The birth of Jemima: with special thanks to Roopee and DoubleAce

[phineas]

WARNING: this is extremely long! There is a bit of back-story, so you might want to skip ahead to the actual birth which is in the next post.

The Birth of Jemima

This birth story really starts four and a half years ago with the birth of my first child. I’d been expecting a normal vaginal birth with no major issues and what I got was a traumatic emergency caesarean after 20 hours of labour. The recovery was hard and parts of the whole experience haunted me for a long time after.
I was told at the time that the caesarean was because of malpresentation and CPD (baby too big, pelvis too small – she was 8lbs 4oz). In hindsight I know that with better knowledge and better care providers I would have birthed her and that really is the crux of the whole trauma – knowing that it probably unnecessary.

My second birth, two years ago, was a much-wanted VBAC. In one way, the experience was a success as I did birth vaginally. But the labour was pretty awful and quite traumatic. I went into my VBAC extremely scared and frightened and stayed that way through labour. The hospital policy of continuous monitoring for VBACs meant I was pretty much strapped down to the bed on my back for the whole labour. It was extremely painful and I was hysterical the entire time. I honestly thought I was going to die and was convinced I would end up with a caesarean or the pain I was having around my scar would end in a rupture. I ended up with an epidural (which was a terrible experience in itself).
After the birth I was extremely happy that I had managed to birth her, but I knew that my next (and final) time round I’d do it very differently and opt for a homebirth to get the best experience possible.

I didn’t plan on having my third baby for quite a few years but around Christmas last year I found out I was pregnant. My first thought was ‘I am not ready to have a good birth yet’. My mind and my body were not prepared for a positive birth and I hadn’t recovered emotionally from my previous labour and births.

I spent the first few weeks in denial but quickly jumped into action, as I knew I would need to find a midwife ASAP for my homebirth. Unfortunately every contact I found ended up being a dead end. A lot of disconnected numbers or midwives no longer practising. I was getting very stressed about it.
I then found out that there was a new government-funded homebirth program in my area. But unfortunately, because I’d had a c/s, I wasn’t eligible, even though I’d already had a VBAC. I was devastated. Then I was angry after I found out that the last practising midwife in the area was now working in the govt-fined program and no longer attended births independently. So not only was I not allowed in the program, the program has taken away the last midwife around.
I started searching for midwives who would travel to me – but no luck.

By halfway through my pregnancy I’d exhausted every single avenue to birth at home. The thought of having to birth in a hospital frightened me and I started to contemplate doing it home alone without a midwife in attendance. However, after a lot of thought, I decided I wasn’t comfortable with it. So far I’d only had a 50% success rate in birthing babies so I just didn’t have the faith in my body. Plus I have a history of bleeding with haemorrages after both my previous births, which I expected again so I was a bit wary of that too.

I plodded through the remainder of the second trimester just trying not to think about it all. I couldn’t bring myself to attend antenatal appointments at the hospital, even though I’d accepted I’d be birthing there. I guess I’d been thinking about it to some extent because around the start of my third trimester I sought out two doulas to support me in the birth. I am lucky that they were already known to me (through the wonderful Bubhub) because if they hadn’t have been, I know I wouldn’t have had the motivation to search for doulas elsewhere, because I was feeling so disconnected from the prospect of birthing this baby.

I met with my doulas a few times before my due date and also started attending antenatal appointments at around 33 weeks.
My doulas got me thinking about my birth plan. I already had very strong ideas on what I wanted/didn’t want, and had since long before I even know I was pregnant, but it was time to put them down on paper, and ‘negotiate’ with the hospital.

I wanted a few main things out of this birth:
* I wanted to stay home as long as possible in labour
* I did NOT want continuous monitoring
* I wanted the option of a waterbirth if I felt like it at the time.
* I wanted a natural third stage (I thought that maybe this might help with preventing PPH since that other times it had been managed I’d had big bleeds)
* I wanted delayed cord cutting and to hold the baby as soon as it was born

Already there was a major problem as I was still classed as a ‘VBAC patient’ which under the hospital policy meant I had to be continually monitored (which I did NOT want) and could not labour or birth in the water. I started to get a bit stressed and ended up in tears at an antenatal appointment. My midwife was so supportive and lovely and suggested I speak to the head obstetrician at the hospital.

