Olivia... the day my little lady entered our lives. :-)

My pregnancy with Livvy was interesting, to say the least. When I was about 3 months pregnant, we moved cities and back closer to where my family lives. Life was rather oppressive in the place where we were, so it was a much needed move, and made for a very happy Mummy. We (meaning Jimmy and I) got involved in the Playcenter in our area, and really just started enjoying life. I loved the house we moved in to, and we had such a blast travelling around the city on buses and going on little outings. My health was great in this pregnancy, I walked long distances every day, and I was feeling very excited to have another child join our family. James (my husband) worked long hours, so most the time it was just Jimmy and I hanging out. We grew pretty close, and our bond got stronger.

I joined up with a certain midwife on the recommendation of my sister-in-law. This is where I learned an important lesson... never pick a health care provider based on how well they got along with someone else. Everyone is different, and you have every right to find someone who you like. I didn't get along with this certain midwife, but because I was already about 4 months along, there weren't many midwives left with vacancies. Sigh. So I stuck with her, pretty convinced that my expectations were too high and it was my fault we weren't "meshing" anyway (obviously, my self-confidence was at an all-time low). I would have to catch the bus with Jimmy (I didn't have my car license at the time) and the trip to the midwife clinic would take approx 2 hours just to get there, with lots of changing of buses. Not much fun. :-) Especially when the midwife would merely take my blood pressure, measure my fundal height, and send me on my "merry" way. I do believe the visits would last approx 8 minutes. I remember feeling confused about this, as with Jimmy's pregnancy not only would the midwife come to my house, but she'd stay for almost an hour every time. I wondered how this new midwife could possibly give me the care I needed without even hardly knowing my name. This was the beginning of my starting to doubt whether the medical system was really the best way to go. But I was uneducated, and had been trained to be a "good girl". So I went to my visits, was highly unsatisfied with my care, and never let on.

When I was about 36 weeks pregnant, my midwife went through a list with me and ticked the boxes for my "birth plan". She asked me at the end if I had any questions, so I asked her if I was allowed to birth in the pool at the hospital. She flatly said "no" and that she prefers to birth on land. I wish I had said "that's wonderful...for you, but I'd prefer to birth in the water!" But no. I meekly said "ok", and left very very disappointed.

At about 38 weeks pregnant, I woke up to some terrible back contractions. I immediately got down on my hand and knees to try and lessen the pressure on my back. The contractions were coming about every 7 minutes, and I was vomiting through them. Poor little Jimmy woke up, so I ended up sitting on the couch in the lounge, holding Jimmy on my lap, and leaning to the side to vomit into a bucket on the ground. I rang James, who was working night-shift at the Service Station, and once he'd arranged someone to take his shift, he came home. I'd texted my midwife already, at this point, but hadn't heard back from her. So we jumped in the car and went to my Mum and Dad's house, which is just around the corner to the hospital. Contractions had slowed down by the time we got there (precisely why a mother should be allowed to labour in a quiet and private enviroment... the adrenaline rush from moving can stall/halt contractions), so I spent the rest of the night walking around and around the block with Mum and my sister, trying to make them happen again. They didn't.

And I never heard from my midwife either.

I had an antenatel appointment that day. When I asked the midwife if she got my texts, she replied that she always turns her phone off at nighttime. Why she never felt the need to tell me this, I don't know. And why she does it, I don't know. Completely clueless. I was pretty angry about that. :-) She also made the offhand comment "There's no reason you should go into labour early anyway". So that was that. She didn't believe me, and dismissed my feelings completely. Un.Believable.

So I went home, feeling like an idiot and like I couldn't trust my body to do what it needed to do. Looking back now, after 4 births, I always have two weeks of pre-labour contractions before I go into established labour. But I didn't know this then, so had no clue what was going on.
A week after this, I developed the worst case of mouth ulcers e.v.e.r. They were everywhere, including all down my throat. I couldn't talk, swallow, drink, or eat. I ended up getting severely dehydrated, and after being forced to go to the doctor (I hate doctors, hehe), he sent me to the hospital. They admitted me, and put me on an IV to get fluids into me, suspecting me of having tonsilitus (dumb doctors. :-) ) So there I was. Almost at my "due date", and stuck in hospital. Wasn't great fun, but oh well. It was good to get the fluids into me. :-)

The morning before my "due date" I woke up with an upset tummy, and mild contractions... and yes, I was still in the hospital. My midwife came in to see me, but really it was to tell me that she was taking a couple of days off, so I was going to end up with her back-up anyway! Darryl. Dear sweet Darryl (sarcasm much here. ;-) ) She confirmed that I was in early labour (because obviously I couldn't make that diagnosis on my own), and told me that she'd see me in a couple of days, once she came back. Sigh. I asked to leave the hospital early that afternoon, as I really didn't want to do early labour in the hospital. I went back to Mum and Dad's house, and immediately the contractions picked up a notch. By about 6pm, I was vomiting with the contractions. They were about 5 minutes apart, at the time, and quite strong. James turned up, and we laboured there for a few more hours. At about 9 pm we decided it was time to head to the hospital. After ringing Darryl (who was already at the hospital with another labouring woman), we jumped into the car and headed in. A lovely nurse/midwife greeted us, and had saved me the room with the birthing pool. How nice was that!! Unfortunately she was heading off duty, but it was awesome seeing her friendly face. :-) ...

To be continued. :-)