This is the story of how our beautiful princess, Indira, came into the world…

It all started on the night of 7th August, when like most summer evenings my husband Giorgio and I were having ice-cream in the garden but this time was a little bit different. I was just not comfortable sitting. Indira was moving more than usual. We got to bed at about 23h30 and we spent a long time just watching our precious baby move around. I said to Giorgio ‘’You better make a movie because I think its the last time we will see her move like this.’’ And I’m glad we did because how right was I…

I always knew that Indira would arrive two weeks early, so when I was awoken, by a sharp pain in my lower back,  at 03h30 on the morning of the 8th of August 2007 (exactly 38 weeks), it wasn’t a surprise…all calm and knowing the time had arrived, I went to the toilet to investigate. The bloody show confirmed that I had lost the mucous plug….this was it, the labour process had begun.

I was so in control of my emotions and felt an absolute calm over me that only Jesus could provide. I wasn’t sure if I had broken my water so I surfed the net to find out more. Still not sure but I had another urgent matter to attend to. I had completed all but one item of my 2 page pre-birth to-do-list. That was to sew organza flowers onto the mosquito net that surrounded Indira’s cot, so that was priority at this stage…my labour bag, hospital bag, and Indira’s bag were all packed from 2 weeks earlier, so at this stage the mosquito net was priority. I couldn’t have my baby come home without the flowers on her mosquito net, what a tragedy LOL.

All this while, experiencing rhythmic contractions of 10 – 12 mins apart, not very painful, but more like menstruation pain. At 05h30 after completing the last minute touches to Indira’s room, I calmly went to wake my dear husband.  He always says he will never forget that beautiful, peaceful expression I had on my face & the sweetness in my voice when I said ‘’babe, I think its time’’.

He  woke up with a startle and was half way out the bed before I could finish my sentence. I told him to relax and that I had already been wake for  2 hours, everything was under control  but I wasn’t sure if I broke my water…after telling him exactly what I was upto since 03h30, we called the hospital and the nurse suggested we come in for a check. My gynaecologist was on holiday, like most people in August so there was no need to call him.  I was pretty convinced that these were the real contractions as they were now like 5-7 minutes apart.

Giorgio fixed breakfast while I showered & started getting myself together- hair, makeup etc. He put the bags in the car and we headed for the hospital.  We arrived at 06h30 and as we entered, Giorgio asked me ‘’do you think we will leave the hospital with Indira in our arms or still in your belly?’’ My answer was a spontaneous with Indira in my arms…but he knew better and said ‘’for me it is not time yet babe, tomorrow morning between 4 and 6, Indira will arrive.’’ And believe me that’s not what I wanted to hear. I wanted to hear that I will immediately be rushed into the delivery room and Indira would arrive. Little did I know that it was the start of a very long day…

I was immediately hooked up to a fetal monitor to time the contractions, monitor baby’s heart rate etc and the process of admission began, with Giorgio taking care of all the paper work etc. The nurse said that Indira had a really strong heartbeat and was in no distress at all, she said  ‘’can you hear your baby is sleeping now’’…it was the most wonderful sound ever.

The doctor then did a check  to see if I had broken my water and that came back negative, but I was dilated by 2 cm. The bad news was that I was to go home and return that evening for more monitoring or when my water broke…I couldn’t believe it…a whole day with this pain…the nurse said to me ‘the pain you are suffering with now is nothing, when it gets worst you will know its time.’’ And I thought how much worst can it get. I was soon to find out.

We went for breakfast, did some unnecessary shopping for Indira and headed home. I didn’t phone my family or friends to let them know that I was in labour.  I didn’t want them stressing or worrying unnecessarily, I was totally in control and besides, all the positive energy I needed was provided by Jesus, my dear husband and my precious baby.

Giorgio was on holiday at the time which was perfect timing,  so the  rest of the day we spent walking (we must have walked around the neighbourhood like 8 times that day), doing yoga, timing contractions, taking hot showers, breathing exercises,  focusing on our baby etc. and all the while the contractions were getting progressively more painful.  But I was so relaxed that i able to have an afternoon nap, even with the contractions.

The walking, yoga, timing of contractions etc. continued into the evening and then at about 22h30 Giorgio suggested we get some sleep just incase we had to wake up at 03h30 again…at 23h00 the pain was now becoming unbearable, I made my way downstairs to try to get some sleep on the couch ..I didn’t want to disturb Giorgio…there was no point is us both not getting any sleep…but he followed soon after…so for the next 4 hours,  we timed the contractions, applied hot and cold compresses to my lower back and perineum  and the yoga positions for labour, squats and walking continued.

It became more uncomfortable for me to sit, stand, walk, or squat…but I didn’t want to go to the hospital too early because I preferred to labour in the comfort of my own home, for as long as possible.

