I had read What To Expect When Expecting a thousand times over, back to front and inside out. I had the stages of labor sorted and how long I should expect to take for each considering it was my first labour. (or so I thought)
We had just relocated from the Gold Coast to my hometown of Warragul and one of our first points of call was to book in to the hospital.
I always thought a water birth would be nice but unfortunately they didn’t offer them at this hospital.
I was still happy to hear I could labour in the bath as long as I wanted but when it really got down to business I would have to be out of the water.
“Shall I wear my bikinis?” I asked the midwife showing us around.
She laughed out loud and looked at me as if I was crazy. “Oh, no dear the last thing you’ll be thinking about is wearing bathers or clothing!”
We then went downstairs and were to attend our first antenatal class arriving to discover we were about to watch a film of actual childbirth. Now those that know me are aware that any blood, bodily fluids etc completely grosses me out.
I can’t look in mouths, at people’s teeth, be near someone sniffing who has a cold the list goes on…..
So did I actually watch the movie? Well if you call sitting there with eyes squeezed tightly shut and blocking my ears so I couldn’t hear a thing watching?! Well then yes I did:)
As we were leaving the hospital I mentioned to Jase that there was not one positive thing mentioned at the meeting. I felt like they were just preparing us for a really traumatic experience and there was no alternative.
Suffice to say I couldn’t sleep very well, so there I found myself at 2 am googling positive birth, easy birth……
It was so refreshing to see!!! People actually did have good experiences and I started to feel a tiny bit less terrified about my impending situation.

Malachi was due on the 9th of March 2007 and on his due date just like clockwork as I woke up and went to the toilet there it was (for anyone queasy at gross stuff like me close your eyes, block your ears!! Oh how gross. I’m nearly dry reaching writing this!!)
The mucous plug.
(Don’t expect a description of what that is here, you can research that for yourself)
Anyway, it generally is one of the first signs that Labour is starting.
I called my sister (who had just had her second baby 2 weeks prior) but her husband Jon answered the phone.
Jon doesn’t mind a bit of research either and was pretty knowledgable about all things birth and baby at the time so I think it’s pretty funny that it was my brother in law that confirmed it.
“Yep Sari”, he said. It’s probably going to happen today.
Now surprisingly enough, I didn’t find myself completely petrified. If I remember correctly I felt pretty calm.
Jase was already at work so I called (after my brother in laws expert opinion on the situation, ha ha) and told him that I was going into labor.
Having just relocated and as his job was brand new it wasn’t like he could just leave so he said to call in a few hours and let him know if he needed to leave or not.
If I remember correctly I did the stereotypical thing and cleaned the morning away. Windex springs to mind. I think I cleaned all of the Windows in the house.
I don’t really remember contractions as such, just a mild period type pain that was completely bearable.
Once the windows were sparkling I walked up to Mum and Dad’s house (Just five houses away) and decided to hang out there for a bit.
Once there about midday, I could now distinguish the contractions but still it was just like worse period pain for about 30 secs to a minute and still very bearable.
Mum having quick labors herself said that I should get Jase here so we called him and he headed down.
“Let’s go to hospital”, he said.
“No, not yet,” I protested. “How embarrassing if this isn’t even labor and they send us home.”
“Let’s go buy some snacks”, I suggested. I had read in my bible (What To Expect When You’re Expecting) that it’s good to pack snacks. It also suggested packing some champagne to celebrate the birth. (I’m not sure if it’s still in revised edition but it was in mine:) I didn’t need to purchase that – It was the first thing I had packed in my hospital bag weeks ago:) ha ha!!
So, there was me in labour (me still not sure if I was at the time) perusing the lolly aisle of the supermarket.
Chicos, minties and barbeque shapes were my snack of choice. (nutritious and healthy, I know;) I also purchased some trash mags to help pass the time.
We headed back to Mum and Dad’s and hung out there until about 2pm. By that time Jase demanded we head to hospital, but I was still hesitant. I’m not sure if it was because I was still unsure if this was the real thing or because I understood that my lifelong fear of childbirth was about to be faced.
Arriving at the hospital around 2.30 pm we check in and the midwife does all of the necessary monitoring and confirms that I actually am in labour.
Awesome!! “Can I hop in the bath?” I ask.
“Sure”, says the nurse.
So off I go, bikinis on, trash mag in hand and relax in the bath. Jase set up the music and we had my birthing playlist gently playing in the background.