So I had an appointment with him a few weeks later and he was great. I just explained what I didn’t want and why, and he said that’s fine ☺ He wrote on my file that I wanted to labour and birth with as little intervention as possible, that I was not to be continually monitored as part of routine, and I wanted a physiological third stage with delayed cord cutting. He was excellent – amazingly supportive and I came out of the appointment feeling almost ok about the birth for the first time in my entire pregnancy – and by this stage I was 39 weeks and 6 days!

So there I was, full term and waiting for this baby to come. At 7 days overdue I had another appointment with the obstetrician and again, he was fantastic. Induction was not on the cards and he was happy to just see me back the next week. He just had a bit of a feel of my belly and that was it. He asked me if I felt I was carrying a bit big compared to my other pregnancies – I just shrugged and said no, not really and we left it at that. My second (VBAC) baby had been only 6lbs 6oz and I thought this one would probably be about he same. Actually, I hoped it would be about the same – for the past two years I’d wondering if the only reason I’d been able to birth her is because she was so much smaller than my c/s baby (8lbs 4oz) and that anything bigger I couldn’t do. So in the back of my mind I was still frightened that I would end up with a c/s. I was so scared the birth would not happen as planned, and once again, I’d come out of it with nightmares.

[phineas]

So at a week over I still wasn’t ready for this baby. I wasn’t stressed though, I felt pretty relaxed. I’d been having quite painful Braxton Hicks contractions and pre labour for about 1.5 weeks though, so I knew it was going to happen sooner or later.

However I woke up about 7am on Friday the 5th of September, and things were different. I was getting contractions, but they were much much lighter than the BH I’d been having. So I wasn’t sure, but I thought something was probably happening. My second birth was a textbook labour and birth, and I was sure that this one would go the same way. By textbook I mean an 8-hour labour consisting of contractions gradually increasing in intensity and getting closer and longer and hurting like hell on earth until the urge to push and then a baby arrives.
So I thought to myself, if this is it, I’ll probably have a baby by mid-afternoon!

I sent my doulas a text message and let them know that I wasn’t sure, but I thought I was in labour, and I’d let them know what was happening in an hour or two.

I got up to go to the loo and was disappointed that there was no mucosy show or anything – a tell tale sign that my cervix was dilating and things were happening. But then I stepped on it – it had landed on the bathroom tiles, gross, lol. So this is it, I thought.

But the next couple of hours things weren’t really speeding up like I expected. I thought the contractions were getting slightly more painful, but they weren’t really coming more frequently. I was disappointed that things weren’t progressing like I expected.
At about 11am it was much of the same. Contractions were lasting about a minute, but the pain was very manageable and they were still about 8 minutes apart. I kept in regular contact with my doulas. One of them was nearby and keen to come right away but I was hesitant about using their support too early in my labour and then having nothing later on when I needed it, if that makes sense.

Around lunchtime I was getting really frustrated and just watching the clock, feeling exasperated as the minutes and hours passed by with no detectable progression in my labour. The contractions HAD become more painful, but it had happened so slowly, and the pain was still so manageable that it felt like nothing was different from when I woke at 7am.

At around 2pm I asked one of my doulas to come, even though I felt that really, it could be days away. When she arrived we just chatted and I played Guitar Hero on the Playstation to take my mind off the pain. Jamming to ‘Paint It Black’ by The Rolling Stones is a great pain distracter :D
I started needing to pause the game through contractions, and I noticed over the next two hours or so that the amount of song time I got between contractions was getting shorter and shorter :laughing:
My other doula arrived some time in the late afternoon while I was outside in the rain having a walk, trying to speed things along. I was annoyed at it all taking so long as I thought I’d have a baby by now, yet here I was, feeling nowhere near having a baby.

The next 3 hours or so are a bit of a blur, but mainly involved me leaning on the couch, chatting to my doulas in between contractions. I felt frustrated that it was taking so long but otherwise I felt calm and relaxed and in good spirits. When the contractions started to get a bit of bite I decided to have a bath. More because I was bored than actually needing the water, plus it was a cold rainy day so a bath was very appealing.

When I got in the bath, my heart sunk as the contractions just stopped all together for about 15 minutes. I then had a few strong ones in the bath, but really, compared to the agonising pain of my previous labours, the pain was nothing. The contractions were getting shorter too (which at again, my heart sunk, as I was afraid everything was stopping).

