teo soul born at nambour hospital on 8 nov 2016
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Long pregnancy, long labour, LONG BIRTH STORY!!
Please join us in finally welcoming earth side our son, Teo Soul Anderson, born Tuesday 8/11/16. Carrie - I cannot thank you enough for the pivotal role you played in our journey, the knowledge you shared in hypnobirthing class and for being present at his birth. Your energy is truly amazing. I had opted to birth at home, and at 42.2 weeks I decided to let my midwife do a Stretch & Sweep. In the next few hours my Braxton Hicks, which had been regular for 2 weeks, started to steadily build. We finally admitted that I was in labour at about 7 pm and we got in our hypnobirthing zone. 6 am I was still breathing through surges, while Joel pushed hard on my hips (amazing) and I made long, low noises. Between them I was eating, laughing, and taking unflattering selfies. Like something straight offa’ youtube! His positioning wasn’t great, and my waters still hadn’t broken, so at around midday everyone decided we needed to take action. Cue pacing the house, squats, getting loved up in the shower, being bent over my outdoor table backwards during surges .. don’t try that last one at home, not fun !! At this point our midwife estimated around 2 hours to go. I got into the pool (yes!!) to try and push to break the water bag, put on some African drumming & embraced my inner wild woman. Alas, baby apparently wasn’t that keen on the tribal vibe! While I did throw up (‘transition!’ i thought), the surges just weren't strong enough or close enough together. Breaking ones waters at home isn't completely safe so after 22 hours the call was made that we needed help. I sadly left my fairy light lit birth pool in the rearview and headed for Nambour General Hospital. My waters finally broke as I was being checked on arrival, and the desire to bear down was intense. From what I remember, my cervix was swollen, so I was told to S T O P P U S H I N G. Easier said than done, ha! I needed to stop the urge and get some rest, and I’ll never regret enthusiastically putting my hand up at that point and requesting an epidural. Lesson: Don’t let your ego or preconceived ideas of your ‘perfect’ birth get in the way of what you know is best for you and baby at the time. I was pretty against hospital and the pressures & interventions they’d no doubt impose but I have to say I am so impressed with my experience at Nambour. I was expecting to be completely numb from the epidural but I could still move my legs & feet and feel tightenings, which I was so happy about. There was a point where Teo’s heart rate dropped and I was rushed down for a C-section. Joel was in his scrubs, the staff were all poised, but having risen slightly through the move the OB decided to call it off at the last second - that it wasn't completely necessary and he'd monitor us for another hour (no ‘golf game’ in his schedule). He then gave us more and more time to rest while my cervix relaxed, we’ll all be forever grateful. We were woken up at dawn, it was time to push. With candles and meditation music Teo was born at 4.51 am. Just shy of an hour of pushing, 42.4 weeks pregnant, 30 something hours in total, 8 pounds 5 & no tearing. I did lose almost 2L of blood in the hours after his birth & there was talk of a transfusion, so I partly believe he got us to hospital to make sure I was well looked after. I was, and we were home by sunset that day. It’s clear this little dude just likes to take things slow. He has his dad’s height, his mum’s disregard for deadlines and each and every morsel of both of our hearts. Thank you so much for everything Carrie - I can't even explain how much it meant to us to have you there!! You are amazing and even in that state your energy made such a difference. I feel that I had the perfect support team for each bit of labour - he's got such a great support network already! Sara & Joel X As back up doula, I'm very rarely called out - but in this instance I was - and I'm so overjoyed it was Sara & Joel as our friendship had grown during her pregnancy and the time we spent together on the Hypnobirthing course. It was an honour to witness her strength and power as she brought Teo in to the world. Special thanks to birth doula Bron from Kindred Birth for supporting Sara and Joel in their home for the first 12 hours of this long labour, and to Renee and Kelli at Mama Queensland, for ensuring her and Teo's safety throughout those long hours. Blessings also to Joel - working so hard to support Sara in bringing their boy into the world - resilience, determination and oh so, so, so much love. Thank You. Carrie xxxx |
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