Bec tells her birth story in her own words…

In some ways, my two births were very similar and in other ways, they couldn’t have been more different.

Both times I birthed before my due date. Both times my waters broke early. Both times my midwife was on holidays (of course!) and both times were a vaginal birth. But that’s where the similarities stop.

My first birth was long, painful and definitely did not go to plan.

It was 2.30pm on a Tuesday when my waters broke with not much action happening in the way of contractions. It wasn’t until 6am the next morning when things started really ramping up. We were excited. It was on!

But things did not progress quickly.

When we got to the hospital at around midday, they popped the monitor on to check baby and his heart rate was high. Concerned about infection because my waters had broken early, the nurses and doctors were in a flurry.

I remember feeling so overwhelmed with everything they were telling us – our birth wasn’t going to plan. I told them I needed a moment alone with my partner. I cried and let myself feel & express all my disappointment and frustration. I’m so glad we did that.

Once we were up in our birthing suite, mine and baby’s heart rate stabilised. Things were feeling much calmer.

After many more hours, a whole lot of pain (thanks to baby being posterior) and an epidural 18 hours in - my first beautiful baby boy, Noah, was born at 6.24am on Thursday morning.

In comparison, my second birth was completely different in all the right ways.

This time my waters broke at about 8pm interrupting our Friday nighttakeaway dinner. Again, things didn’t kick off straight away and when we saw the midwife at 9am the next morning, we were sent home with instructions to call if contractions started to ramp up. 

This time I was determined to avoid an induction – doing laps up and down our street, squats on repeat, rebozo, pumping. You name it, I tried it. And it worked!

Contractions started around 12pm and things moved quickly. By 2pm I was in the shower for some pain relief, thinking it was almost time to head into the hospital. The midwife told us to sit tight a bit longer, that I’d know when it was time.

20 mins later, it was time.

After a very uncomfortable car ride and a 15 minute walk up to the hospital room, pausing every few steps to breathe through a contraction, we made it up to our room.

I resisted pushing at first, but another hour later and 9 mins of pushing, my second beautiful baby boy, Hugo was born at 3.45pm on Saturday afternoon. 

Looking back on both my births, I’m in absolute awe of my body. Birth is just the most incredible experience, and despite my first not going to plan, I still felt empowered and so damn proud of how I navigated it. It’s still so wild to me that I have grown and birthed two humans. What a wild ride mamahood is!

What do you wish you knew before birth?
To be honest, I’m not sure anything can truly prepare you for the experience of birth. 

If you could, would you do anything differently?

We had 5 different midwives during my first birth. All were amazing except for the first. We just really didn’t vibe and I felt completely unsupported by her. In hindsight, we should have requested a new midwife rather than just waiting until her shift was over. 

What did your partner do that really helped during labour/birth?

My partner was incredible during both of our births. He knew what I needed before I needed it, or before I realised I needed it, and I trusted him to communicate with the midwife and everyone else when I was deep in the birth zone. He also continued to encourage me throughout the whole process, especially when I was thinking there’s no way I could do this. Having his support and encouragement was everything.

What advice/honest truth would give a mama-to-be about birth?

Don’t be afraid to ask lots of questions and if you’re not comfortable with something, speak up (or ask your partner to) and find out what your options are – there are usually more options than you realise!