When amy met luca
Amy describes the birth of her son Luca as a dream water birth and everything her and her husband could have hoped for. She went in to the hospital to get induced after a stretch and sweep, only to be told she was already in labour! She spent the majority of her labour at home and just when she was ready to ask for the epidural at hospital - she got the urge to push.
Amy tells her birth story in her own words…
I was 39 weeks pregnant and had been having braxton hicks for the past few weeks. Luca was due on the 25th of June and I had been feeling like I could go into labour at any moment. I was due to give birth at the Canberra hospital through the continuity program.
I lost my mucus plug when I was 2 days shy of 40 weeks pregnant. Unfortunately for me, I still managed to go 41 weeks and 5 days overdue. I was pretty set on trying to go into spontaneous labour as I had heard some horror stories about being induced. Once I hit 41 weeks and 2 days my midwife suggested a stretch and sweep. I ended up getting one at 41 + 3. I had bleeding and cramps all day afterwards. I wasn’t feeling very confident though, as they felt exactly like what I had been experiencing for the last 4 weeks.
The morning after my stretch and sweep, my midwife booked me in to be induced that afternoon, as we were hitting the two week overdue mark. I went into the hospital at 3pm and was monitored. I was examined and was told I can’t be induced as I was already in early labour! I was 3cm dilated and having regular contractions! Since I was having these cramps the last couple of weeks I didn’t even realise they were real contractions. I was sent home to wait it out, and if I didn’t progress I was to come back in the morning to get my waters broken. My partner and I got home and ended up going to bed for the night. I woke up at 11:15pm from pain in my back. I went to the toilet and I was bleeding heavily! I thought it was just from my stretch and sweep. I got in the shower due to my back pain and within minutes i started to have pretty painful contractions.
My partner Cain woke up and wanted to start timing them, but I was in disbelief they meant anything because they felt exactly like the pain I had been having weeks before. Cain started timing them and soon enough the timer app said it was time to go to the hospital! I told Cain the app was wrong and it was too early to go. I had been in the shower for two hours at this point. I waited until 2am to call our midwife because I was vomiting from the pain. I had a feeling my labour was progressing quite quickly. The midwife said she could hear me talking through the contractions so she wanted me to stay at home a bit longer and in the morning she would come and check me. Cain made the decision for us to go into the hospital, as he could see I was in a lot of pain. We got to the hospital at 3am and waited for my midwife to get there. My midwife came and checked me and I was 7cm dilated! I was so happy that I was actually pretty far dilated because I didn’t want my midwife to think I was sooking.
I laboured at the hospital in the bath for another 1.5 hours. At 4:30am I was begging for some sort of pain relief, so my midwife suggested to try the gas and air. I didn’t last long with the gas as it made me feel faint and tingly. I hated it. After 20 minutes in the bath I was screaming at Cain to get the midwife I needed the epidural, things had started to amp up and doubt started to set in. I was convinced I couldn’t do it.
My midwife came rushing in, quite concerned as she felt as though I had been dealing with the pain well up until that point. Within minutes of my midwife coming into the room, I could feel my body trying to push. It was such a bizarre feeling. Kind of like vomiting but out the wrong end. I couldn’t stop it. I found floating on my back and my feet pressed up against the bath to be the most comfortable position to push in. Within 20 minutes Luca’s head was born! With the next contraction Luca’s body followed.
Unfortunately, Luca’s hips were stuck and I had a bit of a hard time getting him out as my contractions had stopped. Due to this I had to push without any urge and he was under the water for a little longer than we would have liked. At 5:25am on 7.7.22, after only 6 hours of labour, Luca was born weighing a cute 3.19kgs which was a surprise to us all considering he was born at 41 + 5 days gestation. I will never forget Luca’s labour. It was my dream water birth and everything we could have hoped for.
What do you wish you knew before birth?
That pushing can be more painful than the pain of contractions! I felt as though I was told contractions are the worst pain you’ll ever feel and pushing would feel like a release. But for me, I was able to breathe through contractions and count to 30 to know they were going to start dying off soon. Where as pushing was a whole other ballpark for me. It was a pressure and pain I had never experienced before, even with having contractions at 10cm dilated.
Your waters can break without you even knowing. With my labour, the thing I was most excited about was feeling my waters break. During the pushing stage my waters were still intact. But when Luca’s head was born the waters were nowhere to be seen. They had broken without me feeling it. I was so devastated I didn’t get to feel it .. Haha
If you could, would you do anything differently?
Film my labour, and take more photos! We were so in the moment, and everything happened so quick that we really didn’t think to whip out a phone. I truely wish I could look back on such a special moment, especially with the endorphins you get after birth I feel as though I forgot a lot of the little details.
What did your partner do that really helped during labour/birth?
Cain was my absolute rock in labour. He held the heat pack on my back during my contractions, let me squeeze the crap out of his hand when I was pushing, and almost scooped my own poo out of the bath with his bare hands so I didn’t get embarrassed about it.
After birth I felt super lethargic and anxious so Cain took on the roll of helping out a lot with Luca. He was taking care of him the majority of the time we were in the hospital so I could get some rest to help deal with my anxiety.
What advice/honest truth would give a mama-to-be about birth?
I feel as though everyone studies and educates themselves on labour, and all things birth related, but no one really tells you to prepare for postpartum. It can be quite painful and a sad time. For me I was in a bubble of feeling like postpartum will be easy. All the ladies in my life that had given birth made it look so easy. That wasn’t my reality. Stitches made it super hard the first week, as well as learning to live without sleep. When your milk eventually comes in and your hormones are all over the place you can feel sad and not like yourself. Use this time to have a long shower, pamper yourself with a face mask or have a nice long nap. The best advice I would give would be spend a bit of time googling postpartum hacks and tips. Tiktok was my favourite for quick tips!