My body really knew how to birth my baby

Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Magnolia 3.8kg
41+2
Unexpected Home Birth

I was 41+2 so my midwife kept pushing for induction which I declined as I felt educated enough to do so. I would revisit that decision if baby didn’t arrive by 42 weeks. I agreed to attend a hospital appointment to be monitored the following day. My midwife was happy enough with booking that in and she told us to go for a beach walk and relax! Baby will be here soon enough.
As we were walking, I felt slight cramps. I had just downloaded a surge timer app so I thought I’d test it out. It said the cramps were 6 minutes apart. A notification popped up saying we should get ready to go to the hospital. I dismissed it thinking the app was silly! We then ran a couple of errands and went home.

The surges were picking up slightly in intensity and I asked my husband to help me put on my TENS machine. I scavenged  around in my hospital bag for my birth comb and swayed gently over our dining table. Sitting on the birth ball felt uncomfortable. The surges were 2-3 minutes apart now but I felt quite relaxed, just slightly uncomfortable. We rang the birth suite, and after speaking with me, they informed me that I was in early labor and the surges would space back out again. The midwifes told me to relax and that first time mums generally have a long first labor. I decided I would probably be having a long night – it was around 3pm. So I laid in bed and told my husband to do chores!

He came in every now and then to read affirmations and check on me. He laid with me and help my hands during a particularly uncomfortable surge. At 6pm he came in and asked if I wanted to watch Deal or No Deal (we had watched this a lot while I was pregnant) I told him politely but firmly no thanks! The surges felt manageable but intense and I felt like I had to go to the toilet. I knew this was a sign that baby was near but didn’t believe it as I felt so calm! As I sat on the toilet, I had to call my husband back as my body was pushing. I was in so much shock! My husband called the birth suite where they told us to come in and get checked. My husband was trying to get me off the toilet into the car when I felt her head. I asked him to check and he confirmed. He called 000 and they helped him through the delivery process.

I birthed my daughter standing up in our bathroom over a bath mat into my husbands arms. The paramedics arrived shortly after and I was transferred to hospital by ambulance. It is now 8 weeks later and I’m still amazed by my birth. I felt empowered to make decisions about my labor and it was so beautiful. I’m thankful I felt educated enough to decline induction for post date reasons (it was the right decision in our circumstances) My body really knew how to birth my baby. We had planned to have a water birth at hospital but we didn’t expect her to arrive so quickly but calmly.