When Mia met Dahlia
Whilst my partner Ben was in Sydney for a work trip, my waters broke at 38+6 weeks spontaneously and I had no idea what to do. Luckily Ben was already at the airport about to head home when I called him but he was still a few hours away.
I was expecting to be in pain straight away but I wasn’t which made me think that they didn’t break.
After a few hours, I was feeling uncomfortable but Ben has finally arrived home and we went to the hospital where they sent me home to labour. This was at about 10pm so we went home expecting it to be calm and relaxing… it was not….
I was labouring all night and was falling asleep between contractions and waking up screaming. We went back to the hospital at about 5am where we were finally admitted.
They gave me some pain meds and set up the gas so I could labour more comfortably. They broke my waters again and that was when it got intense.
I ended up having an epidural when I was 8cm dilated which definitely helped the pain but this was only the beginning…
When it was finally time to push, I was pushing for 2 hours and they eventually told me that I’ll need to have a cesarean.
By this time the epidural had worn off and the needle had moved so they needed to re-insert the needle but I could still feel everything…
As I was laying on the table, I was in shock. This was not what I expected as everything was going by the book up until now.
When they cut me open I could feel them ripping me and I was screaming on the table begging to be put to sleep.
The moment I saw my daughter made it all worth it but I couldn’t take in any of the beautiful moments as I was in so much pain. I was out to sleep to be stitched back up.
After a few hours, I woke up and was able to see and feed my daughter. Ben was in shock as well and our beautiful midwife went above and behind to help him through it all.
I was in hospital for 5 days after some complications with the surgery but she is here and more beautiful than ever.
What do you wish you knew before birth?
I wish I was told my options earlier and I wish I packed clothes for a cesarean. I only had pants which I couldn’t wear and had only packed for 2 days not 5.
If you could, would you do anything differently?
I would make sure my house was clean before I went to the hospital… it was hard to navigate everything when I wouldn’t get off the couch
What did your partner do that really helped during labour/birth?
He was brave and kept his calm until after dahlia was born which really helped
What advice/honest truth would give a mama-to-be about birth?
Be prepared for anything… pack for worst case scenarios and it’s definitely not like the movies