Carter THE BIRTH OF CARTER 10 August 2012

 

Carter Burgess – born 5 August 2012

 

Boy I gotta admit it feels good to have popped! Being pregnant with Carter was more difficult and demanding for me, because I was also chasing around a toddler and Carter was waaaaay feistier in my belly than Hunter was.

THANK YOUย for all the wonderful messages!! They really made me smile and I think it’ll be really fun for Carter to read when he’s grown up ๐Ÿ™‚

I wanted to write downย Carter’s birth story for our memories, because it was just SO completely different from Hunter’s birth story. To put it plainly, it was my personal perfect-success story of what I wanted a birth to be, and for that I am really happy and grateful.

 

Carter’s Birth Story โ€“ย summary:

Popped on the day he turned 38 weeks, after

5 hour labour (epidural inserted mid-way)
1 hour pushing (epidural turned off)
Natural / VBAC birth with vacuum

 

Carter’s Birth Story โ€“ย details:

This time round, I wasย not expecting a Natural Birth, because of my previous Emergency Cesarean, growing another big baby, a low-lying placenta, and Carter facing the wrong way. Obviously, I didn’t want to get my hopes up! So I was booked in for an Elective Cesarean but kept praying that I’d go into labour earlier. As the days went by, I started to lose hope and was starting to get really down about the prospect of having to have surgery ๐Ÿ™ But I left it in God’s hands and………….. I went into labour 24 hours before my Scheduled Cesareanย – just in the nick of time!!! ๐Ÿ˜€

10:00AM – Woke up on Sunday morning and Chris and I were puttering around the kitchen, chopping up veggies to make a vegetable frittata (Hunter loves this!). Body felt ‘off’ but just thought I was tired, so I sat at our kitchen table to chop instead. Wasn’tย feeling any better and had dull period-like aches, so Chris timed the contractions and found them to be 2-mins apart (!!!). He called the hospital and they told us to go in.

11:00AM – Arrived at hospital and after settling down, was checked and found to beย 100% effaced and 3cm dilated. The midwife left me to continue with labour since she suspected it would be smooth and quick, like with Hunter.

2:00PM – Doctor arrived beforehand at lunchtime and said she would let me try for a Natural Birth. Yayyyyy!!! Was so excited but also scared. Another check found I was 8cm dilated, which is considered super quick. The downside of a very fast labour is the contractions are WAY more painful. I went through it with zero drugs with Hunter, but this time round, I decided on anย Epidural mid-way because I was scared in case it ended with another Emergency Cesarean, and I wanted to be prepared.

3:00PMย – The Epidural meant that I could feel the contractions, but took the edge off the strong contractions. Another check, and 10cm dilated – which is fully dilated!!!

3:45PMย – The doctor wanted my contractions to naturally push Carter’s head lower, and after awhile she declared meย ready to push, turning off the Epidural. She only wanted to me to push for “half an hour” as she was cautious about stressing out my previous Cesarean scar (which can rupture). Pushing is SO SO SO SO HARD!!! She kept saying “push like you’re pushing out a big poo”… but I couldn’t quite figure out how to effectively push and all I felt was awful back labour and pressure (due to his head facing the wrong way). But I kept at it and after almost an hour was up, she recommended vacuum assistance so she could help pull him out too. Chris and her could see Carter’s head coming down already, and saw that it was pretty huge (ARGH), and so she also had to do anย episiotomy to get his head to fit through.

4:45PMCarter is born!ย OMG the relief when his head popped out.. it really is like doing a big poo, only 30582422 times better and I think the body releases a HUGE dose of hormones at the same time, because I suddenly felt hit with these drowsy ecstatic feelings that made me feel like I was drugged. The rest of his body slid out quickly afterwards and he was placed on my chest to breastfeed.

For me, personally, the sensation you feel after a Cesarean versus a Natural birth is really different. With Hunter, I felt happy but dazed, a bit of a random “where did this baby come from?” moment. But with Carter, the powerful hit of emotions was released when he came out… which makes me realise why, if possible, a Natural Birth is so beneficial for mother and child. I’m grateful I’ve had the chance to experience both. Recovery is also ridiculously easier with a Natural Birth – I was up and walking and doing stuff as per usual the very next day. For sure I am tender, but the pain is so infinitely less than recovering from a Cesarean!

Carter breastfed well and alert for 2hrs afterwards, just laying there quietly and looking around taking the world in.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD, MY SON!

