41+2 weeks: Giving Birth Under a Full Moon

Yes, here it is! My story of Kilua’s birth!

It’s no secret that I was hoping to give birth a little before my due date. Around 38 weeks would have been perfect!
Well, with my big mouth, I’ve often said that I’d really like a little bull ♉️ (which is what I am myself, so there I go being egocentric again 🤣). SO, of course, the universe keeps me waiting just long enough for me to get my wish!
It’s a bull! And just like with Ryoma, this birth also began during a full moon.

I had my membranes stripped on Monday because I had an appointment at the hospital scheduled for Tuesday to be induced.
I often hear that after a membrane strip, there’s a high chance of a surge of contractions, but it can also have absolutely no effect.
Stripped!
Well, I guess I’m one of those for whom it didn’t work, because absolutely nothing happened, and I didn’t really feel anything change either…
So, unfortunately…

On Tuesday morning, I woke up feeling a little crampy, so maybe I was having some practice contractions—but they weren’t that intense yet (I had something to compare them to now)—so I was pretty sure we’d just have to go to our appointment at the hospital that afternoon.

But NO! It kept going! I was actually kind of glad it started on its own!
I just called the midwife, and she said she’d stop by around 11:30 to check on me—I was still able to function, after all.

11:30—time for a quick check-up! Whoa, things were moving faster than expected—I was already at 5 cm—so off to the hospital!
FULL MOON = Enschede Hospital FULL😭
So we have to head to Almelo! NOOOOO, I really don’t want to🥲 I’m trying my hardest to hold off, but I guess I’ll just have to face it—off to Almelo.

The contractions are getting a bit stronger now, so I’ve just hooked up the TENS machine (I swear by this little gadget✌🏼)
Once we arrive, we’ll be warmly welcomed, and they’ll probably start an IV.

I feel incredibly clear-headed and level-headed the whole time, and it’s actually a little strange to be so consciously focused on giving birth. It all went very quickly and smoothly, and we decided to have my water broken.

Yep, Kilua, just like Ryoma, has pooped in the amniotic fluid, so it’s become a medical issue, and things are moving pretty quickly now.

At one point, I was at 9 cm, so that went really fast, but unfortunately I got stuck there for a long time, and I was also told that he wasn’t positioned quite right… I was just waiting for that urge to push or that primal strength, but I have no idea—I didn’t feel it… 🤷🏻‍♀️

It was really awful because those contractions and the pain at 9 cm were incredibly PAINFUL! By then, I was really zoning out, and I think I asked several times—out of desperation—if I could still get an epidural or if they couldn’t just pull the baby out.
BUT NO…

The gynecologist came in, and things were getting tense—would the baby come out now, or would an emergency C-section be necessary after all?

For me, everything here was a blur, so finally—relief, I thought—the cut and the vacuum!
Finally, I felt the head, and then you think, “Whoosh, the rest will just pop out too”—but here came another setback: it was just stuck😱, so I had to push through three more contractions… OMG, it was incredibly painful… Hani described that final moment as a battle 🙈

There he was!!! Overjoyed that he was finally there and that it was all over!

Explanation for why it was so “difficult”: IT WAS A HUGE BABY… much bigger than expected…

I stayed in the hospital for one night and then went home the next morning.

I’m still recovering because it was quite a struggle✌🏼