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I am so excited to share my birth story with you guys!! It kind of goes over three days, so I’m going to break the post up into those three days!

Saturday, 10th March

We attended a wedding. I wasn’t even sure if we’d be able to make the wedding, being 39 weeks pregnant and all, but we did! There were many jokes made about me dancing to bring on labour. I got all dressed up in the morning. We spent all day in the sun, as the ceremony was outdoors, and then we partied at the reception until midnight! I even drove home!

But lets talk about that ‘partying’ at the reception. I went ALL out. I literally danced the night away. I don’t know where the energy came from, but I think in my head I was like, surely, SURELY, this will bring on labour.  When “Get Low” came on, I got low. When “drop it like it’s hot” was played, you better believe that I dropped it like it’s hot. I EVEN STAYED IN MY WEDGES THE WHOLE ENTIRE NIGHT. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but it was pretty amazing.

OH – and congrats to the lovely couple; Karl & Marley. You will forever be remembered as the couple whose wedding brought my son into the world!

Sunday, 11th March

We got home at 1am, in bed at around 1.15am, NEKMINNUT – GUSSHHHHHHHHH…. this was at 3.20am. Yup, I had been sleeping for a grand total of 2 hours and 5 minutes, when I yelled out “Ummmm Drikus, I think my waters broke” it was legit Hollywood style. Which is funny, because apparently, the waters breaking like that only happen to like 5% of women.

We got up, I changed and made myself look half decent. We even had some food (because I’d heard you’re not allowed to eat once you’re in labour) I packed the last few things in my bag, and by 5am we were out the door and on our way to the hospital.

When we got to the hospital, we went straight to triage. Here they put me on the CTG monitor to monitor baby’s heart rate and my contractions. I started timing them at this point, and they were pretty regular, and not too painful either! We were told that they’ll likely admit me to a hospital ward and continue to monitor my contractions.

But then things went a bit pear shaped when baby’s heart rate started dropping. It was really scary because three doctors came in, and they all seemed really worried. There was an awesome midwife though, and she came and explained things to be in laymens terms and it didn’t seem “that” bad; but I wasn’t going to be admitted into the Ward anymore, nope, they wanted to induce me.

It was around 11am that I was moved to a birth suite, and the induction began. Now, I’d heard that being induced isn’t the greatest, because your contracts come hard and fast. Guys, I can confirm, this is accurate. They started getting more regular and more painful.

Look at me smiling there, blissfully unaware of what was about to unfold.

The contractions started, they weren’t that bad to begin with.  I think what made it more uncomfortable was that I felt like a bloody string puppet. I had a drip in, I had the Pitocin in, I had the contraction montior, my heart rate monitor, babys heart rate monitor – SO MANY WIRES!

My good friend, Julie, is a midwife. She asked ages ago if she could deliver the baby. I was super uncomfortable with this at the start. I mean, does anyone really want their friends not only seeing their vajayjays, but getting all up in them too. Not to mention, seeing you at your most vulnerable time. But I had a good, long think about it. And I thought, it would probably be nicer having someone you know and trust deliver your baby, than some random. Also, how cool in 10 years time when we can tell our child who delivered him! So I decided to say YES, LETS DO IT JULIE! She wasn’t working that day, actually she had finished a late shift the day before, but low and behold, she came in to the hospital at about 11am, right when I was being induced. What a trooper.

Lets pause to take a moment and enjoy these beautiful artsy pictures of the birthing suite that I took.

But seriously, I had my camera with me, and it was the best thing having a creative outlet to take my mind off contractions. I could snap away, and then send the pics to my phone, and edit them. I loved having something to do other than just sit around and wait for the next contractions.

A few hours in, and things started getting more painful. Can I just say, my hubs was AMAZING. He was more than willing to give me back massages, help with anything, get me water – THE WORKS. He could tell that I was holding back the tears from the pain, and he said to me “it’s okay to cry meggy moo, you’ll feel better if you do” GOD, next minute, balling my eyes out. Keep in mind, that I was functioning on literally 2 hours sleep, and had been awake for about 11 hours at this point.

