Let me preface this post with the statement that my sister is an amazing birth machine!!! This was her 3rd birth (1st was in hospital, 2nd was at home, and 3rd was both and all have been au naturel.) She called me at 6:15pm Friday night to tell me she thought things might be starting. I was getting dressed up for a Halloween Party and was happy that I could put down my pathetic costume I had been working on. I thought I would get my son to bed and go to her house around 8pm... that was until I got a text at 7:23 "Come Now." When I get those texts it means I should have been there already, so I hopped in the car and was at her house 6 minutes later. She was definitely in the thick of labour. I started crying as soon as I saw her labouring in her bedroom... the contractions were so incredibly intense. She told me to pull it together (so I got into doula mode) and knelt down to put counter-pressure on her back to help the pain.
She was so focused while things moved very quickly around her. The midwives arrived. The tub was filling up. She finally entered the tub after 8pm. RELIEF! And from this point things moved even quicker. There was no sign that the baby was coming out... no transition, no pushing, just one scream and the baby was in the water. The midwife helped my sister pull up her baby... and there was shock and surprise among everyone there, including my sister. A few moments passed and she looked down to discover a GIRL!!!
Things continued to move quickly. Dave took the baby while my sister moved on to focus on delivering the placenta... but the placenta was slow to come and there was a lot of postpartum bleeding. The midwives moved her to the bed where it was more comfortable for her, but after about 30 minutes the primary midwife Bethany (who is amazing!) acknowledged the hemorrhage was quite serious and she had to transfer to the hospital. Meanwhile, my sister is rosy, glowing and although she wished she could relax in bed with all 3 of her babies, she felt at peace about going to the hospital. So things got a bit dramatic when the ambulance came, but still in good humour she made a joke that "this is probably only the beginning of all the drama that this girl will bring."
I met them at the hospital. Bethany, the midwife was incredible... she had applied pressure to the area the entire ambulance ride until the OB arrived... needless to say she was extremely sore from bending over my sister for nearly an hour. Thank you Bethany for doing such an amazing job! The OB checked my sis and gave her good news, there was no serious tears or complications, and she could just relax in the hospital for the night and go home first thing.
So it was an incredible birth journey. SOOOOO much happened so quickly! It goes without saying I was honoured to be apart of it. I love my new beautiful niece and can hardly wait to go shopping for PINK!
She was so focused while things moved very quickly around her. The midwives arrived. The tub was filling up. She finally entered the tub after 8pm. RELIEF! And from this point things moved even quicker. There was no sign that the baby was coming out... no transition, no pushing, just one scream and the baby was in the water. The midwife helped my sister pull up her baby... and there was shock and surprise among everyone there, including my sister. A few moments passed and she looked down to discover a GIRL!!!
Things continued to move quickly. Dave took the baby while my sister moved on to focus on delivering the placenta... but the placenta was slow to come and there was a lot of postpartum bleeding. The midwives moved her to the bed where it was more comfortable for her, but after about 30 minutes the primary midwife Bethany (who is amazing!) acknowledged the hemorrhage was quite serious and she had to transfer to the hospital. Meanwhile, my sister is rosy, glowing and although she wished she could relax in bed with all 3 of her babies, she felt at peace about going to the hospital. So things got a bit dramatic when the ambulance came, but still in good humour she made a joke that "this is probably only the beginning of all the drama that this girl will bring."
I met them at the hospital. Bethany, the midwife was incredible... she had applied pressure to the area the entire ambulance ride until the OB arrived... needless to say she was extremely sore from bending over my sister for nearly an hour. Thank you Bethany for doing such an amazing job! The OB checked my sis and gave her good news, there was no serious tears or complications, and she could just relax in the hospital for the night and go home first thing.
So it was an incredible birth journey. SOOOOO much happened so quickly! It goes without saying I was honoured to be apart of it. I love my new beautiful niece and can hardly wait to go shopping for PINK!
This is actually just a sneak peak of her photos, so check back soon for her slideshow!
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