Noah Henry made it....finally!

**1+1=5** · 30-01-2007 12:48

I'll type this quickly!

i noticed some 'cramping' on thursday (25th jan) night when i tried to go to bed, it got to a point where i couldn't sleep but i figured it was another 'false' alarm so stayed up and chatted on 'Live Chat' till i couldn't sit down anymore.

at 2am i took a long bath which made the pains so much better but as soon as i got out i knew this was the real deal.
i started timing my contractions at 5am and they were exactly 5 mins apart. i rang the hospital and soon after, my contractions went to being 3mins apart lasting for over a minute each.

we got to the hospital at 7am and by 9am i was in agony and in the shower on all fours asking when it was going to be over. they transfered me onto a gym ball in the shower and they gave me some gass to help me because i was so exhausted the middy didn't think i could go for much longer. man i love the gass! i only used during the contractions till they peaked and as they eased off i stopped sucking on it. i also stopped using it during transition probably because i couldn't grasp the thing anymore. i didn't realise but i made it through the whole birth with the gas staying on the lowest setting! sweet.

my mantra was 'don't fight the contractions' (thanks for that Dragonflyblu) and 'relax'. i though i was doing really well in the shower but because bubs was so big they wanted me to give birth on the bed with a registar helping out. the second i got out of my comfort zone of water, things slowed down. my contractions eased off and shortened. i could feel bubs coming down with a contraction and when they stopped he slipped right back up. that happened about 5 times and it was so upsetting because i would work so hard through the pain and then back to sqaure one.

this is where things got interesting. my middie advised me that the best option would be to have a c/s at this point because bubs seemed to be too big to come down. at this point i agreed and i had labored for about 10 hours like that. i was exhausted and had my eyes shut through the whole birth so all i can remember are voices and no faces. i didn't notice the shift changes or the time.

i was told that the there was only one surgeon on and that she was currently in theatre and still had other women to see (public holidays). i said i'd wait and i think at this point i felt like i had admitted defeat but i gave it a good shot.

the surgeon wasn't coming for a while so i figured i'll try something else. i just let go completely and i let the agony i was feeling completely take over my body. i stopped reacting to the contractions and let my body take it. that was the weirdest sensation i have ever felt and it just blows my mind. i got to a stage where i couldn't feel anything and i figured this was the pain threshold that i had passed. i've heard before that once you pass this threshold, you can't feel pain anymore.

i culd hear the middies talking to each other saying my contractions seemed to have stopped, i shoock my head but refused to talk or open my eyes out of fear that this state i was in was going to just blow up in my face. i was on my back at this stage and i could feel bubs coming down again. i decided not to say antyhign but just to focus on mentally pushing this baby out. the surgeon arrived and asked aiden what they should do, if they should give me an epidural and i could hear aiden whispering 'she doesn't want anything' so they let me go for a bit longer till i started groaning and screaming and baby was on his way. my waters broke fianlly (which was why he wasn't able to come down properly) and i could feel him starting to crown but it wasn't hurting. like i said it was the weirdest sensation everything was spinning and it was complete silence, like time stood still. aiden was getting excited saying 'hes coming, hes coming' and i just wanted to shout 'yeah i know! i can feel it you moron!'. but decided not to say anything. his head came out and the rest of him slipped out just fine and that was our baby Noah who was suppoed to be Jack. he was born at 5.15 pm......12 hour labor.

we had three names picked out and had agreed on jack but once this baby was born, i said 'Noah, can we call him Noah?' and i started sobbing and then a whole lot of rubbish came out of my mouth. i was telling everyone how much i loved them and i kept crying to aiden saying 'i love you, i love you' and he was kissing and stroking my face and i screamed 'Tell me you love me!'.

. i remember crying and saying i can't believe i did it.

i then remember the two middies looking at me open-legs and all 'nah its just a graze, it doesn't need a stitch'....i was beaming and saying 'yeah, yeah i don't need any stitches'.

so that was it, an almost c/s and thanks to all the other women who kept the surgeon and DH was standing firm and saying no to an epi for me. i'll love him forever for it. so almost a natural birth. i used the gass for most of the labor but nothing else and i'm pretty proud, especially when they announced 'omg hes 4.610 kg!'. so apparently i have legend status for a few days there. middies were coming in saying 'Oh you're the 10 lber!'. my 15 minutes of fame.

thanks for reading.

**Melo** · 30-01-2007 13:00

Congratulations! Welcome to the world Baby Noah!

I think your a LEGEND, giving birth to such a big baby without any drugs!

**2 Cherubs** · 30-01-2007 13:01

Congratulations
Thanks for sharing you story.
Welcome Little Noah..

**mum2elouise** · 30-01-2007 13:02

Congrats! And Welcome to the world little (or big!) Noah!

I got a tear in my eye, reading the last stage of birthing your bubba. You did really well and should be super proud of yourself!

**nut** · 30-01-2007 13:02

You amazing woman!!!!

What an incredible tale- something to be really proud of.

Blessings to your little family- especially Noah Henry. My DS's name is Henry- so I love that choice!!!!