14th September 2007: Chantelle Alexa Mendis... the birth story

This is not for the faint hearted, nor intended to scare anyone from having babies. This is just my birth story of Chantelle Alexa Mendis. Mine and Charles.
My baby is precious, and like every newborn out there, her parents love her immensely already.

Had one amazing twinge early Friday morning, 1:30am whilst driving Charles home from work. It hit me like a large Spasm inside me.
I breathed it through, and thought it was a one off- thing.
Earlier in the day, my sister Ai kept encouraging the baby to "come out now..:" and kept saying "is it today?"
LoL

Whilst Charles was finishing up in the shower, i had a major cramp.. i quickly got on all fours and tried to breathe it out.
Charles found me on the floor, asking what was wrong. I told him it was a contraction.
He was eager for the baby to come out too, so he said "lets time it!"
He rounded up Ai and together they timed my contractions. i told them, it would take ages.
It should be like 20min apart etc...

We started timing at 1:50am
Before i knew it, mine were 9min - 7min within an hr.
The next hr it was 8 - 5min.
The hr after that it was a steady 5-6min
All contractions were lasting longer than 1min.

They are the most excruciating period pain-like i had ever had.
The sharp jabbing, piercing inside up side me.
I did pelvic tilts, cobblers pose, hopped in the bath-tub and braced myself for each contraction.

By 5:30am, i had had enough.
I called Lin Lee, my mid-wife and told her what was happening and that i was going to the hospital cos i was in a lot of pain.
Had 2 in-car contractions that were grr....
At the hospital, they checked me and i was still only 1-2cm dilated and my contractions went back out to 9min intervals.
They gave me a shot of morphine to eleviate the pain and sent me home, hopefully to sleep a bit.

Was able to nap for 1/2 an hr, when the pain started again.
It started out at the 9 min mark for several hrs and then by 10am it was between 4-6min lasting more about 1 minute.
I endured this until i was so over the pain.

Went into the hospital again by 12pm where i met up with my mid-wife.
I was 3-4cm dilated - but my cervix had not thinned out much.

Lin went to have lunch, while i was closely monitored.
My contractions again moved out to the 8-9min mark.

Lin came back at 4pm and then it was getting down to business.
Nipple stimulation
Oxytocin (Pictonol) given
Hot shower
Break water bag

My contractions were so bad, i had a massive backache every time it hit.
Between the front and the back, i didnt know where to moan/ groan the loudest.

The Oxytocin gave me stronger contractions which became unbearable but was able to dilate to 5cm
The hot shower relieved the pain and i dilated to 7cm.
Hop out of the shower and my contractions were piercing!
I was asking for the epidural by 7:30pm.
Charles adamantly said NO - he over-rode every word i said.

Lin told Charles to give me another 1/2 hr or else we had to do something else.
By 8ish i was on my hands and knees and rocking with each contraction.
Before i knew it, i suddenly felt this huge urge to do a NUMBER 2!

Lol - i quickly hopped off the bed and excused myself.
Lin said "no,no, you want to push.. it's the baby!"
I was like "no, no, u dont understand, i really need to GO!"
She replied quite calmly "it's the baby, you want to push"
I dont know why, but i believed her... sort of.. i thought if she wanted to see me poop, then ok.. but then again, if it's the baby - YAY - finally!

I hopped back into bed, got on all fours and listened to instructions.
Took me a few goes to grasp the idea of holding my breathe and push through my contractions.
When i finally caught on, i was trying very hard to push her out.
I heard Lin comment on the baby's amount of hair.
I remember asking to "push her out"...
and i did.
I felt / heard this "whalloping" sound tumble down my back leg/foot.
Lin then quickly moved the baby up my front, and i turned around to lie on my back.
With my baby in my arms, i pushed the placenta out and felt a big sigh of relief go through my whole body.

Charles and i did it.
Nearly 20hrs of labour.... all in a days work!
He was a sturdy rock who i could rely on to help keep me going.
He was pleased with the delivery and happy as punch with our baby and i was happy it was all over.

Now the fun begins!