When iVillager Debra Parker planned her home birth she didn't expect to deliver her baby alone
Week 41
18th October
9.45am: I think I have a small show. It's very mucusy, but tinged with blood. All the books suggest it could still be a few days away. My midwife reckons 24-48 hours?
5.45pm: Braxton Hicks turn into proper contractions - they are slightly painful.
8.15pm: Another mucusy show tinged with blood.
19th October
Contractions continue through the night and occasionally wake me, but are still manageable. My close friend, Gaynor and I decide to go for a walk to see if we can get things moving any quicker, but they are still 5-15 minutes apart and not regular.
7pm: I get into a hot bath, which in hindsight really did get things moving! It let me allow the contractions to take over. Along with a little nipple stimulation the contractions become three minutes apart and are soothed by the hot water. I get out of the bath at 7.45pm and completely loosen the mucusy plug.
8pm: Annette, my doula, comes over, and we both agree that this is probably still pre-labour as the contractions return to their ten-minute distance. However they are progressively more painful. We arrange some homeopathic treatments that we can start in the morning - all I want to do tonight is sleep, as I feel so disappointed at my lack of progress.
10pm: I'm very sleepy between contractions and cannot really concentrate on the game of Othello I'm playing, so my partner, Ben, takes me up to bed. The contractions are more regular, so I ask him to check on me in half an hour.
10.40pm: I feel fine. The contractions are very painful, but because I am asleep between them, I ask Ben to give me another half an hour.
11pm: The contractions are agony. Since I'm having a lie down between them, I have to go onto my front in a sort of all-fours position to deal with them. I'm making quite a bit of noise now too.
11.15pm: The noise alerts Ben. He comes to ask if I am OK. I start to tell him that this still cannot be it as the closest the contractions get is six minutes apart, but mid-sentence, I feel a sudden urge to push. I can now feel the baby's head dropping inside. We know we have to do something quickly! He phones the midwives, the paramedics and my doula, whilst I deal with agonising contractions mostly in my lower belly but in my back too, now lasting 1-2 minutes. Suddenly they are every 30 seconds and two minutes apart!
I don't know how I am going to avoid pushing this baby out very soon, I try getting onto the bed (while answering Ben's questions about my doctor and midwife!), pushing the hot water bottle on my lower belly to desperately attempt to relieve some pain.
I have to wee, and make my way to the bathroom. I can hear my son Dylan getting scared by the noise I'm making. Gaynor comes upstairs to help. I hover above the loo, but even between contractions, I am not relaxed enough to go. I give up trying, and get onto all fours for the contractions. Dylan is very worried so I call Gaynor to bring him to me before the next contraction, but as soon as I feel it coming on, I send him away with his dad, who has been called back on the phone by the midwife to clarify the urgency of the situation.
At this point, I sit up on my knees, and feel my waters break (they're clear). This forces the head down even further! Gaynor asks if there's anything she can do to help, but I tell her no. I am going to have to catch this baby myself.
The next contraction seconds later pushes the baby's head through my vagina and into my waiting hands. I stroke his head and wonder if he'll cry. I tell everyone to remain calm, but that baby is on the way. My next contraction pushes his shoulders out and I guide the rest of his body onto my right-hand side pressed close against my body. WOW! I did it! I look at my watch, covered in vernix and green water: 11.27pm.
I pull him away from my chest to look at him for the first time and see the umbilical cord is around his neck twice and also around his foot, forcing me to do a juggling act to unravel him. His purplish colour disappears and he starts to cry.
11.30pm: He's OK! Still no midwives, doula or paramedic. I get some towels and wrap him up, trying to dry him off. The midwife on the phone tells us not to move or cut the cord. I hear Ben ask me if it's a girl or a boy from downstairs. 'It's a boy!' I tell him.
11.40pm: Midwife, Judith, arrives to see me still on the bathroom floor (I am scared to move in case I bleed) and helps me to my bed.
20th October
12.15am: He takes to my breast already and gently suckles, still only wrapped in a towel.
12.20am: I am made to get onto my knees to deliver placenta. The midwife begins to pull at it because I am scared to push it out. I shout at her to leave it alone, and I slowly overcome my fear and it is delivered. The cord is clamped and Ben cuts it.
12.30am: An hour after his birth, Kaius is still only wrapped in a towel and his temperature reads 34.8?C so we are persuaded to go to the maternity hospital to heat him up. I feel disappointed, but know it would be quicker than heating him up at home. A cup of camomile tea (and rescue remedy) is made for me because I have the shakes.
1am: He is put under heat lights. Baby weighs 3.32kg (7lbs 5oz), is 50cm long and has a head span of 35cm.
8am: His temperature is now 36?C, so after his second breastfeed, he is wrapped in two towels, put on a heat pad and covered by another two towels! The paediatrician starts her rounds at 9am so I hope his temperature is stable by then.
9.30am: His temperature is normal, although Kaius looks very red to me. The paediatrician gives us the OK to go home.
12.30pm: Paperwork is all completed by the midwife, Dorothy, and we leave for home.
Kaius David Parker-Molloy
Born 19th October 2002 at 11.30pm
Weight 3.32kg
Height 50cm
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