The Beginning.

It only seems fitting to begin this journey by sharing my birth story.

At about 1am on the 7th of November, just as we lay down in bed, I felt a little pop and a trickle down my leg, I knew instantly that my waters broke. When I stood up, it was like the movies, I was standing in a puddle of fluid. I thought I would feel panic when it would happen but I was surprisingly calm and excited. As advised my our midwife, we called the maternity assessment unit (MAU) and they asked us to go in for a quick check. They confirmed my waters had broken but because my contractions hadn’t started they told us to hang tight, go back home and get some food and sleep until my contractions started, and only come in when they were about 5 mins apart. If my contractions didn’t start within 12 hours they would have to induce me.

So off we went back to the apartment at about 2.30am. My husband made me an egg sandwich and we got comfortable on the couch. Just as I lay down I felt my first contraction. We began timing them and from the very start they were about 4-8 mins apart. The contractions pretty intense from the start but from knowing that first labour could be long and it was probably only going to get worse, I had mentally prepared myself to deal with the pain. I noticed some blood when I went to the bathroom so we called the MAU again to get some guidance. They told me to come in if I wasn’t sure if the amount of blood was concerning. Not wanting to take any chances and feeling that any amount of blood is concerning, we went in for another check. After an internal exam, they confirmed it was just the bloody show but also that I was already 8cm dilated! The midwife asked me what pain relief I wanted and I opted for a water bath and gas and air.

Shit became real very quickly.

I remember pacing in the room, stopping to hold on to something and scream with every contraction. It felt like FOREVER for the bath tub to fill up. At about 4.30am I finally got into the bath it was a relief! I had my husband in the room with me with two midwives and my mum was waiting outside. The gas and air made me feel very nauseous so I didn’t use it after the initial 20 minutes. My contractions were close together and very intense and the midwives needed to check the baby’s heart rate in between as well so I felt like I couldn’t really catch my breath. After 3.5 hours the midwives could see that I was pretty tired and told me to give one more push otherwise they would have to help me out of the water and help me deliver. My thoughts on that – F*** THAT!!! There was absolutely no way I was willing to leave the water so I pushed with everything I had and delivered my baby’s head and then with another push delivered the rest of the baby. The midwives quickly swooped up the baby and placed it on my chest. I don’t have the words to describe how I felt in that moment and trying will not do it any justice.

On the 7th of November at 8.11am, I became a mother to a beautiful baby boy, Ayaan Vansia-Patel, weighing 3.56kgs.

We didn’t know whether we were having a boy or a girl and in the moment we even forgot to check. I think I held him for a solid five minutes before we found out. After we cut the umbilical cord, the midwives gave him to my husband for some skin to skin and I was helped out of the water bath and onto the bed. I was in a state of immense fatigue and euphoria at the same time. I couldn’t believe I had just done that! I felt like superwoman! With my son safely with my husband the midwives helped deliver my placenta and assessed me for any tears. I had some nasty tears – both perineum and periurethral – and needed quite a few stitches.

I was now a mother and I could not wait for this chapter in my life to begin. This blog is also a way for me to document all these memories. I can’t wait to look back at these posts and relive them through my own words.