lifeinlollyland

On Friday, 27 January, we had a shocking night. I was lucky if I had 4 hours sleep. I said to B on Saturday morning, “watch, tonight’s the night I go into labour as I’m so tired!”. We had a giggled and carried on. Turns out, that little statement came true

I had been saying that I would keep my legs closed so that baby was not born on 29 January. We’ve had some drama and the 29th is the birthday of someone who has issues with us. But it turns out, God gave us a reason to celebrate the day, to overshadow those who harbour ill feelings towards us and to help us heal

At 3am my contractions started. I felt the first 1 and thought, “oh! I wonder if this is IT”. 10 minutes later when the second contraction hit, I knew that this was indeed “it”. I told B that we were in labour and then left him to sleep. I got out the pilates ball, walked and bounced and tried to rest. At times the contractions were 8 minutes apart, other times they were 1 1minutess apart. I sat on the ball and rested my head on the bed and managed to get a few minutes sleep every now and again.

At 5am, I was feeling a little lonely and went to wake B (he was sleeping with Jack as he had woken up wanting daddy in the night). We discussed him doing his race. The swim was to start at 9 and was a 5km sea swim from Table View to Big Bay. It looked to be an awesome swim and the weather was perfect. My contractions had slowed to every 20-30 minutes, so my mom came down to our house and B went off to register for the race.

We met him at the start just before the race. The race started and we then went off to Big Bay to wait for him. My contractions were still coming, but I was able to drive and talk and carry on, so it was fine. B nearly won the entire race, but fell off a wave. The winner beat him by 5seconds. I was (still am) so proud of him.

Once he was back with us, my contractions sped up again! I actually told him to go away as they were back to every 10minutes. after prize-giving we came home to get ready for lunch at moms house. My contractions were getting stronger all the time. We packed bags for the kids in case we went to hospital and they needed the pjs and clothes for the next day. We had no idea how long labour would go on for and wanted to be ready. I thought we had until the next day to deliver #4. I think I was in slight denial

After an hour and a half at moms house, we decided to head for hospital. Contractions were every 3-5minutes and were stopping me talking. I was determined to wait it out a little longer, but B said it was time to go.

I was only 4cm when we arrived and a little disappointed. The contractions were big, sore and long. My gynae couldn’t be reached, so they called Dr. Sarel Brandt. He is amazing! He arrived within 10minutes and I was 5cm. Due to my history with my waters breaking late (broke with Kyla just before she came out) he broke my water and I went to 6cm. I was sore but still handling without pain meds. By now it was 4:30-ish.

The contractions got serious! I was very very sore. Between Bryan and Sarel they spoke me through them. My mid-wife arrived. I call her mine because she’s been at the birth of all our sprogs and she’s fantastic! Sarel (the doc) offered to fetch coffee for B, made sure we had cold, iced water and kept us entertained with stories from his travels and experiences as a doctor. There were lots of laughs in our delivery room. At times, it felt more like a party than a birth Sarel also never left us. I’ve never known a doctor to do that. He even asked B if he wanted to catch baby. B’s face was hysterical! He went white, regained colour and said the he’d stay head side with me. Next time, I’m going to try convince him to catch baby

I hit 8cm and was struggling. I couldn’t cope with the pain and was begging for an epidural. My “team” got me through another 20minutes or so, but I couldn’t do it any longer. The anethetist was called just before 5:45pm and my epidural was done within 10minutes. It was kept light, so I could still move my legs and feel pressure from the contractions, just no pain. My contractions continued to get stronger as I entered transition. The pressure was intense and I was incredibly thankful that I couldn’t feel the pain. At 6:35 I was ready to push. My gynae arrived after the first push.

They let me push whenever I felt the urge to, I just gave them warning of the building contraction and they counted for me. I struggled a little to get his head down and forgot to breathe at times. But it was going well, and a mirror was fetched, so that I could see what was going on down there.

Seeing my baby crown was quite an experience! It was amazing to see how the pushing, pushes them out I could not have done it first time or even third time around, but it was awesome! I’m so thrilled I was able to see and experience it. While pushing out the head, I could feel that he was big. We were warned again about his size and about what would happen if his shoulders got stuck. God had heard my prayers and Jaydon’s shoulders came out without a hitch. I was told to stop pushing and the rest of him slid out.

Everyone marveled at his size and they started guessing his weight. He was placed on my chest and he was heavy and beautiful. I had “known” he was a boy, but was thrilled to see that he was indeed a boy! He was perfect and gorgeous. The 2 doctors and 2 mid-wives were still throwing weight guesses around. He was thought to be 4.5-4.7kgs if not bigger.

The “team” couldn’t wait anymore and took him to be weighed. Sarel placed him on the scale and turned towards us with his hands over his mouth, giggling. Tania asked for the weight and was told, “you have to see this!” Jaqui went and looked at the scale. “4.975kgs” (even typing that I start giggling) we all just giggled and were shocked. I had delivered a 5kg (25grams shy, so I’m claiming it) baby with no tearing and no medical intervention.

He latched well and started drinking. Jaqui said I should get used to having him there, as he’d probably be attached to me for the next 6months at least.

When I saw Tania the next day, she said that it was a good thing that we didn’t know his weight. She said she never let’s people deliver naturally if baby is over 4.5kgs. She said that there’s no way she would’ve let me deliver him, had she had any clue. She did acknowledge that I’d managed just fine with everything intact, so clearly it could be done

To me, Jaydon’s birth is nothing short of miraculous. These days gynaes are very quick to cite baby’s size as a reason for cutting. He didn’t get stuck, I didn’t tear, he came out perfectly!

I had prayed a lot (read: A LOT) about being able to deliver him naturally without complications. I prayed that he would be healthy and that we would be in and out of hospital quickly. God answered all my prayers regarding his birth. It blows me away. Jaydon Kai means thankful and rejoice. His name is fitting already. I’m very thankful to God for answering my prayer and am rejoicing in it! We are thankful for our new baby boy and are rejoicing having him as part of our family!