The Long Version

November 18th saw me re-admitted into Middlemore hosp after spending the week there for monitoring…what a long week it was but a necessary week. Pregnant with twins makes life a little more out of your control and on this night I was preparing to be induced at 37 weeks. My partner Fi and I arrived around 8pm and set up in my very own room, such a welcome relief from the previous 7 days…with added tv too! Not knowing how long it would be until labour kicked in I sent Fi home cause one of us needed a good nights rest . It’s been known to take days after being induced as I had learned from other induced mums… .A Dr I knew from previous antenatal visits kindly filled my fanny with a magik gel at 10pm to kick me into gear and start the labour process… WELL! A day earlier I had acupuncture to help us along and was already feeling subtle cramps so this gel was like the pin that popped the balloon… In between hot showers and Milo I was feeling a wee bit uncomfortable and advised to try and get some rest… I thought my body was just on a roll and not knowing if labour was far or near I snuggled in for the night to prepare for the ride ahead… Such a surreal time with an impending birth about to impact my whole body… At 3.45 I was woken with the most amazing sensation and sound of a water bomb/balloon exploding inside of me and something moved, dropped… Babies were on their way… It was fierce and hard and fast… I just managed to call Fi at 4am and she was by my side in a flash! She met me as I was wheeled out of the elevator and into the delivery suite…… .Here we go hunny, my body in all its entirety was taken over by a power greater than I have ever imagined… My mind was narrowing its field to focus on what my body was going through…The best advice I was given via txt in the previous week from from a beautiful Maori friend who told “ just listen to your body, it knows what to do”… I could hear, see and speak to those around me and yet there was a detachment, a complete letting go… I had no plan, no strict guidelines, just wanted and needed to listen to my body. All week I had been talking with the babies and hopefully reassuring them for the most amazing experience of their lifetime and felt the bubs, me and Fi were a team working at this birth together…I really need to poo and was ‘allowed’ then on my way back to bed just let the dirtiest fart rip, and poor Fi was there to catch it!! I didn’t care, the pain of my contractions were just so intense, all I could do was breathe…Gas wasn’t doing it for me, just made me vomit and there was no chance of an epidural as we discovered a low platelet level of 48 was dangerously low for any spinal injections… So a natural birth I had after all…Pethadine was offered but I said no, or maybe not as I was given a minimal amount. No diff!!!! With monitors strapped to my belly to keep track of babies’ heartbeats I was confined to one position – My back!!!! “ Just breathe” Bloody hell if breathing was going to relieve this pain I took in air like a vacuum…I remember telling Fi how to instruct me “In and out hun”…I needed to hear more definite instructions cause I couldn’t hear the word ‘breathe’ any longer, it was too vague and not powerful enough for me!!!! With the ending of every contraction a new one began and the light just seemed so far away…I was checked for dilation and low and behold I was a fabulous 9cm…Whooopeeee!!!! From 3 – 9cm in 2 hours, what a ride…Then the feeling came…one of the bubs were on its way… I called out and told them I wasn’t pushing but they didn’t seem phased…My body and baby knew what to do…and out it came at 5.55am…A Boy, you were placed on my belly…so slimy, white, grey crying and so beautiful, you are real… Contractions were slowing so I had to work…Bubs 2 was head down and ready…I pushed just twice and you came out…Not breathing too well so they whisked you off to get some oxygen into those lungs of yours…Another Boy!!!! Wow!!! We have sons hunni…9 minutes apart…By 6.04am we were a complete family…Urban Noa number 1 and Fire Ariki number 2……

Urban and Fire’s Birth: The Short Version

Wow, what a spin out and totally uprooting experience. Your births were the most incredible moments in my life… Physically my body was at its deepest depths. With a cervix that opened at bullet speed to reach 10cm in 2 ½ hours… I churned, tossed, turned, groaned, breathed like never before…I felt myself choke on my own breath as I used it to lessen the pain…This was my world and nothing else entered…time just amplified the pain…I knew I was crushing my partner’s hands but in doing this I was somehow getting relief!!! Then you came and I felt you arrive… my body bought you into this world and I had to step aside allowing you to come as nature intended. URBAN NOA, you’re here, it’s 5.55am, Sunday 19th November. You were placed on my tummy and I touched you, what magik, what power… Life has never felt so surreal and real at the same time… You were off to have your check over and I was ready for baby two. They monitored you with a scan…Thank you bubs, you were head down… It was my time to step up again and support this journey of yours as you have waited so patiently to arrive…Pushing twice was all you needed and wow… FIRE ARIKI, you’re here!!!! What a surprise, we had no idea… we have two beautiful boys. Fire, so small and a little weak you were sent to neonates for extra care. We all came to meet you not long after with a treat of mum’s good cooking. It was a long nine days we all stayed in hospital but Fire , you needed to be a good weight before leaving. You worked so hard to reach your goal and at 1.96kg they let us free…free to return to our home and continue the journey we had started. I was in awe, and felt so proud of my partner, the boys and myself… Together we had achieved the biggest task of our lives, we climbed that mountain and discovered it has the most breathtaking view!!!

Post script…

My experiences with being pregnant were for me the most inspiring time in my physical life… My amazement and great respect for my body (and vegetarian one at that) and it’s ability to form two beautiful and healthy babies continually blew and still blows me away…I kept mindful of this wonderous miracle and constantly thanked my body and the greater powers that be for such a gift…an honour… Maori friends were able to enlighten me of the bodies ability to do what comes naturally and at the time of birth they were the words that resonated…”Listen to your body, it knows what to do”and I stepped aside. Admittedly there were huge discomforts during my pregnancy with intense itching all over my body and low platelet levels that needed constant propping up but I also sought the support of a naturopath who specialized in pregnant mothers and without her tonics and drops would have been a much harder path to travel… There was one other event I longed for and that was to have a ‘Blessing Way’ ceremony… This, I learned originated with the American Indians who would have such ceremonies for many important moments… The moment of a woman becoming a mother and her role in life to face the biggest change was one I wanted to celebrate. I had it planned and invited the women I wanted to share this with and would feel supported by throughout the birth. I was not able to have my special day but I felt the support from these ladies simply through the act of planning and making it real. I was induced on the day of the ceremony!!!! For information about these ceremonies there are many link, these are a few I liked and gained ideas from. Thank you !