Every morning whilst pregnant, I would search all things baby into WordPress reader. One type of post that often showed up were personal birth stories. At first I was baffled as to why anyone would want to relive such a painful time in their lives. Having never experienced birthing a baby, I was too anxious to read any of the posts. Only now do I understand the motivation behind posting such an event. These stories are not terrifying moments in one’s life, but really quite beautiful ones. My own birth story was not the horror story that I had anticipated. In fact, it was such an pivotal moment of my life, and literally, a life-giving one as well.
So, my wonderful readers, here is my own birth story. Please read at your own discretion.
February 25. 8 a.m.
It was one week and one day before my due date. On my walk that morning, I had felt extremely winded and uncomfortable. After returning home around 9 am, I was in no mood to eat. I started to feel sick to my stomach, but had attributed it to being overly pregnant and exhausted.
11 a.m.
I decided to start taking measures into my own hands. I had read that drinking Raspberry Leaf tea was one of the many safe ways to induce labour. Not thinking that it would actually do anything, I made myself a cup, then I took my computer and went to work from bed.
1 p.m.
My husband had texted me that his lunch break was over and that he was going back to class. He knew that I wasn’t feeling good that morning and so he kept his phone on him in case of an emergency. Before I could reply to him, I felt a strange popping sensation in my stomach. It was something that I had never felt before and so I instinctively went to the bathroom. What I saw was a ‘bloody show’, then my first real contraction came radiating through my back. Panicking, I called my mum, who lives out of province. I told her that I thought I was in labour, but did not want to call my husband in the event that it was a false alarm. Then my next four contractions went from 10 minutes, to 6 minutes, to 3 minutes, to 2.5 minutes, all in succession. So I hung up the phone, called Geoffrey and my sister, and began packing the remnants of my hospital bag.
3 p.m.
By the time my husband made it home, my contractions were still 2.5 minutes apart. I was crawling on the floor in my underwear, trying to get ready, take care of the dogs, and text everyone. Geoff threw everything in the vehicle then drove like a mad man to the hospital. We made it there around 3 p.m. After about 20 minutes of paperwork, I was given a gown and a bed. As luck would have it, my regular doctor was away on vacation. I thought that only happened in the movies! I was instead seen by two resident doctors. After more questions and paperwork, they finally performed an internal exam. After they had finished, they began whispering to one another. I asked them how many centimetres dilated I was. They replied that I was 7 cm and that they had better call the on-call doctor.
4 p.m.
By 4 p.m., I was taken to my delivery room. For the next two hours, I sat on a birthing ball and breathed through my contractions. My sister and birth photographer also showed up during that time. By 6 p.m., I was nearly 10 cm. However, my water was still intact, so my sister told the doctors to break it for me. I agreed. After crawling back on the bed, they broke my water, then left the room to go and get prepared for the delivery. On my next contraction, I felt the need to push. I yelled that the baby was coming, and for everyone to get back in the room. They came back, and the rest was a blur.
6 p.m.
My eyes were closed for the final stage of labour. What I do remember is everyone talking and laughing, my sister cheering me on, and thinking about what I forgot to do before I left the house. Geoffrey said that I kept answering “I don’t know” to their questions.
6:55 p.m.
After 55 minutes of pushing, Remy was born. It was the single greatest moment of my life.
7 p.m. and Onwards
After several photographs, texts, phone calls, skin-to-skin time, and a shower, we were all finally ready to be taken to our private room. While being transferred there, the delivery room nurse had commented that because it was such a quick labour, that next time I should come to the hospital as soon as I experience contractions. I replied that I did! In truth, everything happened so quickly that they didn’t even have time to insert an IV. I went into my birth not wanting to have any drugs, and that desire was fulfilled. However, if it had went longer than those 6 hours, I think that I would have changed my mind about the epidural. I certainly understand why women get them now.
Inevitably, I was so shocked that Remy was a girl. I was convinced throughout my pregnancy that I would be having a boy. Now, I can’t imagine it any other way. She is the best gift to come into my life, and is the best decision that my husband and I ever made. I love my little Rem-Star, and I would definitely go through it all again for her.
<3
Emory
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Welcome December! If you can recall, I first met this lovely couple from their maternity shoot. They have since gone from a duo to a trio. We met a few days before Halloween, so of course they put their little sweetie in her first costume!
It’s such an honour when clients return. I feel so blessed to photograph the same people more than once. On top of that, photographing new babies doesn’t feel like a job! We spent part of the afternoon in my home studio, and with soft music playing in the background and easy conversation, it was a wonderful time. I hope to see them again in the future.
To book your own session, please visit Prudence + Me Photography.
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