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Welcome to Behind the Drapes. I'm your host, Brent Draper aka Drakes, and I'm.
Shanlee Draper, and we're here to talk about stuff according to us.
Hey guys, it's Draper here.
And I was naked on the Golkos Highway.
Yah, buddy, there's made to give birth. You are a strong woman, ye little Ripper. We're in season two. We have a little addition now to the family.
We had a baby.
Had a baby.
He actually has a name too. His name is Bowie.
His name is Bowie. We've obviously told the story of Alfie's birth in season one, how I nearly delivered it. Well, it nearly happened again.
And just to be clear, we're not a birthing podcast, even though we've nexpect about birth a couple of times. We had a lot of people messaging about Alfie's birthing story. Last time we had people messaging as saying they were pissing themselves laughing driving to work looking like a bit of a maniac because they were laughing so hard in the car on their own listening to the episode. So we thought, well, that was a good episode, and that was a good story, and this one's gonna be even better.
So I think this tops that do Yeah, yeah, I think so.
I think better than being maked on the highway.
Ah, this one, I don't know. It's a bit different. Once again, we left it too late and little Bowie was a bit Let's talk.
About the homebirthy home birth. So the story with why we decided to have Bowie at home was because I was a part of a midwife program in Tweed and it was amazing. The midwife were beautiful, everything was going really well. But I had always had this feeling that I really want to have baby at home, just because
I don't like hospitals. And it's not like a crazy phobia, but it's certainly like if I can avoid it, like I'm not going to see someone hospitals had a baby, like I'll wait till you get home kind of thing. I'm not into hospital at all. So I had thought about homebirth a lot, but hadn't really considered actually doing it. I remember when we moved to Potty having our friends over and our friend Josh, who's probably listening, he was like, oh,
you know where you gonna have the baby? And I was like, tweet, I'd love to have a home birth, and he was like, what, no way, Like you could not do that. And I remember saying, you know, I'm not going to, but like I would like to. So that was my intuition, sort of talking then saying I might like to explore this, but I kind of parked that idea.
Now.
We went to the hospital for the first hospital visit that we had. I've been seeing the midwivest for a while. I was twenty something weeks think maybe twenty five weeks or something, went for a check up, all is well, and we just so happened to have a midwife who talked to us about the fact that she also was a home birthing midwife or had been maybe in the past, and I think she maybe even had her own bedby. Yeah,
so that just came up naturally in conversation. My little ears pricked up, and I remember just sitting there going like, that's what I want to do. I don't really want to have a baby in this hospital. Nothing wrong between hospital, but I was just like, this just does not feel like it's for me. The whole thing.
You were like, oh, we have to walk upstairs. How am I going to walk upstairs? When I'm babies coming out and you already ripping the idea? Do I believe? Internally, I think.
You're I already had a planned no, But it was like, okay, Tweet hospital, it's an absolute shit fight to park at number one. It's a really old hospital. Just hospitals and me. We just don't go well together. It's just not my jam. So I remember thinking and like long hallways and yeah, you're right, like you know, stairs and no elevator, and like, what if I'm really really far along, like I was at the Alphie last time, and I have to come to the hospital and I don't know where to go.
And I just felt like the whole thing was quite stressful and not streamlined. It probably would have been on the day, but for me, you didn't feel like that. And what I know about birth and hypno birthing is that you know, the calmer you are, the better things can turn out. And I had that in the back of my head. So when online I did all the research, I understood that you need to have an endorse midwife. I hadn't told you at this point, but I was just thinking about it. It came maybe a week later
and I said to you, HEYDL. I kind of am thinking about having a home birth, and you literally were like, fucking here we go. And I was like, I think this is what I want to do, and you're like, right, it's your body, you decide what you want to do. And you were really really supportive, which you know doesn't surprise me. What did you think when I said that to you?
