At 11 days past the estimated due date I sent an eviction notice to the wriggling mystery inside me, by way of eating an entire pineapple and a cycle to the other side of town for an Indian lunch. Things started to rumble in my belly and early labour officially started at 10.50pm Thursday. We were pretty excited and rushed about putting things into the birth bag and Toby finally started reading the instructions to the Maxi-Cosi. Throughout the night I focused on calm breathing and slipped in and out of a light sleep. Toby choosing to write down the surge patterns meant he didn’t get much sleep either. By Friday morning the surges seemed to be at a similar strength and pace and could still go for a walk outside. Focusing on the physiology of the surges really helped me understand and therefore work with with them. The visualisation of the blue satin ribbons around the uterus pulling upward opening and thinning stayed with me throughout the entire labour process. It wasn’t until late Friday night when the surges came stronger and closer together. At 1am I started to track the surges and by 5am it was time to call the hospital. We requested the room with the birth pool at the Saint Lucas Andreas and they said it was available. The reality of birthing in the pool finally hit me and I felt really excited now.

We arrived in the room and a midwife turned the lights down and checked my dilation I was a ‘big 4’. She filled the pool and left us alone. Here I could comfortably go into my breathing. Toby slept a few hours and it was all very relaxed all day. Later that evening a midwife started the conversation that I was progressing too slowly and when examining me stretched me and said ‘now you are a big 6.’ I yelled at her in the politest way… get out… get out…

She came back a little later and wanted to progress the labour more so we discussed breaking the membranes. I wanted to collect the amniotic fluid for an art project so it was done and it was clear. And everyone relaxed again.

The rest of the labour was a blur of moving about the room, leaning against table tops, visualising opening roses and Toby doing light touch massage which seem to work very well and occasionally surprising me with shaking the apple tree. His sense of humour really carried me through when I started to get too serious. When things felt like they were finally getting more urgent we refilled the pool and I slid in.

It was very calming being in the pool and the surges slowed down which the midwives became alarmed by as the labour was now in its 47th hour and fast approaching Sunday morning. They were worried I would get to tired for the actual birth so they suggested oxytocin. We said no and they left us alone. Toby and I spoke about our decision and 30 minutes later we called the midwife and said ok. The surges came on hard and fast and it was an hour of some very lizard brain primal noises from me and at times ‘GIVE ME ALL THE DRUGS NOW’ the midwife said ‘no’ as per my birth plan and left us alone. Toby held my head and kept saying encouraging words… I cant remember what exactly. I did start to feel the need to push though and switched to the J-breathing. Toby ran to get the midwife and she checked my dilation. “It’s beautiful. You are fully open”

And then everything just fell out of my head. The J-breathing wasn’t working with the force I felt I needed. So I asked her how to push. She said take a deep breath and push, don’t let the air out. 15 minutes later and the wriggling mystery was crowning. Toby said ‘It looks like a coconut’. That coconut was infinitely beyond any pain I have ever felt. She asked if Toby wanted to catch the baby but he said he wanted to stay with me which at that moment my love for him expanded. A minute later I felt arms and legs slide out easily and the babe was emerging from the water towards us.

It was some time before we even remembered to look to see if we had a boy or a girl. Toby said it looks like boy. We checked, and it was. Within the calm chaos a midwife said she was going to give me a shot of oxytocin for the placenta. Which came out a second after she injected me. After the cord stopped pulsating Toby and the student midwife made placenta prints while I had some skin to skin time with this strange, slippery, instantly loved new human in the world. The pool started to get cold and Toby and the babe went for skin to skin time as I had another very beautiful moment. I found myself standing in the middle of the pool which was now blood red and two midwives were washing and cleaning me down with such care. It felt wonderful bathing in endorphins and I believe it helped me transition back into myself. After that I felt like I had a new energy. We all laid down for more skin to skin and breastfed our very alert boy as meconium flowed out of him all over me and all over Toby.