Birth Story Series: My third birth - 2026, part 3
As time passed, with one contraction after another, I started to feel like I should be seeing more results for the amount of effort I was putting in! The pushing phase with my first labour had been under 1.5 hours, and less than 30 minutes with my second, so I had kind of expected not more than half an hour or so this time. After a while Haylie suggested I could try moving into a lunge position…
Birth Story Series: My third birth - 2026, part 2
As Haylie was leaving home at 2:40 she messaged me to ask if contractions had started getting closer together, as she was trying to decide whether to call the second midwife yet or not. At that stage I told her they were mostly 3.5-4 minutes apart and lasting 50-70 seconds, although I had just had a spacing of 5 minutes, so there was still definitely some variation and irregularity. Dilation is rarely a perfectly linear process!
Birth Story Series: My third birth - 2026, part 1
At the end of pregnancy you just take one day at a time. Always knowing the birth could be any time, but also that you may still have a while to wait. That was how it was this time, in my longest pregnancy to date. But the day always comes in the end!
He’s here!
So thankful for our baby’s safe arrival! I will share his birth story soon, but thought I would start a mini-series for my birth stories. So be on the lookout next week for part 1 of my birth story with my first baby!
42 Weeks Pregnant - will they let you go to 42 weeks?
Will they let you go to 42 weeks? Has the midwife told you what she wants to do if your baby isn’t born in the next couple of days? These are the kinds of questions that you get asked once you pass 41 weeks of pregnancy. And these are the kinds of questions that show how we’ve been conditioned to think that the hospital or medical care provider has the final word over a pregnant woman’s body.
41 Weeks Pregnant - when baby is posterior
My baby is posterior! What does that mean? Is it a problem? Should I be worried?
Posterior simply means baby has his or her back towards mum’s spine. It is entirely normal during pregnancy, even though a position with their spine towards mum’s belly is considered more ideal approaching birth. This is because an “anterior” baby has less rotation to do during labour…
40 Weeks Pregnant - the importance of positive affirmations and self-talk
It’s that time of pregnancy where baby could be born anytime... or we could still have a week or two to wait. These final days/weeks can be so tough mentally, and we need strategies to cope with them…
39 Weeks Pregnant - getting labour started naturally?
By this stage of pregnancy we’re feeling pretty heavy, uncomfortable and just generally looking forward to being able to get up out of a chair or roll over in bed without it being a big deal! So since baby is technically classed as being “term” now, what about natural options for moving things along?