You want to have went out on a bloody field of daisies, then you have it on field days because you're the one who's pushing the baby out. I'll be supporting you from the sidelines wherever you want to do that. So if you want to have it at home, and I understand why you want to have it at home, you know, in the calm birth. I didn't know really much about home births, but I was like, hey, you want to have it there, let's go.
Let's give a crack. So that's what we did. So I got to work. I did some research. I found an amazing midwife who worked out of Lennox Heads and she said to me. I called her and she was like, listen, I'm not really taking any clients on for that particular timeframe at the moment because I'm going away to a conference around then, and I was like, oh, I'm joining the eleventh of November and she said, yeah, I'm going
on the sixteenth. And I was like, don't worry, love, I would have had my baby by there.
Oh, we are having this baby a thirty.
Eight weeks absolutely, thirty eight five weeks. It's coming.
I've got things planned that I actually miss out on it, which I will bring up very soon. But yeah. We were like, that's fine, the baby.
Will be here.
The baby will be here.
And she said the same thing. She's like, you'll have your baby before I go off through it. And she accepted the job, which was amazing. Then we had a series of midwife appointments where the midwives come to your home and legally you have to have two endorse midwives at your birth, so you know, it's all you know, legally, you sign the paperwork. Obviously you pay a private fee
to have a baby at home. You know. It's certainly not a cheap exercise, however, for us, worth every cent, and I think that these midwives don't get paid enough for what they do, Like they're phenomenal. The care that we've had through this whole experience has just been next level. We haven't had to leave our house. We literally have not had to leave the house in terms of any of the appointments anything with bullies check.
Ups, the appointments are you know, we're both sitting on We're all sitting on the lounge and everyone's relaxed and having a coffee and talking about what's going to happen all this or it's well worth.
It's amazing and also very educational, Like these women know their staff, They're very, very good at what they do. The whole way through the pregnancy, I was very excited to have my baby at home. I didn't really tell anyone, like I kind of kept it to myself. Not because I thought people would judge me, because I don't really care too much about that, but I just didn't want people to give me their opinions. I think that was more it.
You were covering. You were going like blinkers on because you knew that outside noise you might start a second guess yourself or question why are you actually doing this?
Cut to the chase and the story of how the birth unfolded.
Well, hang on, whoa woah, were you jumped? You've jumped a bigger fucking occasion, haven't you. I still haven't gotten over yet.
Sorry, it's all about you.
Yeah, it is thirty eight weeks this baby was supposed to come. That's what we've done. And I've you know, I've had things coming up, you know, just one Master Sheef bloody four or three months ago. But I also had locked and loaded dinner with Jamie Oliver And it doesn't come around very often. This occasion, like this opportunity to have dinner with the person you've looked up to and and what date was it that was actually on the due date?
Eleventh in November is when you were supposed to be having dinner with Jail. Then we were like, there's no way he can go. We're gonna have the baby by then.
Yeah. So like it's the morning of and s John's even looking at plane flights down there, quick one down, quick one back.
Yeah, because I'm thinking, well, baby, it's definitely not coming now. I don't feel like I'm in labor, you know, Oh I'm going to be in labor anytime soon. So we were driving out to Grit Ceramics for you to buy some stuff from her sale, and I was like, you might be able to just go down to do a cheeky flight home dull because I think everything's going to be fine.
I actually cracked a beer and I was talking to Harry, who's a Master Chef contestant as well, and next in it you come out and you looked a little bit off, and I was like, what's going on? And I hate this word, well these two words. It's kind of freaking out a little bit. But you're like, babe, I just lost my mucus plug. And I was like, oh, mucus plug, Okay, what does that mean?
And it was sweltering hot. You were trying to buy all these plates. You were waiting for some plates to come there.
They're still just grinding them for me and whatnot.
Alfie's in the car because it's so hot, watching an iPad. I'm like sort of sitting there going like I feel a little bit like weird. I don't know something's happening. And I felt like a bit of tightening in my belly. And I went to the toilet and yes, there was the plug. And I was like, oh, right, okay, we come up with something better than that. It's pretty gross.
