Thomas’s Birth Story

On Sunday, the 25th we were still organising the last wee things. Grand-Nev came around in the morning and put the security locks on the windows. I wondered sometimes if it was like he was waiting for everything to be done!

In the afternoon Paul played the guitar, while I went for a walk with my best friend Kate on the beach. We went quite a long way up towards St. Kilda from St. Clair, especially considering how pregnant I was. We had a lovely chat, and I was wondering when my baby was going to come? We got home at four thirty and I needed a sleep. So, I slept until six, which was a long sleep for me as I didn’t really do that much sleeping while pregnant. I wondered if I was saving my strength for something more exciting.

When I woke up, I felt really fresh, and my Nana had phoned from the North Island. She had sent a package and had been a bit confused about the address. Unfortunately, it had been sent to one that I thought may have been at the bottom of our street down a large flight of stairs. So, I said I would go and check and call her back. I was feeling full of beans and had not taken on this flight of stairs for a while because my giant tummy had been hurting when I had. But this time it was no problem. As it turned out the address she had sent it too did not even exist, so I rang her back to let her know.

Paul and I had the tea which he had been cooking, then at about 8.30 we went to do the groceries. We didn’t get back until 10.30 but I still felt quite good. We put the groceries away and went to bed. Thomas was kicking busily, probably his first real chance after all the activities of the day! I fell asleep easily but awoke at 2 am to some niggly pains. By 2.30 I couldn’t sleep and thought, ‘hmmm, I had better get up and do some assignment because I probably won’t have much time this week. I sat at the computer for about an hour and did nearly all of the assignment, although I could not sit through the contractions. I had to get up and walk around. I was also online with a friend of ours from England and she joked, “You’re not in labour, are you?”

I also got some weetbix and tamarillo’s, thinking I would need more energy later but could only eat about three quarters of them. With every contraction from the beginning, I felt like I needed to go to the loo. The contractions were getting closer together, but I didn’t really ever time them because I thought I had hours and hours to go. I thought I should probably wake Paul, so I went into the bedroom sometime between 3.30 and 4am, and said, ‘Babe, I am having some contraptions (our word for contractions), but don’t get up if you don’t want to.” Of course, he could not sleep so he got up and started to set up the pool.

I couldn’t sit down anymore because it was too sore to. I had a few more contractions and thought, ‘Oh God these are really sore, how am I going to do this for 10 hours?’ At about 4am I said to Paul, ‘Should I call Margaret (the midwife) or Mum?” I decided by ten past that Margaret was the best option because she was used to this. Plus, Mum was sick and probably not able to come in anyway, so I could call her in the morning. I rang, and Margaret said ‘Don’t worry, try walking around and breathing. If the contractions haven’t got stronger or closer together, I’ll be round at 8ish.”

So, I did what she had said. I was trying to get Paul to time the contractions, but he was a bit busy with the pool and every time I said, “How long was that?” He said, ‘I don’t know.” Looking back now I think he did not even have enough time to check between them really.

Finally, I said to Paul, ‘I don’t think I can do this for 10 hours.” I had one more contraction dropped the hot-water-bottle I was holding and ran to the loo again. The urge to push was so much stronger than the earlier bowel emptying ones. I yelled “Pauuuulll! Ring Margaret something’s wrong!” I thought something was wrong because it seemed to be too soon to be feeling like this, after all the ante-natal stuff said hours of cake baking and playing cards. I was terrified something was wrong with me or my baby. I tried a few positions to hold my baby in but of course they didn’t really work. So, I sat back on the toilet and pushed. The waters broke and Thomas’s head started coming down. I saw the waters in the loo and knew they were healthy. Suddenly I realised nothing was wrong and the baby was on its way. So, I took off my pyjama pants (which were still around my ankles!) got down on the floor on one foot and one knee and pushed my baby out!

I caught him by holding his head and feeling his body slip out. I looked down and he looked like a little sunshine, limbs and umbilical cord flowing from his tiny body and eyes open. I laughed. I could not believe he was here, and we had done it on our own. I said “Paul, here’s your boy.” (We did not know what he was going to be beforehand). We both thought is he oaky? Thomas obliged and gave a wee squeak, the sweetest sound ever. Paul got a towel and we tried to wrap him as best we could. The umbilical cord was a bit short so I couldn’t pull him close to me.

Paul had called Margaret and she had raced over in her car. She did not live too far away luckily for us. She arrived about five minutes after he was born to find our new family on the bathroom floor. We all moved into the living room. Paul cut the umbilical cord and Thomas tried to have a wee drink. I called my Mum to tell her that her first grandchild had arrived. An hour after Thomas was born the placenta came and the birth was completed.

Thomas was born on the 26th September 2005. What an empowering, life changing, love filled experience my beautiful boy gave us, and has been giving us every day since.