Victoria Hamilton

Peter and I are now proud parents to a second daughter, Victoria (undecided middle name) Hamilton. Kathleen is a very proud big sister who loves to give her little sister lots of kissies and cuddles.

Victoria was born at 3.10pm on Saturday 17 November 2007, weighing 2.780kg / 6lb 2oz, at home.

It was not planned to be a home birth. In fact we were on our way to the hospital when all of a sudden she couldn't be held back any more. And so our second daughter was actually born in the front yard of the house!!! Big huge thanks to all the neighbours who appeared out of nowhere and provided lots of help.

I've heard about people giving birth on the way to the hospital and laughed and said "couldn't you have left earlier?". Now I don't want people laughing at me the same way, so here is the whole story from my point of view...

(warning it may get a little graphic)

Saturday morning I woke up and felt like this was going to be the day. Victoria was already a week late, and every morning Peter would ask me if "today is baby day". As I got out of bed I felt a trickle. My waters hadn't broken but they were leaking. As the morning went on I felt period-like cramps. So when Peter asked if it was baby day I said "maybe".

In order to give me a little space, I suggested that Peter and his mum take Kathleen out Christmas shopping. They had some stuff they needed to buy anyway, and Kat was fascinated with the Christmas trees and decorations last time we went to the Warehouse. I suppose it was about 11am when they went out.

The cramps were getting stronger and I re-read through my midwife's instructions on when to call her. They said "When contracting every 3 minutes lasting 60-90 seconds for an hour". I phoned anyway just to give them a heads up that things were beginning. I spoke to the backup midwife who didn't seem overly concerned, said that it could take up to 48 hours and to call back when the contractions had been lasting 60 seconds, for an hour.

So I settled back to try and watch some TV and take my mind of things. Over the course of the next hour the contractions became strong and regular, probably only lasting 20-30 seconds (I was unable to time them myself).

I would say labour was definitely established by 12 o'clock.

Now Kathleen's birth took about 5 hours. She was also a week late and was induced. I have heard that inductions can speed up deliveries. I've also heard that second and subsequent babies can come quicker. Had Kathleen's birth been normal and not an induction then I don't know how long it would have taken - 12-14 hours is the average. So I didn't really know what to expect in terms of how long it would take. All I had to go by was my midwife's assurance not to worry until contractions have been 60 seconds long for an hour.

By 1.15pm the contractions had become intense and I was starting to think about pain relief. I texted Peter who said he was on his way home.

At 1.45pm I couldn't stand the pain any more and hopped in the shower, something which really helped a lot last time. However this time it didn't help much so I hopped back out again. Contractions were at least 30 seconds long, and definitely less than 5 minutes apart.

At 2pm Peter, Mimi and Kathleen got home. Mimi began timing my contractions, while Peter looked after Kathleen and put her down for a nap. The contractions were lasting about 45 seconds and were 2 minutes apart. They phoned the midwife who again said to "not worry until contractions have been lasting 60 seconds, for an hour".

I don't know how long until the contractions reached 60 seconds in length. Not long, maybe another half hour. But I still had in my mind that I had to wait at this stage for another hour before doing anything.

At 2.45pm I suddenly felt the overwhelming urge to push and knew I was reaching the "transition" stage. I fought back against the urge with all my willpower. The midwife was again phoned and she agreed to come to our house. She lives about 20 minutes away.

Peter and his mother kept insisting we needed to go to the hospital. I just wanted my midwife to be there.

After another 10 minutes even I agreed we couldn't wait any longer and we slowly headed for the car to drive to the hospital. We had to stop a couple of times for contractions. Being upright slowed the contractions down a bit thankfully. During all this time I did not push once, apart from the initial time when the transition phase started. I successfully fought off each subsequent contraction.

We walked down to the car and met the midwife at the gate. I felt another contraction starting and dropped down onto the grass to ride it out. The midwife watched and then she agreed to go on ahead to the hospital to get things ready.

Peter went on to bring the car out, and I stayed where I was which was behind the garage, out of sight from the road but as close to the car as possible.

I felt another contraction starting. I tried to fight it, as I'd done before, but this time the urge to push just overwhelmed me. As I struggled to bring it under control I could feel the baby's head crowning and knew it was too late. So with one more push (on purpose), the head was delivered. I told Peter it was too late, the baby was here, but he didn't believe me. He came over and saw for himself, and after another minute and one more push, I delivered the rest of the baby into his arms.

And so Victoria was born. On our front lawn. At 3.10pm. After 3-3 1/2 hours labour and only 3 pushes.

The neighbours appeared out of nowhere with towels and water and phones and you-name-it. Mimi phoned an ambulance after I screamed out "it's coming", and they arrived maybe 10 minutes later to cut the cord and transport Victoria and I to hospital, where the midwife delivered the placenta and checked us out.

After such an exciting entry into the world, Victoria is quickly settling into her role as the smallest member of our family, keeping us awake half the night and being on the receiving end of lots and lots of cuddles.

More updates to comes over the next few weeks and months.

-Megz