Here is Anjali’s birth story. Thanks for sharing it with us!
Hi everyone! Sorry about the long post, just wanted to share my birth story 🙂 I posted on the community board ~10 days ago with my worries about having to be induced and received a wealth of support – thank you so much. Funnily enough, I went into labour that very evening after watching a funny movie (one of the suggestions made here!). Things went really smoothly for most part, though with an unplanned ending.
We went to the hospital that evening to confirm that labour had indeed started – it had but with zero dilation so we were sent home and asked to come back a few hours later. We went home, got our bags ready and I took a hot shower and walked back and forth for some hours – I felt so calm and prepared through it all! We returned to the hospital in the early AM and I was admitted, dilation at 1cm. My surges were intensifying and I am so glad we’d got the doctor and staff on board with our birth plan – we were left alone for most part with occasional foetal monitoring. I listened to music and the affirmations, took hot showers, sat on the yoga ball and watched political satire (with a lot of pauses to breathe through surges!). My husband was an incredible support and massaged my back through surges – this was a first time experience for both of us and we just leaned on everything we had learned from CBS.
Everything was moving smoothly and the doctor predicted an early afternoon delivery. My surges were really intense at this point – the baby was back to back with head tilted up – and it was a bit of a struggle but the breathing exercises kept me going. And then she had her first bowel movement inside, which put a new spin on things – her heart rate had to be constantly monitored, which meant that I couldn’t move around anymore, and the cherry on top – dilation stalled at 8cm. We waited and breathed through that time and finally made the decision to go with a c-section after 22 hours of labour and 4+ hours of stalling at 8cm, and 30 minutes later, our little Irya Sama arrived! Well, not so little at 3.9kg 🙂 Her first name originates from Sanskrit (meaning Mighty) and her middle name originates from Arabic (meaning Sky) – I am originally from India and my husband from Lebanon and we wanted her to have a bit of both.
While the birth didn’t go the way we had planned, we couldn’t have felt more in control of our choices all the way through. Even our doctor waited longer than he would normally have and made it a point to discuss all our options with us and wait for our decision with no pressure, since he knew how we’d been preparing for this time. There was never a moment of panic or negativity through it all, despite the intensity.
I am truly thankful for the CBS videos and audio support (Suzy Ashworth – your voice is brilliant!) and for this community for helping me stay present through this wondrous experience – thank you all!
