Exclusive Miriam's first childbirth story: “Later it turned out that I had broken my tailbone, partly because it happened so quickly”

I was just 22 years old and heavily pregnant with our daughter

Just happily settled into our own home. A few months before that, we were both still living with our parents. It was a scorching hot spring, and I was completely ready to welcome our baby. I was 5 days 'overdue'. My feet were as big as those of a manatee and I had gained 22 kilograms.

Just a really fun update from the couch

Yesterday I went to the midwife and she said that they are going to strip my membranes at 41.1 weeks, so that's next Monday... Later in the conversation I mentioned that I had barely felt the baby move that day, so she sent us for a CTG scan. I was hooked up to that machine for an hour and apparently, the little lady liked that because she woke up completely, thankfully, and then she kept kicking well into the evening!

Last night I woke up at 3:30 AM feeling some wetness. I had been 'incontinent' for a while, so I thought: 'It must be...' At 4:00 AM I had to go to the bathroom, that's when I saw that my boxer shorts were completely wet along with the delightful mucus plug. YES! After that, I couldn't sleep anymore and started feeling a kind of menstrual-like pain in my lower abdomen, back, and hips. I went downstairs to lie on the couch with a sandwich with Nutella and warm chocolate milk. At 7:30 I immediately called the midwife and told her everything. She didn't expect that my waters had broken. She came over at 8:45 AM and sure enough, there was a crack in my membranes! This meant that if it didn't start naturally today or tonight, she would definitely induce me early tomorrow morning. Hopefully, it will start on its own and I'll soon be able to hold our little girl in my arms. I can't wait. Now I'm experiencing some pre-labor contractions, but unfortunately, they're not regular yet...

I sent Bernard to work because I actually thought I wouldn't be induced until the next morning since the labor hadn't started yet. At 10:00 AM, I was on the phone with my mother. I told her everything. She reacted pretty much the same as when I told her at age 12 that I had gotten my period for the first time. I said, “Mom, should I maybe do some vacuuming? It might trigger the contractions?” Then she sternly told me to just keep lying down. And that's what I did.

At half past 10, Ber asked on Whatsapp: “Are you okay?” To which I replied: “Well, it’s starting to hurt a bit now!” He was back home by 11:45 AM and had taken time off. We took a quick shower and then I coped with my contractions on the toilet. That was the only position that was somewhat comfortable. Ber called the midwife at 12:30 PM because I couldn’t take it anymore. The contractions were getting stronger. I was lying on the bed crying, thinking I probably only had 2 centimeters of dilation because that’s what you always read about. I wanted pain medication! It was too intense! The midwife finally arrived at 1:45 PM, which seemed like an eternity. When she checked, she said: “Well, you’re doing very well. You’re at 7 centimeters.” Wow, 7?! Ber asked: “Should we go to the hospital now?” “That seems very wise,” she replied.

We were at the hospital at 2:30 PM. I was already feeling a strong urge to push and so I asked if I could go to the toilet. “No, better not,” they said. I kept insisting that I really needed to go, haha. Eventually, I was allowed to use the bedpan. The nurse said, “Your waters need to be broken (since there was only a tear), but we have to wait for your midwife, otherwise I'd be taking her job.” That really irritated me! The midwife took her time to arrive. She didn't get there until 3:30 PM. So annoying. But okay, when she arrived, I was already 9 centimeters dilated. She broke my waters and thankfully I was allowed to start pushing right away. How great that was! I was completely out of it... I even said the weirdest things, like “look mom, I bought a nice pair of pants for Ber!” I had my foot on the side of my midwife. I felt her stomach rumble and I asked, “Are you hungry?” Everyone burst into laughter, haha!

After a short hour of pushing at 4:58 PM, she was finally there

our beautiful Sophia! With a score of 9! She immediately drank from my breast, that cutie! I had a small tear on the inside, but it felt like I was completely torn, hahaha! Then that perineum oil must have done its job. The midwife had estimated Sophia at 3200 grams in my belly the day before the delivery, but she was 3750 grams. A nice big lady! At 7:30 PM we were allowed to go home. I couldn't walk and I never expected it to hurt so much afterwards. Later it turned out that my coccyx was fixated (broken). I didn't even know that could happen. The doctors said it could be because I am quite small, she is relatively large, and that the delivery went super fast.

When we got home, a maternity nurse arrived who quite insistently said that Sophia HAD to sleep in her own bed, while I really wanted her in bed with me. The second she left, we took Sophia and never let go. Forget her own bed! We're doing it our way! The following Friday, the maternity care (fortunately a different person) came for the last time. I found that really awful. I started having severe panic attacks, luckily Ber had taken the following week off and we could get used to our lovely baby. Now it feels like she's always been here!!! I'm totally in love with her. She's growing really well. Everything is going so wonderfully naturally.

MIRIAM