Can we come with like the bath plug or something on that bath plug something.
It is what it is, it's come on, and I remember going like I didn't lose mom with the Elfie said, this is what it is. Okay, something's happening. This is really good. Oh it's the eleventh of November. Also, my baby's going to come on its due date. That's like one in you know, a million chants. That actually happening. How cool. Oh and also luckily Draper didn't book those flats to see Jamie Oliver because I'm gonna have a baby today. So that's where I was at on the
eleventh of November. So we went and did quick mac Is run. On the way home, I felt some movements. I felt like things were kind of gonna happen. Definitely felt a little bit. I just felt different my body. I was like, this is really good, Draper. Everybody saying to me had my fillet of ficial like cool last meal, you know, before you have your baby. And then and then everything stopped. We go home and everything stopped, and I was like, nothing's happening, and You're like, what do
you mean? So nothing happened after you didn't book a flight and unfortunately, I'm so sorry you didn't go exhame Mi allover his dinner.
Yeah, and the dinner was in Sydney.
I still a little bit sad about it.
Yeah, still hurt. Anyway, I know that this baby was teaching me patients.
It was so fast forward. We went another week and a bit. At this point, I'm now forty one and one, and it was one of those things like mentally where I feel like I couldn't quite let go, which is funny because I knew that I had to, you know, I had to be calm. I had to get my
body in like a relaxed state. But we had Alphie right and I kept thinking he's going to be in the house and I'd already prepped him for the fact that he might hear some sounds in the middle of the night if I go into labor, and like, I'd explain this sounds and he was like, so, mum, what kind of sounds? And I was like, you know, like a low grumbling side of sound. He was like, what do you mean. I was like like a or like a like a low girl. And he was like, oh,
I think that had scared me. And I was like, oh shit, now I'm like scaring you. I'm like, no, no, you won't be scared. It's fine, everything's okay. I'm not in pain. But it might just sound a bit funny. So I'd prepped him thinking that was the right thing to do. Well, it wasn't the right thing to do because I'd said to him, do you want to be there when we had the baby, you know, in the bedroom? Do you want to be there with mum? Or do
you want to go to non on Pappy's house? And he was like, absolutely not, I want to go to non in Pappy's house. I don't want to hear those sounds. And also I don't want to see the baby because the baby will be very chummy, which he means chubby. The baby will be very chummy and very bloody because he's seen his own birth. But we had him home. I just felt like that was holding me back a little bit mentally because I was worried about him.
Funny enough, he went to not On Puppies and then the next morning you started to feel very similar to when you lost the mucus plug.
Yes, the mucus plug. I'd said to you, Drapes, I think Alfie needs to go, and when he goes, I think I'll go into labor and you're like, yeah, that's what you said last week. I was like, nah, I reckon that this is going to happen. He just needs to just be looked after and so I don't have to stress, and then I think I'll go into labor, and I did.
So.
I woke up the morning of it was Sunday, and we didn't have Alfie in the house. It was really quiet. I definitely woke up feeling a bit like disappointed because I was like, he's a crisis baby, like forty one and one, like I'm done now. But I remember saying to you, I feel like I got some crampies going on. And I'd said to you for like a week that I had cramps a little bit, and so you were sick of hearing at this point and at this point.
Time I got some cramps going I'm like, yeah, you were, so, baby's never going to come out ever, I fell.
We're feeling we were we were feeling like this.
I'm like, I can't wait for Christmas. You're gonna be pregnant still fifty seven weeks, just.
Like the world record for the longest pregnancy. I actually google that river. Anyway, we were really over it by this point and just wanted the baby to be here so desperately. I did not feel like that was alfie. I felt like he popped up and I was like, oh cool, I just finished work, you know, Whereas we turned down a lot of work in November to have this baby. Nineteen days into the month, we're still waiting,
so it felt really hard. So you're surfing, and I remember looking out to you and thinking like, if I start to feel things coming on really quickly, I'll have to like wave to him. I could see you out there, and I'm going, okay, cool, I'm feeling stuff, but I
don't want to get too excited. So I just sort of stood and rocked for a while on the beach, and then you came out, like maybe less than an hour later, and I said to you, I think we need to go home, like I think something might be happening, and you were like, right, oak, cool, awesome, let's do it. So we get home. And what did you de start to do when we get home.
