My expected date of delivery (EDD) was on the 27th November 2013 and I was counting down the days. It was Sunday the 24th November, only 3 days left! I was so excited and nervous at the same time. I was nervous because my plan was to have a natural birth with no doctor intervention at all – thus the reason I chose Al-Nisa Maternity Home. My thought process was: for me to give birth naturally I CANNOT be overdue. I refused it. My fear with being overdue was that the baby would be born too big or that my amniotic fluid would be too little or that there would be complications for me to give birth naturally. So our plan was to be as active as I could be, and for a couple months prior to my due date my husband Nazeem bought me a birthing ball that I used to sit on and bounce on, which was supposed to help move the baby down and closer to my cervix. We started going to malls and made sure we walked for hours (the stores helped to distract me from my swollen, tired feet) and on weekends we would go for drives and walked wherever we stopped.
This Sunday was no different. We decided to take a drive to Gordon’s Bay and walked on the beach. It was a beautiful day: the sun was out, the water was nice and cool and the sand felt great under out feet as we walked. Once we were done we drove along the coast and ended up in Hermanus. It was so beautiful. It was a pity we didn’t see any whales (I don’t think it was the season or something like that) but we had lunch and I ended up buying a sunhat on the market.
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| Me with my new sun hat |
In the car on our way home (a three-hour long drive), I started feeling uncomfortable. It felt as though my hips and upper body were trying to disconnect. It was very strange, but not sore, just unusual. That Sunday night (technically Monday morning because it was around 2am), I went to the toilet and to my surprise I saw my first sign! I was spotting! Then I realised I must have felt my first sign in the car earlier that day. An hour later I was in the toilet again (this happens a lot during pregnancy) and I became a little worried as I had started bleeding. My mind went straight to the conclusion that I was about to lose our baby. After showing and telling Nazeem, we called Al-Nisa and they told us to come in later that day if it happened again. It did. So at 10am on Monday my dad took me to Al-Nisa. They conducted a few tests and did an ultrasound then a scan to see the baby’s heart rate – it was strong. They couldn’t understand where the blood was coming from and thought it could be my placenta detaching. They also said I was starting to efface, now I just had to dilate. I was just glad to know that the baby was okay.
I carried on with my day normally until it got to night time. And that’s when I felt it! This was it! I was in labour. It felt like contractions. I didn’t know what to compare it to but it was a much stronger feeling than period cramps and it was coming ever 30 minutes. I called Al-Nisa at 3am on Tuesday morning. After a sleepless night with my birthing ball, we went in again, only for them to tell me that my contractions were very weak. The baby’s heartbeat was nice and strong. I was only 1cm dilated and 2cm effaced, but my contractions were on a level of about 15 and it’s supposed to be between 60 – 200! I couldn’t believe it! How could it get worse than what I was feeling now?!
Wednesday had arrived! 27 November 2013! My due date! We all said “This is it!” I was certain that I would finally meet my precious little baby boy. I went through a mental check-list of everything that needed to happen in order to meet my kid. Show? Tick. Contractions? Tick. Due date? Tick! TICK TICK TICK! It had to happen today! Contractions came as usual throughout the day. I didn’t know what to do with myself. Nazeem called his work and told them he would be absent to look after me. People tried to distract me at home by talking to me, but midst the conversation I would stop and stare at them while holding my tummy and moaning. It was disturbing and awkward.
At 7pm Nazeem and I agreed that it was really time now. My contractions were irritating me, I was uncomfortable and the pain had increased. Again, we headed off to Al-Nisa. ALL of the midwives knew me already, laughing and commenting “you’re here again!” and I, in turn, smiled awkwardly.
My midwife took me to the labour room. She did an internal exam and told that I was only 2.5cm dilated. How could this be?! The CTG monitor showed that the baby’s heartbeat was still strong but my contractions were only up to 25 this time. I felt so embarrassed. How weak am I? She gave me a little bit of hope by saying, “I will definitely see you by tomorrow.”
So another agonisingly long, sleepless night went by with me walking around my house like a wailing cat, not knowing what to do with myself anymore. Nazeem tried to stay awake but failed miserably, only to fail even more by laughing at the sounds I was making. No brownie points for him.
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| CTG monitor |
5am came around and the contractions were much worse than before. It was a constant pain. Didn’t give me a break. It was like a peak of contractions that just did not want to subside. I kept thinking to myself, “how could contractions be so painful? What would the actual pushing feel like?” I was scared and nervous and, at this point, exhausted. So for the final time I told Nazeem that I wanted to go to Al-Nisa once more.
We quietly left the house this time, not wanting to alarm anyone just in case I was to be sent home again. We got to Al-Nisa 5 minutes later and because it was my third time being there I knew exactly where to go to be checked. I did not want to wait any longer.
The midwives met us at the gate and took us straight to the delivery room. They conducted an internal exam for the last time. Great news! I could stay! I was 4cm dilated. So they hooked me up to the CTG monitor, which showed that my baby’s heart rate was going strong! My contractions were at about 60 now. I was very pleased but at the same time writhing in pain. I was given gas and air because, honestly, I think they could see how exhausted I was that every contraction felt as if it were killing me. The gas and air made me feel so high though. Nazeem couldn’t stop laughing at how out-of-it I looked. But I still felt the pain, just in a more delayed way. They predicted that by 12pm we would be able to see our baby.
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| Gas and air making me high |
It was all just a waiting game until I would actually be able to “push”. The night nurses ended their shift and the next shift started. Two nurses came in, then the doctor came in and the nurses briefed him. He looked pleased with the information they had given him.
The nurse, Sister Gordon, asked us if I would like some type of pain relief (remember, this was a maternity home, so they did not have any epidural but they could give me an injection that would just help lessen my pain). I agreed to it and it made me sleepy and relaxed with less painful contractions. I was instructed to control my breathing.
“Breathe in with the nose and out with the mouth” was my mantra and no matter what I felt I “MUST NOT PUSH!” But 9am came around and I could not stop this unbearable need to push. I breathed in with my nose and out with my mouth but with a push as well! The nurse checked to see what was going on “down there” and gave me the go-ahead to start pushing. It was the longest hour and a half of our lives. Eventually, the nurse told us that if I did not get the baby out by 10:20 then they were going to have to send me to the hospital via the ambulance. That made me pull out the energy to push with all my strength – I was determined. I wanted to meet our child.
Nazeem shouted, “Nadia I can see the baby’s head!” Both nurses were helping. One nurse held my leg and Nazeem held the other. While the other nurse stood at the food of the bed, ready to help the baby.
One last push got the baby’s head out and then his body slid out easily.It was love at first sight. He screamed the moment he felt the air on his skin, no smack needed.
Our baby was beautiful. His name is Zakariya Benjamin.
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| Baby Zakariya only a few seconds born |
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| all cleaned up |
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| New dad looks more tired than me |
xxx