I got out of the bath and then walked in the lounge room and burst into tears. I was so convinced that nothing was happening – my contractions weren’t really regular, they’d completely stopped in the bath, and I felt they weren’t painful enough for anything to really be happening. I remember saying I needed an epidural because I couldn’t do this for days on end. My doulas thought I was in transition but they just kept it quiet and let me cry curled up on the lounge. I remember Neighbours was on TV so it was about 6:30pm at this stage. The contractions really started to ramp up but they were still quite short. I remember on of my doulas rubbing my leg through contractions it had a really calming effect (I am really embarrassed about that now, because I hadn’t shaved my legs in soooooo long, it must have felt like patting a cat or something!)

There were heaps of KFC ads on TV – I was starving! I hadn’t eaten much all day because I thought it was best not to – but I hadn’t realised it was going to take so long. So I was absolutely ravenous and asked one of my doulas to go and get me some popcorn chicken! Just a few minutes after she left I felt a lot of pressure and felt like pushing. Oh cr@p! But I was soooo hungry… I wasn’t going to the hospital till I ate something! So I didn’t say anything and just hoped she’d be really quick getting back (it was a rainy Friday night and KFC was actually totally packed – she ended up skipping ahead in the line and scaring some poor checkout person into serving her straight away :p) I kept looking out at the front door, willing her to walk through it!

By the time she got back, I didn’t feel like eating anymore, lol. The contractions were very close together now and I was standing up leaning over the sideboard, making a bit of noise as there was so much pressure with each contraction.
I told my doulas and DH to have something to eat while I was in the shower, and then we’d leave for the hospital. I wasn’t too worried about hurrying as the hospital was less than two minutes away.

I had a shower and had a few strong contractions and felt like pushing with each one. I got out and announced it was time to go, but not before stuffing a few handfuls of popcorn chicken into my mouth! Home and Away was on TV, so it was probably a bit before 7:30 by now

I phoned the delivery suite at the hospital to let them know I was coming in. I made a conscious effort to sound very calm and relaxed on the phone because when I got there I just wanted to be left alone and not pressured into doing anything, and I guess I hoped to trick them I was only in early labour, lol.

However, arriving at the hospital I think it was very obvious to the midwife that I wasn’t far from birthing. The pressure had me squatting with each contraction so she took one look at me and said she’d read the obstetrician’s notes in my file, but she ‘needed’ (whatever…) to stick the monitoring belt on me. I just looked at her. Stood there and looked at her. I couldn’t believe my luck at getting this midwife. Eventually I think I said ‘nah, maybe later’. This immediately got her back up and she tried to pressure me to get onto the bed and put the belt on. I said ‘nah, maybe later’ again, lol. Then she asked to do an internal (pffffft, yeah right!).
Then she said she needed to at least listen with the Doppler. I said that I wanted to get in the bath. She said no until she could have a listen. I said ‘go run the bath, and THEN you can listen’ She said ‘ok, let me listen then’. Ummm.. what? No your moron, go run the bath, and THEN you listen. She rolled her eyes at me (yes! She actually did that, and my DH told me she kept doing it the whole time!)
So she went and ran the bath (haha) and my doulas and DH arrived (somehow I’d beaten them all into the delivery suite!).
The contractions were very sharp but very short; they felt like they were about 20 seconds. But now I knew things were happening so I didn’t panic about it. I felt like standing through contractions but ended up on the bed on my knees, leaning over the back of it.
I managed to almost completely tune the midwife out which was a good thing as she was doing her very best to interfere with the Doppler and wanting to do internals.

My waters had broken but they were just a trickle.

After about half an hour of kinda pushing, I was getting very tired and frustrated that there was no baby coming out. In my previous birth, she flew out in two pushes so I was frustrated that his was not happening the same way. I was getting pretty exhausted and I think I said several times ‘can’t you just pull it out?’ lol! I must have been doing ok though because it didn’t even occur to me to ask for any pain relief.

Eventually the head started to crown. The midwife asked me just to relax and not to push hard to avoid tearing, just to let my perineum stretch. She was crowing for aaaaages and I was just buggered and again, frustrated! I couldn’t understand why she was not coming out! One of my doulas (not sure, could have been the midwife actually, I wasn’t paying attention to much!) started to pour cool water over my perineum and that felt great – helped to relieve the stinging and burning.

I remember someone saying ‘look at all that hair!’ as they could see the top of her head and a while later they could see her eyebrows. That made me feel even worse actually, because she’d been crowning for so long I though more of her would be out!

After a while I think it was taking a bit long because the midwife asked me to push hard. After a few hard pushes her head finally came out. But then I lost all urge and energy to push and I couldn’t get the rest of her out.
The midwife asked me to turn onto my back and they helped her out with their hands. She was born! It was 8:27pm and I’d been at the hospital for under an hour.