My dear husband was the best labour coach I could have asked for. He was patient, calm and confident,  all the while motivating me. I could see he was really worried for me because he could do nothing about the pain that I was in. He read affirmations to calm me and keep me focused while encouraging me about the great job I was doing. I stayed continually focused on my love for my baby, I kept looking at her 4D scan pictures and that gave me strength. I kept reminding myself that my baby was doing all the work and I was just helping her. I prayed as I allowed nature to continue to take its course and  I welcomed every contraction as I knew it was necessary to help my baby to come into the world. I knew that with each contraction my baby was one more step closer to being in my arms… all of these helped me deal with the excruciating pain.

By 03h00, we had a record of the contractions, which were like 6-8 minutes apart and then all of a sudden they were like 2-3 minutes.  What happened to the 5 minute mark that we were waiting for? They were so close together that they  seemed continuous with no relief between one and the other… the urge to push had also become stronger. Things began to really intensify by the end of this 5-hour period. This is when Giorgio said, “okay, you get ready I think its time to go’’. He only told me later that he was very concerned as the contractions were now very very close and there was a possibility that I could give birth in the car

The thought of the  30 minute drive to the hospital was agony as I was in unbearable pain by this stage. My body was very tense and it took me a while to sit in the car.  I started calling on the Lord for real at this point and that’s when His strength really kicked in for me. Just continually saying Jesus and Indira like a chant is what helped me stay focused and gave me strength … while digging my nails into my poor Giorgio’s arms (this was his suggestion and it really did help get rid of some tension!). This really helped because the 30 minute drive seemed more like 10 minutes to me. The contractions were now like less than 2 minutes apart and the pain was continuous…the urge to push was getting stronger but I had to resist until I got to the hospital…

We arrived at the hospital at 03h30. I felt the urge to push more strongly now and told Giorgio I wanted to go to the toilet first before going to the maternity ward because I didn’t want to have an accident on the table…I went to the toilet and 2 mins later Giorgio came rushing in and said, with a  little bit more urgency in his voice ‘’babe I think we need to go’’. So we went upstairs and the OB who was there the morning before, just smiled and said ‘’I knew you would be back today.’’ I said to her ‘’Elisa I can’t do this anymore, I can’t take this pain.’’ She smiled and said, ‘’that’s exactly what the 4 mothers before you said and now they are holding their babies in their arms.”

She did a check and said the best words I have heard in my life which were…’’troppo avanti’’…which in English means too far ahead. After I heard that I forgot completely about the pain and started focusing on the task at hand. After 24 hours of labour I could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. For me the hardest part of the entire labour was not knowing the timing. Was I to suffer another 24 hours or was this it? And once I knew this was it…I never felt the pain of another contraction.

As I was being wheeled into the delivery room I recounted my birth plan to the nurses …I thank Jesus that Elisa the OB who helped me give birth was wonderful and I immediately felt comfortable with her with… Giorgio was at my side, holding my hand, encouraging me and telling me what a good job I was doing.

10 mins and 5 pushes later, at 03h50  on Thursday, August 9th , our princess  was born. She came out with a swish like she was on a foefie slide.   Awesome awesome awesome feeling!!! One push and a minute later the afterbirth was delivered .

I never felt my water break but what had happened is that my water had broken sometime during the labour but my precious baby had already engaged keeping in the amniotic fluid. Had this not happened I would have been forced to go to the hospital early…my little one was so clever she knew how to help mommy! The partnership between my baby and me  grew throughout my pregnancy and had escalated during labour and climaxed into the most wonderful birth experience…

Although I forgot some details about the birth itself, Giorgio remembers every detail and recounts it quiet often… he said that after Indira came out I still asked must I push again and he said ‘’can’t you hear somebody crying?’’ I guess I was just so focussed on getting my baby out safely and besides I didn’t think that it would be so easy and quick.

As per my request they placed Indira on my tummy with the umbilical cord intact, and only after 10 mins when it stopped pulsating and my baby was breathing comfortably on her own did they ask Giorgio to cut the cord. While they bathed our precious baby she was a bit  scared by the whole process and cried a little but Giorgio was with her holding her hand and comforting her and she quickly calmed down at the sound of his familiar voice…10 mins later Indira & Mamma where settled in comfortably in our room and that’s when the phone calls and sms’s to family and friends began.

We understand that every woman’s body is different, everyone’s experience is different and no one’s labour & delivery is totally perfect.  We are totally grateful for our own experience and truly believe that the real hero in this fulfilling and beautiful experience is  Jesus…

The female body is designed to labor and give birth… In giving natural birth there should be no fear only confidence. Confidence in a your  innate ability to birth a child, confidence in YOUR body. Natural childbirth empowers women. It instills self-confidence. But this is not why women choose it.  It’s not about them at all.  It’s about making the safest, gentlest choices for the well-being of their children.   I have never felt so empowered by anything in my life before, and believe me its an awesome feeling…a feeling of power and pride that is with me everyday…and makes me believe I can do anything…nothing is impossible!

More woman need to experience these immense, intense feelings of gratification, awe, pride and exhilaration.

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Vanessa