Birth Story – Isabella’s Birth
Background
My husband and I had been married only a few months when we found out that we were pregnant. We were thrilled, excited and scared. I knew that I was interested in having a Midwife as my health practitioner. I called a few clinics and I was put on the waiting lists. A few weeks later I received a phone call to tell me that there was a Midwife available.
We went to the Collective and met with Stephanie. We were so pleased with the warm welcome that we received. Stephanie provided us with a lot of information. She was wonderful, knowledgeable and professional.
Preparation
I had a wonderful pregnancy. However, I was scared to death to give birth. All I had ever heard were the horror stories. I became more frightened. In response to this, my husband and I took many wonderful courses that helped us immensely. We took the prenatal class with Julie K and the “bringing the baby home” with Erin S and finally, we took the hypno-birthing course with Pia A. After some discussion, we decided to engage the services of the doula. Pia was and still is a wonderful support to our family.
The Labour and Delivery
I carried to 39 weeks when I went into labour. On Saturday November 24th, 2007, I felt extremely tired the entire day. I rested most of the day. In the evening, I watched a movie and was about to head to bed when I felt a lot of pressure. It felt like the head was moving down. I thought that that was strange since I was still at least 1 week away from my due date. I spoke to my husband, Aaron and explained what I was feeling. We headed up to bed; it was about 10pm.
I believe we called our doula and she told us to go to bed and rest. Aaron and I tried to go to sleep; but I had to keep getting up. I walked around my house and rested on the sofa and sat on the toilet a lot. I really did not understand what was going on. We were both in denial – it couldn’t be labour.
Aaron and I laboured all night together. Looking back, it was great that we experienced all of this on our own. Aaron was an amazing support. He helped me so much and got me whatever I needed. I took many showers that night. We finally decided to call Pia at 6:30a.m. sunday morning to ask her when I would be going into labour. Silly us! She responded that I was in labour. She arrived at our house at 7:30am. I was using the hypno-birthing techniques to get through each surge. Aaron and Pia were amazing with the support they provided to me.
The birth
Aaron called the midwives at 8:30am and they arrived at 9:20am. I was sitting on the toilet when Myriam and Elisabeth (student) arrived. They set up the guest room beautifully. I was continuing to breathe through my surges when the baby crowned. What a feeling! Pia checked me and said that the baby was coming. We all ran into the guest room – well, I kind of waddled to the bedroom. I asked what I should do and somebody told me to get comfortable. I got on all fours on the bed and I heard Myriam ask Aaron if he wanted to catch the baby. He said yes. Aaron crouched down and waited. I can remember him saying how beautiful the little face was. When the baby came out, he said, “oh, Auramarina, it’s a girl and she’s beautiful”. Aaron was the first person to touch her – our precious Isabella was born at 9:49am on Sunday November 25th, 2007. A few minutes later, I birthed the placenta. The Midwife and the student midwife were wonderful. They helped me get into the shower and they got us comfortable. Pia washed our laundry and the ladies made us tea. It was the most phenomenal experience of my life. I was flying high. I did it and it was amazing! Aaron and I are so happy that we trusted our midwives and our doula. This team truly made our birthing experience amazing.
The postpartum-care
The postpartum care was great. Our midwife came to our house on the 1st, 3rd and 5th day. Stephanie examined the baby and me. We were at home where it was comfortable and familiar. It was truly an amazing experience. The hard work began but it’s all worth it. Isabella is now 17 months old and we adore her to pieces.