It was a long labour

by Sky

When I was pregnant with my son, I was 18 years old and just finishing my first year at university. I woke up at 6 am with period like cramping and even though I was extremely excited on the inside, I remained calm and did not tell anyone.

My partner was working for film and TV and had left at 4 AM. I also lived with my father and step-mum, who came in to the kitchen around 8 am to find me re-arranging all their cupboards and scrubbing down their shelves. It was obvious to them what was going on so my step-mum waited with me all day while I had irregular contractions (at that stage I could still read a magazine, hold a normal conversation etc, etc).

I rang my partner at work around 8 pm and asked the secretary at the TV station if I could speak with my partner. She was incredibly rude, saying I could not speak to anyone on set, so I told her to tell him that my contractions were close together and she screamed and apologized and said she would let him know straight away. When my partner got home we went for a long walk and ended up at the seven/eleven, where I was breathing deeply and jumping up and down in the aisles while buying chocolate-in hope to bring the labour along. the man behind the counter was staring at me.

Midnight and we were at the hospital. By 8pm the next day my son was born. It was a long labour and it took me quite some time to dilate fully. During the last stages of dilation, my partner was bossed around by me in between excruciating contractions. I was shouting at him to bring hot towels- hotter!! He could not carry them with his bare hands and had to wear gloves, but I insisted he press them into my back. I went crazy during transition and kept imagining baby tiger cubs, feeling very sick and weepy. Then I began the pushing in which I was too impatient and tore up inside.

My son was born posterior position and I held him and laughed with joy while the doctor did some lattice pastry stitching on my female bits with the biggest needle I have ever seen. I was swollen to the size of an orange by the next day. My mother asked how it went and I told her that at one point I wished for death and she laughed. That was 14 years ago and my beautiful boy will have a baby sister or brother in six months time. I hope the labour will be a bit quicker but with the same wonderful result!