James Birth Story
04 November 2008 5:46 p.m.
This birth story is even shorter than Matthews. I thought that was brief and uneventful which is obviously a huge relief but even this was such a dream birth.
I did hope for a similar birth to Matthews but James took us all by surprise.
I literally woke up at 2am and laid in bed for a while. I wasn't having contractions or anything but felt that this was the time I normally awoke for one of my many nightly trips to the toilet. My body was used to it so I thought it was probably just habit. I did have a little wander to the bathroom but didn't need to go so I went back to bed. I couldn't settle. It's not that I was uncomfortable, I just felt so awake. Gradually I did begin to feel sleepy and felt myself begin to drop off to sleep.
Then I got a sensation alot like a kick accompanied with a popping sound and a feeling of wetness. Being the only one in the house awake I smiled and thought to myself that it appeared that this baby wanted to be born today. I slowly sat up and liquid gushed. By now I was that little more excited but being the middle of the night and having no contractions, it was pointless waking Chris straight away. I composed myself a little and thought about what to do next. I sat there for about a minute before heading to the bathroom again to clean myself up a little. As I got off the toilet I was overwhelmed by the strongest contraction I'd experienced this pregnancy. It was 2.57am and exactly 5 minutes after my waters had broken.
I thought I'd make sure I was organised before I did anything else. I got my bags and notes together, put some bottles on to sterilise and the kettle on to make myself a coffee. Little Miss Prioritised me. When I got my 3rd contraction in 15 minutes, I called the delivery suite who suggested I came in to be assessed.
It was only then that I woke Chris telling him we needed to go and then I phoned my mum to come and sit at the house and be here for Matthew. My mum got here so I finished my coffee and got Chris to put the bags in the car. He had to wait for a short while as I couldn't walk due to another pain in the hall.
After parking up, it was 4.05am when we were shown the delivery room. I changed and was quickly assessed to be told that I was 9.5cm dilated. 10cm is fully dilated. I had to fill out a next of kin form whilst answering questions so my midwife could treat me correctly and fill in the paperwork. She was still asking me how far apart my contractions were when I felt like I wanted to push. My 5 minutes were down to 2.5-3 minutes apart maximum and almost continuous. I told this to the midwife who was impressed that I was handling pain well and said that there was a good chance we would be having a baby within the next 10 minutes so she called in a second midwife.
I thought I'd give gas and air a try this time round as the contractions were so close. I don't think it helped with the pain but it certainly gave me something to focus on. I don't even know if I was doing it right as I only had 3 attempts at it.
With a few hard pushes and some really intense pain, the head crowned, shortly followed by the rest of the body.
The midwife asked if we already had a boy or girl and showed us that we had another little boy. I was delighted and quite tearful with joy. It was just such an emotional moment. He was placed directly onto my chest as he had a hat put on his head and his time of birth was noted as 4.56am. Just 51 minutes after I arrived in the delivery room.
Chris cut the cord and I had my placenta removed then he left the room to make some calls whilst I had some stitches put in.
After a while we decided that James was definitely the name we wanted for him. We still aren't decided on a middle name or even if we will have one.
James was weighed and came in at 7lbs 11.5oz.
He latched on and ate well when offered his first breast feed. 3 days on we are still doing ok with that. My milk came in today and though we have tried him with formula too, I am trying to persevere with the breast feeding for a while. I just like the bottle so I know how much he is eating and see that he is satisfied.
I could go on for ages about my BOYS!!!
Just time is so much more precious with a newborn.