Friday July 12, 2013 - 8:30pm
I had been leaking some fluid for the past couple days. It was not a gush all at once, it was random drops of liquid and I wasn’t sure if it was my water breaking or end of pregnancy discharge. My mom encouraged me to phone my midwife and talk to her about it. Kaley told me to come to Malachite right away so she could test my panty liner. I brought my panty liner in a sealed ziplock bag like she told me too and with a swipe of a PH strip, she was able to tell me it was in fact amniotic fluid that was leaking, and that it was most likely a hind tear..meaning a small rip in my amniotic sac from up high around my rib cage. The baby’s toe nail might have even snagged it and caused the small leaks of fluid. Oh. My. Gosh. Why didn’t I tell her 2 days sooner? Here I was past my due date, highly anticipating the arrival of my little miracle, and now I’m being told that I would have to take the midwives concoction to start labour, or else I’d have to go to the hospital to be induced if I wasn’t in active labour by 6am the next morning. (because of a higher risk of infection) I was so excited! I was nervous, I sure as hell didn’t want to be induced! That was not my plan! I had taken hypnobirthing classes with Andrew and practicing with my rainbow relaxation recording almost every night. I was so ready to birth my baby! Andrew went off and got a few ingredients needed so I could take the midwives concoction.

Friday July 12, 2013 - 10:30pm
I took the concoction. It consisted of thick mango nectar mixed with 3Tbs of castor oil and 5ml of verbena oil and water. I had to eat 2Tbs of natural peanut butter with it. It didn’t taste the best, but it was for the good of my baby. Andrew and my mom and I decided to play cards to kill some time. There was no way I could sleep I was too excited. There I was laying down my hand in Rummy, not being able to concentrate so I decided
to lay down. I knew this was going to be the longest and most important night of my life. I wanted to conserve my energy.

Saturday July 13, 2013 - 1:30am
My surges finally started! I started timing them out on my handy iphone ap with Andrew on the bed beside me. I remember sitting in many positions until I found my favourite. Sitting on the exercise ball facing the edge of the bed with my head resting on my folded arms on the bed.

Saturday July 13, 2013 - 4:20am
Contractions weren’t getting any stronger. 6:00 was looming closer and the thought of getting induced at the hospital was stressing me out. I called Kayley and she encouraged me to take another dose of the concoction. This time I gagged at the smell of the peanut butter but forced it down my throat.

Saturday July 13, 2013- 5:00am
Contractions were much closer together and stronger. Andrew called Kaley and arranged for us to meet at the birthing suite.

Saturday July 13, 2013 - 5:30am
Arrived at the birthing suite in Malachite. I sat on the ball and hypnobirthed through my surges. I was so focused. Determined. I don’t remember how much time went by, but Kaley was closely monitoring my temperature and my heart rate, as well as the babies heart rate with the fetal Doppler. We were both fine. Blood pressure was great and the babies heart rate was a consistent 150 bpm. She gave me a homeopathic pill of black cohosh and a mixture of labour inducing herbs. I took the black cohosh for an hour, every 15 minutes. With the possibility of going to the hospital looming over all our heads, Kaley asked if she could do an internal exam and I agreed. She was pleased to report my waters were in fact intact down below, confirming her belief of the hind tear. I was 3cm dilated and completely thinned out. She left me to breath through the surges with Andrew by my side in the bed and when she came back in the room she sat us down to discuss something. She had consulted over the phone with Anne-Marie, our other midwife and they decided that since my water was a hind leak and I was fine, baby was fine, we could go about this in a normal way. I was so relieved. I completely trusted my midwives and Andrew and I decided to continue at the birthing suite.

 

Saturday July 13, 2013 - 9:30am
Andrew took me outside for a walk down to the creek. I walked through the surges, they were getting a bit stronger so he took me back. I wanted to get some rest because I knew I would go into active labour soon. I had a heat pack on my belly and Andrew was spooning me as I breathed through the surges. I sprung out of bed after having a very strong surge and vomited in the bowl beside my bed. (I felt nauseous and asked for it
earlier) I had the worst cramps and battled diarrhea for the next few hours.

