Jessie is here!!!
Description
As you know, Monday was my Due Date and when i went for a gynae appointment i was already 3cm dilated, and she said that labour was approaching.
well that evening i started to get contractions at around 5pm. They were quite far apart so i wasnt too worried. i wanted to stay at home for as long as possible. we went to my mom for dinner and i started to get some very sore ones. by the time we left my mom, the contractions were 7-8 minutes apart and very sore! but i was still breathing through them so it was all good!
Got home and started walking. the contractions intensified and got closer together. eventually at 1am, my contractions were comming every 3-5 minutes, so we decided to go the hospital.
we arrived and they moved to labour ward to do a CTG. I had just been hooked up to the monitor when my waters broke!!
the water is warm and really does feel like youve wet yourself! 
at this stage i had dilated to 5cm.
after my waters broke, the contractions got worse! more intense and very sore. i had really wanted to go all natural, but my body wasnt coping so i opted for an epidural. My doula, Jane, arrived at the same time as the anaethetist.
The epidural wasnt sore… just a pinch and the it was all over! I got pretty lucky as even with the epi, i could still move my legs and feel my feet. so that was awesome!
after that, labour slowed down though! and my contractions seemed to stop! so they put me on a pitocin drip to make my contractions stronger. this worked but slowly… Jane gave me an awesome foot rub and i even managed to close my eyes for a bit! (my hubby slept in the labour ward for 2 hours!! 
)
by 6:45 i had dilated fully and was ready to push. they called my gynae and stopped the epi!
i started trying to push Jessie out 7:20… she was nice and low and we all thought that it would be relatively quick! (she had other plans!) with every push she would get close and the slip back. then i couldnt push her past the lip of my cervix (pelvis). getting past the lip took about an hour and was very hard work!
(no workout will ever compare to pushing!!!) you have to work incredibly hard!
Jessie’s little heartbeat stayed strong the whole way through. I was getting tired and so my gynae opted to use the vacuum, but still to get me to push… this was fine with me.
then her head was too big to get through my perineum. we pushed and pushed, my gynae suctioned and pulled but nothing!
(my gynae admitted that she got nervous as Jessie seemed stuck and wouldnt budge!) she had to cut me in order to get Jessie out. even after she cut, jessie still wouldnt come out and the midwife had to push down on my stomach while i was pushing in order to force jessie out! (just like mommy, stubborn)
then there she was!
B and i got quite nervous as she didnt scream or cry and she just lay there. we knew her heart was beating as she’d been monitored the entire time, but was very scary not hearing her! they put her on my chest and she started to whimper, then slowly built up to a small cry.
We were so relieved and tired, that we didnt even think to ask what “J” was. one of the nurses eventually said “boy or girl?” and then we looked and found that J was Jessie! 
(id been wrong all along!)
The mid-wife looked at her and said, shes big! they weighed her and she was 4.075kg’s!! WOW!! her head was 36cm in circumference! no wonder i struggled!
everyone concerned said that it was a difficult birth but that it was awesome that we’d been able to deliver her naturally! i was stitched up while she was feeding.
(ok gross part… during the final pushes i threw up all over everyone concerned! 
)
the epidural had worn off completely by the last 30mins of labour. so i felt every push, contraction and cut! i think thats why i got sick! sheer physical effort!!
we came home on Thursday. and im pleased to day that Jessie is back to her birth weight and is doing fantastically! she feeds well and is very beautiful!
im still a bit tender from the cut and am sitting on a ring cushion!
but its all worth it!!
my milk came in on wednesday and i was slightly wobbly today… but thats all ok!! jessie and i are doing great!
we had a rough start to the night on wednesday night, but once we put her in bed with us, she slept for 5.5hours!! woohoo!! so we are thrilled!
natural birth is hard work, but wow!! what an experience!! i will definitely do it again!!
doula’s are such a blessing! i am now a doula evangelist!! get yourselves a doula!!
B was wonderful throughout the whole process! he held me up and helped to push through it all!! i am very blessed!!
for awesome pics go to
http://flickr.com/photos/bryanallott