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Hi, my name is Cat and I am mother to five precious children and I am expecting another in August this year.

I currently have one homeschooled child and four under five. Our new arrival in August will change our logistics to a slightly more ‘invigorating’ brood of five under five. Double washer laundry and people-mover-vans-ville here we come!

With the confirmation of pregnancy with each of my children I have had the same jubilance & joyful anticipation as my belly, excitement & grew during my five respective pregnancies. All of my labours have been around the 1 hour mark, drug free & very straight forward. When I went into labour with our last little darling unexpectedly (well, kind of…) I found myself in the stragest of predicements- attempting a reverse park while in active labour. It happen like this…

…. At 39 weeks I had discharged myself from the care of my doctor after a ferocious battle between he & I.

The doctor had been trying to push the crochet hook at me from week 36, claiming I was 38 weeks and it was time to get things moving. I, having had 4 children, knew that my body was not at the place of being ready to birth, & the ultrasound technician had confirmed that my little one was certainly not 38 weeks, but rather closer to the 36 week mark. How the mix-up? The doctor had done a scan in his office when I presneted for a pregnancy test. Instead of sending me for a proper dating scan he went by the figures that appeared on his little scan-o-thingy in his consulting room.

After a four week arm wrestle, him booking me to be induced every second day and me declining the offer, at first politely, then with a slight ferocity, maybe resembling a slightly agitated mother lioness (those pregnancy hormones do come in hand at times) I received an abrupt phonecall from said doctor in whcih he announced I was not welcome to deliver my baby at the local hospital but rather I would have to deliver in the regional hospital over an hour’s drive away.

Have you ever seen a 39 weeks pregnant woman, exhausted, uncomfortable, highly hormonal & slightly agitated react to being told they are no longer birthing where they had imagined they would be? She would have to be one of the scariest large mammals ever seen, rollercoaster emotions flying, tears spraying, stamping feet that cause the whole house to tremble, rants about how the bundle of joy is not actually really there, it is just bloating and there is no babay otherwise it would arrived already!! Imagine THAT kind of performance…. totally justified of course… not speaking from experince or anything…. *cough*.

I did some research into the local hospitals and by the end of the day I had an appointment booked for the following day with a new Obstetrian who delivered at the next cloest hospital- only 20 minutes away, he was willing to take me on as his patient too, which was a great relief.

I loaded my hospital bags in the car the night, quietly confident that I would not be coming back from the doctors appointment that afternoon.

As I sat in the new ob’s office a huge wave of relief washed through my body, and I felt peace for the first time since ex-doc first mentioned the letters ARM (artificial rupture of membranes).

I wished I had found this ob earlier but was happy to be in his care now.

As I left his office he told me to go to the hospital the next morning and fill out the paper work.

As I paid my bill at the front desk I felt a strong urge to go to the bathroom. As the clerk handed my my receipt it quickly subsided so I popped my purse in my bag and headed out the front door of the surgery.

As my foot hit the pavement a massive contraction ripped through my midsection, I stood frozen on the spot breathing my way through the pain.

Thinking to myself that I had better get home quick as labour would probably start that night I took off towards my car which was parked right up the back of the surgery. BAM, another massive contraction hit my body as I got halfway to the car.

Lovely lady passing by stopped and smiled.. “Oh, are you having baby?” she laughed jokingly.

“Yes, I think I might be.” I puffed at her through the pain much like an anaconda tightening itself around one’s torso.

Her face turned from a wide grin to a look of horror “Oh! Good luck- then!” she waved as she took off across the carpark to her car.

“Thanks!?!” was all I thought to reply as I continued my pilgramage to my car.

I hauled my pygmy hippo frame into the front seat. And sat quietly waiting for the next contraction before deciding what I should do. All was still. The labour seemed to have stopped. I decided to drive back to our building site (future home) where DH was enjoying a Friday arvo get together with the children and some friends. It was only 10 minutes from the hospital so I thought it would be the best option.

I rang DH & told him I would be on my way to him, and explained what had happened, asking him to be on stand-by, before hitting the road.

Five minutes into the journey I had to go to the toilet again, so I pulled in at the local shopping centre and headed to the food court where the toilets were located. It was full of road workers all wearing the fluro vests, eating fried food and chatting loudly. I got a friendly smile form each of them as I walked through the doors, then suddenly it felt as if my entire pubic region dropped about 3 inches, it felt as if the baby was about to drop out. I stopped dead in my tracks, too scared to move wondering if this was ‘it’.

It was the looks on the roadworkers’ pale faces that made me decide it was time to hightail it back to the hospital before some poor unasuming blue collar male rejoicing at the Friday knock off became the victim of an improptu carpark delivery. I called Dh and told him to meet me at the hospital ASAP because I was not having this baby until he was there and things were starting to move.

As I started back toward the hospital the contractions came on, one after another in a steady wave.

I found the emergency carpark, but felt confident that I could manage if I parked in the visitor’s section and then walk myself over to the Emergency Department as the contractions had slowed up a lot on my drive to the hospital.

I began slowly trawling the carpark looking for a shady spot as I knew DH would be driving home in the car and I didn’t want the car to heat up too much for him. I found a suitable park, smiling at a couple walking by, I put on my indicator to begin reversing & eased my foot onto the reverse pedal just as a massive contraction hit my body. It was like I was having my own personal earthquake and I began frowning at the couple wondering if I should yell out to them to help me. They frowned back, probably wondering why I was looking at them like that. I pressed my finger on the window button and opened it fully just incase I had to call at them to help. The contraction eased and I began my reverse park, as I eased into the bay between the two white lines another contraction hit, I jumped out locked the car and moved as quickly as I could to the ED door.

Doubled over in pain and hoping to high heavens that the baby woldn’t slip out onto the foyer floor I walked right up to the window and knocked on the glass. A clerk came over and smiled at me. Before she had the chance to say anything I blurted out “I am in labour.”

“If you make your way to the delivery ward she said pointing to the door to the right.

“I think the baby is coming now.” I bluntly told her.

Before I knew what was happening I swooped up into a wheelchair and raced down to the delivery room.

A midwife introduced herself and asked me how I was. I sat on an armchair, crossed my legs and said ‘I’m not having this baby until my husband is here.”

A familar face popped around the door. It was the doctor I had only met about 30 minutes earlier came into the room.

“Well that was a quick result.” He smiled.

The contractions came crashing onto top of each other and I knew our baby’s arrival was so close but I was not moving to the bed until my husband arrived. About 10 minutes after I had driven myself to the hospital the doctor cam e runninginto the room with my husband, I sighed with relief, put on my specially purchased birthing robe and ten minutes later our son was born. Naturally and with the membranes intact.

He was perfect, I was unscathed, my husband was relieved and the doctor still slightly surprised I think.

When I pointed my car out to my husband later on the midwife asked me “Why didn’t you pull up in the emergency bay? You were in labour?”

I’m not sure exactly why I didn’t think of that, maybe the crazy nesting feeling of needing everything in order was still surging through my body…. or the pain stopped me from thinking straight… but it sure does make for a funny story every now and then.

I’m just so blessed that everyone made it to where they were headed safely, including our darling little son.

>>>>The picture was taken the next morning at home, my son was 10 hours old. He smelled sooo good.<<<<<

Posted by love_dove, 8th April 2013

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