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Apologies in advance for the length of Xavier's birth story  The Birth of Xavier LeoOur 2nd little baby had the due date of 29/09/11. After Lucas arrived almost 2 weeks early, I had been told by my Obstetrician that it was quite possible that this baby would arrive around the same time.
So from the time I was around 38 weeks pregnant, I was expecting things to start happening!! Every little niggle I felt made me stop in my tracks and wonder if it was time. I started to confuse the feelings of a full bladder with ‘OMG are my waters about to break?!?!’ Trips to the shops and general outings made me start to question my sanity – ‘what am I doing?!? I could give birth any time now!!!’
But 38 weeks came and went, as did 39 weeks. I had an Ob appointment on Tuesday 20th September and he said as I was leaving that he would see me in a week. I replied “you better not!!!” I couldn’t believe our stubborn little bub was staying put – after all s/he (was still a surprise at this point) had been well and truly engaged since 32 weeks!
As the week went on, I became more and more disappointed that I had had NO signs of labour – no plug loss, no show…I hadn’t even started to nest like a mad woman, like I did with Lucas. So I plodded along and hoped and hoped that the annoying Braxton Hicks I had been having for weeks were actually doing something.
The weekend came and went and STILL no baby. I didn’t want it to be Monday again and I didn’t want to face another week with my husband at work and me having to be home with Lucas – I was sore, frustrated and tired!
Monday morning, 26th September, saw me wake up and feel kind of different. I really don’t know how to describe it – I was just feeling ‘off’. Not run to the bathroom NOW sort of off, but just blah. I didn’t tell my husband, as I didn’t want him to stress. At the same time, I didn’t want to jinx myself ;) I had planned to go to the shops with Lucas, but just couldn’t drag myself to get organised. So we said goodbye to daddy as he went off to work.
10am came, and along with it came a pain. Not a bad pain, just a mild sort of pain. 10.10am saw the same occur. ‘Ok’, I thought as I noted the time down. After an hour or so, it became apparent that these mild pains were kind of regular. ‘Yeah, yeah body. Stop teasing me’ I thought. ‘I can’t be in labour – I have had no other sign – no show, no plug loss, N.O.T.H.I.N.G nothing!!’
So I kept writing down the times of these pains and their frequency continued. I decided that at 2pm I should perhaps let my husband know what was happening. So I instant messaged him and he replied almost immediately with ‘I’m on my way’. I told him that I was pretty sure it was a false alarm and to calm down. He decided to come home anyway.
My next call was to my Ob – in his ever so casual manner he predicted that our baby would arrive later that night. I replied that I wasn’t so sure and that the pains weren’t really bad and that they had even stopped a few times ;)
Husband arrived home and we thought we’d better put his parents on notice to come and mind Lucas should things get more serious. It was around 3pm at this stage. Meanwhile I prepared some dinner for Lucas and thought I’d relax in the shower for a bit.
It was around 4pm that the pains started to get a bit worse and my feelings of urgency to get to the hospital increased. I watched Playschool with Lucas before posing for some photos at around 5pm just before the in-laws arrived. I hadn’t even put on my tens machine at this stage –I wanted to keep it for the ‘bad’ contractions :P
We left for the hospital at around 5.15pm. My Ob had said all along that once my labour started, things would happen quickly – being my 2nd labour and the fact that my first had not been all that long. I didn’t fancy being stuck on one of the busiest main roads in Sydney that we had to go along to get to hospital, whilst in labour so off we went!
Got to hospital at 5.30pm. I almost apologized to the midwife saying something like ‘look, I’m not even sure this is actual labour’, believing that I had a long way to go as I had still had no plug loss or show. She however confirmed that I was 4cm dilated. I was disappointed – I was 5cm on arrival with Lucas and had not even reached that point!!
She assured me that 2nd labours are generally faster so not to worry. This was around 5.40pm. I hopped in the shower-spa and let the hot water soothe my pain. I had my ipod blaring out my motivational tunes and my husband directing the hot water onto my back.
Contractions became more intense and I found rocking to the music a great distracter. Not one to deny myself the opportunity to get high on gas, I asked for the portable nitrous tank and used this from around 6.45pm ;) Not long after, I felt a lot of pressure and the bearing down sensation I thought was ages away. ‘Can’t be’, I thought to myself. Then a minute later it happened again.
My midwife got me to get out of the spa and onto the bed, where she announced that I was there – 10CM!!! This was around 7pm. The only thing keeping my baby in was the fact that my waters were still intact.
A frantic call to my Ob was made - I overheard the midwife ask where he was because I was ready! A couple of minutes later he ran into the room, huffing and puffing having obviously been taken by surprise at the speed at which I had progressed.
Being the non-intervention type of Ob he is, he didn’t want to break my waters. I apparently questioned the logic of this ‘if it’s going to get this baby out…JUST DO IT!!!’ I said :D He asked whether I was sure before going ahead with ARM.
I was holding onto the gas mouthpiece firmly at this stage and giving death stares to anyone who tried to wrangle it from my grasp ;) Someone finally convinced me to let go so that I could push properly. That person should become a Police negotiator as I am one stubborn gal normally and add this to the pain, emotion and tension of being in labour ;)
Next thing I knew, I was pushing (and looking – yes, I built up the courage to watch this time. Well worth it!!). It was just after 7.05pm. Then, my husband was called to the end of the bed by my Ob – he was going to deliver our baby!! After the next push, a head appeared and my husband was shown where to hold our baby. He told me later on that he couldn’t believe how fast our baby then came out – literally it was ‘whoosh’!!
So at 7.13pm, after only 1 ¾ of active labour, little Xavier Leo entered our lives and stole our hearts. The emotion you feel when you first hold your newborn is truly like nothing else. It is the MOST amazing feeling. He was 3.490kg and 49cm, so around 200 gms and ½ cm bigger than his brother. My Ob and midwife were surprised at his size, as I had always measured small for dates.
I couldn’t believe how great I felt – luckily missed out on tearing and stitches and Xavier took to feeding easily. I was hungry, so tucked into the dessert from the dinner that had been left in my room, whilst we tried to work out what to call our babe. He didn’t end up with a name until the next day – we couldn’t decide!!
We’re obviously home now and Lucas is getting used to having a baby in the house. He loves giving his little brother hugs which makes my heart melt – brothers bonded from the very beginning <3
The only downside to the whole speedy and wonderful labour and birth is that it has left me wanting more babies!!!
 
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