It was all serene and comfortable for a few hours, me reading my mag nibbling on minties, but it then got a little too much to keep relaxing.
As I had been in the bath so long we kept having to empty the bath a bit and then refill with hot water.
It was getting more intense now and when the tap was running it actually felt awesome so we continued to empty the bath and refill so I could enjoy this comforting sensation.
While this was happening my midwife had finished her shift so a new midwife was to take over. As she arrived maybe due to water restrictions at the time or maybe as she was thinking clearly:) she suggested putting the plug in and Jase using a jug to keep the flowing water running over me continuously. Ha ha. Good idea!!!
As Jase was pouring the water over me his phone rang and it was his parents who were flying over to Warragul for the first time in their new plane. It was the Labor Day long weekend and my 30th birthday the next day. (I always said I wanted a baby before I was 30. Well, I pushed it till the last minute but I think I was about to make it happen.)
Jase’s parents were unsure where to land and were circling in the air above us trying to find some significant land marks to help them find their airstrip.
At that stage I was in no state to help Jase navigate his parents and Jase new to the area had no idea. “You wouldn’t happen to know where the old chook farm is?” Jase asked the midwife not expecting the answer he received.
“Yes that’s my farm, I live there”, she replied.
What were the chances?? The midwife here delivering their first grandchild, was the owner of the farm and airstrip they were to land on. Jase passed the phone to the midwife who gave my in-laws directions to find the landing strip. Crazy coincidence, if I do say so myself:)
So I now had been in the bath for about two and a half hours and all of a sudden things got pretty unbearable!!
Omg!! I’ve only just started I was thinking…. and it’s this bad already.!!!!
According to my books this stage could last another 10 or so hours.
I used the gas (which I loved) to help me through but all of a sudden I felt nauseous, hot and completely terrified.
“I can’t do this anymore!!!” I cried to Jase.
“You need to get her out of the bath,” said the midwife.
“Babe, you need to hop out”, said Jase.
I wasn’t moving anywhere!!
In the back of mind I had always thought I could accidentally have a water birth;) How perfect a Piscean mother giving birth to a Piscean child in water……….
Whoah!!!!!!, not really knowing what was happening Jase had scooped me up with one arm and lifted me out of the bath.
I was then kneeling over a fitball ( How appropriate for a Pilates instructor).
“I need water”, I cried.
They switched on the shower which was above me and the hot water running over my back was heaven.
“Ok Sarah it’s time to push”, said the midwife.
“WHAT!!!!!???”, I thought.
This was just the beginning and now I have to push???
“Push”, yelled the midwife and Jase together.
I half heartedly gave a little push.
I was too scared to commit to a big one. That would mean the baby would actually have to come out!! Ouch!
“Push”, they both screamed together again.
This was it!!!
I had honestly never been more terrified in my whole life. Just like going down the scariest roller coaster ever, I just closed my eyes and hoped for the best! I used my breath and gave one powerful push. “Keep going”, they encouraged.
I kept pushing and after only 2 more pushes there he was!!
He arrived at 5.40 pm just 3 hours after arriving at hospital.
The whole unbearable section had lasted all of about 5 minutes!!??
“It’s a boy”, Jase cried.
“Is he clean?” I asked with my eyes still squeezed tightly shut. (Sad I know, but I really didn’t know if I could handle seeing blood and gukky stuff)
I don’t know how I was so lucky (maybe as my waters actually broke as he was being born) but Malachi was born perfectly clean. I needn’t have worried. He was so gorgeous.
“He’s got dimples!!!” I cried.
Omg!! That’s it! It’s over??? I was in shock. I thought labour was just beginning and it was already over? I couldn’t believe it!
Well of course the cord had to be cut and placenta expelled but that was all simple and straight forward.
Before I knew it, I was sitting up in bed feeding my beautiful new little boy completely overwhelmed and in love.
It really is indescribable the feeling of meeting your child for the first time.
I felt like I could fly!

I was elated, empowered and felt invinsible.
Malachi attached to feed with ease and after settling in for a few minutes we were ecstatically on the phone to our families telling them to come up to meet him.
As they live locally they all arrived within minutes and in what seemed like divine timing Jase’s parents had also landed the plane and they walked in at the same time as everyone else.
The champagne was popped, we were all there together celebrating and it really was one of the most magical days of my life.
Why had I spent so much unnecessary time worrying about it??
I felt like the luckiest girl in the world!!!