The birth of our third child
I had already announced in the article about my pregnancy that I would still write about the birth, also because I was asked again and again.
With my two larger children, the birth began after the calculated date, so this time I did not really expect a birth before this date. Although, of course, I was aware that it was just an estimated date and that it was more of a birth period with three weeks before and two weeks after that date.
Anyway. This time the pregnancy was much more troublesome. I longed for it to be over, I longed for the birth and for my baby.
I kept having strong contractions with significant pressure, at times I even woke up from them. But they were not birth waves. My midwives told me that this was often the case with third babies and that there were often false alarms here.
At the end of the 39th week of pregnancy, I had a day when I really didn't feel like it at all. I was just annoyed and even wanted to cancel yoga. In the end, though, I was happy to have gone.
The next day my midwife came for a massage, which relaxed me considerably. She encouraged me again and gave me strength. I realized again that I simply cannot influence when my baby wants to be born. I also did more of the Peaceful Birth hypnoses again.
The 40th week of pregnancy began and I tried to enjoy the time with my two children. I was also looking forward to the free Easter days, which we wanted to enjoy together as a family. But it didn't come to that.
In the afternoon, I was suddenly incredibly tired and just wanted to sleep. My daughter was also very tired and fell asleep very quickly in the sleep accompaniment. The night did me incredible good, finally I could sleep really well again.
In the very early hours of the morning, however, I was again awakened by contractions. Something was different. I had to go to the toilet. On the way there and back I had to breathe waves and I felt stretching.
I was full of anticipation. But I didn't want to go into birth mode too soon. I waited it out for now and wanted to see how it would progress.
I went to bed, lay down and tried to sleep or at least rest. At the same time I wanted to know everything prepared for birth. Get the last things together. I didn't want to wake my husband too early. He should be asleep.
When it started to get light, I woke him up. He said that we should lie still and see how it developed. I was already sure. At some point, I couldn't lie down anymore. Besides, the waves were starting to need more attention and our daughter was waking up. My husband made breakfast and gradually gathered the last of the birth paraphernalia with my daughter. She was very excited and looking forward to it.
I could hardly eat anything. I was interrupted again and again by contacts during which I chanted a mantra that I knew from yoga. That did me good.
After breakfast, my husband filled the birthing pool with water, which I had already set up a few days earlier with my children. I went into the water, my daughter joined me for the time being. My son had also woken up in the meantime and had breakfast. Then he went upstairs to my dad, who was supposed to look after my children during the birth. He didn't want to be with me. My daughter got bored in the pool relatively quickly. So she also went upstairs.
My husband now turned on the Peaceful Birth hypnosis for me, which I listened to through headphones. I was able to relax really well during this. I succeeded very well in visualizing the stretching during the waves, and during the breaks I could relax well. In between I drank something. My husband was listening to podcasts during that time, as he told me later. I didn't need him at that moment.
At some point he recommended that I go to the bathroom. At first I didn't want to get out of the water, but then I went along with it. After I came back, I didn't want to go into the water again. Without the interruption, I might have stayed in the water longer. Who knows.
The waves were now getting much stronger on land. Partly I sang again in addition to the hypnosis, as it had done in the beginning.
Around noon, I asked my husband to call our midwife. I wanted her with me now. She came then after a time quietly into the room and observed me first. She asked me if she should examine me. But she didn't have to. I wanted her to. I wanted to know that it was definitely not a false alarm. I wanted to know in my head, because basically I had been sure for a long time.
She examined me and said that the cervix was already 8 cm and soft. I was relieved and regained my strength. I did not want to listen to the hypnosis anymore. I don't know why, but it was no longer appropriate for me at that moment.
During the contractions I continued to sing, my midwife joined in. I was in the quadruped position a lot. But somehow the head didn't quite come lower, even though the cervix was fully open by now. The amniotic sac was very bulging and just wouldn't break. I also felt a little shame towards my husband because of the loss of stool. However, after we talked about it, I was finally able to let go.
My midwife held gently against the water during a wave and it finally broke. I was relieved. I changed positions a little more now, sometimes I was squatting, sometimes I was standing. After an initial pushing urge, my baby's heart tones dropped slightly after the wave and I should now blow the contractions more, not push along. At the same time, however, the waves also became much weaker and less frequent. My body was doing exactly what was needed. He gave us rest, because I was now clearly strained, even if it I felt more pressure than real pain.
After this short recovery phase, the waves became stronger again, the urge to push increased, the intervals became short. I kept holding on to my husband. My baby finally slid deeper and screwed through my pelvis. The feeling is indescribable. Now it was going pretty fast. After a few contractions in quadrupedal position my baby was born, she came directly with her whole body. The head passage was painful, but not this strong burning sensation I had felt during the last birth. My baby cried directly.
My midwife put my baby between my legs and I immediately picked her up. A girl, we had had another girl. I was so happy that I had given birth. That she was there, that my husband was there. I asked my husband to take a picture of us. This time I wanted a photo right away, not when we would be in bed.
When I tried to get up, there was a big gush of blood. So I squatted down again for now. My midwife then helped me get into bed and checked on the bleeding, but it was all normal. We cuddled, my baby had directly excreted meconium. So we changed the towel, but that was also quickly full of excretions. She was still crying on and off. She made searching movements, made her way to the breast with some support and tried to suckle again and again. But she was still too restless.
It took a while until she could really calm down and start sucking. After a while, I felt light pressure down again. I was allowed to gently push along and the placenta was born. Thankfully, the placenta was complete and came very easily.
My husband called my dad that our kids could come now because our baby was here. My big son just looked briefly and then wanted to go back upstairs. My daughter sat with us, fascinated, and got to cut the umbilical cord. She was so proud.
After we cuddled for a while, my midwife wanted to check me for birth injuries. She discussed with me that she would recommend stitching up any minor tears. I agreed and so after a good anesthetic, she began the suturing. Meanwhile, my husband went into the living room with our two daughters.
Afterwards, my midwife did the U1, everything seemed fine. I was so relieved and happy. And also exhausted. It had been a wonderful birth and I would want it that way again and again. I am very grateful for this experience.
If you are interested, you can also read about the birth experience with my second child. I had also written about the pregnancy in more detail here.
Otherwise, I would be happy to read about your thoughts. What birth experiences did you have? I'm excited to read about it in the comments.
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