a birth story - part fifteen


In my birth story so far;

32 hours after my water first broke,
and after hours of pain and fear and drama,
my baby has finally entered the world
with a little help from doctor and her ventouse
and a lot of pushing from me.


He let out a cry instantly,
so was allowed to be delivered up onto a blanket on my tummy
before being given to the paediatricians to be checked over.
As a result of my waters having broken so early,
he was practically dry on delivery.
So he didn’t have that slimy newborn appearance
that I’d always been a little scared of.
And despite the long and traumatic labour,
he was born really alert and wide-eyed,
like he was taking it all in instantly.

I had been quite specific
that I wanted my hubby to tell me whether the baby was a boy or a girl,
but in the rush of excitement and love that we felt,
the midwives had to remind him to look and to tell me,
and it hadn’t crossed my mind to ask.
I was just so suddenly and completely in love with this little creature.

As the paediatricians took him away to do some checks,
my husband and I stared at each other in dreamy disbelief.
Everything that everyone had ever told me about childbirth was one hundred percent true.
All the panic and the fear and the pain had completely faded away
in the exact moment that I’d first looked at him.
I knew instantly that I would have gone through it all over again
just for that look,
that feeling,
that overwhelming love.

While the doctors got down to the business of stitching me up,
my hubby went to look at his son.
He’s not really one to get emotional or excitable about things,
but when he took a break from staring at his little boy
to check that his wife was still okay,
he had a look on his face that said
he was, in fact, the cat who had got the cream.

The little guy got the okay from the paediatricians
and they brought him back over to us.
As my husband held him I touched my hand to my now empty belly.
Only moments before he had been inside there,
all cosy and warm and safe.
And now he was here.
Now I could share the job of keeping him safe with his daddy.
We were a family now.

As soon as our little man arrived,
I struggled to find any relationship between the bump and our baby.
The baby I had carried around inside of me for nine months had been Dollop.
Dollop kicked me in the hip bones,
got really bad hiccups
and wriggled a lot when I ate spicy food.
But Dollop was gone now.
It almost felt like we had traded Dollop for a baby,
I never could think of the two as being the same thing.

Dollop was all our hopes and our dreams.
This beautiful boy was our reality.
And he is,
every day and in every way,
more perfect and more incredible
than we could have ever hoped or dreamed.

13 comments

  1. lovely, that moment you first lay eyes on your child is the greatest moment ever!

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  2. I've read your birth story from beginning to end. The suspense for the next part was horrible!! That moment of when you first lay eyes on your baby is beautiful. Its a moment every mother cherishes forever x

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  3. Ahhh it is all worth it but god can it be awful! x

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  4. Awww lovely I missed this one as I was so busy working this week. I have been waiting for this one since you started your birth story. X

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  5. What a lovely story, well done for writing it down. My son is 21 now and I can remember this moment like it was this morning! x

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  6. Wow, what a great write up of your birth story! I'm so glad I read this now and didn't have to wait for the next instalment, the suspense would have killed me! I had my 2nd baby last week and haven't been able to get my head round writing my story yet but now have the urge to go and do it!

    I'm so glad you moved and got great care in the end.

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  7. Wow Lucy what an amazing and very in depth story! How on earth did you remember all that? It had me on the edge of my set all the way through! I am glad you were moved to the hospital as that first midwife did not sound very helpful at all!
    Thanks fr sharing it was a wonderful read and thank you for linking up x x

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  8. Crikey, you had me hooked all the way through! I was willing you to have an epidural - I had one and it was the *best* decision I made, without doubt. You're so right, you need to feel safe and you have to do whatever that takes - these things rarely pan out quite how you anticipate or plan!
    Well done you - best of luck with your next one!

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  9. Wowzers what an epic birth story! Sounds like you had a really awful time but I'm so glad your boy was delivered safely in the end.
    Well done for standing up for yourself. I hope that Splodges birth is a quicker and more positive experience.

    Thanks for linking up to Flashback Friday xx

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  10. Thank you so much for writing this. As a first time mom in my seventh month, I am highly curious as to the whole experience of birth.

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  11. Quite glad I waited to read this as don't think I could have handled the suspense of waiting for the next chapter! Such a shame when things don't go to plan but as you say - it all becomes irrelevant when you hold that gorgeous baby! x

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  12. Ahhhh Lucy I just cried. This birthing story has been absolutely captivating and I would read it all again. So lovely the way you segmented it and share this beautiful part of your life. This post truly got me choked up. Lovely words, well written and perfectly beautiful!!!! Just as your beautiful baby boy!

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  13. Beautiful, just beautiful, what a perfectly written account :) xxx so lovely

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