Birth Story - The Arrival of Sophie
The Friday evening at 10pm, a week before Sophie was born my contractions started...5, 10 and 15 minutes apart, then at 4am stopped. This happened every night for the whole week leading up (!!!!) and in some ways this limbo tested me even more than the actual labour itself…
On the Thursday evening at 42 weeks my chiro came over, adjusted me & we did some exercises to help bring on labour.. 10pm that night like clockwork the contractions started again but this time they were much more intense and they came 5-10mins apart for the whole night. I knew if this was the real deal after the week I’d had I was going to need my energy so I stayed in bed and had little micro sleeps/rests in between, each time a contraction came I was up on all fours in bed riding it with my breath, sound and movement.
After so many false starts, through that night we’d been keeping calm then the next morning things went from zero to hero around 9am as contractions started coming a few minutes apart & then “holy shit Mandy the midwife’s in her car and told me to fill up the birth pool!!” It was hilarious because Matt went from no jobs to running around the house boiling kettles and hooking up hoses for the pool, answering calls from all my team AND running back to hold me as contractions came. By 11am I was in the birth pool. I spent the day between the shower, bedroom, toilet and pool - wherever felt best for me.
By 3pm in the pool I felt my body starting to ‘push’. After a while of that I intuitively put my fingers inside of me and then said ‘something’s not right, something’s in the way’. After examining me on my bed my midwife found that I was right in that I had a cervical lip which was blocking the path for baby. Before the next contraction she manually moved it. This was the most intense part of my labour.
After that I got back in the pool and candles were lit… it felt like baby was finally coming!! Then...same again my body was pushing but I still felt it wasn’t quite right.. Upon self inspection I realised the lip was back!!! So out of the birth pool for it to be adjusted on the bed again… back in the pool and my contractions started dwindling at this point in time. I then said “I’m going to go sit on the toilet” because I knew this was where my contractions were stronger and it was at the point I moved past the mental challenges of transition and was like BRING IT ON, let’s do this.
I then walked down to my bedroom instead of back to the pool. I told Matt to sit on the edge of the bed and moved my sheepskin so I could be up on my knees and hold my arms around him. This position felt so primal & after some roaring baby was moving down. I touched baby’s head right at the entrance to my vagina. As I continued to push my midwife pressed hot towels at my perineum to help with opening which felt amazing.
After a huge push baby’s head and shoulders were out & suspended in mid air! “Am I waiting?” I said to my midwife and with complete calm & trust she said, “yep you’re waiting and on next contraction baby will be born”. This was such a beautiful moment in time as I realised holy shit I’m about to do this, I’m about to give birth! Next contraction it was as though baby slid out (the hardest part was already done) and instinctively I reached down, grabbed her & put her straight to my chest.
The next few minutes it felt like the three of us were the only people on the planet… I stared at her and it was instantly a love like no other I have ever experienced... Matt was kissing my cheeks and we were just so stoked, I have never been so high in my entire life. A few mins after we were thrilled to see this was our baby girl!
I looked up from our little vortex & I realised it was golden hour and there was a warm glow filling the whole room. I caught the loving gaze of each of my birth team. After working with each of them for the past year at such a deep level, I will never forget the looks of complete love and adoration with tears in their eyes.
Note from Chloe: I feel very humbled to have the opportunity to share this beautiful birth story with you in this space - I invite you to visit Amanda’s website to read her full series where she also shares and explores her first, second & third trimesters of pregnancy, and her nurtured postpartum. Each element acts as an example of what a truly individualized, supported and empowered transition from maiden to mother can look like.
—-> Instagram: @amanda._hill ~ Website: https://www.amandahill.com.au/blogposts ~ Podcast:The Amanda Hill Show