But look how cute he is, smiling in the background as I’m all teary eyed. I fell more in love with him in this moment – yeah, that’s me trying to justify it…

I was getting exhausted quickly. And sore. I asked if some panadol would help, Julie kinda smiled and said, not at this point. So she said we can do morphine (which I wasn’t really a fan of, but at that point, I was exhausted and the contractions were SO PAINFUL. So I said okay. It let me rest for a bit between contractions, but I became a bit dopey. I hated this feeling so much. I was coming in and out of consciousness, exhausted, fatigued, and then being woken up with the most intense contraction. What made it worse, was that I was so thirsty, but going to the toilet was an upward hill battle. I had to unplug out of everything, walk with my drip, by the time I got to the toilet, another contraction would start and my god, in that moment, I swore I would never have another child again. (Don’t worry hubs, that changed after I met our son). I was also using the gas at this point too.

When the morphine wore off, it all got worse again, by 6pm I turned to my hubs and Julie and said, I think I need the epidural. I was 5cms at this point, and it had been 15 hours since my waters broke. There was no way I could go on for another 10 hours in the state I was in. I didn’t want the epidural, I wanted to be one of those women who could say, yeah, I did it by myself, but that just wasn’t the case for me. I’ve realized that different circumstances  mean that everyone’s labours are different, some women only labour for 2.5 hours, others for more! Some on 2 hours sleep, others on a good 8 hours sleep. Julie made me feel better about my decision when she said that I would be able to have some good, solid sleep, the pain would go away and I would have energy to push the baby out. Because at the rate I was going, if I didn’t get my energy up, I’d end up with an emergency C-Section.

The anaesthetist came in, did the procedure, and within 30 minutes, I couldn’t feel any contractions anymore. It was utter bliss!! I was able to sleep, I think I slept for a good 2 hours which was incredible. Now it was just a waiting game until I was ready to push. The clock kept ticking, at 10.30pm I was convinced he was going to arrive at 11:11pm on the 11th, I was wrong. The clock struck midnight, and we were still waiting. I was getting close though!

Monday, 12th March

I started to get a fever at around midnight, and I was freezing cold, but my temp was quite high. I don’t think it was too serious though, they just kept a close eye on me. All of a sudden I felt extremely nauseous and I ended up vomiting. Julie was so excited, she said it’s a really good sign and that the contractions are working, and pushing on my stomach. I vomited twice over the next hour.

I actually felt really good about everything at this point. Sure I was pooped, I mean it’d basically been 48 hours with, like, zero sleep. BUT I knew the end was in sight! Then at 1:20 I was told that it was time to start pushing!! This was my absolute favourite part of the whole labour. I didn’t have pain (thanks epidural) but I could feel everything. And I was so motivated and determined to meet my little guy. I also gave this 100000% because I didn’t want to have an assisted delivery.

After an hour of pushing, he was here! And OH MY GOD. The emotions were so real. I think what got me the most, was when I looked over my shoulder at my gorgeous husband. He was so overcome with joy, happiness and tears (I’m getting teary as I right this) and he kept saying “I’m just so grateful” “he’s here” “I can’t believe this”

This is the first family photo we took and I will honestly cherish it forever. The tears, the smiles, the joy, all the feels!

S’cuse the blood on my face, I couldn’t’ stop kissing his head once he was placed on my chest. It was such a surreal moment, that I had been looking forward to for the last 9 months. I dreamed of what it would feel like, the moment where you meet the little human that’s been kicking you, giving you heartburn and making you feel all sorts of emotions.

Jasper, I am so in love with you and I can’t believe that you’re actually here! Julie, thank you for being the most amazing friend and supportive midwife. I wouldn’t change a thing about my labour and I’m so lucky to have had you to walk me through everything. You made me feel so comfortable and at peace about everything that was happening. And Drikus, my love, seeing you become a father for the first time was the most wonderful privilege and honour.

2 Comments

  • Brittany says:

    Here I am bawling while reading this! Amazing story Megz!

  • Julie Herbosch says:

    The honour was all mine. So special to share this precious moment in your life. You guys are such an amazing couple and Jasper is the luckiest baby to have you both as parents. Xx?