:: Welcome Cole Robert ::

:: Well after many days of being a Mama of two boys I figured I should post something about this little one that has been given to us by the Lord ::

:: How he came into the world ::

Well, I woke up early on Thursday (Nov.1st) with a funny feeling and that funny feeling made me feel uneasy...I did not have any desire to have this child on my bathroom floor. So we called my Auntie Teri and she arrived to take care of Jacob while we went into the hospital.

We got to the hospital, got checked and the nurse said I was 2-3 cm dilated and not effaced at all. Okay so how does that change from Wednesday morning when I went to the doctors and she said that I was easily 4 cm and 80% effaced. So I asked for the doctor to come and check me, well the nurse was not pleased -- she said "Well I checked you" and I said that I wanted the doctors opinion. So Dr. Mahunga came and checked me and said that I was about 4 cm and partially effaced, so she said let me just strip your membranes...well she did that and my water broke. Now that REALLY ticked off the nurse as there was only one bed left in the ward and that was going to the girl beside me.

Since I wanted to give birth @ SMH I decide to go home and labour at home instead of in the hospital. So we leave and go to Ricky's for breakfast with my brother and my parents. I started having contractions every 5-6 minutes for about 2 hours and then we went for a walk and they increased to 2-3 minutes apart however there was no pain with any of them. We relax at my parents place and I continue to pace throughout the house to try and keep labour going. Meanwhile, Jacob is at our place playing with my Aunt and enjoying his day not knowing that any of this was going on.

At around 4:30 my contractions stopped completely. I was very frustrated as I just wanted it to progress, at the same time I was a little worried about the baby knowing that my water was broken and there is chance of infection. So I call the hospital and they say to come in and get checked out. We arrive at the hospital around 5:30 and get admitted into triage. The nurse calls the doctor and she comes to check me and I'm 5 cm and 80% effaced...so I'm not leaving the hospital. Thankfully I arrived when I did as I got the last bed for the night.

However, I may have had a room but I didn't have a nurse and until I had a nurse I couldn't go to the room. We waited almost 2 hours until we met my nurse, Darlene and got checked into the hospital. Once I was settled into my room I walked the hallways with my Doula, Rayann and the contractions started to come back on their own (every 6-7 minutes). When I got stopped in the hall by Dr. Mahunga and she sent me back to my room as she wanted to break my second water and get this show on the road.

At 8:30 pm or there abouts, she came in and broke my water and off I went to walk the halls again. Well I barely made it to the end of the hallway and I felt like I needed to push...so back to the room as I didn't trust the pressure I was feeling. The nurse checked me around 9:00 pm and said I was still 5 cm. I stayed on my bed for the next hour and a half as my contractions were coming ever 40 seconds and lasting for 4-5 minutes. They didn't even give me time to recover and there was another contraction starting. Finally I got a break and headed into the shower - oh, sweet relief! I spent the better portion of an hour and a half in the shower until the nurse ordered me to come out as the doctor wanted to check me. So back to the bed to have the doctor check the baby and me and I was 7 cm - YaY!

As soon as I could I headed back into the shower but this time I didn't use the exercise ball -- I wanted gravity to take over so this baby could come out...the sooner the better! I was in the shower for a half hour and then the nurse pulled me out to monitor the baby and check my vitals at this time I asked for some Fentenol (aka: Drugs) I got the drugs about a half hour later and they helped to just take the edge off of the contractions. While I was on the bed the doctor came in and checked me and I was fully dilated. So she asked me to push on my next contraction, I did and she confirmed it "it's showtime" YEE HAW! The only sucky thing was that I only got one shot of Fentenol as they couldn't give me anymore since I was fully dilated!

So out comes that crazy table covered with plastic wrap to ensure the instruments stay serialized. Everyone who wanted to be in the room to experience this was called in and the doctor told me to push on my next contraction, and as I did she said "yep, we sure are ready!"

So comes the pushing part, we were nearing midnight and I really, really wanted to have this baby on November 1st so my pushes had some power behind them as I time was of the essence! So comes the time to push, first push the head comes out and apparently the umbilical cord was over his head like a continuation of his spine...but thankfully it wasn't around his neck. Then the second push the doctor gingerly tugged on his neck (this killed my mom to see this) and ever so gently with my next push he was out.

It was a great feeling to have the birth over with, but an even greater feeling to see him, feel him and know that my little boy was here. And unlike with Jacob he didn't have to be toted over to the table right away which meant that Paul was able to cut the cord. They let him stay on my chest for a good minute - which I just savoured, Jacob was whisked away so quickly I didn't get to revel in his beauty until 10 minutes or so after he was born.

I have to say that it was a really great birth experience. However I don't think I couldn't have done it without Paul. He can just say one thing to me and it's the right thing and I know I can go on. He doesn't touch me in the wrong place, he doesn't talk too much, he doesn't talk too little...he's just perfect and as much as I'm thankful to have my 2 sons I am SO thankful to have such an amazing husband that is by my side walking through and doing life with me.