Birth

Crikey, what a night that was. It's something that no-one can prepare you for, no matter how many pre-natal courses you do or how many books you read. The pain, or at least for me, was incredible. I arrived at the hospital at midnight already three cm dilated (although I didn't understand this at the time - I gave birth in Italy and had given up on listening to them when the contractions started) and after they'd given me a quick sweep (which was less painful than I'd expected) they got me straight into one of the birthing rooms. It was large, airy and had a lovely big birthing pool in one corner. There were cushions and a huge bed and an assortment of pulleys and levers placed about the room, presumably for me to have grabbed onto but, I can tell you, were lost from my mind forever once the contractions became stronger and I was lying on the floor. Gas and air as pain relief aren't available in Italy and since my hospital only offered epidurals during the hours 8am to 8pm, I was out of luck. However, they did offer me 'water therapy' and I instantly bit their hands off. Unfortunately, it didn't work, and so I lay though fifteen minutes of water injections into my groin and bottom for nothing. The doctor decided a couple of hours in that I wasn't dilating quickly enough and so they stuck me on a drip. They also lost contact with baby's heartbeat and so stuck a monitoring wire up my vagina and onto baby's head to keep a check on him. The hours until 5.30am are a complete blur - I remember only vomiting heavily two or three times over a nurse and getting myself into the bathroom at some point for the biggest poo I'd ever done in my entire life. At five thirty, however, I remember the washes of pain becoming intense, localised pain as my baby finally decided it was time to make an appearance. I was by this time on all fours on the bed and what I remember most clearly about the whole labour are the final four or five pushes, culminating in the last, big push for his head. I tried to escape from the pain and started to run, on all fours, up the bed and away from whatever was happening down at that end, and the nurses had to restrain me! However, the relief that came with the head coming out was indescribable and getting the body out was a doddle. It's true what they say about forgetting the pain of birth. By day four I was ready to do it again!