Purdy’s Birth Story

You may have spotted a photo of Purdy’s little cutey on the reception desk. He is about to turn one (time flies!) We thought it was a good time to reflect on his birth, here is Purdy’s birth story:

I had a fairly easy pregnancy, classed as low risk. I generally felt good, apart from morning sickness which lasted until 20 weeks! In my last trimester my husbands family suffered a huge loss when my beloved mother in law and grandmother-to-be lost her battle with cancer.   When I could make it to the clinic for treatments, acupuncture really helped me to stay calm and take some time to focus on my body and the baby.
At 39 weeks I went into the Royal Women’s for a check up at 11am. I had a busy day planned: collecting the last few things I needed for my hospital bag, and cooking a few meals for the freezer. My midwives noted that the baby was measuring smaller than my last visit. A scan showed that there was no fluid around the baby, they wiped the goo off my tummy and said “You’re having this baby today!” I was so shocked I think I said, “No I still have to go and buy muesli bars for my hospital bag!”  
They set me up with a Doppler for the baby and a heart monitor for me, a quick test showed that my waters hadn’t broken so the lack of fluid around the baby meant that the placenta had stopped producing fluid and that I would  probably need to be induced soon. I was already a few centimeters dilated and having very mild contractions.
Mind still reeling I called my husband at work, the plan was he’d go home and get the hospital bag and meet me at hospital, we had plenty time as induction takes can take 8-12 hours. 
At about 1pm our little ones heartbeat started going crazy and he was in distress. It seemed the contractions were causing the umbilical cord to compress. My midwife explained to me that she was going to call a Code Pink, she said “It’s mostly to get you up to the birthing center as soon as possible. Things will happen pretty fast once I call the code, so don’t worry.”  
And then everything did happen very fast.  I had a fluid line put in and was moved to a wheelchair to go up to the birthing center, and everyone was running. I remember thinking if everything is OK, why are they all running?
My phone was waved in front my me and my midwife said “Honey, unlock your phone and dial your husband” I heard her talking to him, she said “Don’t break any laws but you need to get here now. Don’t worry we can have a baby out in 8 minuets if necessary!”
Once I got up to the birthing center everything calmed down, baby’s heart rate returned to normal, he must have shifted position and taken the pressure of the umbilical cord. 
My husband arrived and from then on my labour progressed slowly without having to be induced, feeling mostly like a bad period pain at the beginning.  I really only had the bare essential with me, from my half packed hospital. It would have been nice to have my own pillow and a familiar blanket, but my biggest tip for the hospital bag is don’t forget hair ties!

At this point we went over our birth plan with the midwife and put some music on.  Gradually contractions started to get stronger and I started to swear a lot more. The IV restricted my movements a bit but I could still stand and walk around. I found the most comfortable position was standing up folded over the bed with my husband rubbing my back, with a blanket draped over me, which he affectionately called the tablecloth for the table like position I was in. Laying on my side again with pressure on my lower back was also good.

It was a really busy night in the birthing center and we were on our own for a while. From this point on my memory is a little blurry, I think I feel asleep for a bit but woke up with each contraction, seemingly quite a few hours passed like that. The adrenaline had kicked in and I was shaking like a leaf.  I remember thinking if I’m not fully dilated yet, and there’s still hours of this to go, then I definitely need some pain relief NOW!  
At 9pm we called the midwives back in, thankfully I was 10cm dilated and the urge to push was strong. There is a fair bit of poking and prodding that needs to go on at this point and the midwives were so gentle and reassuring as they set me up for the pushing part.  
After two very intense hours of pushing and a small tear our little boy was placed onto my chest. Weighing in at 3.5kg and measured 52 centimeters. I’m still amazed that I went from a check up at 11am to our son being born at 11pm that same day. Despite not quite being mentally ready on the day I guess my body was ready and our son definitely was!
He’s a nearly year old now, here we are at the beach! (Sand is very serious business)

Thank you Purdy! We love hearing birth stories from the ladies we’ve looked after over the years. Quiescence is collecting birth stories for an upcoming project so if you’d like to include your story please send us an email at info@chinesemedicinemelbourne.com.au