Photo by Francesca Weeks Photography
I have finally found the time in between feeding and nappy changing to write up Jacob’s birth story! We can’t believe he is already 8 weeks old… These 8 weeks has gone by so quickly!
They say that women tend to forget the pain of labour, so I wanted to document it while it is still fresh in my mind. Just so that I can always hold it against my son when he is older!
DUE DATE
Baby Jacob’s due date was on the 22nd August 2018. For some reason, I knew he was going to come late. The hardest things about a late baby is the constant messages you get from people asking “Is he here yet?”. Every message or phone call reminds you that you are still uncomfortably pregnant and baby is nowhere in sight!
Our due date came and gone…. I was analysing everything pain I felt, wondering if it was the start of my contractions.
EARLY LABOUR
On Friday, 24th August, I had been feeling what I thought was mild contraction pain all day. In the afternoon, I had a midwife appointment and she gave me a membrane sweep. Few hours later, my contractions began to feel much stronger. That’s when I knew it was finally the real deal!
The first 3 hours of early labour was manageable and I was able to breath through most of the pain. I was stupid enough and thought…”well labour isn’t really so bad!”.
The pain started to become more frequent and intense. We had no idea when we were supposed to go to the hospital.
After around 7 hours of early labour, I couldn’t take it any more and we decided went to the hospital. I was told that I was only 1cm dilated…. And we were sent home. That truly sucked! Going home meant I wasn’t going to get any pain-relief.
When I got home, I simply didn’t know what to do with myself. I couldn’t eat or sleep and I was just watching the clock, wondering when I would be allowed to go back in to hospital.
Few more went by and we ventured out to the hospital again. This time I was determined not to be sent home. I received gas and air which I didn’t find particularly helpful.
After many more hours of agony, I was finally allowed to get an epidural! Godsend! I felt no pain and I was able to get a little bit of a rest. Such bliss!
ACTIVE LABOUR
My labour was slow and I did not reach 10cm until evening, the next day (Saturday). Even after having my water broken and receiving extra hormone to hurry labour, my baby wanted to take his own sweet time….
I started pushing at around 8pm on Saturday 25th August. The first few pushes were fine and I thought… “Hey, I got this!”. Having not eaten or slept properly for over 24 hours, my strength slowly ran out.
Giving birth was physically very demanding but I found it mentally more challenging. I quickly reached a point where I wanted to give up. I needed it to end! I even asked if I could get a c-section while I was pushing (the answer was no). If giving birth was a marathon, I definitely hit a wall, more than once!
After over 2 hours of pushing, my baby boy FINALLY decided to make an appearance.
WASN’T AS I THOUGHT
The actual arrival of Jacob was very different to how I had imagined. I thought I would be able to see and hold him immediately and we would spend hours having skin-to-skin. I thought I would be crying floods of tears the moment I he was born and all would be magical.
In reality, when he came out, I held my breath waiting for him to take his first. When he did, they let me look for him for a split second before taking him away to be checked over. That separation felt like an eternity and I was closed to tears but I didn’t actually cry.
After he had been checked by the doctor, I was allowed to hold him for a short while. I couldn’t stop staring at him. I couldn’t believe I finally get to meet my baby. He was a big boy and I jus couldn’t believe something so massive came out of me!
I spiked a fever during labour and so both baby and I had to have antibiotics. Jacob was taken away from me once again to have his cannula put in. Graham went with him while I stay in the delivery suite.
I had never felt more alone before in my life! I didn’t know how long they were going to be gone for, I was physically very weak and I just wanted to be with my baby.
Because of this experience, I felt like I wasn’t able to bond with my baby properly in the beginning.
FIRST NIGHT
Due to the fact that Jacob had to be on antibiotics, we had to stay in hospital for a few days. The first night was surreal. We were delirious from the exhaustions and overwhelmed by the fact that we had become a family of 3.
We spent the night not really sleeping. Jacob needed to be fed frequently through out the night.
We desperately wanted to go home but looking back, being kept in hospital for the first few days was actually a blessing. We were able to get help breastfeeding and got a lot of advices from the midwives. We left the hospital feeling much more prepared than we would have had we not stayed for those extra few days.
We are still overwhelmed by how much we love our boy. We thank God for him every single day for entrusting us to be his parents on earth. We can only pray that, by the grace of God, we can exemplify Christ to him always.
Sorry this has turned out to be such a long post, we just wanted to make sure we will never forget this incredible experience.
Thanks for sharing in the biggest adventure of our lives!
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