Been some serious making going on
You must forgive the quiet going on here recently. Those of you who follow this site/facebook/twitter would’ve been aware I was pregnant. Well, not no more! For a shorter version of the tale with less gory detail and more humour and profanity, have a read of Casey’s re-enactment. Otherwise, here’s the tale in all its excitement…
We’ve got two!
Woke up to contractions on the morning of the 18th. They were steady at about half an hour apart most of the day. So I spent it in bed saving up energy, snoozing, playing mindless computer games etc. Tara – our 3 year old – decided to put nail polish in her eye so Karl nipped her to the doctor in the morning. Can never all be about mum!
My contractions picked up around 6pm and by about 9.30 the midwife was around and I was down to 5 min gaps. All was going pretty normal until about midnight when I started to feel really frustrated because it felt like I really wasn’t progressing. I didn’t have any control around my groin. Couldn’t relax or push or anything. It felt numb, like I’d had a local anaesthetic. But it sure as hell hurt everywhere else, despite the awesome relaxing power of our birthing pool.
Before my labour I’d spent a fair amount of time meditating on the birth of my first child. Since that was such a dream birth I wanted to be able to visualise it happening again! But it turned out that preparation came in more handy in helping me identify when things weren’t progressing like last time.
At about 1am I started to really feel like there was something wrong and started talking about getting me to a hospital. My waters still hadn’t broken so the midwife suggested we try breaking them first and see if that moves things along. So we gave it a go, but they were so tight they wouldn’t break. Spent another hour in the pool and then tried again. This time they broke and it made a massive difference. 5 mins later we gave birth to a baby girl!
Had some nice time cuddling her in the water but it was a bit hard to bring her up high on my chest as her cord was really short. About 5 mins later I started getting more contractions and really had the need to push. I figured it was just the placenta and deciding that I was well and truly over it just pushed it out. But when it came out it only went halfway and stuck. I reached down to feel what was going on and it felt really hard. My midwife got me to pull my hips up so she could have a good look. Her first panicky thought was that I’d pushed out my uterus since it was so hard. But then we both saw a foot!
Holy crap call ambulance!
I had a boy twin yet to come out and he was breach. The paramedics on the phone told me to get out of the pool and onto a chair with my legs up high and just push him out. That was the most intense 10 minutes of my life. I was pushing and pushing but baby still wasn’t coming out. I then experienced this amazing moment of clarity and my brain just clicked on and said you’ve got another baby and he needs your help, get him out now! So I took a deep breath and pushed until out he flew. Through the midwifes hands even..
Just as she was cutting him out of his placenta which was still in tact, the paramedics ran in and took over care. He had a cord around his neck, wasn’t breathing and had no pulse. After 5 mins of resus they got his pulse back but were still taking care of his breathing when they took him to hospital. I was then able to birth the first placenta – which was delightfully easy after all the other bits! It was last to come out since she was on top and had pushed past her brother to come out – thus the intense labour! We spent about half an hour calming down, cleaning up, feeding baby girl etc then followed to the hospital.
Brilliantly, my three year old stayed asleep through all of this!
We then had the most intense week ever. Long story short, he suffered from Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy, basically a shortage of oxygen and blood flow to the brain which can be really really serious. At one point there was also evidence of a stroke. The first couple of days he was having frequent seizures and was looking very ill. We were bracing ourselves for some pretty severe brain damage and early on there was conversations about the possibility of decisions around life support. But since then he has done nothing but improve. And on the following Monday we finally got him to have an MRI scan which came back normal. Including the news that the stroke probably didn’t happen, it was swelling on the brain which looked like a stroke. That’s now gone. So while he’s still got a way to go before he’s called a healthy baby his chances at a ‘normal’ life are almost on par as with any new baby. It’s been nothing short of a miracle – hugely helped by an amazing care team in the hospital. He truly couldn’t have been in better hands.
After a couple of days out of intensive care and into special care, the team decided to transfer him to our local hospital which also has a special care unit. This meant it was heaps easier for us to visit. And a less intensive unit meant the focus was very much on bringing him home. And it was only a couple of days before the doctor invited us to ‘bed in’ with him so we stayed at the hospital and were in charge of his care but the nurses were on hand if we needed them.
Unbelievably, less than two weeks after a pretty traumatic birth, we got to bring our little legend home.
We named the babies Curtis Taonga and Jamari (hasn’t got a middle name yet..). When I told my Dad the news on the first day he said oh he was just being a gentleman and letting his sister go first. I really liked that take on it. So given Curtis means courteous and polite we thought that was appropriate. His middle name is a Maori word and it means treasured object or person. He’s our polite treasure! Jamari is French and means strong girl warrior. Since she likes to lead the way! She’s an awesome baby and is doing everything she should be. Sleeps like a legend!
I’m recovering pretty well. I had a couple of stitches and ended up having a blood transfusion a couple of days after delivery. But home and settled now and starting to get our heads around the realities of three kids… We have to buy a new car, eek!
So that’s a really long story short. It’s been insanely surreal. It’s only been a week but already our lives have been completely changed. But thanks to some serious amounts of positive energy, unbelievably amazing support from friends and family and liberal doses of tears, it’s definitely a change for the good.
Wow we have a wee tribe!
Lots and lots of love and kisses.
Rayna and the rest of the Braybrook massif!
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19 Responses to “Been some serious making going on”
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Such an amazing story, I love that you shared it all! Curtis and Jamari’s names are so well chosen too.
.-= Natalie´s last blog ..28 days of picnics =-.
Whoa, very intense. I’m so glad that everything has come out so well.
That’s got to be your most serious crafting yet! You knitted those with your womb…
Oh golly. You guys have done an awesome job! Well done!!!! Look how gorgeous your three are! You are totally my hero, Rayna. I really do mean that. x
Many congratulations!
.-= Helen Shine´s last blog ..Space socks =-.
Wowsers, what an amazing surprise! Intense is really the only word I can think of. Huge congratulations to all of you, you did it! Life just never stands still does it? x
.-= Abi´s last blog ..We can’t go on like this =-.
Congrats, and so glad everyone is doing so well!
Thankyou for sharing, your little girl just looks stoked! I feel for you in regards to the blood transfusion, I too had one when I had my daughter a few years ago. It seems to be becoming more the norm. So take care of yourself and enjoy your two beautiful babies, I am so jealous!
Lady! Wow, thank you so much for sharing this. You are one SUPER crafty, strong, positive person … bloody hell! Wow-town! Go you! Go team!
Congratulations! I’m glad everything turned out ok after all the excitement.
.-= Shelley´s last blog ..Winter Stuff =-.
Congratulations! Enjoy
)
.-= Aisle 3´s last blog ..Mens Upcycled Wallet Billfold (RESERVED FOR BEARCAT) =-.
They are so beautiful! You’re really blessed.
.-= Jo Vraca´s last blog ..I’ve been busy =-.
They are truly heaven sent..Congratulations!
Congratulations!
Hello there! They are so cute…..Lord GOD has sent you babies…wow! Thanks to the Lord! Jesus…..
Great photos of your babies! They are truly a blessing.
omg! congratulations! omg!
being twins rocks, just ask my bro.
furthermore: you & your tribe rock!
sob! I love a good birth story!
Oh Rayna, WOW! You are as incredible as ever! Congradulations to you all. I have tears! I am breathless. I rarely do midwifery now. Its too strange over here. But you are inspriational. Thank you
Love to you all
XXXX
mate, couldn’t have done it without your help. Despite being thousands of miles away, your words of advice and encouragement from three years earlier will still there loud and strong. Lovely to hear from you. Arohanui xox
This is amazing! Thanks for sharing!