Natalie

Hello my name is Natalie. I have one son, who is 10 months old.

My water broke at 1am while I was lying in bed watching TV. It was a real shock as I was 10 days early. I jumped up and ran to the bath with the fluid running out, there was heaps of it. I stood in there while my fiance ran around not knowing what to do (he actually went down stairs and ironed a shirt) that’s blokes for you.

We rang the hospital and they said to come straight in as I had the bug that some woman get while they are pregnant and had to be put on an antibiotic drip (Strep B) We were shown to a room where I was hooked up to the machine that shows contractions and the babies heart beat, (fetal monitor) then taken to the birthing suite where I was for hrs.

I had the gas and air first, which helped for a while. Then I decided to have the pethadine, which I really didn’t like as it made me feel quite sick and out of it. I was standing facing the bed, holding on when each contraction came. I had dilated quite quickly but I got to a point where nothing was happening, so I just kept walking around, when I could and going to pee a lot.

In the end I had an epidural, I couldn’t do it any more. The doctor came in and put the needle in my back. I was hooked up to a few machines now as they wanted to check how the baby was doing. I got to a point where I thought I would loose it. I don’t know it must have been the transition stage. But I tried to keep focused on what the nurse and doctor were saying. They had done it all before so I tried to just focus on them.

I pushed when they told me to, each time a contraction came. Nothing happened for a while so they got me up on my knees on the bed. That was when I thought "That’s it I cant do this". I turned back around to lay on my back as it was pretty freaky the other way. I had an episiotomy in the end as Levi was coming out facing to the left. I had quite a few stitches.

He weighed 7.5 pounds. Big enough for me. My fiance cut the cord. But once he was out I forgot everything. They put him on my chest and he grabbed my singlet strap. I just cried and cried, I couldn’t believe I had just given birth to a baby!! It really is the most amazing thing in the world. Nothing tops it. The love you feel for that baby is amazing!!

Through the labour and giving birth I had some music playing that I took to the hospital with me. Alisha Keys. Stuff that relaxed me. It was the most terrifying, wonderful and the most significant thing you can go through.I had my partner, my best friend and my mum with me through everything.

My best friend actually taped the birth for me, which I wasn’t going to do but now I have that tape I am so glad. You do actually forget a lot of things through it all. I can sit back and watch it when ever I want.