Birth Story - Sienna Eevee Wren
I thought Lincoln’s birth was fast, this was next level. It was happening before I really had a chance to comprehend or prepare myself for what was coming.
I had my normal weekly appointment with Dr B. At this stage I was 40+4 and ready for her to be here. When I arrived, he advised that he had scheduled my induction for Sunday 7/5/2023, as he would be on call that night and would be there to birth her, this had always been our goal, but as we were public patients this time, there was no guarantee. The plan for Sunday was, to arrive at 8am to break my waters and start the process from there.
He also said we could try a second stretch and sweep today, to see if that got things going over the next few days, I agreed, I was willing to try anything at this point. He advised there was no change to my cervix from the week before, I was still only 1-2cm dilated and no further effaced. He didn’t seem confident it would do anything, but it was worth a try.
I left the office, went and collected my mum so we could grab some lunch together before collecting Lincoln from day care. When we arrived at day care, around 2:30pm, I said to mum that I was feeling really sore and uncomfortable, but put it down to cramping from the sweep and over doing it while walking around in town.
We went back to mums, Lincoln had a play while I sat on the couch and rested. I started cramping, but still didn’t think it was labour, because they didn’t feel very regular and the cramps weren’t that painful. Also, Dr B had told me to expect some cramping afterwards.
At around 4pm, I decided Lincoln and I needed to go home to start our wind down to bed time. I drove the 20 minutes home, cramping all the way. By the time I arrived home, I was struggling to stand straight and struggled to get Lincoln out of the car. The thought that this could be labour still didn’t cross my mind, I proceeded to cook Lincoln's dinner, sweep the floor and change his bedsheets. I messaged Husband and asked him to hurry home as I was struggling to care for Lincoln and I needed his help.
I had started to suspect something was up, the pains were getting worse and they were feeling somewhat regular. When I was contracting with Lincoln, I could pick a beginning middle and end, this time I couldn’t. It was just one constant pain and when it was over and I felt completely normal again. I took some paracetamol and decided I would have a hot shower while husband put Lincoln to bed.
In the meantime I decided to call my Practice Manager, and spoke to her and Dr B. They advised to see what the Panadol did and have a shower and see what happened. If the pain got too much worse, I needed to go to the hospital to be checked so they could either admit me and give me stronger pain meds, or send me on my way with codeine. Dr B also told me at this stage, that the Dr who was on call for tonight had broken his foot and needed to go home. Dr B had been asked to cover his shift and he had accepted. It looked like if things happened tonight, he would be there to birth our baby. Which was a major anxiety of mine., so this put my mind at ease
Husband arrived home around 5:45pm, I told him to eat something, just in case this was it, and asked him to please get Lincoln in his PJ’s ready for bed time.
I went for a shower and the pains increased. By the time I got out of the shower, each contraction was making me feel sick. We decided to go to the hospital to be checked. While husband showered, I began getting Lincoln’s things ready for a sleep over, just in case. I called mum and asked her to come and sit with him, then my sister could come and collect him from our house, if we were being admitted to stay.
Once husband finished his shower he saw how much pain I was in, and said we shouldn’t be waiting for anyone to get here, we needed to leave and take Lincoln with us. I called mum and again and said we were coming to her house and my sister would need to go to her house to collect him. I sent an sms to Dr B and my Practice manager to let them know I was on my way to the hospital. Dr B said he was on from 8am and would call the registrar for regular updates on my progress.
After a quick drop off and ‘I love you’ said to our little guy, we were back on our way. We arrived at the hospital around 7pm. The nurse took us straight through to the birthing suite and got us set up. I let her know that I really wanted an epidural and if she could please arrange it sooner rather than later, I would be appreciative. She checked my cervix and said I was 4-5cm dilated, maybe more.
Another nurse popped her head in the door and asked who was in the room because Dr B was on the phone chasing an update and wanted to make sure we had made it. Our midwife (Lizzy), left the room to call him back with the results, she came back in and said Dr B was coming in for us and he wasn’t even on call yet. Not too much after, the anaesthetist arrived to administer my epidural. She had some trouble locating the best spot for it but after a few tries, she got it. Mum arrived not long after this. This Epidural was completely different to the one I had with Lincoln. I could still feel my contractions and some pain in my cervix, I was also shaking a lot due to the epidural but also because it was cold, but I hadn’t noticed.
Dr B came shortly after 7:30pm while the epidural was being placed. He asking how shortly after how it was going and if I could tolerate an exam and for him to break my waters. I said in a few minutes just to get a little more comfortable.
He left the room and came back, gowned up ready to get started. I told him I was feeling a sharp stabbing feeling in my cervix with each contraction. He checked again and said I was 10cm and it was up to me to decide when the baby was coming. He said I could start pushing now or I could wait and do it when my body told me. He said, this could mean we wait longer but there was less chance for me to become exhausted before the baby was ready to be born. I decided to wait and see what happened.
We didn’t have to wait long before I could feel downward pressure and my body pushing for me. This feeling became stronger with very contraction until I couldn’t control it. I remember telling everyone in the room ‘its happening’ mid-involuntary push. I could feel everything, no pain, just pressure and stretching. I felt her come through the cervix in to the birth canal and as she began to crown, then her head, shoulders and body. With husband and mum on either side holding a hand and Dr B sitting on the bed holding my leg, our little girl entered the world a short 20 minutes later at 9:34pm.
And just like that our little family was complete.
Husband cut her cord and we had immediate skin to skin and attempted feeding. She wasn’t super interested just yet, but that's ok. Once she was here, we all just sat in silence, drinking her in.
Dr B asked what her name was, because there was no way anyone at work was going to let him get away with not knowing the name.
We had to think on this for a while, Evie had become our second name and we just couldn’t decide which she was. Eventually we said her name was Sienna Eevee Wren. Changing the spelling of Evie to the spelling of the pokemon and Wren for my Grandmother who is no longer with us.
Husband left around midnight to go home and get some rest and mum left around 1am. Then it was just me and our baby girl.
I lost a little more blood than expected following the birth, around 650ml and it wasn’t stopping. They connected me to the IV and gave me cintocin to help my blood clot. I had to be connected to this for 4 hours before being moved to the ward, I tired to get as much rest as I could at this stage. After a shower, I was moved to the room at around 3:30am.
We went home to our begin our life as a family of 4, the next afternoon and its been full steam ahead.
Now that I’ve had time to sit back and reflect on my 2 experiences, this birth, compared to Lincolns was completely different. Dr B had to be so involved with bringing Lincoln in to the world and things could have ended in the OR very easily. It really put in to perspective how touch and go things really were with him and most of the things going on in the room, weren’t typical of a normal low risk birth. I am so grateful to have had this experience and now have two children with the love of my life.