ITT: The thread title.
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My due date got closer which I had calculated to the 31st May. My pregnancy had been quite uneventful. I had gone without any prenatal care but took care for body and soul so that nothing could disturb my baby's growth. I expected to go beyond my due date as it had been with the other two. That's why I did not pay much attention to the mild contractions I had afternoon and evening 30th May. They ceased when I went to bed. Contractions returned the next day, but I did not pay much attention to them, either. With Jonathan, I had had regular contractions on several days more than one week before he was actually born. Contractions got a little more intense in the evening compared to the day before, though. At 9 p.m. I put the kids to bed and now had to concentrate and breathe during each wave. A good training for later when things really start, I thought. The kids were not very tired and after 15 minutes Tim took over. I went downstairs to check e-mails and visit the homebirth-forums. At 9.18 p.m. I wrote there: "...today is due date. I'm contracting but not sure. Maybe this is it, maybe not."
Tim came downstairs short after 10 p.m.. The kids slept finally. I told him I had contractions but was not sure if this was it. He suggested we took a shower and made us ready for bed as usual and then see what happens in the meantime. Besides we still had plans to take nice belly pictures. While in the bathroom I started sweating and shivering at the same time, my legs started shaking. I commented that I would not be able to sleep with the contractions I now had. Tim was worried if it was normal that I was shivering. I said: Yes, it's normal during transition. My brain had analysed that this was transition but somehow I was far from truly realizing it. It was much too early. Contractions were far too mild. Besides, we still wanted to take pictures and I had made plans to go shopping with my mother-in-law the next day. Johanna needed shoes, a jacket, t-shirts...
There was no time to get the camera stand or similar extravagances. We managed three pictures and I repeated saying, that I actually found it inconvenient to give birth that day. With the last picture I felt the first contraction coming with a real urge to bear down. I guess that's why it became the best of the three. "We have to hurry!" I exclaimed. During this wave I felt the need to poo and rushed to the bathroom as soon as it was over. At the bathroom door the next wave hit and my waters broke.
Now I had definitely understood. "I go into the teepee." Now or never, I thought, and off I went as fast as possible. That's what I wanted, giving birth in the teepee. I had imagined hanging onto the rope in the middle and giving birth to my baby. With Jonathan's birth I had missed something to hang onto so this would be the perfect way to go, or so I thought. I grabbed the bag with the birthing stuff I had prepared just earlier that day (after all I had been convinced to go at least one week beyond my due date just until one hour ago). Then I left the house heading toward the tent. A few meters and the next wave hit. Only a few steps and another wave and I could already feel the head. The teepee was barely 15 meters away but I knew I would not make it. It felt like eternity until Tim came. He had fetched coal and lighter on his way so that we should have it warm in the teepee. Luckily he brought the camera, too. After all it was my wish to get this birth on tape. Then the head was out and with the next contraction the body followed. I crouched down and let him slide onto the grass. It was 10.56 p.m., six minutes after we had taken the last belly picture. I took him up and he looked at me with big eyes. We covered him with a towel as he began to complain about the cold.Then we sat in the grass for a while, astonished. Everything had happened so very fast that the whole situation felt somehow unreal. Finally we headed to the house. After I had birthed the placenta on the lawn to avoid indoor cleaning, I took a shower and then the three of us huddled together in bed for the rest of the night.
Johanna and Jonathan missed the whole event. They got to welcome their baby brother the next morning. Tim sat up the Swedish flag, as it is common to do here on special days, so the curious neighbors got the news and some dropped by immediately.
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