Birth Story

I woke up around 2 am with something that felt like intermittent tummy ache, and quickly realized what was going on... I called Roland (my partner) who was sleeping on his sailing boat that night, and said that things were happening and could he come over. We had run out of water on the barge so I started filling up the tanks in between the contractions, as they were still not too painful and I figured water would come in handy later! My parents had come to visit a few days earlier but they were banned to the aft cabin as I didn’t really want too many people around... Roland arrived 15 mins later, we had a cup of tea and a game of backgammon, and then went to bed because my contractions were picking up. By this time they were about 4-5 minutes apart and lasted for about 1 minute each, and quite painful. I kept trying to go to the loo because it felt like otherwise it would all come out at a less suitable time, and had a very bloody show that kind of freaked me out a little because I had no idea it was meant to be that bloody! Roland called the ward, they got hold of the midwife, Di, who called us back a few minutes later. By this time I had only had contractions for about 3 hours, so I figured it was still going to take a long time so I said if she’d be there within an hour it would be fine. By this time I started having a bit of an urge to push with some of the contractions, I went to the loo again and the waters broke with a squirt! The colour was a bit dark, and things started speeding up so I got Roland to call Di again and ask if she could get there sooner. I really wanted to push now, but thought there is no way I’m dilated already so I tried not to, and breathed through the contractions as best I could. Di arrived a little later, she confirmed that there was meconium in the water (probably because I was overdue) and said this would be the time to go to the hospital, but because I was so far along already she was very happy to stay with me on the boat. I didn’t want to go, so she monitored the baby’s heartbeat and it was fine. Then she did an internal examination and said the baby’s head was right there and to go ahead and push! So I did. By this time I was down on the floor leaning on the sofa, the contractions were getting very painful and I felt quite uncomfortable about pushing in the beginning because I was paranoid about pooing. I soon got the hang of it though and started recognizing the feeling of the baby moving down, so Di called the backup midwife, Dee, who arrived a bit later. This went on for a bit, pushing through the contractions and then resting, a couple of times I nearly fell asleep in between... I was getting tired though, so I started digging into my goodies bag, popping Malteazers and crunching ice cubes. Just before the last big push I was in dire need of energy so I popped a whole handful of Malteazers in and didn’t have time to swallow before the contraction came, so I had a mouth full of melted chocolate 
For a while she kept nearly crowning but slipping back in, which was quite frustrating but gave me lots of time to stretch down there, so I didn’t tear or anything when the head finally did pop out. She wriggled around with her head sticking out, which was the most bizarre feeling I think I’ve ever felt. It was also quite sore, but by that time I just wanted it over with so I gave a big push then the shoulders and rest of body slid out, “She’s going to cry!” said Di and she didJ A short but strong cry and then good strong breathing, although she had a bit of goo in her mouth that came out easily with a bit of wiping. As I was sitting there staring at this new person who suddenly arrived, my placenta fell out! No contractions or anything, it literally just slid out completely painlessly. It was fine, and a little while later when it had stopped pulsating and everything, we clamped and cut the cord. I sat down on the sofa with the baby and she instantly latched on with a strong suck and was feeding for 20 minutes.
In the meantime the midwives were clearing up all the mess, and when they were done the place looked like a living room againJ They then checked her over, everything was fine, her APGAR score was 9 and 10.
She was born at 8:52 Thursday morning; the whole thing took about 7 hours, no painkillers and no tearing. Just lots of Malteazers and an absolutely beautiful baby girl as a resultJ
She’s a very calm baby, she does loads of sleeping and eating and is super snugly and yummy. She’s also very strong and can already nearly support her head and squirm around surprisingly well!

She's beautiful! Congrats Momma!

congrats she is beauitful i love that black and white pic

What a wonderful birth story.
I am also planning on having my son "naturally" after a not so natural hospital birth with my first. Good for you, I hope that I can show the same strength as I attempt a natural birth myself.
God bless you and your little girl....
Ps... if you have any suggestions on how to get through the natural birthing process I would love to hear some of your advise...
Thanks,
M

she is beautiful congrats! Happy mothers day as well!

aww, shes gorgeous!
congrats & happy mothers day!

That's a pretty amazing labor story!! Congrats- she's beautiful!

aww congrats momma !!

Congratulations!!   She is beautiful! That was one of the best birth stories I've read on this site. I'm all about the homebirth deal, will probably have this baby at home. My daughter was born at a birthing center, totally natural water birth and I cant wait to do it again!

That was such a lovely story. I'll have to remember about the chocolate when we go to do it.

Happy Mother's Day!

Quoting ChasesMomisPregnant:“ What a wonderful birth story. I am also planning on having my son "naturally" after a not so natural ... [snip!] ... have any suggestions on how to get through the natural birthing process I would love to hear some of your advise... Thanks, M”

Thanks 
I think the thing I found most useful was just to go completely into the contractions and listen to your body and trust that it knows what to do! And then rest in between. And of course the chocolate helped;)

Quoting Sharonblueyes:“ Congratulations!!   She is beautiful! That was one of the best birth stories I've read on this site. ... [snip!] ... have this baby at home. My daughter was born at a birthing center, totally natural water birth and I cant wait to do it again!”

Thank you. I feel very lucky because it really was everything I hoped for, it all went so smoothly and the midwives were amazing and just let me do my own thing. If I had gone to the hospital I think it would have been a whole different matter... Water birth sounds brilliant, unfortunately there was no room for it on the barge!

I enjoyed your story! Thanks for sharing & congrats on your baby girl!