Isabella’s Birth 

I was feeling like you were never going to come, at 34 weeks things had looked like you may be turning up early, I had had a show and was having strong Braxton Hicks then by 36 weeks things had settled and that was how it stayed.

On 5th November, your due date, I woke up around 6am and had a little chat with you. I said that it was time we met and that it would be great to go into labour today! By 7am I realised you had been listening because I was getting regular but not painful contractions, I still wasn’t sure if it was labour but by 7.30am phoned Jo to say this maybe it. By 8am the contractions were still coming regularly and we thought we’d better phone Jane, it was strange because I really wasn’t sure at this point if I was in labour or if it was just going to stop. I had so much energy and was tidying the house as normal during the contractions. Jane arrived around 8.30 and got Anya and Natalya dressed, by this point the contractions were becoming more painful and fairly close together and I remember Garry on the phone to Jo explaining what was happening, he said my ‘transactions’ were pretty close. Jane and I burst out laughing, he had no idea what he had said, it was so funny! Jo was 15 minutes away and it was at this point that I moved downstairs to my birthing ball, the pains were now strong and close together and I started asking for Jo. When Jo came into the lounge things really started moving, it was at this point, 9am, that I felt my first involuntary push and realised we were going to meet our baby. She was coming and she was going to get here soon! I don’t know if I was in some sort of denial but up until that point I really wasn’t sure I was in labour, I kept thinking at any point the contractions would stop, I guess they just didn’t feel as strong as I was expecting.

 

"Women under medical authority do not do, do not even dare to think about doing, or ask for permission to do, and any how usually would not be allowed to do , what would come naturally in childbirth, giving birth is not just a matter of pushing and expelling the baby, but of yielding and surrendering to birth energy”

I had a few more strong contractions and at 9.18am I wanted to get into the pool, I was just about into the pushing stage at this point and my waters went with my 2nd contraction. What a strange feeling when your waters go in the pool, a gush of water within water, not something I had ever felt before. Then suddenly I was hit by a wonderful sensation of wanting to push, at last I could do something and it felt great to push our baby out. I could feel baby’s head coming down and was touching her head as it crowned, I really don’t remember feeling any pain at this point. I was just in such awe that she was nearly out already!

It was at this point that the girls came in, Jane had been playing with them in their bedroom and they had asked if they could come and see Mummy and Daddy, nobody had had any idea our baby was going to come so quickly but the girls must have wanted to see her because they arrived just in time to see her being born.

"When left to their own devices, babies work their way out and are welcomed into the bosom of mother with father, family and friends in breathless attendance. Birth is indeed a sacred event."

And so, Isabella Amelie Louise was born at 9.30am on Saturday 5th November at home in the loving company of her family and wonderful midwife.

The time following the birth was so special, I felt so good and I was so happy, what a feeling! It felt amazing to be at home in my own environment with the people I love around me. I feel it was wonderful for the girls to see such a positive birth, it’s so lovely to hear them talk about it now like it was just such a normal thing for them to see, there was certainly no trauma in it and I hope it helps them see birth as a positive thing for the future. Having an Independent Midwife was the best thing I could have done, after 3 children I have come to realise that birth is not just a physical process, your body knows how to birth your baby. It is your own state of mind that makes the difference, having a good relationship with my midwife played such an important part in helping me feel confident in my own ability to bring our baby safely into the world.

I am yet again in awe of Mother Nature, how our babies are made and how they arrive is nothing short of a miracle, and now we have three! Lucky us!

The Mother

There will be a singing in your heart,

There will be a rapture in your eyes.