Well, I thought that it was going to take ages, a lot of thinking going on, a lot of thinking and a lot of logic. When you start, it's normally like twelve hours or sixteen hours or something.
You an OBSTTRICI where are you getting miss stats on these?
Well, I'm just listening to all the stories from all your friends, and they're all about that, So I'm just just going off that, right. So I built a ramp because our stairs is such a stuff around. Our stairs sort of go down like normal stairs, and then they sort of come back up again to the driveway, and you know, we've got a pran that we've got to push out, and so I thought I'd build this beautiful,
nice little ramp. And so you were inside rolling around on your ball, and I was outside just fixing this ramp up, getting it ready.
Because you won't fixing it, you're building it from scratch.
Yeah. And then so then you know baby's born and you can out.
Yeah, So you're thinking, like the baby's gonna come that night, if I'm going to labor. I'm inside and I'm on the ball, and I'm moving around doing all the things that I know I'm supposed to do. When you start to feel.
Some cran Honestly, I don't know why, but I didn't think babies were born in the day. I just thought, for some reason they were always born at.
Night at eight thirty in the morning, you mean going to labor. Yeah, I thought that, I didn't think.
So think again. Another midwife has put in that, like, because you relax at night and you start.
To go into all these things you thoughtacked opposite what exactly?
So then I'm like, it won't hap until tonight. So I've got heats of time to build this ramp.
So you're outside building the ramp. I'm inside. I'm you know, on the ball, doing my thing. Nothing was really happening at this point. This is about let's say about eleven thirty, would you.
Say, I would say about eleven thirty because eleven thirty I actually wrung the midwife and said, I think it's going to be tonight or today or tonight whatever, because they're a lot more serious than what they've been the cramps, and that they've gone the next next level.
Yeah, like it's obvious now that I feel and feel something. But also when you have a home birth, you've got to give you midwives the heads up. It's not like the hospital week and just rock up whenever. You've got to tell them, hey, you need to know what's going on, because I need you to come to me at some point today. And these midwives don't just have me as a client. They've got other people, other mummers to deal with as well.
And it's like that's a big responsibility put on my shoulders. What was the timing, Like, I think I had to make sure midwife was.
Known, finished building the ramp.
No, the ram was done. I had to pump the pooler. True, you just feel the pool. You wanted it film, So I to make sure that it was all in the world and time that the water is still body temperature when you're getting in, and so if I put it into early, you'll go cold. And then how do I dump the water around and get more warm water in?
Yeah, you did have a few jobs, and then.
The midwife's not here yet, Like I could filled the pool up and you're not gonna have the baby for another four hours? Yeah, and then what do I do for that cold water? You know?
It's the timing is Yeah, there's a lot a lot to do with timing. And you have a home birth, I think because it's not a traditional hospital setting where you just and everything happens and there's ten staff helping you or ten midwife. Sorry, you're just on your own until pretty much the eleventh hour when you're told to give them a call. So you're right, you did have a few jobs to do. And also what other job.
Did you have?
Oh, you also had to make the bed. You had to sandwich the bed. So because you're at home, you don't have all the kind of like disposable sheep bedding or shit. Yeah, you've got like your own stuff. So I had like beautiful linen, which my midwife said to me, hey, this linen on your bed, Like with one of the visits they'd gone, this linen on your bed. You actually might not be able to have that on the day because you don't want to get a damage. I'm like, no, no,
it's all fine, we'll sort it out. We'll get you know, cheap stuff or whatever. So you had a job of stripping the bed and making sure the bed.
Don't want to strip it too early because if I strip it too early then mentally she'll be like is it happening? And now it's not that I'm like.
