By Noor-Jehan Yoro Badat
Natalie Nelson, who works in the marketing department of a vitamin company, suffered two miscarriages. She had a hyperactive thyroid, which was stabilised with the use of homeopathic remedies. She also received an eight-week course of injections and medication at a fertility clinic.
My pregnancy went very well. At 12 weeks everything was fine, and I stopped all medications.
At around 32 weeks, my gynaecologist told me the baby was getting big and that I might have to consider a caesarean if he weighed more than 3,5kg. I didn't want that. I wanted to give birth naturally.
I discussed this with my antenatal teacher, who referred me to Marinda Taha, a midwife, who was very reassuring. She said she had attended at the natural birth of a 5,2kg baby. We decided that Marinda would be my primary care-giver.
On Friday July 8 at 4am my contractions started. Earlier I had gone to the loo and I didn't feel right. There was an odd, slightly tight sensation around my belly. I got back into bed and lay there for a while, thinking the sensations would eventually go away.
But they came again. I woke Craig and told him it was about to happen. He looked at me and, men being men, said: 'Let's try to get some sleep.'
'That's easy for you to say,' I responded.
After tossing and turning for half an hour, we got up.
I glanced over to our bags, which were already packed. It looked like we were going on an expedition. Craig had packed the baby's bag, mine, and filled a cooler box with champagne, chocolates, chips, juice and lots of beers to celebrate.
Before we got moving, however, I was determined to wash my hair, so I had a shower.
I was about to get dressed when Craig reminded me that I hadn't yet shaved. So there I was splayed on the bed with Craig shaving me. Every time I had a contraction, I told him to stop - I wanted to keep all my bits intact.
After getting dressed, I sat on a birthing ball, similar to the ones used for Pilates. Bouncing on it helped relieve the pressure. Every now and then Craig would also come up behind me and push his knee into my coccyx.
We had already called Marinda to tell her, and she advised me to stay home until my contractions were regular and evenly spaced.
At about 8am my contractions became more intense and heavy. We left Bromhof for Linkwood Clinic in rush-hour traffic. However, Craig decided to stop at his office to fetch some documents. His female colleagues came out to the car to see how I was doing.
Then we spent about 20 minutes driving to several garages to look for ice. We had heard that sucking on ice would help during labour. I must have seemed a strange sight, panting and clutching at the dashboard.
When we arrived at the clinic, a room was not immediately available. While we waited for a patient to move out, we sat with the midwives and doulas in another room.
One of the doulas, Elizabeth, was phenomenal - she kept rubbing my back. By this time my contractions were about three to five minutes long and were intense. It was great that no one was making a fuss. It felt very relaxed, like just another day.
At 9.20am my mom and Marinda arrived. Marinda managed to get us into the high-care room and did an internal examination.
She told me that I was only 2cm dilated, I feared that I would be sent home. But then she said, "Oh, wait, you popped to 5cm.' I was relieved that I could stay.
With every contraction, I paced up and down. Craig never left my side, occasionally rubbing my back. Marinda and my mom were there, chatting, and Marinda would talk me through every contraction.
By this stage they were unbelievably and breathtakingly sore. Most of the time I had my eyes shut, wishing the pain would go away. Craig continually said kind and encouraging things. I cried a couple of times, but not uncontrollably.
Because of the pain, I remember the wait in snatches - the sun filtering through the windows warming up the room, holding on to the wall while Craig massaged my back, being on the ball, and mom and Marinda talking.
Throughout, Marinda was monitoring the baby's heartbeat and timing my contractions. After another internal examination I was given an enema - I didn't want to have to worry about my nether regions or having an 'accident'.
After another internal, Marinda said I was about 7cm dilated. She told me we could carry on at that pace or we could speed things up. If I chose the latter option, however, the contractions would hit harder. I agreed.
My waters had not yet broken, so she asked Craig to look in the drawers for what looked like a long crochet hook. He couldn't find it.
Marinda's fingers were still inside me, when my membranes popped. I didn't look but I was told it looked like mush rushing out.
Then the contractions came hard and furious. They felt like they lasted an eternity.
Marinda ran a bath for me. Once I got in, I would have killed anybody who dared take me out. It was absolutely magical and took away a lot of the pain. With each contraction, Marinda splashed warm water on my belly - it was divine.
I laboured for quite a while, but nothing happened and the baby was still high up. Marinda asked me if I took ballet, because my muscles were incredibly tight.
I told her I had done spinning and Pilates until I was seven-and-a-half months pregnant. While I was in the bath she gave me a drip to relax my muscles.
By then I was totally exhausted. Craig was holding my hand and I remember looking up at him, to see tears streaming down his face. He realised how much pain I was in. It touched me and made me want to cry too.
The constant ringing of cellphones was getting on my nerves, and I remember yelling to have them switched off.
When I felt the baby coming down, Marinda called for assistance. With each contraction I wanted to pull on something, but there were no handles on the bath to use as leverage. I screamed in frustration.
From deep down, I started lowing like a cow. I had heard of women doing that during labour but I'd sworn it was one thing I would never do. But I did. It was soothing and primal.
Now all I could think of was to push the baby out. I don't know how many times I pushed but it seemed like I was doing it forever. A big push and finally Rheece came out.
His umbilical cord still attached, he was placed on my chest. I didn't bond with him immediately. The only thought that entered my mind was, 'Damn, he is so heavy'. Later I was told that Rheece weighed 4,38kg.
Craig cut the umbilical cord while I was holding Rheece. Craig, my mom and even Marinda were crying. But I just lay in the bath, wiped out.
Then I delivered the placenta. I just felt this uncomfortable, tugging sensation when Marinda pulled it out.
The bath was emptied and Marinda ran me another one so that I could rinse off.
It was nearly 1pm. Back in bed I was ready to breastfeed Rheece. I remember a gnarly hand grabbing my breast and placing it in Rheece's mouth so that he could suckle.
The breastfeeding was successful. Champagne was popped and my Mom brought a chocolate cake to celebrate Rheece's birthday.
We are planning to have another baby. This time, though, I want to have a home birth. It's just a matter of convincing Craig.