My beautiful birth story....

My Beautiful birth story,

Tuesday June 12, I promised my daughter (3 years and 9 months) to go to a kids Cafe, i was 39.4 wks pregnant and I thought this baby would stay in for a little longer than 40 weeks.

in the Netherlands, we see a midwife and on Monday I had my last check up and everything was fine, I always loved to go to the midwife and this time my favorite midwife was on duty, she smiled at me and said “maybe tomorrow maybe next week, who knows”.

So me and my daughter Eylin were getting ready to leave the house, my pregnancy was an easy one with only a few bad days, and my hips where painful but my physiotherapist helped me with that, so it was okay.

I was taking it slow, and my daughter was so happy, she always loved to go to the Cafe with me and eat a toasted sandwich! I had to pee and when I was ready, I sat down on my bed to rest and help my girl get dressed. I thought I had to pee again, but it was too late…it was just a little bit but when I stood up a little more came out! So I thought… okay maybe my water broke but i’m not sure. I decided to call my midwife, she said she would  come and visit me to check if my water had actually broken. When she came to see me (after 3 hours) I stood up to open the door and then I knew it was my waters because there was soooo much, she confirmed and told me to relax and wait for my contractions to start. I was still okay at that point, no contractions and i decided to call my sister( she works at daycare and she would take care of Eylin when my labour started, oh and she lives with us!) She came home and took my daughter to the playground so i could go and take a shower and do my own thing. I called my husband and told him to come home in a few hours, I wasn’t worried though as my first labour took 20 hours!

At diner time I still didn’t feel a thing, only the baby kicking and dancing in my belly, my midwife called me to check on me and told me if my contractions didn’t come within 24 hours the hospital would take over…at that time i still wanted to give birth at home. I really didn’t want to be induced so i hoped for contractions.

At 2.00am I woke up with yessss contractions!

I was sitting on my fitness ball and my husband was timing the contractions, they were 8 mins apart and sometimes 2 minutes. I took a shower and the pain was okay, I did what I learned with Hypnobirthing and I felt alright. My husband called the midwife and she came to check on me. When she came in my contractions stopped and my daughter also woke up.. she was checking how far i was and it was only 1 cm...she told us to go to sleep again and call her when my contractions where back. I had to nurse my girl back to sleep and the contractions came back strong... within 30 minutes we had to call her again. I went downstairs to try to relax, my sister took care of Eylin and my husband helped me to go deeper into relaxation and Hypnobirthing. When the midwife came in, she told me it looked really good and she thought I was about 3 or 4 cm dilated ( she didn’t do a vaginal examination, she only felt my contractions). I heard my daughter waking up again, and decided to go to the hospital instead of staying at home.

My midwife had to call another midwife to come with me to my chosen hospital (in the Netherlands you can have a hospital birth with your midwife and no obstetrician.

Only when you ask or need medication the obstetrician will take over and the midwife will leave) so we said our goodbyes and jumped in the car to go to the hospital, it was about 25 minutes away but it was in the middle of the night so the roads were very quiet!

My contractions where painful and I had to throw up after every contraction, but still I felt happy to know I was going to meet my baby soon!

When we arrived at the hospital the midwife was very calm and sweet, I never met her before because she was from another midwife centre but it felt like I already knew her! She took her time to read my birth plan and my wishes which included a lotus birth and no medication, I didn’t want a beanie on my baby’s head when he was born so I could see and smell him and he me. I also didn’t want to be interrupted and I didn’t want to hear the words pain and other negative things. 

I was in the shower and later on a fitness ball, but the ball was too small for me so I had to hang onto the bed.

I didn’t want to lay down but after a few hours I was so tired, I was still throwing up  and I think it was about 6 in the morning and i wanted to know how far dilated I was. The midwife checked and I was only 3 cm...nooo i thought at least 6 or 7.

When I was having my first baby I was stuck at 6 cm and I got a fever, and this time I thought “I’m stuck at 3 or 4 cm and again, 38C fever”. The midwife told me this is how my body gives birth and it’s going to be alright. My husband helped me to go back into my Hypnobirthing flow and it worked. I let the contractions be and i did some positive thinking how my body would be open and soon I would cuddle my baby, at 9.00 I asked the midwife to check me again, still 4 cm…

I told her that I wanted to have pain relief medication( Remifentanil) and I didn’t want syntocinon, so the hospital took over and luckily the doctor and nurse were so sweet and respectful they told me they were prepping my medication and in that they started to read my birth plan and wishes. 

The midwife left when I was all set up and I was so relieved when the painkiller started to work, I loved it!

It took the raw edges from my contractions and in between I was able to relax a lot deeper. I asked my husband to call my mother,  so she could come and support me, so he did she told him she'd be here in 45 minutes. Very soon afterwards I thought I had to push, so the doctor checked me and nope 5 cm so no pushing for me! 2 or 3 contractions later I was screaming “I have to push!!!!!!” And yes 10 cm! (within one hour!!)

They ceased the medication and I was still on my back But I couldn’t stop the pushing!

In my birth plan I wrote down that I wanted to give birth on my knees, so I was pushing and i was also listening to the nurse when she told me to breathe instead of pushing, this time I felt the ring of fire and yes I screamed but didn’t push! The doctor told me one more push and your baby is out. I wanted my husband to be the first one who would touch my baby and he did! He gave me my beautiful healthy son Yulan wauw. His eyes he looks like his sisters and he was so perfect and he latched almost right after birth. The pushing was only 6 minutes and I had just a little tear. It was almost to small to stitch. My placenta came after 12 minutes, and after my husband cut the cord.

My mother came in and she couldn’t believe her eyes, this time she was too late to see her grandson be born.

But she was so sweet she helped me in the shower,  she washed me and we had a laugh.
I had to stay in the hospital for 12 hours because of my water being broken for more then 24hours before he came out, but it was fine.
My sweet girl Eylin and my sister and dad came in to meet Yulan, it was so good to see my daughter again and she was all fine, she even left with my dad and sister again without crying.

 At 23.00 we were okay to go home and I walked out of the hospital!  Yulan had nursed a few times already at that point! He's so talented!

in the Netherlands we all get a special postpartum nurse who helps you the first week, she comes in to clean your house, do your laundry, make breakfast, lunch and fruit salads, check you and your baby and if you have stitches she also checks if it is healing well. She also checks your temperature and the postpartum bleeding and if your womb is going back to normal. She also helps with breastfeeding. In my case I didn’t need help as I was still nursing my first child. Yulan only lost 80 grams the first day, the day after he already gained 40 grams. After a week he was 500 grams heavier!!! So proud! This was one of the most beautiful weeks in my life, I held my boy all day and we enjoyed every second of the good care of the nurse!

After my first labour I was so afraid and I had a very bad and scary memory, this time it was beautiful, it made me feel so much stronger and I wasn’t in pain afterwards. it was all okay and I think giving birth is one of the most beautiful things in life! Hypnobirthing and writing my birth plan was so helpful! 

Cathy and Yulan born 13 June 2019 10.42u 3520 gram

xx

Gorgeous birth story by mama @keetx