So get to eleventh thirty you've called the midwife and said, hey, giving the heads up Sean, is you know I think she's in labor. It's very very early. Don't stress out, just so you know you might need to be here tonight.
Yeah. All good, And she said, Okay, I've just been at a berth all night. I've just had a couple of hours sleep. I'll start cruising up your way. I'll go and get lunch at Byron. Give me a call if it gets any more serious.
I basically keep you posted.
Right now, I am like chilled. Everything's going good. You're very chilled.
Like second baby, you know, I'm actually excited at this point because I'm thinking, okay, I happened sweet. So I went upstairs and I said, can you grab my ball? We went upstairs and I put Gilmore Girls on because it makes me feel calm because I know what's going to happen next.
So there's no I hate so much.
Leave Rory alone. She's a nice lady. So had my Gilmore Girls on. Yes, I've watched the whole series, like, honestly, probably ten times in the past. I know what's going to happen. That's why I wanted to watch it. So HAWD on my laptop. I'm on my ball, and then I obviously had you know, hypno birth in music and all those things I put some Oh, I think you might have put some clary stage in the diffuse.
I like we're doing all I did all this on the sly. We've closed the blind so getting scenes and yeah, all this behind the scene that you just didn't know I was doing.
Anyway, I'm bouncing on the ball and I remember Gilmore Girls are on, and it gets to about twelve ish twelve thirty, and I've kind of just gone, yeah, now this is really happening. Now, like I'm doing my breathing and I've.
Just shucked my laptop. I just want to make sure everyone knows these times. So eleven thirty I rung the midwife Jen where everyone's chilled, and she's going to get lunch at Byron.
Yeah, she also lives forty five minutes away.
Now it's twelve.
It's about twelve to twelve thirty. I've closed my up with thought, oh, I can't watch Gilmore Girls anymore. They actually give me the ick. And then I put my hypno birth in music on and so here it is again, Draper, your favorite music that we listened to in the house the whole way through my pregnancy.
Your body was made to give birth.
You are a strong woman.
Oh Jesus must be getting close. Now it's the.
Last time you can have to listen to it. So I put that on and I'm breathing through and I'm listening to all the hypno birthing things, and I remember going like, yeah, this is definitely on now cool, I'm really excited. Being on the ball was really pushing me. Like being on the ball felt really come to I'm like, why is this like kind of not I don't want to be here, Like the pressure is too intense on
the ball. So I kind of got up walked over, and I had said to you before I went into labor, can you just get a few like photos and videos of the birth if it's appropriate, you know, like I just want to make sure I document a little bit of it and just have it because you never know what it kind of looks like. You're like, yeah, no,
worries it all. So little did I know, And unbeknownst to me until the next day, you had actually taken a photo of me and kind of filmed a couple of the surges that I was having on I call them surges the contractions, and so one of them was over the bed, and I remember this one so distinctly because I remember being over the bed, pushing down the bed, breathing and thinking, oh, this feel is really intense. Now, okay,
I'm seeing things are moving pretty quickly. But my initial reaction to that moving quickly was to get in the bathroom, which is what I did when I had Alfie. So I went into the bathroom and I closed the door, and you were sitting on the chair watching me. You put the tens machine on my back. I started like pressing the tens machine, which was so amazing. If I can recommend anything in birth, it's a Tens machine. It is so amazing. Let's be real, you have no control
in birth. You have no control with what's going on with your body, how you feel, but you can definitely control this little tens machine in your hand and give yourself these little electrodes in your It gives you a zap, It gives your full zap. It kind of hurts, but it's like it's meant to apparently take the pain away from the other area and put it in your back, or like at least make your brain think that the pain's not happening.
Like when we're kids and you'd fall off a bike, can scratch your knee and you're like, ahmnein you mate, just cork your arm. And then you're like, oh my, exactly right, do you forget about the knee?
Exactly that's what it's supposed to do, but like, let's be real, you ain't forgetting about the pain that you're feeling.
