In our second birthing class, we learned more about the second stage of labour – the pushing. Although it should be one of the most painful things a woman would ever go through in her life, the fact that the baby is within minutes of arriving will make it easier to deal with.
After hours of contractions, the woman is understandably tired and giving those last pushes is not on the top of her ‘to-do’ list. One of the ways the midwife can incentivise this is by placing her hand on the top of the baby’s head (if it’s already ‘crowning’). The theory is that once she feels the baby, she’ll be able to muscle up that extra bit of energy for the big finale.
As usual, Taryn was full of practical tips that most books will not give you. For example, remember to empty your bladder every 2 hours. The intense pain of contractions will often distract you from the relatively minor discomfort of a full bladder. And having a full bladder can actually slow down labour as the womb is pushed upwards by all the liquid. Another great tip is: watch a long movie on dvd to kill the time. If you just sit around and only focus on the contractions, it can make the hours seem even longer. So I think we’ll have the Lord of the Rings box set ready for the big day.
We were also shown a video – before you cringe, it was nothing like one of those typical graphic medical videos. It was a part of a parenting show on Foxtel, hosted by Antonia Kidman (Nicole’s sister, who has had all 4 children at our hospital). One of the couples was actually in Taryn’s class last year. It followed all the action of their big day (not their wedding of course) and it really put me at ease. They were an average couple, similar in age to us, and going through their first pregnancy as well. After 19 hours of contractions (which started at 2am and yes they watched a dvd to kill time), they decided to head into hospital and within 2 hours, she gave birth. She chose to have a water birth without drugs and even though there was quite a bit of screaming towards the end, it wasn’t all that bad. And it really got me teary when the baby girl arrived and was placed on her chest. If I could choose how my own labour will go down, I think I’ll be more than happy to go through the same.
As we get closer and closer to the finish line, things are becoming more and more real. I’ve now finally encountered my first hurdle in the pregnancy – lack of sleep. Having to always sleep on my side has proven to be a real challenge – you have to do this because sleeping on your back puts pressure on blood-flow to the womb. Being used to sleeping on my back, this is quite an adjustment (and baby kicks whenever I try to get a little rest on my back). This is on top of getting sore legs and hips (from all the hormones released to get my body ready for labour), having to go to the bathroom once or twice during the night and getting extremely painful leg cramps from stretching. My only comfort is that this hasn’t disrupted David’s sleep, although I think matters will only get worse from here on.
In the meantime, I’m really happy with all the progress our baby is making. Kicks are getting stronger and it’s following a very steady sleeping pattern. I’m also starting to suspect that there’s more baby than water in my womb (similar to what Simone said about David when he was born). With my increasingly growing cravings for sweets, we’re well on our way to having a little giant! Both David and I are seeing our baby in our dreams, although the face is always fuzzy. We can’t wait to meet our little one and when it does arrive, it’s got a whole heap of cute baby clothes waiting! :)
Check out video below created by David. This time lapse of the Opera House was taken from the Overseas Passenger Terminal at Circular Quay, on June 13th and 14th, the final 2 nights of the Smart Light Walk which is part of the Vivid Sydney Festival. The movie is a combination of 3 sequences containing 850 images - they were 2 cold nights, he now has a cold :(
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