Birth story (ok, novel)

I apologise for the absolutely obscene length of this. I tried editing it down, but once I get going it's really hard to shut me up. Also, it's been two months so I just need to post the damn thing already.

Gjörið svo vel!

I was due January 23rd. Several days on I was still twiddling my thumbs, waiting for some sign that labor might be imminent.

Borgar & I went to sleep at around 3am on Sunday the 27th. About an hour later I woke up with bad abdominal pains. I stumbled half-asleep to the kitchen to get a glass of water and noticed that it was 4.12am. The pain disappeared and I went back to sleep without thinking much of it.

Around 5am I woke up in pain again. It felt like extremely bad cramps and lasted about a minute. I realised it couldn't be anything other than contractions. YAY‼ Finally, something was happening!

I tried to get back to sleep as it was still the butt-crack of dawn & I knew I'd need my rest, but the contractions were coming every 7 or 8 minutes, and were already too painful to sleep through. I gave in and got up and started timing the pains.

After a while I realised that the contractions were gradually becoming further apart. I figured it was probably false labor, stopped timing and went back to bed. That didn't last long though as the contractions kept coming. I went and had a shower and woke Borgar up.

Things didn't seem to be progressing all that quickly so we were able to take it fairly easy & get ourselves organised. For some reason I was all worried about the laundry so I went downstairs to sort it out. I don't know what I was thinking! I remember standing there trying to hang things up in between being doubled over with pain and doing my breathing exercises…crazy! Borgar did some chores, went to the supermarket, and packed our hospital bags.

The contractions gradually became more painful and closer together over the course of the day. Borgar called the hospital around 5pm and they said we could come in any time. Around 6 or 7pm the contractions suddenly started coming a lot faster & stronger. I knew it was nearly time to go.

We made it to the hospital around 8pm, me squirming & moaning the whole way. We met our midwife, Asthildur (who was completely lovely & wonderful) got hooked up so she could monitor my contractions. If I remember correctly she said that they were coming every 5-6 minutes at that point.

After that we got checked into a room. There was a bathtub! Woohoo! Ever since our birthing classes I'd been all excited to labor in the hot-tub. I asked if I was allowed to wear a bikini in there and Asthildur said of course, whatever I felt comfortable with. Woohoo again…I didn't have to be nekkid‼ The contractions were horrible by this point but the water helped a lot. I was also starving hungry, so the midwife brought me some food and I sat in the hot-tub in my bikini eating toast. If it weren't for the incredible, stabbing pain, it was almost like being on holiday. ;)

That was the last point at which labor was even remotely bearable. I remember saying to Borgar "It's not going to be long until I'm screaming", and sure enough a few minutes later I was yelling my head off. A little while after that I was screaming so intensely I was losing my voice. I must have scared the bejesus out of any women who were unlucky enough to overhear me! In fact, for several days after giving birth I had a sore throat & a dry cough as a result of screaming so much.

Let me just take a moment here to say that the videos they show you at the birthing classes are total utter BS. They show women calmly breathing and moaning slightly, before effortlessly pushing out their babies in a minute or two. I do understand why they show the easy births though. If they'd filmed me and shown that to a bunch of pregnant women, they'd all be demanding an epidural about a month before their due date.

So yes, I'd fully expected labor to be outrageously painful, but sweet Jesus! This was well beyond anything I'd been able to imagine. I'd say the pain was somewhere between having surgery without anaesthetic, and being stabbed to death (not that I've ever experienced either, but you get the idea!). The contractions were coming close together and even between the contractions the pain was very bad, like period cramps x 8 billion.

Asthildur asked if I'd like to try acupuncture. She placed a needle between my eyebrows for relaxation and it didn't do anything. She also offered me the laughing gas. I tried it but it didn't even dent the pain and just made me feel dizzy and nauseous. She said I should keep trying as it can take a while to kick in, but by this point the contractions were so intense that just keeping the mask on took more energy than I had to spare.

Asthildur checked my cervix again and said that I was about 5-6cm dilated -this about an hour after she'd estimated I was 6-7cm. Hmmm. The contractions were beyond excruciating and it looked like I still had a good few hours to go. I think I had a couple more contractions after that, then I asked if it was too late to get the epidural. I had been really determined not to get it, but I'd already been in labor for 19 hours and was utterly exhausted, and knew I wouldn't have the energy to keep going much longer.

A doctor came in to do the epidural. I had to lie on my side and stay still (yeah right!) while she inserted the needle into my spine. Of course, I had a contraction right as this was being done and I was holding Borgar's hand in an attempt to steady myself. I think I nearly bit his knuckle (yes, bit) in my attempt to get through the contraction!

I felt the effect of the epidural nearly immediately. I had 2 more contractions that were still painful but much, much easier than they had been, then after that I didn't feel a thing. I had to actually look at the monitor to know I was contracting. I couldn't believe how effective it was! In the space of about 20 minutes I'd gone from screaming my head off in the worst pain imaginable, to calmly chatting with Borgar and feeling great. It was an enormous relief. It was so nice to finally be able to relax and just enjoy myself.

After a few hours Asthildur checked my cervix again. My water still hadn't broken, so she broke it for me. Things seemed to progress pretty quickly after that. The epidural was wearing off but they decided not to top it up as it was better for me to be able to feel things when the time came to push.

Asthildur said my cervix was 8-9cm dilated and that it was already safe for me to start pushing. She brought in another midwife and I started to push. It was painful & hard work, but nowhere near as bad as the contractions had been. They told me to listen to my body and push when I felt like I needed to push, and also to push when I had a contraction. I couldn't feel the contractions, and often I'd feel a strong urge to push, but then when I did they'd stop me and tell me to rest. It was all very confusing.

In spite of the confusion, I must have been doing something right, because before too long they could see the baby's head coming. They asked if I wanted to see. Hell no I didn't want to see! I know, I know, the miracle of life and all that, but that's just not a visual I needed at that moment. A few minutes later they asked if I wanted to touch the top of her head, which I did. It was really soft and I could feel her hair.

Finally, at 3.38am on the 28th, after nearly 24 hours of labor and about 20 or 30 minutes of pushing, Mí­a came into the world. Without a doubt that was the happiest, most wonderful moment of my life. I remember asking Borgar "Is definitely a girl??" and he was kind of distracted and didn't answer immediately, so I got slightly worried. After a moment he assured me that yes, she was a girl. They wrapped her in a blanket and put her on my chest. It was undoubtedly love at first sight‼ My first thought was that she looked exactly like Borgar. She was pink & healthy looking right from the start, and very alert. She weighed 3550g and was 52cm long.

After that I wasn't greatly aware of anything else besides my baby. The placenta came and the midwives asked if I wanted to see it. Um no not really, but yeah ok, I'll look. They were all excited about it in a way that only midwives could be, and declared it to be beautiful. Borgar & I were less convinced.

I'd torn badly and needed a ton of stitches. They took a long time stitching me up, but all I was really aware of was my beautiful baby girl!

Around 5am we got moved to a family room with a nice double bed. Even though I'd only slept about 2 hours in the last 3 days (I'm not exaggerating), I still barely slept the first couple of days after Mí­a was born. I just wanted to stay awake and stare at my little girl and make sure she was ok. Heck, I'd waited 9 long months for this, why would I want to sleep when there was a baby to stare at?

We came home on the 29th and everything's been going wonderfully since! It's now two months on and Mía is the light of my life. :)