Unfortunately the midwife wasn’t happy with her breathing so her cord was cut right away and she was taken over to a little bed under warm lights and given a bit of oxygen. She was ok and she gave a loud cry. DH was with her. I remember looking at him and feeling happy that he looked happy and calm – not scared and worried and frightened like at the previous births.
I too felt calm and although the pushing had been hard, I hadn’t felt like I’d ‘lost’ it and become hysterical or anything like that. I was amazed at how I’d tuned out everything around me, completely oblivious really to any goings-on in the room.

The placenta arrived on it’s own just 10 minutes later so I was happy with that. I even dared to hope that I’d escape PPH this time.

She was brought over to me after awhile and had a breastfeed. She was calm and alert. She was also heavy! She definitely was not the 6lb’er I’d been expecting. As she was taken over to be weighed, I guessed she was about 8lbs 12oz, the others guessed about 10lbs. Well she shocked all of us, weighing in at 11lbs 1/2oz.

When she came back and I held her I was just in awe that an 11lb+ baby had come out my vagina. I felt like laughing and yelling ‘screw you!’ at the people who had told me that my 8lb’er had been too big for me to birth four years ago when I had my c/s.

My doulas and I chatted for a while and I also had the scariest moment of my life when I almost choked to death on a sandwich – seriously! I was starving so started scoffing down sandwiches and a big crumb stuck on my throat and for some reason I couldn’t cough with enough effort to get it back up!

After probably about an hour my doulas left and I had a few stitches for a small tear (nothing like the tearing I had with my 6lb’er- go figure!). Unfortunately I starting bleeding slowly and over the course of a few hours I lost 1.5L of blood. It left me feeling pretty weak and a bit dizzy and I almost collapsed in the shower. I’d planned to go home after 4 hours (minimum hospital stay after birth) but this meant I couldn’t so I was put on a syntocin drip and sigh – PPH #3 for me.

I stayed in the delivery suite for the next few hours with DH. After the blood loss settled down at about 3am I went to the maternity ward. By 10 am that morning I felt ok and went home that evening.

I am pretty happy with how the birth turned out. I feel happy that I’ve finally escaped birth without trauma and I sincerely feel like I owe it all to my doulas: Bubhub’s own Roopee and DoubleAce. Without them, I would have been a mess. They gave me so much support before the birth and in labour they kept me calm. They were so calm themselves that they gave me confidence and then I was calm too. Emotionally, I was so different this time round during labour than the hysterics I was in my previous labours it was amazing. Maybe it looked different from the outside, but on the inside, I felt so calm and relaxed (even though frustrated at times!). I feel so grateful that because of this my DH was calm and for the first time he was able to enjoy the birth of his baby, instead of feeling stressed and frightened. There are no word to express just how grateful I am that they were there and how much I appreciate what they did for me.

Comparing this labour with the others, the pain was nothing. Like a 4 out of 10 instead of the 11 out of 10 I thought it would be. I think I can attribute that to being a lot more relaxed this time (thanks to my doulas).

So overall I finally feel at peace with birth. I am a little disappointed that birthing at home wasn’t an option, I feel a bit of regret that I’ve had three babies and not once have I just been able to birth them and bring them straight to my chest, and I feel a bit ripped off that a PPH happened each time which is not a nice experience, but finally I have birthed without trauma and I owe it all to a couple of special Bubhubbers, Roopee and DoubleAce. And another Bubhubber, charlis_mum, deserves an honourable mention for looking after Roopee’s children while she was with me :p Another Hubber’s words provided great support and comfort, she won’t even know, but they did and I am forever grateful. (Ain’t Bubhub a grand place ;))

So to rap it up, our third baby girl Jemima was born on Friday the 5th of September at 8:27pm.
Labour was about 11 hours and she was born after just under at hour at the hospital, with no drugs (something I never thought I could do!). I also got a natural third stage.

Here she is, freshly born getting weighed: click! (http://photos-g.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v330/13/81/522408134/n522408134_1271590_9110.jpg)
A few hours old - Jemima and me (http://photos-c.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-snc1/v343/13/81/522408134/n522408134_1357610_1152.jpg)
And at one day old here (http://photos-f.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v330/13/81/522408134/n522408134_1271581_1050.jpg)
And at four days old here (http://photos-d.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v330/13/81/522408134/n522408134_1292451_3161.jpg)

[sunnyflower]

Thanks for your story.

