about half an hour after his birth that Morgan had his first breastfeed and he attached perfectly. I was amazed, a perfect end to an amazing birthing experience.