The Homebirth of Georgina Kay Part 1

*** Note: since this post was getting a little on the wordy side, I decided to split it into 3 parts.
This is obviously Part 1, Part 2 and Reflections of a Homebirth to come soon*****

I have to admit Georgie's birth was a dream. It's almost comical even.

She may not have come early but she certainly came fast and willing when it was time.

I am still in shock about the (dare I say) ease of her labour and delivery (which I know may make some of you reading this want to punch me in my uterus) but after a horrendous week it was well deserved. Our beloved May-May passed away 2 days before her due date and my week got worse with a raging chest infection and nasty cold that put me out of commission for 3 days. Not to mention Guy's battle with a flu bug all while trying to parent a very active almost two year old.
I couldn't fathom going into labour and trying to push out a baby while feeling so sick and weak.

 I woke up on Wednesday morning, feeling somewhat human again and officially 5 days overdue. Although I didn't really feel overdue, I had actually felt more uncomfortable a few weeks prior and clearly the universe wasn't quite ready for her arrival anyway!  At about 7:45am I felt a sharp pain that only lasted a few seconds but stopped me in my tracks. Shortly after I felt a slow trickle as what was later confirmed as amniotic fluid. Guy and Oliver set out to work/sitters for the day and I got ready to go to the office briefly before my midwife appointment in the afternoon. Mild and totally irregular contractions ensued throughout the day but nothing alerting or confirming it was go time!

At noon(ish) I arrived at work and felt a gush of fluid as I was getting out of the car. I still wasn't having regular contractions so I kept about my business and finished up some ordering before my appointment. It wasn't until I got up to leave the office that I had a huge gush of fluid that soaked my pants! I ran to the bathroom to assess the situation and luckily my mom came in shortly after.
I handed her my pants which she proceeded to blow dry (with the spare blow dryer I keep at work not specifically for these types of situations but boy did it come in handy that day.... ).
After drying my pants and myself off I headed out to the midwives office.

I immediately told Beth that I was "pretty" sure I'm leaking fluid upon arrival, I explained the details and hopped up on her table for an exam. A swab quickly confirmed that I was indeed leaking amniotic fluid (which I wasn't really doubting at this point) and that I was about 5 cm dilated! Say whaaat? I couldn't believe it. I thought maybe I would have been dilated a cm or two but FIVE... that was crazy! She did a stretch and sweep and could stretch me to nearly 6 cm, which was so bizarre because I wasn't hardly having any contractions. There was still a sac of fluid around the baby's head so it was hind leak and Beth advised me to page them immediately if my water broke fully as the labour would progress quickly. She told me because I had been sick that my body might not be ready tonight, that I may need more rest but that this baby would be making his or her entrance in the next 24 hours. I got dressed (including a very sexy functional pair of mesh undies and large pad to absorb the fluid), finished up our appointment and headed home to sleep eat and mostly WAIT for things to progress.
(ummm yeah right, who can go to sleep at 3 o'clock in the afternoon after
 your midwife tells you that you are 5 cm dilated?... me either!)

I called Guy to let him know I was in "labour" but not having contractions so not to rush home from work but get ready because baby was coming this evening?, tonight? or sometime. I arranged for my mom to pick Oliver up from daycare and feed him supper and maybe have a sleepover... depending on what happened. Then I called my neighbour to be a backup in case I went into labour in the middle of night while Oliver was asleep and for some reason we would need to transfer to the hospital. Once all the arrangements for Oliver had been made, I felt energized and ready to go! So I waited and ate and waited. I cleaned a little, did some laundry and waited some more. My contractions were beginning to come a little more frequently but nothing steady yet. Guy got home from work around 4 pm and we waited. We just sat there and looked at each other like yep... having a baby. It was a very weird feeling knowing that I was that far dilated but not having regular contractions so technically I was in labour but didn't feel like I was actually in labour.  So to pass some more time I gathered my homebirth supplies and got the tub set up, ready to be filled.

I took these pictures at 4:06 pm, as I was waiting for labour to start?
You can see in the 2nd pic I was having a contraction (not because I am making a weird face but because my belly is rock hard-notice the difference from the last 2 pics) also in the last pic you see the outline of the lady diaper I am wearing. Yes, when I got home from my appointment I traded the mesh undies and gi-normous pad for the Depends (Tena brand actually). I was leaking enough fluid that I had to labour with a diaper on! Luckily I had bought these bad boys for the postpartum period. Something I highly recommend doing!


The Homebirth of Georgina Kay to be continued......
Click here for Part 2