Sunzar

At twenty-five years old and a newlywed, I anticipated the birth of my first and only child with nervousness and excitement. My life in this year had changed so dramatically and ready or not the greatest change was about to come. Waiting for his birth was agonizing. Carrying around the baby weight, (which for me was a whopping sixty pounds!) was not easy. Almost forty weeks and I was ready to go! I went to my midwife a couple of days before my due date to get checked. I hadn't felt any contractions, but I felt like something was happening. So when she confirmed my suspicions that I was six centimeters and all the way effaced, I was so excited! She stripped my membranes at my request and sent me home saying she thought it would happen that night. That night at 7pm my husband Mike and I decided to try nipple stimulation to get my labor started because I still wasn't feeling anything. If I was going to go into labor I didn't want to be up all night and exhaust myself. SO, after ten minutes of the nipple stimulation, Mike went in the kitchen to wash the dishes. When he came back into the bedroom I was in full on labor!

It was 7:30 pm and Mike called my Mom. The empty birth pool sat in the living room ready and waiting. It still needed to be filled so Mike continued to work on that. I felt the contractions coming fast, I didn't even attempt to time them, they just came back to back. My mom arrived and I got into the bathtub, as soon as I was surrounded by the hot water, my limbs relaxed. I got focused and used deep diaphragmatic breathing. With eyes closed, I rode the waves. My mom coached me through the contractions and Lorri, and her team arrived. She checked me and said I was around 9 centimeters. I got into the birth pool. Closing my eyes again, everything around me faded into the background of my awareness. My focus was inside, surging each rising wave and coasting down as the contraction subsided. This was it, the last hours of my baby and I being one unit. All those months of anticipation and wonder, and now I had arrived at the moment from which life would never be the same. This was the ultimate precipice I would leap from.

After laboring in the pool for over an hour, I felt an intense urge to have a bowel movement. It was more than that, I felt the baby pushing down through me and was afraid to dirty the water. I insisted I had to get out and go to the toilet. Lorri assured me it was just the baby's head coming down. As soon as I got to the toilet, I heard a splash and felt pressure relieved! My water had broken!.

Suddenly, I felt scared. The contractions were a familiar feeling, like strong menstrual cramps, but very freaky. It felt like I would rip open. I looked across at my reflection in the mirror in front of me. I was completely white. I began shaking and just held on to Mike for dear life. They got me back to the pool and I felt an INTENSE urge to push. I knew it was coming. Lorri looked down and saw the head coming out. Mike got in the bathtub behind me; I couldn't hold my body up so I let him support me. After a few pushes, the head was coming down and crowning. A mirror was held up so I could see the head coming out. There he was with his dark hair! So, with the next couple of pushes he was born! From his perfect little world to the warm water of the tub and up onto my chest! I was elated, relieved and exhausted. That was hard work! All I saw was his tiny face and body, so gentle and pure. His dark eyes blinked slowly as he observed his new surroundings.

Welcome Sunzar Eneri Kakar! We love you!

If you had a baby with the midwives at South Coast Women's Health Care, we'd love to include your birth story here! You can submit photos and the story to: info@southcoastmidwifery.com

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