This post may explain, for some of you, my recent absence.
It was December 6 2012, the Hunter's birthday ironically, I went to the doctor to get a prescription for folic acid as the Hunter and I had decided to try for a baby hunter, yaaaaay! While I was there, she asked if there was any chance I could be pregnant, I thought probably not, but I was a couple of days 'late', though most women would understand that's not really unusual, especially in the typically busy/stressful time leading up to Christmas. So anyway, long story short and all that, I peed on a stick and low and behold, two lines...! Duuuum dah dum dum...
The nurse was hilarious, she said it had been so long since anyone had taken a pregnancy test like that, she'd forgotten how to read them and she'd have to go away and check it! Bloody Nora I thought, I've seen enough rom-coms to know what two lines means, every hot blooded woman knows what two lines means! Nursey took ages to come back, my heart was racing. I mean, we wanted a baby, but could it really be happening this quickly...? I was doing the math in my head... "December now, so winter baby" (southern hemisphere remember), I was visualising walking along the lake edge with my bubba snuggled up in the buggy, snow on the hills, clear blue skies, bliss.
She finally came back and confirmed "You're pregnant!", my eyes began to well, as did hers, she said she'd never been able to tell someone who was actually WANTING to be pregnant good news! (I didn't know unwanted pregnancy was such an issue in our small town!). I couldn't believe it, I was excited, terrified, overwhelmed, but more than anything... so incredibly ecstatic! This was the best birthday surprise for hubby ever!
So nine months later and 5 days late (and what felt like a hundred midwife visits and antenatal classes), whilst having a hot chocolate at a local bar with my sister who was celebrating early with champagne, much to my envy, I felt a pain radiate through my tummy... I excused myself to the bathroom, it felt like I'd had a bad curry, and to be fair, in an effort to move the wee cherub along I'd had Thai curry pumpkin soup for lunch. The pain went away though so I thought nothing of it. At the table next to us, was a lady with a 6 week old baby, I couldn't take my eyes off the wee bundle, so quiet. I hoped our bubba would be so chilled out! About 10 minutes later, there it was again. I'd been trying to leave for ages anyway, and I thought, if I'm going to get a dose of the shits, I'd rather be at home than in a pub, I'm outta here! Bid my farewells to my sister and her boyfriend, and escaped rather quickly, trying not to show the pain I was in on my face.
When I got to the car, I started the contraction timer app I had on my phone, just in case... The pain seemed to be lasting about a minute.
Pretty much as soon as I pulled into the driveway (7 minutes after leaving town), I had another wave of pain. Hit the contraction timer again. I got inside and realised that not only was my hubby not home, but he'd left his cell phone on the kitchen bench! Luckily I knew he was out hunting with my Dad, and I knew where they were. I figured, if these are really contractions, we've got heaps of time anyway. I rang mum, she said it sounds like the real deal, told me to ring the midwife and gather my things! Yikes, it was all happening, after all this time of planning, running it through in my head what it would feel like to be having contractions and pack the car etc etc. Hubby arrived home about 5 minutes later, he and Dad were chatting away about shotguns and training dogs, and shooting bunnies and blah blah blah... I said, "Umm... hate to interrupt boys, but I'm actually having contractions right now, so you need to go home now Dad and we need to get moving hubby!".
An important side note to this whole giving birth scenario is that we live in a small town, with the nearest hospital with child birthing facilities being 3 and a half hours drive away. We had initially planned on being in the city the week before I was due, but was told by everyone not to bother, that we'd have plenty of time to get there... HA! They couldn't have been more wrong. Luckily there is a birthing unit about 45 minutes away, but their facilities are very basic, no drugs or doctors or anaesthesiologists. Ie: no pethidine or morphine, no epidural, just gas. And if you need a Caesar or any other kind of emergency medical intervention they have to get you a helicopter. And in a Central Otago winter, sometimes they can't land as the region is prone to low lying fog, as some of the other winter mummies unfortunately found out! Scary stuff...
But I digress...! After the midwife called in to confirm I was in labour, we got on the road, planning to drive to the city, where I would have our baby in hospital with all the drugs and assistance I would need available to me if I wanted it. By the time we got to the next town, 45 minutes away, my contractions had gone from 7 minutes apart to 4 minutes apart, and I was getting rather noisy! The midwife suggested we call into the birthing unit so she could check how i was progressing. Sure enough, I was 3 cms dilated already! She basically said we MIGHT make it to the city, but even if we do, we'd probably be too late for an epidural, and it would be an incredibly uncomfortable drive. Was it worth the risk and discomfort? I didn't like the idea of giving birth on the roadside in the middle of a bitterly cold winter's night. So we decided to get comfortable (haha) there and have a baby the way millions of women do and have done since the dawn of time - with no pain relief, no stirrups, just me, my husband, and the midwife. Ok, I did partake in some gas, forgive me!
6 hours later (I'll spare you the gory details), Henry was born. It was amazing. I felt so incredibly empowered to have been able to push our baby out and into this world as nature intended me to. The whole time I told myself, this is what my body is made for, women do this in the bush in Africa, I CAN DO IT. And I was right. My midwife had told me to find my inner animal, get wild and a little bit crazy. She was right too. Feeling like a cave woman actually helped and I think if I'd had beeping machines, and monitors, and foreign surroundings it would have been harder to go to that place in my head.
Henry is 6 months old now, and I can honestly say it has been the most amazing 6 months of my life. He is the coolest wee dude, so chilled out and relaxed. He's been sleeping through the night since about 10 weeks old, and although we had a few hiccups at the start, I wouldn't change a second of it. He came into this world at full speed, and I just know he's going to be a handful eventually, but right now, he's our cruisey little bubba, he eats, sleeps and poops like a wee legend, and he really is the best thing to ever happen to us.
So, from now on, recipes from me may take a bit of a turn... they're definitely much less time consuming, because quite frankly I don't have as much time to be slaving over a hot stove these days! Maybe I'll get into some wild baby food recipes too... who knows!
Uncle Aitchy is a bit of a classic kiwi bloke. The strong, silent type. Accomplished digger driver. Always has a classic line at the most unexpected times. And in good hunter gatherer style, is a keen fly-fisherman.
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