Rory Davies: A Birth Story

* This post was originally posted on November 15, 2016 *

It was around 4am on the morning of August the 2nd, I could hear Sara pacing around the bedroom. I assumed she was getting ready for her dentist appointment she had that day (no idea why she was doing it so early, but who am i to question the motives and mind set of a pregnant lady). After a couple of minutes I opened my eyes and rolled over to see what was going on. She stared back at me with the quizzical yet terrified face and she outright stated “Babe, I think my waters have broke.” 

“This was 16 days early!”

I sat upright in bed faster than i thought it was possible for me to move at that time in the morning. I took a deep breath and tried to remember what I had read and learned about this moment. This was not how I thought I would be waking up. This was 16 days early!

“Have you had any contractions? Called the hospital? How long has this been happening?” I spluttered all at once.

She was definitely calmer than I was. She went and sat in the babies room on a footrest and called the maternity ward. I took a moment to collect myself and try and bring some comprehensibility to what was happening. I called her mum and her sister to see if either was awake (as per our birth plan) and they set out on their way. 

“That was the moment it all got real.”

At this point I went to join Sara in the babies room, and caught the tail end of the conversation with the midwife. “Im not too sure if my water has gone yet…oh wait now it has” It gushed everywhere. All over the footrest and carpet. That was the moment it all got real. The midwife told us to stay calm, run a bath and come see them in a few hours.

Sara sat in the bath, I sat on the floor next to her. It was peaceful, calm. The only sound was the swishing of water coming out of the tap. We both knew what was coming, but for now we were enjoying the tranquility. 
A couple of hours had passed and it was time to get to the hospital. When we arrived at the maternity ward Sara sat on the bed and we waited for the nurse to come check everything was okay. It was, but sadly there wasn’t enough dilation so we had to head home for a bit. This is when everything changed from calm to extreme. We were making our way back to the car and Sara was really starting to feel the contractions. She was in a lot of pain with each one, when we got home she went straight back in the bath to try and numb the pain. Yet again i was getting worse and worse. We were nowhere near the time given to us by the midwife but I knew something wasn’t right. I called up the hospital and explained to them what was happening and they told us to come down to check it out.

The drive back was insane. Sara was in agony. She was making noises I had never heard before, screaming at the top of her lungs then sinking down to a guttural cavewoman esque growl. I ran ahead to call the lift, and popped around the corner to try and find a wheelchair because she was having a lot of trouble walking. I was only away for a few seconds but I heard that cavewoman growl again but this time she was calling my name (probably with a few expletives, but we will leave that part). Basically the moral of this part of the story is: when your other half is in labour, don’t do things wrong.

We got back to the nurse and she checked the dilation. We had gone from 0 to 6cm in only around two hours. They rushed us up to the delivery room, and within about 15 minutes the midwife could see the head.

Now the next part, was nowhere near what I was expecting. I don’t really know what I was expecting, but this wasn’t it.

“Yes she was worried that she was pushing so hard her insides were going to fall out.”

It was just myself, Sara, Saras mum and the midwife. She had her right leg up on the midwife, left leg up on her mum and I was holding her hand. It turned into a bit of a comedy act (although Sara wasn’t finding it funny at the time). There was what sounded like a phone going off every couple of minutes in the delivery room. Saras mum and the midwife were very concerned about what this was. To the point where every time Sara needed to push they would be off searching for the beeping. That beeping turned out to be Saras mums key ring. It beeps when you whistle, or in this case…when you are screaming during labour.

Labour is tough. That was the moment Sara went from being my Fiancé, to being a warrior with more strength and courage than I have ever witnessed in my life. Because everything happened so quickly she only had the chance to have gas and air. She felt everything. She was in absolute agony, but she didn’t cry. Yes she was scared. Yes she was worried that she was pushing so hard her insides were going to fall out. But she kept on going. She pushed through it. 

At 14:47 she pushed that final push and there he was. I looked at her and I said “Its a boy, babe we have a son.” That was the moment she cried. That was when we both cried. Rory on the other hand turned to look at his nan and pee’d all over her. I cut the cord (its like bacon fat!) and we held him for the first time.

Lots more happened after it: Stitches, operations, Rory meeting the family, bringing him home. But this is where I want to leave it. 

That moment at 14:47 when he was lying on the bed, looking around all calm and relaxed. That was the moment everything changed. That moment made absolutely everything worth it. That was the start of our family. That wasn’t just the start of Rory’s life, but it also felt like the start of mine. Nothing before this mattered. This was what I had been building up to my whole life.