My lovely friend and one of my little guy's godparents tried to post this as a comment but it's too big so here it is :)...Thanks for sharing it Kim!
Sam was overdue and having regular contractions in the morning, and I got the SMS to tell me that it looked like today was the day. So I got organised to go only to get another SMS to let me know things had slowed down. So I meandered around a bit and then decided to go and pick up takeaway for lunch. Well it was lucky I wasn't in a rush because the car wouldn't start! The kids were playing in the car the other day while I was cleaning it out, and they'd left a light on which had flattened the battery! Luckily it wasn't that difficult to push it out of the driveway and jumpstart. After lunch, I headed over to Sam's house to see how I could help.
When I got there, the birth pool was being filled up. Sam was apologising that things had slowed down (which I wasn't worried about a bit!), so I just took the Jasper & Scarlett to get them out of Sam & Mark's hair. Thankfully the house is lovely and big, so we were able to head down to the playroom where we could be out of the way (and mostly out of earshot!) We had a good play with the castle, knights & horses set that was a gift for the children from the new baby.
About half an hour later, Michelle came and we tried hard to keep the kids busy! We went on a nature walk, picked flowers, made daisy chains, held a pretend dinner party and basically played the afternoon away.
Meanwhile, Sam's midwife Wendy arrived at 4.45 and had encouraged her to get into the pool to see if that would get things moving. Sam was fairly frustrated that it had seemed that things were going to start but there was no action. While Sam was in the pool, we baked a birthday cake to celebrate the impending arrival (lots of beater licking and stirring!), and then the children had a bath and got into PJ's to be ready for the night.
Being in the pool seemed to do the trick for Sam, and at about 6.30 her contractions seemed strong, as we could hear her earthly moans. We knew this baby was coming!
We were in the kitchen eating tea (we cooked a feast of fish fingers & chips for the kids!) and the children could hear Sam's contractions. They were initially a little worried, but we made a few trips into the lounge room to see Mum & Dad from the side of the pool and this reassured them.
By about 8 o'clock Sam's waters had broken (earlier but I can't remember when!) and it was clear this baby was close. I guessed it was close when she starting complaining verbally and wanted the music off that she was going through transition. I instinctively knew that this wasn't time to be fumbling for the off switch and pulled the stereo from the plug! We weren't far away from meeting this baby.
Sam was following her own instincts through the labour, and I loved the fact that her midwife wasn't "telling" her what to do, rather she was encouraging her and supporting her. The sounds of labour were so different to they way they are perceived on television, and as I think back to my own labour, I can't actually remember exactly what sounds I was making (though I do remember that my language was maybe a bit more colourful than Sam's!), but to hear the low moans from Sam as she experienced painful contractions it was so natural and beautiful.
I saw baby crown through the water, and Sam did an amazing job as he was moving around through the last few moments as his head was emerging. His shoulders followed, and then he was out up to his waist, from there Sam turned from being forward facing (with her head and shoulders on the pool edge and legs behind her) to squatting and grabbed him herself out of the water into her arms. The whole movement was totally breathtaking, as she held her baby in her arms looking down with a look of triumph and love!
The children were amazing, and not scared at all throughout the labour. Only once did they worry when they looked out towards the pool and Sam wasn't there (she was in the toilet). Once Atticus was in Sam's arms, Mark came into the pool to get to know his new son. Jasper was particularly interested in the cord and wanted to see where it was attached, he was also fascinated by the placenta (which was birthed soon after getting out of the pool). Scarlett was excited and did a little dance to celebrate the baby on a chair overlooking the lounge room. The children were in awe, and so was I! It was an amazing experience, and one that I will never forget! I'm now sold on homebirthing too, it was so natural and relaxed, with no stress about what was going to happen next, dim lighting, candles, music, it was beautiful - as though we were suspended outside of reality in a different world.
Welcome earth side Atticus Jude! A glorious 4.7kg and 55.5cm long, born after a 2 hours 25 minutes at just past 42 weeks.
Congratulations Samantha, Mark, Jasper & Scarlett on the birth of Atticus - thank you for letting me share in such a special day, I'll never forget it!
When I got there, the birth pool was being filled up. Sam was apologising that things had slowed down (which I wasn't worried about a bit!), so I just took the Jasper & Scarlett to get them out of Sam & Mark's hair. Thankfully the house is lovely and big, so we were able to head down to the playroom where we could be out of the way (and mostly out of earshot!) We had a good play with the castle, knights & horses set that was a gift for the children from the new baby.
About half an hour later, Michelle came and we tried hard to keep the kids busy! We went on a nature walk, picked flowers, made daisy chains, held a pretend dinner party and basically played the afternoon away.
Meanwhile, Sam's midwife Wendy arrived at 4.45 and had encouraged her to get into the pool to see if that would get things moving. Sam was fairly frustrated that it had seemed that things were going to start but there was no action. While Sam was in the pool, we baked a birthday cake to celebrate the impending arrival (lots of beater licking and stirring!), and then the children had a bath and got into PJ's to be ready for the night.
Being in the pool seemed to do the trick for Sam, and at about 6.30 her contractions seemed strong, as we could hear her earthly moans. We knew this baby was coming!
We were in the kitchen eating tea (we cooked a feast of fish fingers & chips for the kids!) and the children could hear Sam's contractions. They were initially a little worried, but we made a few trips into the lounge room to see Mum & Dad from the side of the pool and this reassured them.
By about 8 o'clock Sam's waters had broken (earlier but I can't remember when!) and it was clear this baby was close. I guessed it was close when she starting complaining verbally and wanted the music off that she was going through transition. I instinctively knew that this wasn't time to be fumbling for the off switch and pulled the stereo from the plug! We weren't far away from meeting this baby.
Sam was following her own instincts through the labour, and I loved the fact that her midwife wasn't "telling" her what to do, rather she was encouraging her and supporting her. The sounds of labour were so different to they way they are perceived on television, and as I think back to my own labour, I can't actually remember exactly what sounds I was making (though I do remember that my language was maybe a bit more colourful than Sam's!), but to hear the low moans from Sam as she experienced painful contractions it was so natural and beautiful.
I saw baby crown through the water, and Sam did an amazing job as he was moving around through the last few moments as his head was emerging. His shoulders followed, and then he was out up to his waist, from there Sam turned from being forward facing (with her head and shoulders on the pool edge and legs behind her) to squatting and grabbed him herself out of the water into her arms. The whole movement was totally breathtaking, as she held her baby in her arms looking down with a look of triumph and love!
The children were amazing, and not scared at all throughout the labour. Only once did they worry when they looked out towards the pool and Sam wasn't there (she was in the toilet). Once Atticus was in Sam's arms, Mark came into the pool to get to know his new son. Jasper was particularly interested in the cord and wanted to see where it was attached, he was also fascinated by the placenta (which was birthed soon after getting out of the pool). Scarlett was excited and did a little dance to celebrate the baby on a chair overlooking the lounge room. The children were in awe, and so was I! It was an amazing experience, and one that I will never forget! I'm now sold on homebirthing too, it was so natural and relaxed, with no stress about what was going to happen next, dim lighting, candles, music, it was beautiful - as though we were suspended outside of reality in a different world.
Welcome earth side Atticus Jude! A glorious 4.7kg and 55.5cm long, born after a 2 hours 25 minutes at just past 42 weeks.
Congratulations Samantha, Mark, Jasper & Scarlett on the birth of Atticus - thank you for letting me share in such a special day, I'll never forget it!
1 comment:
Oh wow, that was so lovely to read. It gave me goosebumps at the end. Thankyou so much to Kim for sharing.
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