27/09/2026
Our birth story 🤍
The waves that would bring our son earthside began on Thursday night.
By Saturday evening, we knew it was time to make our way to hospital. It was a beautiful, clear, starry night. Sari met us there, and we began the rituals of entering into the journey of birth.
What followed was a long night of waves, the birth ball, vomiting in the shower, back massages and, eventually, the bath — which brought some much-needed relief.
By Sunday morning, after many hours of labour, I had only dilated 2cm. We were told to go home and rest.
But by the time we reached the highway, everything intensified. I had already been awake for almost two days, and by midday I was back on the phone to the midwives saying I needed to return to hospital.
By then, I wanted the drugs. All of them. I was completely exhausted and just needed to sleep.
Endone didn’t help. Morphine gave me brief moments of rest, but the waves continued.
Around midnight, we moved into a birthing room and made the decision to have an epidural — something that had never been part of our birth dreams or plans. But nothing had really gone to plan thus far, and birth asks you to surrender the plan.
At 2am, I was finally able to sleep.
By 4am, it was time to begin pushing. The epidural had started to wear off enough that I could feel the waves again and knew when to push.
After an hour of pushing, we were told that if he didn’t come soon, intervention would be needed.
With everything I had left, I pushed.
I felt him crown.
And at 5:18am on Monday, 27 July 2026, our beautiful son was here. 🤍
Looking back, the epidural was what finally allowed my body to relax enough to fully dilate. After almost four days of labour and nearly three days without sleep, my body needed rest.
For those who have experienced sexual trauma, birth can bring another layer of complexity, and sometimes an epidural can be an incredibly empowering tool. For me, it was exactly what I needed.
I’m so grateful Matty wrote our story down. I was awake for so long that the days and nights had completely blurred into one.
& I would do it all again 🤍
Continued in comments …
