When Emily Met Noah
I'm going to start maybe controversially by saying I did not enjoy my pregnancy journey. I had terrible morning sickness up to halfway, I got a cold from hell that resulted in an ambulance ride, the green whistle and a busted rib/s and due to COVID I was also diagnosed late with gestational diabetes. I believe this played a big role in our birthing experience.
I found the prenatal appointments challenging. I felt like with each appointment, came a new care message that didn’t quite seem consistent. Some appointments said an early induction would take place, others said I would go full term. Being in a COVID environment, I was not able to bring support to these appointments which for me, was tough.
As pregnancy was progressing my ability to keep working was decided on a week-to-week basis. I finished work on Wednesday 4th of November which was three weeks before my due date. My hospital bag was not yet packed but I had started. On the 6th of November, I made a comment to my husband that my pregnant belly looked different, almost as if it had dropped. He agreed and we both laughed this off. That night we'd gone out for dinner and I remember feeling more tired than usual and I just wanted to be home, which wasn’t like me. Once in bed, I made a joke that it would be a little bit funny if our boy was born on the 7th of November as in 7-11 (the next day!!?).
I was asleep in bed and woke to what felt and sounded like a pop. I didn't want to move at first but realised I probably should. I got out of bed and felt warm liquid running down my legs. I work my husband up and told him that I think my waters had broken. I called the birthing unit as I was a little unsure of the process because I had gestational diabetes and was on insulin for fasting so I knew the monitoring process would likely be different. The birthing suite advised to come in for review. I got to the hospital at 3:00 AM and was advised baby's heart rate was good and to go home as contractions had not yet started. On the drive home contractions started and they were hot and heavy. My contractions were more painful than I had imagined and were happening every 30 seconds to a minute, which had me terrified that our baby could be born at home (my mum gave birth at home to one of my siblings in the 90’s so this has always been a terrifying thought for me).
I stayed at home for as long as possible and then went back to the hospital at around 9:00 AM. On arrival, I was walking very slow and stopped with each contraction. I was advised that I was already 5 centimetres dilated. As soon as I was in my room, I said straight away that I wanted the epidural – I was not mucking around (I’d heard horror stories of women voicing their need for one and it being too late). While waiting for the anaesthetist, I was offered gas which for me, didn't do too much. I did, however, for some reason believe I was a supermodel and asked my husband to take some photos of me posing with it. Post-delivery I was so mortified that I deleted those pictures immediately. Looking back though, I wish I kept them.
The epidural went in around midday and I do not remember feeling any pain whatsoever, just the sweet relief of not feeling any contractions. The hardest part of this process for me was for the doctors and nurses to find a vein as I was quite dehydrated. This required ultrasound technology.
I managed to get some solid rest and sleep until the nurse at 8:00PM said I was fully dilated and time to push. This pushing felt like it was going on forever and even though I was pushing a lot I didn’t think any progress was being made.
My husband declared pre-labor that he would be staying above my torso as he did not want to see what was happening – fair call!! He did go for a bathroom stop though very quickly as the head was starting to crown and of course got a view and his thought was “great my baby has a tiny head” LOL.
The main nurse got gloves on and told my husband to get gloves on as it was “time to catch the baby”. He was so mortified but I was in a slightly delirious cheerleader state saying “Yes, do it”. So he got the gloves on ready to catch our boy.
The next 10 minutes is where it all goes down. This was about 9:57PM.
I remember my epidural wearing off, so I went from feeling nothing, to feeling everything. I was listening to our babies heart monitor and I had an internal panic as it sounded like it was slowing down. It was at this point that I really realised that something wasn’t right – the room went from quiet, low lighting and two nurses to a hustling bustling room full of people. A doctor told me that our baby was distressed and needed to be born ASAP and they were going to do an episiotomy. I just wanted him safely out. One tiny push later and he was born. I didn’t get to hold him, he was rushed to the little emergency bed in the room while a team was working on him and I was saying “Happy Birthday”. From there, he went straight to NICU and I told my husband to just go and be with him as I would be fine. I was stitched and cleaned up and even though hours went by, it seemed so fast. I went up to see him about 1:00AM.
Noah Henry Kearns McEwan
BD: 7.11.2021
BT: 22:05
BW: 2750g
I stayed at the hospital that night and was discharged the following day at 10:00PM. I went up to the NICU to let them know I was being discharged as I wasn’t quite sure what to do – I was leaving the hospital without my baby. This is when the NICU nurse profusely apologised and asked if I wanted to hold him – for the first time. I jumped at this opportunity and will forever cherish that moment – officially meeting my baby, 24 hours after birth.
Noah was distressed during labour and his lungs weren’t fully developed. He required CPAP treatment, surfactant administered, treatment for jaundice and was treated for suspected early onset sepsis. During his stay it was also discovered that he was lactose intolerant.
Our little boy was in NICU for a week before moving to the Special Care Nursery and was discharged on 23 November 2021. So much of our hospital experience was a blur and even though information was communicated, I didn’t absorb anything. With COVID restrictions, I was the only one able to visit which was special but also very overwhelming. In hindsight, I wish I had sought more support from the hospital such as a social worker to get a better understanding of our situation. 16 days felt like an eternity and everyday I was desperate to have him home. His discharge goal post kept moving throughout that time and I deeply struggled with that. My heart truly goes out to all the mama’s of NICU babies.
I took advantage of having a birth de-brief with the head of maternity. We went through my birth record and she explained what had happened. During birth, just before Noah was born, he had somehow gotten his chin caught and was stuck hence the emergency episiotomy. The doctor went on to advise that his APGAR score at birth was a 1 – purely because he had a heartbeat.
He truly is a miracle to me!
What do you wish you knew before birth?
That you can have a birth plan preference and ideas but to also be flexible – anything can happen as every birthing experience is unique and so much is out of your control.
If you could, would you do anything differently?
I would push to do the glucose test much earlier and advocate more for what I needed from the hospital in terms of support
What did your partner do that really helped during labour/birth?
My husband stayed by my side the entire time, he kept our family updated and made me laugh. I will however give him some photography pointers for next time.
What advice/honest truth would give a mama-to-be about birth?
Birthing a baby is no easy task. Highly recommend having a birth debrief particularly if you experience a traumatic birth and build a support network – I made some facebook friend mama’s in the lead up to our children being born and 2.5 years on, we are still close. It’s been beautiful sharing the journey together.