Kyria's journal

So far having a baby is a big change but we managed to keep her alive for three weeks and our house is fairly orderly. The secret is having a husband who does stuff around the house, like vacuum, cook and get groceries. He is also taking care of the dog, who is very sweet and inclusive of Eliza, though we tone down her signs of affection as puppies are a bit sturdier compared to human babies.

I take care of breastfeeding, meaning I am latched on for over eight hours a day. Every feeding takes about one hour, at three hour intervals. I take care of laundry, keeping the bedroom tidy and change the bedding. Part of the postpartum fun is excessive sweating and I like to not smell all day. Finding time to shower is hard when E has to work, thus taking a shower is now the highlight of my day. The luxury of hot running water... Just wow.

I try to b as efficient as possible. I managed to read two books while feeding, write a couple of blogs and do a bit of costuming on the Eman Zaki mesh costume. Sadly this meant no afternoon nap. Since I am breastfeeding, my longedt sleep cycle had been four hours. Most nights I sleep between 22.30-24,00, 01.00-03.00 and 04.30-6.00 and if I'm lucky 7.30-9.00. Roughly one in three feedings there are complications, meaning no sleep for me. It's rough but managable. I envy E, who doesn't wake up when she needs feeding.

on tuesday around 19.00 I felt how my uterus was doing this weird, not yet hurting thing. My water broke at 23.30 and man, there was a lot of water.

we called the midwife around 0.30, they arrive at 01.00. Turns out I am already 3-4 m dilated. They propose leaving and getting back in two hours, I ask them to stay because I'm afraid to be caught in the next stage without support.

I get into the shower to handle the contractions that are getting heavier and more painful. Stood there for about an hour, warm running water is one of the best luxuries we have. After that I go to the bedroom and continue handling the contractions, but they are getting really intense.

Suddenly I feel I need to push, alarming the midwifes who come back up from downstairs, confirm that I am completely dilated at 03.15 and I can start pushing. I try pushing on hands and knees and manage to do a perfect imitation of hat scene in the exorcist. Turns out this is not a good position for me, and I get down on my back for the traditional pushing position.

At this stage, the contractions are far less painful and there are less of them. I have to wait it out for a contraction to give it a good push. In all, I spent 30 minutes on the pushing phase, of which I spent 15 minutes waiting for the next contraction.

Eliza was born at 04.01 and the midwife congratulated me on a swift and texbook at home birth. Weehee! There is some collateral damage and I had to get stitches, but it doesn't feel that bad. Everything is a bit raw down there but it is managable.


Eliza is adorable and after a rough start we're getting the breast milk started (it is far more painful and takes more time than I expected, but we're getting there). She wasn't getting enough from the breat yet so we're adding a bit of bottled milk to every feed and ever since she''s sleeping like a champ. So far, so good!

In all, I had a very positive labor experience, partly due to my preperation (eatin healthy and moving at a moderate pace during the whole pregnancy) and mindset. I am very happy that we didn't have to go to the hospital, that I didn't need a ac-section or help to get labor started. The pain was real, but manageable and with four and a half hour of active labor it didn't wear me down. And they say the second birth is even faster!