Saturday July 13, 2013 - 1:00pm
In between sitting on the toilet and breathing through the surges, I stood in the shower and aimed the shower head on my belly for the intense feeling. I sat on the birthing ball with the hot water blasting, when the rest of my waters broke. In 2 big gushes. I knew I was getting closer to meeting my little girl! I told Kaley I was ready to get into the tub. She filled it for me and once I was in I was in a hypnobirthing trance. Everything I had practiced with the rainbow relaxation was happening at the moment….but I was in my own zone. Kaley eventually asked if I wanted an internal exam to see where I was at. I accepted but asked her to keep the number to herself. I could feel that I was ready soon. Hours went by, surges were getting more intense. I needed Andrew to help me breath through some of them when I lost focus. He was a huge help, he really kept me centered!
Time was melting away and I didn’t have any sense of it, I was in the tub a lot longer than I thought. Kaley examined me again and announced that I was 9cm dilated, but my cervix had a lip and my baby girls head wasn’t quite ready. She gave me a few options. She said I could walk around to get the surges moving faster, I could stay where I was in the tub and continue my breathing through the surges or she said she could help me by moving my cervix to the side while I pushed my babies head past the lip of the cervix. I knew I was ready. I wanted to meet my girl. I asked her to help me, and together we got my girls head past my cervix. She said it would be a matter of time where I would feel like I’d have to push. I really wanted to give J-breathing a chance though.

Saturday July 13, 2013 - 6:00pm
I felt the pressure Kaley was talking about. She said it would probably feel like I had to poop and she was right. I J-breathed through a few surges and I felt like it wasn’t getting me anywhere. I made the call, I decided to push. Hypnobirthing had got me this far and I was so thankful. I felt energized even though I had been up the entire day and night before with little rest in between. A surge came and I pushed, something overtook my body that I can’t even explain. Normally I’m a very reserved person…. I had always said I would never make any obnoxious noises while birthing my baby but I was wrong! Along with the pushing came the urge to growl in a loud throaty motion along with it. Kaley had to remind me to try and focus my energy on bearing down, but I couldn’t help it! The hardest part was pushing her past my pelvic bone, I remember yelling out loud “WHY AM I DOING THIS!?
I had time in between my surges where I would do some J breathing. It helped keep my baby from “prairie dogg’n” I had finally pushed her past my pelvic bone. The end was in sight! My husband could see our girls head! I asked if she had hair and he yelled SHE HAS HAIR!!! I CAN SEE IT FLOATING IN THE WATER! I was so excited, so determined! Kaley got Andrew prepared for receiving our little girl. She said once her head was out I would give one big push and she would fly out. I forgot to mention that my mom was documenting our birth. She was a calming force in the birthing room. When Andrew was helping me with breathing, she was re-soaking a wash cloth in ice water and putting it on my forehead. Me, being a professional photographer I told my mom exactly what I had wanted. She was using my camera and before the birth I explained which shots to take. It wasn’t the baby coming out that I wanted the most, but the expression on our faces and the baby on my chest. I told her to get ready!

Saturday July 13, 2013 - 7:23pm
One last push and before I knew it, Andrew was placing Hattie-Mae Hunter Brown on my chest! She was purple, squishy and covered in vernix. She was silent at first and then she screamed. She grabbed onto my hand so hard. A moment I’ll never forget. It was the best moment of my life. Kaley and Wendy (first attendant) covered her with a blanket, and did all the things they needed to do with her while I cried and laughed and stared at my baby girl! I birthed the placenta with another couple pushes and moved into the bed for skin on skin while our little girl latched right away. We enjoyed about an hour and a half together and decided it was time to get her weighed and to remove the placenta. We had a little cord burning ceremony. Something I had read about online, a Balinese tradition. Hattie-Mae was very calm and she was introduced to the 4 elements; Earth, Air, Water and Fire. It was amazing to have the positive birth that I had been imagining throughout my whole pregnancy. I believe the hypnobirthing really got me through it, along with the support of my amazing husband and the anticipation of our baby girl. Thank you Christy for preparing us for not only birth but for a positive way of thinking. Whenever I am stressed, I think of Keep calm and carry on and my breathing techniques from class.

Lots of Love,
Kerry-Lee, Andrew & Hattie-Mae