Birth Stories

A beautiful surprise

'Im so over this!' I quietly thought to myself. It was another day at work, and although I had it 'easy' at work, I was huge at this stage and I was over being pregnant.

That day was Friday, and I was cleaning up after the children had finished their lunch. I was on my feet all day, resting here and there, but working in childcare there really is no rest. I enjoyed my job, but as the days, weeks and months went by, I was slowly getting over it. I'm short in stature, and my belly had exceeded its length and weight. 'Natalia, you're huge!' Is what I would hear all the time.

I had only six weeks left of my pregnancy, and only two more weeks left of work and be on maternity leave. I was counting down the days as I was going to have a whole month off and I was planning on doing nothing - I was really looking forward to it.

But of course, I put it out there in the universe - I was over being pregnant.

Saturday came. My mum had been in hospital on the Gold Coast due to a tooth operation. I went and saw her with my sister, Tatiana that morning. She was due to leave that afternoon and go home to Brisbane. Having lunch with Gareth and Tatiana, I was contemplating going to Brisbane with my mum, just for a drive down. I was feeling really tired that day, and decided not to, which looking back I'm so glad I didn't. After lunch we did some shopping and finally we headed home and I was ready for a nap. Once I woke up from my nap, I was feeling hot so I decided to hop in the shower.

That's when it all happened.

The thing about being pregnant is that you don't know how it' going to be, or how you're going to give birth. You don't know what to expect with any part of it. During the three years it took me to get pregnant, I got told by the specialist doctor that the only way for me to fall pregnant would be to do IVF. That that was one of our options. I had miscarried prior to this and it was one of the saddest moments in my life. Gareth and I were saddened by the news as we were so happy to have a family. When I miscarried it was a day after his birthday; we both cried that night. Gareth and I wanted to be parents so much that when we got told the news that I had low egg count and probably had to do IVF, we decided to take a break from it and if so, try any form of natural procedures to fall pregnant. When we got told that we couldn't possibly have a baby naturally, we were both upset. But we decided to not worry about till we got back from Fiji and enjoy his sisters wedding there. That's when I fell pregnant naturally. I was very lucky.

So it was a hot Saturday and I hopped into the shower, and I really needed to wash my hair. In the movies they portray it as a gushing of water. One that just escapes from in between a woman's legs and gushes all over dramatically. I can now safely say that it wasn't so dramatic.

As soon as I stepped into the shower, a warm liquid from in between my legs ran down and down and down. I knew it was my water breaking as I had just gone to the toilet. I could do two things at this stage: 1) wake Gareth up from his sleep and stress him out, or 2) shower and wash my hair, then call out to him. So I did what anyone in my position would do - I decided to shower and wash my hair. I didn't feel any pain, so I thought that would be the better option - my hair was really dirty. So I quickly showered then called out to him.

"Gareth, Gareth. Wake up", I yelled. But not too loudly so not to stress him out. He opened the bathroom door and I told him what had happened, and told him not to stress because I wasn't stressed. Now being the chill out guy he is known for, he of course, stressed.

We rang the hospital and I was admitted straight away. Of course having only six weeks left, I did not have my bags packed, and had to do it quickly before going to hospital. (This is now one thing I tell people to do early, as you never know when you could have your baby).

Once we were in hospital, we decided not to let our parents know, as we didn't want them being worried about it. (Plus my mum had just been in the same hospital the same day!) Once I was lying in in hospital I was 3 centre meters dilated. I had no contractions at this stage, so I was put in a room and the nurses were going to monitor me all night.

I was very lucky as my OBYGYN was on call that weekend and I was the only one having a baby. There were no other patients. So my OBYGYN was with me the whole time. She informed me that if I wasn't to have contractions naturally, that I was going to be induced. I was induced.

The pain came slowly. I was on a drip to start the inducing process. I have never felt so much pain as the one I had felt during this time. 'The pain you will have will be one of the best pains of your life. This pain is one where something good will come out if it in the end' I remember the midwife in our class saying. How right she was.

'This is a good pain, this is a good pain...' I recited to myself. Gareth was there holding my hand. I remember way before this telling him not to talk to me during this time, but now I needed to hear his voice. I needed him to hold my hand and tell me to breath in and out, soothing me. I found this to be really comforting. The gas helped. It took the pain away; or it made me forget about it. Either way, it was great.

The pain increased. The doctor induced me to the furtherest point of inducing. Then I had to stop the gas as it was time to push. I pushed for 15 minutes towards the end of it and it was the hardest thing I'd ever done. I closed my eyes during the whole pushing process and concentrated on the pushing, the pain- all of it. I kept thinking in my head that it was a good pain, and that I had more knowledge about it, that I didn't need or want any drugs. I just wanted the baby out!

With one last push, Jasmine Juanita was out! I didn't cry when I saw her, I was relieved, happy, and so overwhelmed by it all. I couldn't believe what just happened! I had six weeks left! Thankfully, Jasmine was in great form considering she was premature. This beautiful surprise was beautiful. She was tiny. She was all mine.

Jasmine had to be in hospital for three weeks following her birth, as she needed time to grow and learn how to eat. Six weeks is a really long time for a baby to be out from their comforting womb and be faced with this big whole world. Those days were the hardest for me as I had the hormonal emotions of just having had a baby, to the emotional time that I couldn't have my baby home with me yet. Gareth and I were the happiest people once she was home. We would never leave her side again.

But of course, once she was home, reality set in.

Now, it's five months on and Jasmine's doing great. She's a growing baby and everyday I love her more and more. I tell people that the first two months were the hardest, as you have this new little person in your life and you're all trying to get to know, and she's getting to know you as well. But we have finally overcome that and we all love being together. I can now say, that I am a proud parent.

By Natalia Hall

2013