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7:20 a.m .: start of contractions
Thursday, December 27, 7:20 a.m. I am awake. Pain appears in my lower abdomen. I’m starting to get used to it, it’s been working for a while now in anticipation of the birth. It’s more painful than usual, and longer. Five minutes later, we start the same cycle again, and another, etc. I get up, I run a bath. It continues, but little by little, the contraction and the pain combine. Two hours that it contracts… By the way… “Happy birthday my heart! But don’t stress like that! ”. We give breakfast to the children, we dress them. Then I call Catherine, the midwife. She will be there around 11:30 …
In the meantime, I get René and Romy out of bed. They are the ones who will take care of the children during childbirth. We take advantage of the time that passes between two contractions to organize the dining room. We make room so that I can move as I please. René arrives and leaves with the children. We stay between ourselves, we go around in circles, so we do a little tidying up (between two contractions), just not to “think” too much, to let things happen …
11:40 am: the midwife arrives
Catherine arrives. She puts her equipment in a corner and examines me: “Between 4 and 5, it’s not bad…”, she says. Very quickly, the contractions are getting closer, more intense. I walk between two. She advises me to support myself by leaning forward during the contractions… The baby has his back against my back, that’s why the contractions end with the back. When I change my behavior, she immediately sees that the baby engages in the pelvis… I confirm, because there, the sensations really change! She massages my back with essential oils, Pierre helps me to support the contractions when I am leaning forward. Around 14:30 p.m., I finally find my position. I’m starting to have trouble staying on my feet, so I go and lean on the couch. On your knees. It allows me to keep the position leaning forward. In fact, I do not leave this position anymore …
13 p.m .: I’m losing water
There, very clearly, I am entering a new phase. I have the impression that it is very long, when in fact, everything is going to go very quickly. It is only from this moment that Catherine will be very present. Until then, she had remained really discreet. Around me, everything falls into place: a space for after birth, a basin of hot water (for the perineum… happiness!)… Well, I admit, I didn’t follow everything, eh !! Peter holds my hand, but actually I need to focus on myself. I shut myself up a bit. Catherine encourages me, explains to me that I must accompany my baby, not to hold him back. It’s very hard to do … Accept to let it go, step by step. It hurts ! Sometimes I want to cry, other times to scream. I find myself bitching (literally, not showing bad temper …) with each contraction, trying to accompany it. I trust Catherine and push, as she advises me (“it relieves to push…”). When she says to me: “come on, it’s the head”, I think the head begins to show. My legs are shaking, I don’t know how to hold myself. At that moment, I don’t control much… “If you can let go, put your hand, you will feel it!” I can’t, I feel like I’ll fall if I let go of the sofa !. A contraction… A long contraction that burns, but which forces me to let out the head (to push it…), and the shoulders… Physically, a great relief: the body is out. And I hear him scream… but then right away!
13:30 p.m .: Mélissa is here!
It is 13:30 pm… I grab my baby. I don’t even know how to take it well. Pierre is standing “It’s Mélissa!”. My baby is fine. I have him in my arms … The following hours. We don’t wash Mélissa. We wipe it off. I sit on the sofa, helped by Pierre and Catherine. I have it all against me, I give it kisses, the caress. When the cord stops beating, Peter cuts it. I put my daughter to the breast around 14 p.m. …
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