I'm glad that you got what you wanted (mostly).

Congratulations.:)

[MrsTwith3]

Zoe thankyou for sharing Jemimas birth story with us all.
She really is a gorgeous bubba girl.

[Grizabella]

Beautiful Z :D You are an inspiration! And Jemima is scrummy!

[Tam-I-Am]

Wow wow wow! Congratulations - she's just BEAUTIFUL and you did such an awesome job! Don't credit all your hard work away - I'm sure your doulas were fabulous - but I'm sure you were too :hugs:

[LilShenanigans]

But then I stepped on it – it had landed on the bathroom tiles, gross, lol. So this is it, I thought.
PMSL and laughing at the popcorn chicken...

That was so cool to read. I probably didn't mention it before, but when hearing how big she was, I was so proud of you. Geeze, Lill was half that size and I could barely push her out! hehe

[cmd'smum]

What a beautiful gorgeous baby girl! :goodvibes:

You are amazing, a beautiful birth story! :D:yes:

:flowerz::babydust2:

[abiishu]

Congrats on your birth, and your beautiful baby girl! :yes:

I love that last photo, she looks so cheeky! :p

[~Bec~]

I responded last night but lost internet connection. :(

Just wanted to say that was an awesome birth story and a big CONGRATULATIONS!!!

[Funkychicken]

Wow, Phin, I am so pleased you had such a wonderful experience birthing this beautiful bouncing bubba.

Huge congratulations to your and your family.:hugs:

Look at what you have done-you birthed your baby yourself AND you told that midwife what YOU wanted! :D

You clever girl, you. :goodvibes:

Thank-you for sharing your amazing journey with us.:hugs:

[Mum2Sierra&Caelyn]

I got a bit teary reading that!. Im so happy that you got a few of the things you wanted this time around and that the experience was much more positive!!.
11 pounds! and without pain relief :yelclap: Awesome job!

[jaxcoop]

awesome story! She is just so gorgeous! You done such a great job!

[QTB]

WOW! What an amazing birth story hun! i had shivers running down my spine!

Congratulations again! :D

[shed]

:laughing: at it falling on the tiles and you stepping in it!!

Fabulous story!! Powerful. You are a legend!

[stellarella]

Woot, go Zoe, go Zoe :smiliedance:

I know why she was so big! So you had restored faith in your body and to stick it to all those CPD tossers ;)

This baby brings a lesson with her, clever girl :goodvibes:

[BubbaNoogie]

Wooo hoo!:smiliedance: Well done Z!

Jemima is absolutely scrumptious :goodvibes:

[Freya]

Your amazing Phin, what a journey!:hugs:

Congratulations (again!) to you and your DH and your girls.

She is so beautiful, you did a great job.:yelclap::yelclap:

[our little treasures]

Congratulations on your beautiful baby and what a wonderful birthing story:bee: 11 lbs :eek::p

[*Chels*]

CONGRATULATIONS!
You did an amazing job and she is gorgeous!!!
:sunshine:

[Nomsie]

Congratulations Phineas!!

I loved the part where you showed the Midwife who was boss, lol. Cracked me up. :laughing:

You did an awesome job. :sunshine:

[SassyMummy]

Oh Zoe thanks for that! :D

I think you did fantastically, especially basically telling that middie to bugger off... love it! :thumbsup:

I'm glad that, while it wasn't 100% what you wanted, it seemed to turn out okay in the end... (at least, I hope it did... it sounds like it:)).

[Myztik]

Congratulations hun. Jemima is gorgeous :)

My DF says 'You Rock' after I told him you were playing guitar hero whilst in labour :laughing: (he's addicted)

[HoopDeeDoo]

:laughing: I can't believe you were playing guitar hero in labour! Where did you put the guitar? :p

Your are amazing! Well done Zoe!

[JorBai]

Congrats Phineas on your 3rd beautiful baby girl!

I am another who is amazed with you playing Guitar hero, my gosh I struggle with that game at the best of times let alone between contractions! Your superwoman:yelclap::D

[Jakois]

What a great Birth Story!!
IT's one of the best I have read:).
Congratulations
Your baby daughter is just perfect..

[reAllytee]

Oh Z im so happy things went so well for you ! You deserved it & you made it happen :yes:

Legend !

Can I just say little miss who aint so little is absolutely freaking gorgeous !!!!!! But then her sisters are too !!

Congrats again hun you did so well !

