Okay here we go, it's time, I am in labour and there is no turning back. I don't think I had any idea of what it was going to feel like to be in labour and to have contractions. Nobody told me, not even my NCT teacher told me what contractions would feel like. I don't think anyone can really describe it, I think you just have to experience it to know what a contraction really feels like.
I was just over one week overdue and super nervous about when Charles was going to grace us with his presence. Then finally at 1am I started to feel sick, needing to go to the loo. At first it seemed like I had an upset tummy and needed the loo for a number two, but then after 20 minutes I needed to go again, and then again after another 20, then another 15 minutes later. It kept happening until they were about 10 minutes apart and they were really starting to hurt. It wasn't until the third contraction that I realised, ‘damn, this is happening now’. It wasn't until I was in so much pain that I thought it was time to wake up my partner. What was the point of waking him up before, what could he really do? It’s crazy, at the time it felt like forever, in hindsight it was quickly 8am.
I wasn't allowed into hospital until my contractions were three minutes apart for three hours. At the time I didn't know how I was going to survive, I dreaded every time my three minutes were up and another contraction was about to kick in. My partner couldn't help, my tens machine didn't work, my yoga moves were useless, what could I do but grin and bear it and hope for it to be over soon.
Finally I went to hospital, 6cm dilated. The midwives wanted me to give birth naturally within a few hours, but I gave in and listened to the advice of my friends and went for the epidural. Once the epidural kicked in, I remember thinking, ‘wow, this is the best decision I have ever made’. I did try the gas and air but it didn't even touch the sides – mind you, my brother tried it and liked it!
It wasn't until I was 10cm dilated that the hospital realised that my baby was breech! As soon as the hospital realised, I was rushed in to have a C-section. I had this immense feeling of fear come over me, the thought of being cut open frightened the life out of me, but then again there was no turning back. It only took 45 minutes to complete the whole surgery, and just after just five minutes they produced this little baby out of me. It was so surreal and just for a few seconds I didn't have any feelings towards my son. Then I heard him cry, ‘that’s my baby,’ I thought.
The next two days in hospital were filled with exhaustion, nervousness, questions about what I should do next. I remember watching a film during my antenatal class of a woman giving birth and the doctors giving her the baby to feed straightaway, the baby knew exactly what to do and where to go to get his milk. So I tested it, I let Charles go to the breast, he knew where to go.