 

Sleeping through the first stages of labour

 

The amount of blood taken (!!!) for Cord Blood Banking – we made the decision to donate ours because there is probably a greater chance of it being used to save someone’s life, rather than storing it for ourselves…

 

Taken immediately after Carter was born – absolutely knackered, dazed and blissed out. Check out the bloodshot eyes from all that pushing!

 

3.7KG at 38 weeks old. Glad he came early!

 

Carter at one-hour old

 

Of course,ย Hunter now has the grand honour of being a BIG BROTHER! He met Carter for the first time and was pretty fascinated. All he wanted to do was to carry Carter, and didn’t want to let go!

Checking out his baby brother

 

*pat pat*

 

Carter had a little present in his cot, just for Hunter. It was a red motorcycle toy!

 

Hunter grabbing onto Carter when we were trying to take him back

 

Proud grandparents, second time around!

 

OH HAI

 

PS. You can see Hunter’s birth stats and Hunter’s birth story here.

 

Letโ€™s Chat!




Let's Chat!

Congratulations Bev and Chris. Well done Bev and for looking so radiant after pushing the bub out. Lovely that he was born on your anniversary too! I just hope my bub is as compliant and decides he needs to see the world at 38wks too!

Aww thank you Jessie. He was born 3 days before our anniversary , so a nice early present ๐Ÿ˜›
All the best for your pregnancy!

CONGRATULATIONS!!! And welcome to little Carter ๐Ÿ™‚ I’m so glad he arrived safely – you’re going to love having 2 little boys to chase around ๐Ÿ˜€

It’ll be fun seeing them interact and play with each other when Carter is older – I’m looking forward to that! ๐Ÿ™‚

Congrats on your swift and safe birth! Carter is gorgeous. ๐Ÿ™‚ I’m so jealous because I had a 41-hour labour. Blake was delivered via vacuum assisted delivery too in the end. Congrats once again and enjoy your two boys!

Whoooaaa 41 hours, you are a champion for having the stamina to get through that! I was already totally exhausted with mine..

Blake is SO CUTE though and I love his name!

Congratulations! He looks more like your mom, I thought… noticed many kids take after their grandparents, isn’t it interesting? You look great!

He’s gorgeous and love the shot of Hunter with Carter. Congratulations to you and your family ๐Ÿ™‚

Hi and Congratulations. I landed onto your blog while looking for a Longchamp eiffel tower bag and was just facinated! We’re the same age and got married the same time but you beat me by 2 kids! And they are both adorable beyond belief. Your blog is a nice glimpse into what is to come as I will be going abroad as an american expat in hongkong in the coming months. I just want to send my congrats and that you have an extra reader.

hi Helen and how fun you dropped in cos of Longchamp, haha!

Man I’m envious you’ll be in HK.. talk about eating and shopping heaven. You totally have to check out the consignment stores there – they’re awesome!

Congratulations on the natural birth & precious addition to the family! So cute how Hunter kept carrying his little brother! Speedy recovery~

Amazing how good you look straight after giving birth. So jealous!

Carter looks like he’s going to look more like you than Hunter did, but newborns change so much, it’s going to be exciting to see him change and grow.

Many, many congratulations to you and your family.

I dunno.. was feeling pretty knackered! ๐Ÿ˜›

Pretty sure Carter will look different in a couple of months.. and yeah, will be fun to see, heh

wow a near perfect birth story! ๐Ÿ™‚ You look nothing like you’ve been in labour at all. i have no photos of me before, during and after birth, was as pale as a white sheet! :/
Rest well ๐Ÿ™‚

Oh I was the opposite.. I was really flushed from all the physical exertion! Man, natural birth really is like a marathon… my muscles were SO sore afterwards :X

yay! congrats, bev! he’s beautiful!

btw, you look amazing! i didn’t want any pictures of me during that time – i’m pretty sure i looked like death was on my doorstep, haha!!

What a wonderful birth story!! Praise God!! Love the photo of Hunter patting Carter – he’s going to be an awesome Kor Kor!

Beautiful story! Congratulations to both you & Chris. I cannot express how much your birth stories have calmed ( somewhat!!) my fears on the birth of our first in November. Thank you so much!

Awwww not long to go now! Praying you have a smooth labour and birth… and enjoy the wild wild ride with a newborn ๐Ÿ˜›