[Bexta]

You did an amazing job, Zoe!!! & she is simply beautiful!!! :flowerz:

Well done to Roopee & DoubleAce... I know you both give me alot of great birthing advice... you both are truly awesome!!! :yelclap:

[Toes]

Congratulations & well done! :yelclap:

She is gorgeous! :cloud9:

[Roopee]

Zoe- dont give all your credit away! You did all the preparation, you put your mind in the right place and you made it happen...it was all you.
I am so proud of you and Jemima and absolutely so lucky to have been able to share this with you.

*ohh and on a side note- the Guitar Hero was hilarious........I still have that Ruby song in my head:laughing:

[poshBecks]

A wonderful birth story Phineas! 11 pound!! Thats amazing!! Congratulations!

[DoubleAce]

Zoe you were the one that did all the work! You were incredible!
You wrote the birth story beautifully! It was an honour to be a part of it.
And I promise...your legs felt nothing like patting a cat :laughing:

[TabouliRasta]

Phin, you are amazing, just freakin' awesome. Welcome beautiful Jemima (you're very blessed in the mummy department, little big one)

[bAaM]

Wow thats was a wonderful birth story, one i am inspiered with.

I so wish Tan could come be my Doula i bet it was her that did the popcorn chicken run as well :laughing:

A big congrats mainly for proving those stupid doctors wrong, you did it babe and i hope one day you can some how rub it into them that THEY got it wrong:yelclap:

[AM]

Congratulations :) Even though you weren't at home, it's great to hear you did it on your own terms :yelclap:

[TwoBlue]

Phineas I think your a massive legend !!!

Thanks for sharing your story and Jemima is simply devine
:hugs:

[Sammilee]

Congrats and thanks for sharing your amazing birth story! And welcome earthside :babydust2: Jemima :babydust2:

[TuesdaysPrincess]

That is an awesome birth story - good on you for persevering with what you wanted!! You did a great job, and should be so proud of yourself!! Well done!!

[mummyof5]

Zoe, you know I already think you are legendry, and that Jemima is the most gorgeous little creature.
Just wanted to say, have you thought about being an author, that birth story was unreal, had me rolling about laughing, and cheering you on when you got to the hopsy!!:yes:
Well done!!

[charlis_mum]

Zoe, I have tears streaming down my face reading that!! You sound so calm and happy!! I am soooooo proud of you (and am so glad that you sound proud of yourself!!) You are brilliant hun!! Getting through everything you have, and then finally having such a great birth - well done. :smiliedance::smiliedance::smiliedance:Glad i could help too, even if it was in such a tiny way! lol.

Well done to Roopee and DoubleAce too!! Sounds like they have both found their true calling!!:yelclap:

[~*clairesmum*~]

Congrats on th birth of jemima

It was a great birth story

:yelclap::yelclap:
:smiliedance:

[phineas]

I so wish Tan could come be my Doula i bet it was her that did the popcorn chicken run as well :laughing:

It was :laughing:

I can't believe you were playing guitar hero in labour! Where did you put the guitar? :p

It wasn't easy :laughing: I had to put the guitar across my belly, which meant it was tilted way up so I got instant star power every time instead of having to tilt the guitar up:D

[red crayon]

Congratulations on the birth of the totally gorgeous Jemima, Phineas! Thanks for sharing your inspiring story. You did such a fabulous job. Big congrats too to Roopee and Doubleace!!

[Gumby]

Haha, like patting a cat....

Great story Phin. And she is just beautiful...

[V8]

Congrats Zoe, that's awesome, you did brilliantly!! Loved the story, very humourous.

[xxxDragonFlyxxx]

I had been waiting for your birth story!

I am so glad that it all went well and you finally got your empowering birth! Big hugs to you and welcome little (hehe) Jemima!


When she came back and I held her I was just in awe that an 11lb+ baby had come out my vagina. I felt like laughing and yelling ‘screw you!’ at the people who had told me that my 8lb’er had been too big for me to birth four years ago when I had my c/s

I felt like doin the same thing! ;)

[mrsmov]

Zoe, what a wonderful birth story - thanks for sharing!

PMSL at the tiles & the hairy legs:laughing:

You did so well!!! Congratulations!:cloud9:

[2SPUNKRATZ]

awww, she is gorgeous! congrats!

[kymmy]

You did so well!
Congratulations! :cloud9:

[xkwzit]

Dear Phin
Thanks for posting your story, it is pretty amazing / inspiring :)