Sure, So, like the lists of my jobs right now, you're giving birth. I'm making sure the light is great. I'm the videographer. I'm the pool inflator. You're the photographer, that photographer, the overall organizer. You put a tens machine on me, tens machine. I'm the sound director. I'm the communicator between the two parties. The list goes on. Yeah, I'm the baker. Okay, we'll get to that, but this is about the time.
So at twelve thirty, I've closed the door. Afterwards, you said to me, once you closed the door, babe, I was like, fuck, we're on here. Like she's put herself in the bathroom. I've closed the door. I want to be on my own. I'm not talking at this point. And the midwives had said to us so many times throughout these meetings. When she stops talking. That is the point that you call us, because it means that she's
probably very far into active labor. You know, you've had a baby already, and you had him over seven or eight hours. This one might come quicker, so let us know and give us a bit of warning. So you thought that you'd given them the warning. But because I stopped talking very very quickly, by twelve thirty, I was not talking. I was hiding myself in the bathroom. All I said to you was put the ball in here. Remember, I was like, give you the ball, and you put
the ball into the bathroom. I closed the door.
So then I called the midwife and she's like, okay, I'm going to not do lunch and I'll make my way out there now. So that's a second phone call, and that's about quarter to one, and I've got the time on my phone. I film myself. I actually filmed it because I thought this would be a funny moment for a podcast.
Oh my god, But I thought it on the podcast.
Well, I thought it'd be just a brief, little moment.
So Sean's just going into labor, and I thought it was a perfect time to come down and cook some bread, you know, the beautiful smell of bread while she's to labor. I'm just guessing it would be good.
But maybe when she's sort of, you know, the baby's out, some beautiful fresh sourdough. I think if I was pregnant, that's what I would want to I was going to try that.
Okay, so ready recap off times again. Eleven thirty. I first ring the nurse. Everything's chilled. One I ring the nurse again and say you might need to make your way up here. One thirty sourdough goes into the oven. Now I walk up and I open the door, and I have gone holy, it's coming very quick. So you had blood down your leg.
Yeah, So what happened for me in that time was I was on the ball on my own. The door was shut. If you've had a baby, you will understand this what I'm about to say. But you feel a lot of pressure in your bum basically, And I've felt that before, Like I felt that with Elfie. And I'm thinking, right, okay, there's pressure in my bum. I need to push where the fuck is everyone. I did the same thing I did with Elfie. Had my eyes closed. It must be
like a defense mechanism. So I couldn't see anything. I had no idea what was going on around me. I didn't know I Dre Bull was there. I could feel no energy around me, and I couldn't hear anyone. By the way, the music was off by then, Like I'm not doing any hypnobothing now, No, I'm just breathing. There was no sound. It was so quiet. And then I've been thinking, why do I need to push? Hang on, I've only just gone to labor. I can't be pushing yet.
Where the fuck is everyone? And also, hang on, I'm on my favorite cream runner, this beautiful cream carpet runner in the bathroom, and I'm gonna have the baby on the runner and it's gonna ruin. It's gonna be blood on the runner. And as I think that, I feel this huge amount of pressure and I push my water's brake and this blood because I remember feeling something and just slightly open my eyes a little bit and looked down and I see there's red, and I'm going, yep, there's my runner gone.
And so that's when I walk in and open the door and I'm like, did you have the baby? Like in my head, I'm like, she must have already had the baby, because like there's like blood everywhere and whatnot and anyway, then I realized, no, there's still a big belly there, so there's a baby still there. I'm like, okay, so I just shut the door again and I go Jen, she's having the baby. And then as calm as Jen is, she's like for me to okay, brand, there'll probably be
a baby there before I get there. I'm stuck in Byron. I'm about twenty five minutes away. About ten minutes ago, I started filling the pool up too. I've thought this is the time I need to put it up. It's gonna be nice and warm. I remember this zone. This moment is when I first when you were having Alfie and I was lifting you off the toilet and taking you down the hallway. I'm now feeling that moment again. I'm like, oh my god, I have to fucking deliver another baby.
