Labour Part 3: After the Storm

It was now 7am and I could tell Avon and mom were exhausted from that previous night’s event, but strangely enough I was on a high. I was in no pain at all just numbness and I was in aw of the child that lay fast asleep between us, on that huge king size bed.

The labour had generated a huge hunger within. I had never felt this deep hunger through out my whole pregnancy. It was as if Kayla had created this huge space in my tummy which needed filling or maybe it was just the intensity of the labour which created the hunger. A nurse came in and asked us what we would like for breakfast – full house (eggs, sausages ect), French toast or Yogurt and muesli with fruit. As those words rolled off her tongue I felt my tummy just rumble…..French toast was just what I wanted and when it came I just devoured it.
 Auntie Maita and uncle Reagan were our first real visitors. The look on Maita’s face when she saw Kayla and I on the bed was just priceless. It was like she couldn’t believe that less than 12 hours ago I was having dinner with her and now I have a baby. I guess that is quite shocking. But I tried to imagine what it would be like if I saw her after a delivery, having not gone through one before. It must be so foreign that it almost feels like a miracle which probably explains why Maita was just in tears.


 

Aunti Maita and Uncle Reagan

 It was funny coz we tried to explain how awesome the delivery was and just how amazing giving birth naturally is and just when we said it we heard a loud traumatising scream coming from a room down the corridor. The scream even made me think…Gosh something must be going wrong. The look on Maita’s face was raw fear with a mix of confusion. It was as if what we were saying about natural delivery couldn’t have been that simple….we must have missed out the details. Anyways we found out later that the delivery was actually normal but the situation was like “My Big-Fat-Greek Wedding.” As in there was a full audience in the delivery room…parents, sisters, in-laws ect. I guess the audience fuelled her performance. The midwife said in all the years of her delivery she has never seen a lady so out of control….she was far beyond the listening phase. Eeek.  

This was our room....


The nurses asked if we would like to go home later that afternoon or sleep over that Thursday night. We were lucky coz although we felt like we were there all night actually we delivered after midnight which means it didn’t classify as a full night at Genesis. I thought about going home but I knew if I did I wouldn’t rest so we chose to stay and were so glad we did. Our whole visit was like staying in a hotel room with room service and on-call medical needs. The nurses assisted with any questions I had about my healing and about Kayla. I only started to feel real pain that evening. I just felt as if my whole area down there could just collapse….as if I wouldn’t be able to hold anything together if I needed the toilet.

The Paediatrician came by to check on Kayla and to answer any questions I had on breast feeding. I was so disappointed that the whole experience of breastfeeding made me feel sick. Apparently the sucking of the nipple triggers your uterus to contract….which is good but wow it feels like bad period pains. I felt so bad because I was so looking forward to breastfeeding and now it was a sickening feeling.


Kayla's first bath

 We were so happy with the service we got from every staff member at Gensis, from the caterers to the nurses and midwives. What really topped our experience was that the nurse made sure we were comfortable with every aspect of looking after a child and my body. If I wasn’t sure of anything they were willing to go over it with us. So one of the things I wanted to go over was bathing the baby. Yes we had done it in antenatal classes but that was with a doll and we were just watching…..I wanted to do it LIVE! The nurse gladly taught Avon and I the steps to cleaning Kayla. I felt like it was a bonus coz then I wouldn’t have to wash her that when I got home …he he he. By the time we were suppose to check out Avon, Kayla and I were ready to go home.