Birth story: baby E.'s arrival

The intensity rises in peaks

It's September 27, nearly 10 p.m., and I get a message from your mom. She has back pain that comes and goes and she asks me whether it could be the start of labour. We're exactly 41 weeks that day. We exchange a few messages, and your mom describes other small signs that confirm what I'm thinking: you'll be here soon. I keep talking with your mom from a distance; she tells me she's getting on all fours and rolling her hips. Around midnight things speed up, and it's your dad who takes over communicating with me.

The contractions are intense and close together — so close together that your dad tells me he can't time them. The pain in her back is there almost constantly, and the intensity rises in peaks. Your dad guides your mom, he suggests positions and applies counter-pressure to her hips; it's the only thing that gives her relief. It's 2 a.m. and your mom is falling asleep between contractions.

your dad tells me your mom is at 10 cm

Around 6 a.m. your dad tells me your mom is at 10 cm, and I hurry out to join your parents. I arrive at the hospital and your mom is resting, sitting up in her bed. The epidural has given her real relief and she has a big smile; I find her radiant even after a sleepless night. Around 7:30 a.m. the nurse suggests she start pushing. Your mom tries several positions, but you still seem quite high in her pelvis.

Around 8 a.m. the doctor examines your mom again and suggests a game plan: stop pushing, get back up to bring you down into the pelvis and start synthetic oxytocin, since you're still at station -1.

Your mom gets up, goes to empty her bladder, does  lunges on her birth ball and keeps moving. Around 9 a.m. she lies back down with the peanut ball between her legs to open up her pelvis and get her strength back. The sleepless night and the contractions have taken a lot out of her; she needs to rest and close her eyes for a while. She's exhausted.

Around 9:45 a.m. the doctor examines your mom again. You've come down to station +1, and your mom chooses to wait another hour or so before starting to push again, to let you come down. She kneels facing the head of the bed and they put cushions under her head and under her bottom so she can carry on resting while you keep making your way.

The start of pushing

Around 10:30 a.m. your mom starts pushing again. She's strong and determined; she pushes on her side, on all fours, squatting. Your dad climbs onto the bed and gets in behind her to support her. She leans back against him during the contractions, he kisses her, strokes her cheek and encourages her with lovely words — all that love is just beautiful and gentle.

The doctor comes back several times during the pushing. Around 1 p.m. your little heart starts showing signs of tiring. According to the doctor, you need to be born within the next 30 minutes. You still seem "stuck" at station +1; something is stopping you from coming down. Several options are put to your mom, and in the end a caesarean is the one chosen, after more than 2 hours 30 of pushing.

Welcome to the world, baby E

Around 1:15 p.m. your mom goes off for a caesarean, with a lot of emotion. It tugs at my heart to see her that way; I go with your dad as far as the entrance to the operating room. The rest of this story is one your parents will tell me: you were born at 2:13 p.m., in good health, and your mom held you  skin to skin  while the caesarean was being finished.

Your features are as soft as your mom's and your hair as brown as your dad's. This birth was full of twists, surprises and unknowns — that's parenthood for you, you never know what to expect. A caesarean is still a birth in full power, like any other. Welcome to the world, baby E; may your life be as gentle and as beautiful as the cocoon your parents welcomed you into.

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