Life As A Mom

It’s been two months of Jacob’s first birthday, so I thought that I finally take some time and write his birth story down. Because strangely I still remember everything like it was yesterday.

Why has it taken me over a year to do this? Two little kids, that’s why.

Anyway….let’s go back to a lovely hot spring day in April…

On Tuesday, 23rd April I was exactly 41 weeks pregnant and the pressure was building up, because more and more I started accepting the fact that this baby will probably be induced as well. Even though, I had had weeks and weeks of strange pains, cramps, twice I nearly got ready to go to the hospital and then it all would all end… Soooo a lot of teasing but nothing real.

So on that Tuesday I called the MLU (Midwife Led Unit) and asked if I could come in for a second sweep. To maybe get things moving… I was asked to come in around 4pm, so I did. The lady who did the sweep also offered to do some reflexology on me as she had some time and I, of course, was “Yes, please?!”. Anything, right!? During reflexology I started feeling a bit different kind of pain that I was used to every week. When she had finished she asked me was I feeling different and whether the pain is different? I was just like, I don’t know…. More intense I guess? She smiled and said that we will probably see you later tonight! 🙂

By the time I got to the car park I knew my labour had started. I was literally standing there by my car, counting minutes, like….erm…should I stay here??? My contractions were about 8-9 minutes apart. So I decided I’ll drive back home, grab my bag and my husband and we’ll come back….. It was funny because both him and my eldest little boy were at my mother in law’s house and they were just chilling in the garden and one moment I walk in, very calmly may I add, and turned to my husband a said “you’re not going back to work today and Quinn is staying in here for the night because we are going to have another baby tonight”. So my mum in law and husband were both like “aaawwww shiiiiiit” haha!

And just to be clear, we only live minutes apart from her, so I kissed my baby boy as my only child for the last time, went home, packed his bag, sent my husband to take his bag over while I got my stuff together for the hospital. And then we waited…and waited.. My contractions were still 8 minutes apart or so….But it took nearly 4 hours until I reached the golden “I can go to the hospital” 5 minute mark. Gosh I loved this stage of labour, it was like in the movies or like I’ve seen it on TV – I would just lean on something for a bit, breathe and then it was gone. I didn’t have that luxury for the first time because the baby was back to back and I had no breaks, everything hurt, so much, constant pain and no pain-free positions whatsoever…. So compared to that I was walking on clouds!

We got to the hospital some time after 9pm….It was all so chill….Music and dimmed lights….Again, a completely different experience from what I had the first time around.

At about 11pm I asked if I could perhaps move in the birthing pool because the pain started getting quite strong and I needed some relief. I got into the water probably just around midnight. Just a couple of minutes in and I felt my waters going….whooosssh! And well, then it started getting more and more brutal…very quickly. I had dreamed and dreamed about water birth the first time around because that should ease the pain and whatnot….So where was the water magic then?! I begged for gas and air and as soon as I got it I sucked the life out of that thing! Fast forward to the actual baby coming out…. It makes me shiver until this day. It makes me feel like I never want to do this again. First time around I didn’t have that… Because Quinn’s shoulders were stuck, I got nicely numbed, quick episiotomy and he was out! This time though……………………… I had to do the whole work, as a true Woman, with no numbing…. Fuck me. Sorry for swearing but fuck fuck fuck! Pineapple. This is my word for it and this was the only thing I could imagine exiting my most private and delicate area. Gosh. I remember a lot of bear like growls coming out of me. Water was supposed to make it smoother I thought again?? Take some of the pain away? What happened there then?? What actually was probably 15 minutes max, felt like an hour of flesh ripping honestly…. Ugh….. BUT then one moment all this brutality ended and the baby was out! Yippikayey!

They told me to sit back and they placed this little human being on my chest. Ah……I’m crying as I am writing this ha!

I was so so happy that I was “with it” this time, I was mentally and physically THERE! With Quinn I nearly passed out and I had nothing in me when they placed him on my chest… But this time, it was different. I had all these emotions coming over me and the first thing I had to do was to find out whether it was a boy or a girl! Of course a BOY! It wasn’t long until he just pretty much naturally latched… There we were, in the water, him on my boob, already loving his first meal. And he just stayed there like forever until he needed a nap… I think we stayed in the pool for like 45 minutes, until I was like… It’s all been really amazing and all that, but I would reaaalllly like to get out now 😁

And then another “first” – getting the placenta out! Oh my gosh… It was like giving birth again… We tried for forever in the bath until I ran out of strength. Moved on to a bed and I can’t remember for sure but I think I got an injection in the end and finallllly, it was done…. Some time after that I had THE shortest shower I’ve had in my life, but I could feel like a human being again, not a smelly mess.

It was done. I had delivered baby number 2. I was now a mom of two boys! Two little boys…… Cray cray..

We were moved to the room next door (without the birthing pool) where all three of us could stay for the night…. Jacob was so chill, he was sleeping so peacefully for hours and hours, it almost made me worried, because with Quinn I was up feeding him almost every hour. Little did I know that one night of chilling was all I got with him hahaaaaaaaa! My little beast boy!

Jacob was born on Wednesday 24th April 2019, 1:45am, weighting 4100 g.

Welcome to our crazy family little man!

P.S. I would also like to say a huge thank you again to the amazing midwives I was lucky to have. You are so appreciated🤍