Birth stories from around Aotearoa - part two

An enormous thank you to the contributors to this blog!

Its always humbling, beautiful and fascinating reading everyone's birth stories :)

Check out part one of New Zealand Mums birth stories HERE too.

Thank you...

Rebekah Morgan - Blogger at Our Petite Patch

Bunny Kim - Blogger at GlowMama blog

Cheryl Cunningham - Little Posh Kids

Susan Coram-Stanley - Owner of KJdesigns Handstamped Jewellery

River

After contractions every hour for one and a half weeks I was spent.

Completely exhausted...

Over it..

The midwife gave me a stretch and sweep at 37.2 weeks and I went into labour after only a few hours. It was going to be a VBAC (vaginal birth after c section) and I was hoping for the best... but fearing the worst.

River was born and I was not on an operating table, she came out with the help of a scalpel that felt like a hot poker slicing my vagina near hemorrhoids that protruded like grapes after 2 hours of pushing.

It was strange having a "normal birth" after such a traumatic first birth. I was even confused during active birth when the contraction stopped and there was a break of 30 seconds to a minute! Was this normal?

The pressure... was this what it was supposed to be like?

The feeling of pain, but not the fear of dying was new and refreshing, I must admit!

Although that pain sure was still something else!

Michelle Beard - 'Pumpkins in Trees' blog

Isabella

I was a first time mum that had horrible antenatal (then subsequently post natal depression).

I was so scared about birth and had somehow managed to miss getting into the classes they offer.

We had a beautiful water birth planned at birth care, because I hate hospital.

Didn't happen.

Then at 36w 6d our wee girl decided it was time. That 1 day made the difference between hospital and birthcare!... I was heart broken.

My waters broke at 11pm and I can remember thinking why does no one tell you they don't stop breaking! I leaked all night! I let the midwife know and she said she'd come first thing in the morning. That night is a haze of trying to sleep, contractions, pacing in a tiny 1 bedroom studio, attempting to settle watching a movie (hahaha) when I realized I couldn't sleep, and a shower so long it drained our hot water cylinder.

By the time the midwife arrived I was ready to go. My partner didn't know this so attempted to make a coffee while he had his first minutes peace all night, nope! It was still there on the bench 5 days later when we got home. We still laugh about this coffee now.

Straight into the car for a 35 minute drive to hospital. We arrived at 8.15am and she was born 8.58am. I remember the midwife making me walk over from the car - horrendous!

Then I had to wait for them to set up equipment. All talk of the iv line etc went out the window because I was 10c dilated. Three pushes and my daughter was into the world. I felt so much more comfortable labouring at home and all that relaxing made baby a breeze.

Rebekah Morgan - Blogger at 'Our Petite Patch'

Devon

My journey to get pregnant, and the pregnancy itself was a long, scary, and highly monitored experience.

My second baby was still born at 23 weeks, and my wee Rainbow Baby wasn’t expected to stay longer than 23/24 weeks, however he stayed in, and it was decided to induce me at 38 weeks. I was terrified and just wanted my baby here. By the time I was induced it was 7pm, everything that could go wrong spiraled around in my head, every scenario, every story I had ever heard, were all there with me.

Luckily, the gel did its job quickly and contractions began around 9pm. I was so relieved, but so scared all at the same time.

My first labour had been 17 hours, my second (angel baby) 7 hours, so I had been hoping for things to happen quickly.

Around midnight it was decided to break my waters, we had transferred to a birthing room by this stage, and things went from bearable to “OMG I’m going to die” in about 10 seconds. I was so terrified that something was going wrong, I’d had horrible delusions where I saw ‘the meaning of life’ when I delivered my angel baby, and I could feel them starting again.

It was all I could do to breath. But at 3am it was time to push, and our gorgeous Rainbow Baby was born at 4am. Such relief and love, having this little baby earth side, and safe in my arms.

Susan Coram-Stanley - Owner of KJdesigns Handstamped Jewellery

Hunter

I was induced at 39 weeks due to high blood pressure, after a week in hospital. In the morning I was only 1cm dilated so they applied prostaglandin gel, and I was left to rest as much as I could before labour kicked off. At 2.30pm I had only dilated to 2cm, so my (wonderful!) midwife broke my waters to encourage things along.

Things seemed to be progressing smoothly but slowly until I tried to stand up to ease the pain - then I felt like a bowling ball had dropped into my pelvis.

The contractions ramped up about a thousand percent, and I went against my birth plan and begged for an epidural. The on call obstetrician wouldn't allow it until they'd had 30 minutes of steady heart rate monitoring of baby, so I was hooked back up to the machine. Then suddenly, I knew I wouldn't be getting an epidural - my baby was coming! My midwife confirmed I was fully dilated, so I started pushing. I remember looking at the monitor and seeing my baby's heart rate drop from 98 to 52. Mummy instincts kicked in - I needed to get him out! I gave one long push with everything I had and out he came at 6.29pm - my gorgeous son.

I looked over and saw the look of absolute love in my partner's eyes, saw my eldest son come over so excited to greet his brother, and felt, at that moment, life was perfect. Bunny Kim - Blogger at GlowMama blog

Jacob

Jacob was born with the help of IUI (Intrauterine insemination). I had a difficult pregnancy major morning sickness that didn’t stop until the day he was born. At my 35 1d week my growth scan showed he had stopped growing.

On the exact same day I saw my LMC a call was made to a paediatrician for him to born at 35w 5d the date was set for 15th April 2003.

I had an epidermal... now that was fun trying to sit still while someone poked a huge needle in your back.

I was also put on a Syntocinon drug to increase the contractions, but every time the one of the nurses increased it, his heartbeat would drop. On the third go my LMC was called back as the heartbeat dropped down to only 60 beats per minute. So after a 12 hour labour, his heartbeat dropping and only having dilated to 7cms my LMC decided to do an emergency cesarean at 7pm. Jacob was born at 7.25pm weighing 4 lbs 12 ozs and 48cms and slightly jaundiced.

He spent approximately 36 hours in NICU because of low blood sugars and we went home when he was 4 days old.

Cheryl Cunningham - Little Posh Kids