The Mighty Quinn

After losing our first baby prematurely  (see Losing Angelique) , under very traumatic circumstances, my husband Richard and I felt strongly that we wanted the birth of our next baby to be a happy and joyous occasion.

I became pregnant again in April 1999. The pregnancy went very well and once we were past the initial fear of another premature birth, we started looking for a midwife who would work with us, and respect our wishes. We found this in Kate Christie. She was happy for us to plan the birth exactly the way we wanted it, and never questioned any of our choices. She was extremely encouraging during my antenatal visits, in her calm and gentle way.

My due date had been estimated around Christmas Day 1999, but that day came and went with no sign of the baby's arrival. We had expressed the wish not to be rushed into an induction should I go overdue, so we waited to see what would happen. The New Year also came and went with no sign of any real contractions, and by this time I was starting to feel a little impatient, as we knew the baby was quite large, and I was anxious to avoid too much medical intervention. We had made all the necessary arrangements for a home-water-birth. We had the birth pool set-up, and had all the necessary supplies on hand.

By Monday 3 January 2000, our second anniversary, at 11 days overdue, I decided it was time to get things going. I phoned Kate to discuss our options. She explained that we could try a prostaglandin gel induction, but that we would then have to go into hospital so that we could be monitored. We decided to go in, as we wanted to try for a natural delivery, and didn't want to risk needing an emergency caesarean, as my blood pressure was starting to rise.

We met Kate at Vincent Pallotti hospital an hour later. Kate inserted the gel at 14h30, and then sent us out for a walk. I knew that if the gel didn't work I would end up needing a pitocin drip, which I wanted to avoid at all costs, so I walked and walked, inside and outside, and sure enough contractions started. They weren't however very strong or regular. So we finally agreed for Kate to rupture my membranes. This was not in our birth-plan but under the circumstances we decided it would be a good idea, as the baby's head was still high, and wasn't pushing on the cervix - Kate thought the added pressure might be what was needed to encourage progression. Kate performed a controlled rupture of the membranes at 18:15.

This had the desired effect, and I soon started having strong regular contractions. By 19:30 I was really having to concentrate and breathe through contractions and couldn't find a comfortable position. Kate suggested I try getting into the birth pool for a while. Which I did, while Richard lit some scented candles and put some labour oil into our aromatherapy burner. The water was fantastic, and changed the nature of the contractions from feelings of pain, to pressure. Within minutes of being in the pool I started making grunting sounds, and thought I needed to push. After a quick check Kate declared that I was already 9cm dilated!

I had to pant and blow for a while to allow my body to finish dilating, and while Kate hurriedly called her assistant, Glynnis.

Kate then told me to listen to my body, and go with what ever it told me to do. I tried various pushing positions, from kneeling and standing, to sitting, and finally decided that squatting was the most comfortable and effective, it also allowed me to feel grounded, and Richard was able to hold me from behind. The contractions were coming on fast and strong, without much of a break in between. I was finding it hard to push, and seemed to be fighting the feeling rather than surrendering. I could feel the baby’s head inside me, but I was starting to doubt my ability to carry on, when there was a sudden reprieve. For about 7 minutes there were no contractions, during which time I gathered my mental strength and even dozed slightly. As the next contraction mounted I braced myself and put all my strength into pushing. The crowning was rather painful and I again doubted myself, when suddenly Kate said, ‘The head is out, feel it!’.

It was amazing a big soft warm head under the water; I couldn’t believe how much it was moving – turning from side to side. With that another contraction came and after easing one shoulder out the entire baby slipped out. The feeling was quite awesome. It was 10:22 pm.

And there suddenly, finally was our baby! A perfect chubby baby looking up and staring straight into my eyes. Richard wrapped his arms around us and said ‘ Happy Birthday’ to the baby and ‘Happy Anniversary’ to me. It was only after quite a few minutes that Glynnis reminded us to check if it was a boy or girl, I lifted a leg, and there was no doubt that he was a boy! I said’ ‘It’s a Quinn’.

We were left together in the pool for a while, and Quinn started suckling hungrily. We were all a little surprised to hear that he weighed 4.47kgs, and was 57cm long – a big baby indeed. His apgars were 9/10.

Richard went home to get a bit of sleep, while I roomed in with Quinn. I stayed awake all night, too excited and happy to sleep – I watched the bright orange and pink hues fill my window as morning broke the next day. After a perfunctory paediatrician check early the next morning we discharged ourselves, and went home. We have been enjoying getting to know each other as a family ever since.