bridget5

At 5:55 I got into the pool. As soon as I was in the birthing pool I felt a sudden and strong urge to poo. I told Debbie I needed to get out and go to the toilet. I didn't want to poop in the pool at this early stage. I was annoyed at myself I'd just got in there, and now had to get out. Debbie told me that it wasn't a poo, but the baby pushing down. I could have sworn it wasn't, but gave her the benefit of the doubt (turns out she was right!)

I was still very aware of what was going on, chatty and joked with Debbie about using a condom next time instead of a glove to keep her doppler dry while monitoring me in the water.

At 6:10 Joshua's heart beat was 155bpm. I was on my hands and knees in the pool. Debbie was pouring water on my back using an ice-cream container.

Brendon was wringing out flannels in ice cold water and putting them on my face and forehead, and passing me my water bottle to sip from. In between contractions I was resting my head the foam 'noodles', almost asleep. During contractions I was taking big deep breaths and blowing the water while exhaling.

I had my eyes closed most of the time - the bottom of the pool wasn't that exciting to look at.

At 6:15 I could feel the head inside of myself.. He was about 3cm inside me. It was reassuring to know he was coming. It was probably at this stage that I become more focused on what was happening to my body, and the quiet conversations going on around me become back ground noise. When Angela, the back-up midwife, arrived, she has been sitting by the pool for a while before I looked up and said hi. We hadn't yet arranged an appointment to meet Angela who works with Debbie, backing each other up. It didn't bother me at all there she was there.

Angela bought a mirror in, and it was placed between my legs at the bottom of the pool. Because I was so still we could easy see the reflection. Angela later said that this was the best view she had seen using the mirror because I was so still. I used the mirror to see what was going on since my bump was still in the way. At 6:57 when Debbie titled the mirror for me I could see an oval brown area sitting just inside of me. Our baby had brown hair and enough of it for me to easily see!! I was surprised at how far I had been stretched for that much of the head to be visible. I was also really surprised to see the brown hair - I thought his hair would be blond.

I remember thinking of things that I could add to the conversation but didn't. I was quiet, just asking Brendon for another sip of water or letting them know that another contraction was on it's way. At the start of each contraction Brendon put a fresh cold flannel onto my face or forehead. I was breath through each contraction, and resting in between almost doozing

At 6:45 I changed positions into a supported squat. My thighs and arms were being to get tired. At the start of each contraction Brendon hooked his arms under my armpits and took some of my weight. Squatting in the pool was easy compared to squatting on land due to the buoyancy of the water.

At the end of each contraction he removed his support, and I sat lower in the water, sometimes stretching one leg out. A couple of times when I let him know the next one was coming he was a bit fast and a little rough getting his hands in the right place. Even though I wanted to tell him this, I was too focused, and couldn't really be bothered

At around 7:15 I felt things stretch even further as I someone was trying to stretch the ribbing of a sock in order to push a watermelon through. I was being to wonder is my clitoris was going to be split in two. I was still breathing through these contraction. I found myself either making a fist or grabbing tightly on the side of the pool, and then releasing the grab and spreading my fingers apart as the contraction peaked then past. No one has told me to do that, nor had I practiced. It was something that just felt right, and was working. I wasn't pushing. I continued to breathe through the contractions.

The temperature of the pool was checked was about 39oC. A large pot of hot water was added.