The birth of Little Dude: Our baby water dragon.

42 weeks pregnant. I had had enough.
Not enough of being pregnant, I actually enjoyed pregnancy this time around. I had enough of waiting to meet my baby.

Neither of my girls had gone this far over and I knew my dates exactly.
Beside the fact my hubby works FIFO (Fly In Fly Out) rotations and was hardly home that cycle, I know my body. I felt when I ovulated and I could swear I could feel implantation. I knew when my baby was 'due'.

I also knew that going to 42 weeks and over IS normal, but I still had learn to have faith in that fact.
Getting the public opportunity to answer with my (kind of affirmation-ey) chant about 'normal' term pregnancy and why I wasn't being induced any time soon, both helped and shook my confidence slightly.
Other people questioning your body can be frustrating and counter productive to say the least. All that good positive thinking and researching, gaining confidence in your body in solitude kinda gets a little kink when someone throws stones at it. Being new to the unconventional situation had me repeating their questions in my head for a while afterwards.
My remedy? Head to bed and snuggle Miss 2 and read more Ina May. Aaaahhhhhhhhh, that's better.

I had had typical early labour signs a good few times already in the past weeks and I was getting frustrated about being ready to birth, but unannounced visitors would pop around and it'd throw my sense of security off and my body would stop.
All that vomiting and tightening's becoming just a small step in a long term plan, it seems.

As the full moon approached, I'd hoped it'd help influence things along as she's so reputed.
We lit a nice sized campfire out the back and gathered around it. The kids and Daddy eating their dinner, I quietly stood by the fire and basked in it's warmth, listening to my music, swaying and dancing.

I was watching as the full moon appeared to become partially eclipsed. Wow. Venus was eclipsing the full moon and if that wasn't magickal enough to start labour, I was going to give up hope and officially become the mother who WAS pregnant forever!

I woke up pregnant and miserably disappointed.

A day or two later, someone reminded me that the full moon is still in effect over a few days.
I had had a good cry and gone past the 'why doesn't my baby want to meet me?” stage and was in a state between acceptance of the situation and letting go of the situation.
While hubby cleaned, I got out my oracle cards and asked for guidance.

The message was simple, but so clear... Meditate, let go and stop trying to control.
So I did. I meditated and I did my best to let go of the idea of when my baby will arrive and I accepted that it'll be when he's ready.

I went for a shower and ahem, cleaned the tiles with hubby before heading to bed late for another night of tossing and turning.
Laying in the dark, breastfeeding my toddler I felt the usual tightenings that I get when feeding her lately. I tried to ignore them and get off to sleep but they grew stronger and closer. By the time I got up to check, they were a few minutes apart.

I walked around the house a little, not wanting to wake anyone if this was just another practise run.
2 minutes apart and getting intense. I knew this was it. I messaged my support person to head over and woke Hubby to get the birth pool filled and ready. It had a puncture and was going down as we filled it with water... shit.
Some gaffa tape and it was holding ok enough to use... but there was another leak on the opposite side... shit again. Solution: More gaffa tape and continuous pumping of the pool. Lucky we have a large air compressor out here.

I hopped in the shower and used the rest of the hot water to get through a very intense and fast labour. Intense waves of tightening, short but frequent. I talked to my baby and body and encouraged us all to work together. Open, Move down baby, Mummy's ready to work with you here.

As the waves reached their peak, I blew my horse lips. As Ina May says, relaxing one set of lips, relaxes the other set. By loosening my jaw and lips, I was relaxing and loosening my cervix to allow it to stretch almost effortlessly.

When the shower ran out and my support gal arrived I lay across my exercise ball and rode through the rest of the journey as hubby and Alyssa heated water on the stove and in the kettle, trying to warm up the now cooled birth pool.
All I wanted to do was hop back into warm water. I could feel my body starting to push at the end of waves. I wasn't ready to push yet, I wanted that water.

Finally, the water was ready and it was heavenly to sink into.

Such a peace and calm that flowed over me.
It didn't last for long. Within seconds of sinking into that water my body suddenly and strongly started pushing my baby out.

I don't remember how many pushes, but I do remember following my instincts and changing positions until it felt right, feeling for his head and realising he was still in his sac!!

His head came out and I knew it was normal to wait a bit for the next tightening but something was telling me to push... hard.
So I did.
It wasn't my body trying to push so it didn't quite feel right, but something was telling me to push.
I pushed hard and my baby turned. Boy, did he turn. I felt him spin around, but I also felt something unusual. Almost like he had kicked me in the upper uterus really hard, or had knifed me there.

One more push and my baby was out to his waist or hips and I felt the gush of his sac breaking, followed shortly after by our beautiful baby boy emerging peacefully into his Daddy's hands in the warm water and Mummy pulling him up for first cuddles.

Little Dude was here. Finally I get to meet my baby boy. A perfect birth, for a perfect baby.

Sadly, our camera is old, cheap and nasty, so didn't take clear pictures of the birth.