We're at home and no one's there.
This is next level. And then all of a sudden, I was like, all right, this is it. Jen believes in me. I'm just gonna do it. I knew they're on the way, but I knew that that was twenty five minutes away and you were already pushing. Yeah, so Sean is like starting to push.
Yeah. So for me, that's the most vocal I felt. I felt like I'm in the bathroom and I'm really like, I felt quite loud, like I was making.
Those oh yeah, the neighbors were hearing it. You were letting rip.
Yeah, But I wasn't like. It wasn't like scream. It's an agony. It's just a low. It's a primal sound.
Like this is like deep.
Yeah, wow, I'll bring back all the fields.
No.
I remember doing that and thinking, yeah, but I can't have the baby yet because in the midway's not here. I said to you, where's the.
Midwhile I open up the door again, and I'm like, she's five minutes away. Five minutes, she's twenty five minutes away. I am like five minutes. She's like, I need to get in the pool. How long has that got? And I'm like, oh fuck that. Twenty minutes. Five minutes. Still, five minutes you can get in the pool. And five minut and it's Jen's going to be here. For some reason, I grabbed some ice and put on neck and she's like, uh, get away.
Because I was so hot. So by this point you could see I had sweat beads all over me. I was on the ball, and I felt like, this is the weirdest thing. I didn't have this with alf. I felt like I had full electricity and energy going through my whole body. It wasn't like a shaking, It was like a full body vibration. Every bit of energy in my body was moving around. It sounds so weird.
Your arms and everything.
Was just everything was like fully vibrating. I'm on this ball, and you know yourself, like an exercise ball, if you're on it for too long and you're trying to keep stable, you are already moving. I was standing up, bending over it, but I could just feel everything in me was just this strong, powerful energy. And I'm thinking, I'm gonna have the baby in the bathroom. There's no way I'm making it to the pool. I'm definitely gonna have it right here.
And then you told me you were there, but I didn't know that.
Yeah, point, so I reckon this another time. Call to twelve. All right, I'm gonna call it to twelve. I am down on my hands and knees with a towel, ready to catch Bowie. I'm just sort of getting ready. Sean's standing legs apart, hands on ball, and she's pushing on the oven. Yeah, I forgot about sourday. Sourdough's gone. Like I've got to deliver a baby. So I've got the towel like a net, like I've just sort of looped it. Sean doesn't know that I'm even here because I'm just
dead silent. I've got one hand sort of between her legs ready, and I'm just sitting there like this, and I'm like, I can't believe that I'm about to catch Bowie.
Were you scared?
No feeling? I was just in the zone all this time. I'm like, first time was a practice run. This is the grand final. I'm just going to catch and then like ring him up and then hopefully by then Bubby here and they can do whatever else. So two twelve, right, here's footsteps and I'm like, turn around, and it's the other midwife. So you need two midwives. It's the other one, but it's not our normal one.
It's a feeling because yet who we've never met before. So a random lady rocks up into our bedroom, creeps up the staircase but you would have heard her. It's bit squeaky.
And I'm like, oh my, thank you.
I'm but how bizarre that we've never met this woman. She's come to our house, she's about to help us give birth to our baby. You don't even know what she looks like. And she said to us afterwards, the funniest part for her was that she and she's done this a lot of times, but she's rocked up to the house. She doesn't know where she is. She doesn't know where she's going in the house, or if this
even is the house. And she said, when I walked in, it was so quiet, and she's looking around, thinking, Oh my god, have I gone to the wrong house. It's so awkward. She's done it before, she said, she's gone to the wrong house before that. She's creeping through this house and then she hears the mowing sound and she's like, oh, here I am. Then she runs up the stairs.
So she gets up there. I'm like, oh my god, thank god, you're here. And she comes over and she checks the water and she's like, oh, that's too hot, and I was like, yeah, I know that in my head. I was like, I know that hot is the slowest pressure, so I thought I'd heat it up first and then blast it with cold at the end to get it right temperature.
