My Birth Story: Part II

After we went to the nature room I went right away into the pool. It felt really good. I was fully armed to have a nice delivery. I had with me:
-a massage oil called "accouchement harmonieux" (harmonious delivery).  How can an oil help you have a harmonious delivery, don't know, but you try everything in that situation
-music to help me relax (of course towards the end, I yelled "STOP THE MUSIC")
-candles (I know, I exaggerated a little)

Claude was massaging my back every now and then and I was using my breathing techniques. Some technical info here: What really helped me was to know that contractions would only hurt for 20 seconds every 5 minutes...Convincing myself that it was a true fact, after I was breathing deeply 3-4 times, the pain and contractions were not hurting as much. So I started off by using the sleep like breathing, 4 seconds breath in and 8 seconds breath out, and then when contractions became more intense I used the technique that you breath by making your belly a balloon. After 7 hours, I was really surprised when Sarah said I was 9 cms...That meant no epidural territory. 

But then my nightmare of pushing started. Now, pushing which is the last phase of the labor, was the last chapter of my book, last thing everybody teaches you and yes I hadn't come to that chapter of my book. And in my mind, when you are dialated 10 cms the baby comes out.

Yeah, one-piece swim suit, that's what I had on as well ;)

But no, it was so not the case. I felt like the urge to get out of the pool. Then I tried every possible position in the book to get him out of there (see above for a few) and every possible equipment in the nature room (yes, including the chair).  And it didn't work. I was very, very dehydrated, exhausted and very scared.

Towards the end when I was yelling that I wanted epidural and I couldn't do it anymore, the top of his head came out. And ladies, it burns down there like hell. Sarah and Titou (my other midwife) made me touch his head to encourage me, which was very surreal. Then I asked for a mirror so that I could see his head coming out, which helped me as well. But pushing is a two steps forward one step backward process — so the baby's head appears and then disappears again. Pfff!

But at the time, little did I know that this phase should be anywhere between 15 minutes to an hour and that at most hospitals, if it's more than an hour you get a C-section. Mine was 5 hours!!!!!  I was so exhausted that I would pass out of tiredness and pain between my contractions. But we waited...and blueberry took his sweet time to come out.

And at the end of 24 hours of being at the hospital, 12 hours of labor and 5 hours of pushing, he was in my arms. I will never forget the moment I saw his eyes...beautiful and scared...At that moment I knew that something was wrong...And in fact it was, he was not able to breath.