Matthew's Birth Story

(better late than never!)

Little Matthew Arthur Bradey was born on the 28th of May, 2009. As with most birth stories, this journey began much earlier that day.

Here I am on the 27th of May, 2009 - 39 weeks pregnant

I was at this stage 39 weeks pregnant and experiencing all of the excitement and eagerness that comes with having ones' first baby. The eve before our precious boy was born right before Duncan (that would be Matthew's dad) and I turned in for the evening, we said a few gentle words of love and encouragement to our unborn son that it was time we met him. Amazingly after many many weeks of waiting on that very same night at 2:30am, I went into spontaneous pre-labour.  Mild cramps had woken me from my restless sleep. Having not had any pre-labour symptoms or Branxton Hicks contractions leading up to this, I had a very strong inkling that it was time. Rolling out of bed, I went to turned on the lights in the bathroom to check and found that my mucal plug was coming away. Of course, typical of me, the first thing I decided to do instead of trying to get as much sleep as possible that morning, was a quick tidy up of the house and put the laundry on in an effort to make sure the house was tidy for visitors! It was only around 5:00 am that I decided it was time to tell a still slumbering Duncan that baby was on his way and I set about making sure that the last minute items for my hospital bag were sorted.

The morning meandered on as I continued on with my chores about the house, contractions continued on a little like this..
6:43am big cramp
7:04am little cramp
7:14am little cramp
7:33am little cramp...

As I knew Baby probably had a few more hours before arriving,  I sent Duncan off to work and sat at home waiting patiently for 9:30am to come around so that I could see Anne my OBGYN at my scheduled appointment that morning. Duncan whose workplace was only short walk away from Anne's office met me there. At the appointment I informed her that I was in pre-labour and that my mucal plug had started to come away and that the contractions were at the time erratic and between 5-10 minutes apart. With a quick check of my cervix, Anne was able to confirm that I was indeed in pre-labour and was 1-2 cms dilated. She also told me that my blood pressure was elevated and that it would be very likely that she'd see me in hospital that evening and she would possibly 'move things along' if nothing had happened by then. She also suggested that it might be a good idea not to drive home as I'd driven there! By 10:00am, I'm sitting at home alone rubbing my belly thinking to myself how much I'd like to meet my little baby and how lucky I was that today was going to be the day. Duncan returned to work to let them know that baby was about to arrive.

It's only at midday that we decide that it was time to head to the hospital as the contractions are now 5mins or less. Fortunately the trip to the hospital took less than 10 mins. We were offered a room after a short wait and for the next hour a fetal heart monitor is placed over my belly. At 1:30pm Maggi our midwife tells us that I'd not progressed any further with the dilatation even though the contractions are 3-5 mins apart. The news is not positive as she apologetically tells me that she thinks it's going to be a long labour as our baby is still in a posterior position (facing up). I'd not read up much on birthing a baby in a posterior position as I'd hoped all along that baby would turn in the last minute during labour to the more favoured anterior (facing down) position. I did not know at the time of birth that majority of posterior babies enter the world with assisted forcep deliveries or ceasareans. Also 90% of mums to posterior babies have epidurals as they are said to have more painful contractions, are given Pitocin (the same drug to induce contractions/labour), push for longer and have a significantly higher risk of severe tearing and episiotomies!

Needless to say with this news, the panic set in which I'm sure made the pain of the contractions even worse. In an attempt to dull the pain, they set up the nitrous oxide (otherwise simply known as 'Gas') for me but I found it of no use after failing to co-ordinate my breaths with the rise and crest of each contraction. After each attempt at the gas, I found myself dizzy but unfortunately without the result of pain relief. I turn to Duncan to tell him that I didn't want the gas as I wanted to be alert when baby arrived. It was after this that I decide to have an epidural. Duncan looks to me and asks if I'm sure I want the drugs as he's known all along about my desire to have a drug free natural birth, I tell him firmly 'Yes'.  Although I had been adamant about having a drug free birth, accepting the offer of an epidural was at the time the right choice.

I vaguely recall being asked to sit up right as they exposed my back to firstly give me a local anaesthetic and then later insert the epidural. 

5:00pm ... what a relief, although it had not taken the pain completely away as each contractions could still be strongly felt. The epidural had taken a very very long time to take effect and I had been rocked from side to side to help the anesthetist distribute the medication, with the Doctor returning several times to increase the dosage. It is also at this time the midwife breaks my water. Anne checks in on me at 5:15pm to see how I'm progressing. By 6:30pm, I'm nearly fully dilated (9.5cm dilated with a small lip - whatever that means?) and the midwife predicts that baby will be here at 8:30pm (she was very close indeed!).

At 7:30pm Anne has several attempts to turn baby's head to an anterior position but to no avail and tells me that I'll most likely need a caesarean and our midwife agrees. I firmly tell her 'no' and Anne gives me the option to push and would assess how things progress. At 8:00pm I begin pushing with much determination, using the contraction as they crested to bring baby a little closer each time. The midwives tell me that are amazed at how strongly my contractions can seen and felt through my tummy and wished that the student midwives were here to experience this! Duncan is my rock throughout, beside me all the way, offering words of encouragement with each push, pausing to laugh and share a joke with the doctor and nurses and enjoying every minute of watching the baby crown. With lots of pushes, and lots of complaints from me about reflux (I ate a mint during the afternoon) as baby feet were pushing up again my stomach and a quick rest from pushing so that Anne could perform an episiotomy, baby made his grand entrance. Matthew was born at exactly 8:53pm, weighing a healthy 3.77kg, 51.5cm in length and 34.5 cm head circumference. I asked to have a vernix (and meconium) covered Matthew placed on my chest so that I could start bonding with him right away while new Daddy got busy cutting the umbilical cord. He was then given to Duncan for a first cuddle, then weighed and measured while Duncan watched on. Sometime during all of this, the placenta is delivered and I am stitched. We then asked to have Matthew's grandparents in the room to meet Matthew quickly before I attempted to nurse him for the first time. We were very lucky to have bonded so quickly and Matthew took to the breast immediately.

This is Matthew's birth story, written and re-written as apparently my memory is extremely hazy, and two year after Matthew's birth and now 29 weeks pregnant again with our second child, it's finally published (after being checked and vetted by Duncan for accuracy!).

with Mummy.

with Daddy.

with both of us.