Linus’s Birth

This is a full description of Linus’s birth and was finalised in December 2007 (!). I debated whether or not to include all the graphic details, but decided that I’d hate to forget any of it. I think the details will be of particular interest to me next time I have a baby.

Good Morning!

First thing on Friday 17 February 2006 at 12:45am, my waters broke. I’m not sure if I awoke because it was happening, or happened when I started getting out of bed to go to the toilet, but either way it happened, and it was unmistakable. The volume (think “gush”, then more “gush”…) of fluid meant that there was no way it could have been incontinence.

Bob woke up and helped me clean up a little while our minds both raced in excitement and nervousness. I called the hospital and they advised that unless I was having contractions, I should try to get some sleep. We managed to get a few hours, and then went to see the midwife at 10:00am in the morning. By that stage, contractions were happening, but only one every 10 minutes, and they weren’t too strong. I was hooked up to a machine that showed when I was having a contraction, and half the time Bob had to point out to me that I was having one.

My midwife seemed to think that it might take a while for labour to progress, so she said that if it hadn’t by 8am the next morning I was to come into the hospital and I would be reassessed (probably induced, I imagine). This was the most exciting moment – we realised that we would finally be meeting our child in the next two days!

The Waiting Game

We then left the hospital, went to the supermarket and went to pick up the carseat from Plunket, then went back home (estimate: 12:30pm). My contractions were still mild, so I made myself comfortable with a DVD and Bob went back to work for the afternoon.

However it was probably only an hour later (estimate: 2:00pm) that I called Bob to come home again; the pain was getting more intense.I had given up watching my DVD… As I write this, Linus is nearly two and I’ve STILL only ever seen half of The Shipping News!

(My memories of this period are particularly hazy:) There were various calls between Bob and my midwife… At one point my midwife advised Bob to run me a bath, suggesting that it might help me. I think I was in the bath for literally one second, then got out – I was not in the mood to lie back! Not long after that I mentioned to Bob that I felt like I needed to poo, and when he told my midwife that she said to him (I imagine it was calmly but firmly!) that we should come in to the hospital.

Action Stations

I’m a notorious passenger-seat driver where my husband’s concerned, and even while in labour I was encouraging him not to speed. Memorably – because it’s probably the only time ever I’ve had a sharp response to this! – he replied “You just concentrate on what you’re doing, I’ll do what I’m doing!“.

We arrived at the hospital and walked up to the 2nd floor with a few pauses along the way – much to the alarm of passers-by – for me to lean on the wall for the heavier contractions. I’m not sure if anyone suggested a wheelchair, but if they did I imagine that I didn’t want to sit down.

[From Daddy]: I remember walking Linda through the foyer of the Hospital as passers by gawped in shock at this staggering woman. One guy asked if we wanted a wheelchair but given the way Linda held herself in the car (hovering on top of the passengers seat) I figured that wasn’t a good idea. I wanted to get to where we were going in a hurry so I was kind of running backwards and forwards in front of Linda waiting for her to catch up. The lifts were right there for us, and everything was ready for us when we arrived at the birthing suite.

When we got upstairs (4:00pm), we met my midwife, rushed through to a birthing suite, and I imagine I managed somehow to get my clothes off and change into a hospital gown. Once I was on the bed, Bob went away to move the car from the P5 park he’d left the car on. However a few seconds later (after checking my progress?) my midwife asked if I could tell her Bob’s cell phone number. Amazingly enough, I could, and Bob received a call – while waiting for the lifts – telling him he didn’t have time to move the car!

[From Daddy]: Bug will be able to proudly show his friends and family when he grows up the parking ticket that his parents got for parking on a P5 while he was being born! The council of course waived the fine when we gave evidence of the situation (a copy of the birth notice from the paper).

The Birth

I again have only patchy memories of this stage… I remember a brief dialogue:

Midwife: Push!
Me: I can’t!
Midwife: Yes you can, Linda!
Me: Oh, OK. [I suspect I didn't say this out loud, but it's what I thought.]

I also remember the midwife asking if I wanted a mirror to see what was going on “down there”. I remember being horrified at the thought, wondering how on earth it could possibly HELP me to see the size of the sphere I was trying to push out of me with muscles I’d never used before. So my response was probably somewhere in between a polite “No, thank you.” and a blood-curdling shriek of “NOOOOOO!!!!!“.

[From Daddy]: From memory being involved was a bit like being on a roller-coaster – not so much for the driving into town, but for the events that followed. One of the most vivid things that I remember was seeing Bug’s unborn head of hair moving inside Linda as he crowned.

Bug emerged at 4:12pm, 17 February 2006.

My most coherent memory of the immediate aftermath of the birth was me lying back on the bed (probably while I was getting a few stitches) watching Bob hold little Linus as if he’d been holding babies all his life. He looked completely comfortable and natural, despite the fact that he’d hardly ever held a baby before.

[From Daddy]: My comfort holding Linus I think was mainly because when I had held children in the past (a rare event) the parents had always been on standby ready to lurch forward if I slipped with their child. This baby was mine however and I guess biology kicked in and made me care for it as if I’d done it all my life. I do remember however wanting someone else to hold him after about ten minutes as he was so hot I was sweating!

(I’m sure I got to hold Bug as soon as he was born, by the way, but I don’t have specific memories of it which is why I haven’t specifically described it anywhere above.)

After Labour

Other things must have happened after the birth in some order or other:

We were visited by my family very shortly after Bug arrived (estimate: 6:00pm). Mum, Dad, Claire and Kyle all came into the birthing suite and got to spend a bit of time with us and – of course – hold the newest member of our family.

(Bob’s parents made it in the following morning, while Andi was unfortunately away for the weekend and didn’t get to meet Bug until we were back home on Monday evening.)

In The Hospital

I spent three days in the hospital (Friday afternoon until Monday afternoon). I was lucky enough to have my own room and bathroom. (If I’d been in a four-bed ward I would probably have gone home sooner.)

It was nice to have meals served up regularly… it was nice having lovely midwives available 24 hours a day at the push of a button when I needed some advice… it was AWESOME that the cloth nappies I was using (especially in those meconium days!) could simply be dumped in the laundry hamper right outside my door each time Bug was finished with them…

It was less nice being opposite The Bowler (a student pub) on a Friday and Saturday night… it was less nice being with my husband for just part of each day… it was less nice that I don’t think I ever had explained to me anything about my stay, such as when meals would come, how I could choose my meals, that midwives changed shifts (but passed on my information) every 8 hours, that these women were midwives not nurses…

My stay in hospital was also prolonged because Linus was suspected of having jaundice. Eventually a blood test established that his levels weren’t dangerously high, and we were able to go home. In hindsight, I suspect that Linus’s natural skin colour (i.e. olive, inherited from his Mummy) might have been partly responsible for the initial diagnosis. (The jaundice was also discussed in a blog entry.)

The Birth according to Maternity Notes

I discovered these notes after I’d written the above account. I haven’t changed anything above, so it will be interesting to compare my memory with the notes.

(Note: “__” signifies missing words because of illegibility.)