Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Day 22- Place of care - Birth


Day 22- Place of care/ birth

My husband, Manuel de Leça, has been my soul companion. He has been my birth assistant/doula/midwife with each of our 4 miraculous children. We have been so blessed to have experienced water births every time, and the last 3 were unassisted homebirths. He has attended 2 homebirth courses and caught each of his children as they came into this world and placed them in my arms. 

Joaquim was born on the day of my baby shower, 23 July 2011, 30 minutes after the last guest left. We had been to the Gynae the day before, where she had assured us that he would still take another 2 weeks to come. Joaquim was 3,5kgs in the scan and his back was on my back. I spent the night asking him to turn, as a back labour would have been long and painful for both of us. During the night my incredible little man turned around! I had woken to contractions early in the morning, but brushed them off as false labour pains. Manuel was helping me throughout the morning to prepare for our guests arrival, we were combining my baby shower with my daughters’ 3rd birthday party. I remember walking around the garden hanging chocolates in the trees for the treasure hunt, and stopping every few minutes as a contraction hit, I would just squat on the grass, and when it passed I would just carry on as if this was perfectly normal. The guests arrived and the contractions were getting closer together. When I hit transition, it was clear to everyone that I was in full blown labour. As I was breathing through contractions, and opening my gifts, Manuel was filling up the birth pool and ushering all the guests away! We had all our children with us in the lounge, the vanilla scented candles were lit, and my meditation music played peacefully in the background. My sister and her children were visiting for the weekend, so it really was a family affair.
I spent a few minutes on the balcony watching the birds in the garden, allowing myself to get lost in the moment. My daughter climbed in the birth pool with me, and together we swayed until I felt his head crowning. I called for Manuel, and in a dance that we had done so many times before, he supported my body as the intense waves of pushing began. He was skilled at not allowing my lower body to rise from the water, if Joaquims head made contact with oxygen then he would instinctively take a breath. If you stay submerged until he is born then a water birth is perfectly safe. His head came out with one push, and 30 seconds later, he flew out into his fathers’ hands. We were blessed to have my sister there, as she was able to video the birth. Joaquim was perfectly pink, and had a perfect apgar score. It is a memory for us to treasure forever, I will never forget a single moment! We held onto that bubble of bliss for 3 days, until the Apnoeas began.




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