Expecting their first baby,
Jill and Colin approached their birth with excitement and some
trepidation. Jill was worried over how she would cope with the intensity
of labour, but between her husband's support and her doula's practical
help and calming influence, she found she had a strength she never
realized was there.
I became addicted to reading birth stories on the ParentLink website,
fairly shortly after the realization of being pregnant had sunk in (i.e.
after about 5 pregnancy tests had confirmed the same blue lines!). So I
thought other mums-to-be might enjoy reading
my birth stories. Since those days of eager investigation about what was
happening to my body and the new life starting inside, I've had two baby
boys whose births could not have been more different.
With my first baby, Callum, I had an easy
pregnancy – no sickness or cravings, just a bit tired sometimes, but a
good excuse to drink chocolate milk whenever I felt like it. I had
convinced myself that Callum would arrive 2 weeks earlier than my
predicted due date, and was eagerly (and nervously) awaiting something
to start happening. I say "nervous"
as the discomfort of having my eyebrows plucked was about as much pain
as I had ever coped with, and I was planning to have a natural
unmedicated birth if possible!
From 38 weeks I was drinking raspberry tea, and eating various types of
curry in the hope of encouraging labour to begin. My official due date
came and nothing was happening. I had my weekly check up and my doctor
said, "See you next week"; I really hoped I wouldn't have to wait
another week (or more!) to see our baby. That evening my husband and I
went out for a curry at one of our favourite places in Little India. As
we were just about to leave, I felt a tightening across my tummy
… not painful at all, but very strong. I told Colin that I
thought something was happening and this could be it. We drove home very
excited.
After a call to Tania, our doula, we went to bed around midnight. After
a little while my waters broke and so we called her again. Colin started
timing and writing down the duration and spacing of the contractions…. I
think he recorded about three of them and then
promptly fell asleep, so there was about a six hour gap in his notes. I
tried to rest, but the contractions were
getting stronger, like very bad period pains. It helped to think about
what my body was doing – stretching my cervix open to make way for the
birth, but by about 7:30
a.m. I was
sick to my stomach and decided that my labour
must be "in transition" so called Tania again and asked her to come
over. Her arrival made both Colin and me feel
much more at ease – a calming influence, although to my disappointment
she observed that I
appeared to be only in early labour, and had a long way to go!
She helped me to cope better with the contractions, suggested lots of
different positions – supported by Colin, the sofa, a birth ball, etc.,
and used a hot rice sock to try to relieve the back pain
I felt.
We all listened to music – lots of Robbie Williams albums
– and ate some toast and marmalade. Sometimes Tania would suggest
lying down in bed to try to rest, and save my energy, but it became more
difficult to rest as the contractions becoming
stronger. There came a point when I felt I just couldn't relax anymore
and I decided I wanted to go to the hospital.
Once at the hospital the sister advised that I was already fully dilated
and ready to push; turned out that my pain threshold must have been
higher than I thought. The doctor was called and he arrived soon after.
Tania, the midwives, and the doctor helped in
trying to find a position to push. I actually didn't feel the urge to
push, but in the end just knew that I had to somehow give birth to this
baby, so just eventually pushed without the "urge" that I was expecting.
Callum was born at 7:12 p.m.
– a healthy 8 lbs 1
oz – and 19 hours of labour were instantly forgotten. He was
passed back to feed while still in the delivery room and he suckled
instinctively while Colin and I watched in awe at our new little bundle.
To read about the birth of Jill and Colin's second
baby, Ewan,
click here.
What's going on
here?
Many women are concerned about how they will cope with labour, and many
describe themselves, as Jill did, as having a "low pain threshold." As
you'll discover in ParentLink's childbirth classes, a "pain
threshold" is not a fixed thing! How you cope with labour has
much more to do with your attitude towards labour and how much you
understand about what is happening. In ParentLink classes, you'll learn
how to take the steps to make your birth what you want it to be.
For more on childbirth classes,
click
here.
Jill and Colin found the presence of their doula (labour
supporter) to be wonderfully calming and supportive and helped them both
get back on track at times when they felt things were becoming
overwhelming. If you'd like to find out more about how a doula can make
a difference for your birth,
click here.
To talk over your particular needs or concerns, you can:
call Diann at +65
6536-4626
oremail us
