Liesbeth shares the birth story of Joe
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What a surprising day Saturday turned out to be. In the morning we went to a 4-year-old’s birthday party and I joked with the parents that they’d better have their mop nearby as I was already 5 days overdue. Then in the evening we went to the supermarket and bought food for the coming week – I was feeling so normal, I fully expected to stay pregnant for another week or so. Then, just after we got back from the supermarket, I was sat on the sofa and I felt a little twinge very low in my pelvis, followed by a little gush of fluid. Unsure as to what it was, I got off the sofa and lost some more fluid. I said to R that I thought my waters might have broken and we both just stood there, gobsmacked. I went to put on some dry clothes, grabbed a towel and called the hospital. They said to come in so I could be examined, so we dropped Jake off at my parents’ place and went to the hospital.
In the car I was getting mild contractions every 5 – 7 minutes. In the hospital they put me on a monitor for half an hour – the baby’s heart rate was fine but my contractions needed to become stronger and more regular. A couple of hours later I was in the delivery room and it wasn’t long before the bed was the only place I wanted to be. The contractions suddenly changed from bearable to really intense and utterly unbearable. I kept telling R “I don’t like this any more! I don’t want to do this!” The contractions didn’t come much closer together, but their intensity just changed dramatically. I was pummeling R and pulling on the arm rest of his chair with all my might. After a few of those, I said “I want an epidural!” and the midwife came to examine me. She said I had 9 cm and I could push with the next contraction! I said “I guess an epidural is out of the question, then?” My contractions were still about 5 minutes apart and I had 5 or 6 pushing contractions and at the last one I was convinced I still had to get the head out, but then R said “Keep going and he’ll be on your tummy!” I was so surprised that I gave a huge push and the midwife told me to stop. She turned the shoulders a bit and pulled my hands down to the baby. She told me to give a big push and guide the baby out, which was really special. Suddenly there he was, a slippery mass of baby on my tummy!
Soon after that, the placenta came and I could just enjoy cuddling our new little boy. I was so amazed at how quickly it had gone – my waters broke at 10 pm and at 3 am he was here. We’ve named him Joe and he was 3680g (8lb 2 oz) and 52 cm. After the birth, I almost passed out going to the loo, so I stayed at the hospital and R went home to sleep for a couple of hours. He came to pick me up later that morning with Jake, who was fascinated by “baaaaby Jooooe”.
Now we’ve had the first few days at home and Joe is a really easy baby. I first breastfed him when he was half an hour old and he immediately drank like a champ. He continues to feed very well and the first night he slept for 6 hours straight, which was bliss! He sleeps well and has started putting on weight already. Jake hasn’t shown any jealousy at all, but showers Joe with kisses (and the occasional poke). He’s thriving on all the attention from visitors and our home care nurses (whom you get in Holland for the first 8 days after the birth). I’m feeling amazingly good for someone who gave birth a few days ago and I’m thoroughly enjoying our gorgeous little Joey. What a difference a short, uncomplicated birth makes! I feel truly blessed with our two little boys.
~~ Welcome Joe!~~