That is a memory that I have because I knew I was pushing and remember saying to you, the pool's not full yet. A pull isn't side yet. I said to you the pool and you're like, pardon, and I said fill the pool and you heard me and went, yeah, I'm on it. And I'm hearing the trick of the pool, thinking these thing's never filling up.
It was so s it was slow, but it was filling up.
I said to you beforehand, how long do you think the pool is going to take the fill up? And you said to me, oh, only about fifteen minutes.
Thirty.
Libby turns up our second midwife.
Yeap, She's like, how's she going? I'm like, this is when I've seen his head. I was like, is that his head like this little?
Like was it big? Did it look big? Or like this is no? I know that, but was the whole really big or like his whole head.
Really I'd imagine that's so interesting. But like I was like, because his head was thirty centimeters, oh my god, fast wall Gen gets here. And said, you're crowning. I was like, I fucking knew it was a head. I thought it was head.
So you saw the top of his head. It was a little small hole, like how big was a hole?
Like showing me how it was pretty big. It was like it wasn't a round thing, but so ten centimeters, it'd be about ten centimeters and then it goes to thirty. Yeah, but anyway, it's triggering. Of course, sexy time's gone for a bit anyway, Well.
Has it happened last three weeks?
That's scary anyway, So now, okay time call we are at I would say two twenty two. Jen comes up the stairs, gives me a hug, and then she comes over to Sean and puts her hands on her and Sean realizes, okay, she's here.
I was like, oh my god, she's here. Thank God. I just felt so much really knowing she was there, and I felt I knew someone else was there, but I was like, didn't know who it was because I had my eyes closed. And she put her hand on me, on my shoulder, and she goes, I'm here, you're doing so well. And I was like the fact that she said that we're fucking baby.
And she said that, and I was like, I'm in like cuckoo.
Land or you're on Colan.
I turn around, I'm like, she's here. To nobody else, she's here, yeah, and anyway, So then I just go all right, I'm gotta take a step back here. Job done, doctor's done.
Here, doctor dreaper.
And I go into a videographer mode. Now, so I go get the stand set, you got the phones, aim, and yeah, that'll be good. And then so yeah, two twenty five ready, Gen moves shine in and we sort of all man handle her and get her over.
But let me tell this part because I remember this part very vividly. I remember saying to Jen second I felt her, I said, I need to get the pool. She is, I know, we're almost there. I said, great. I start walking out. I can remember Babe feeling like it was hard to walk because I had a baby about to cut. Like I didn't have to walk when
I was out because I was in the pool. So quickly I'm thinking, like, there's no way if you're that far in labor, you're having a baby in the hospital if you can't get their own time because you can't walk properly. Because it's there, like it's the most bizarre feeling to think, like, yeah, I don't know how to explain it. Like honest, like a basketball between your legs. You're trying to walk and you're kind of hobbling im.
We're getting to the bath and seeing Libby and looking at her the second midwife and saying oh hi, and she was like hello, and I was like, how do I get in? And she was like, put your legs over us, and then you guys are will helping me get in. So it's very awkward, by the way, because the pools are very high.
Yeah. So by this day, it's like two twenty eight, right, you're loving your Yeah, I want to. I want to get every in the zone and visualize. Here we're visualizing, so two twenty eight and you sort of go into your position, will be like, yeah, I got it.
I went to the edge of the pool and put my hands over the edge show with my head resting on my hands.
So Elfie's birth I was behind, so I've seen everything and this time I was like not going to do that this time. I'm going to stay at the front.
Why because they were that end.
Yeah, they were at that end and I was like, I'm just happy here, don't have jobs today. Two thirty you gave a bit of a push and I'm looking from like this angle. Your head's here. I'm just stroking you, and no word of a lie. I see a hand rise and this little hand's like coming up behind you, like so his head's out and one arm and it's up like that.
Yeah, And I'm like that was first push.
First push, So that's two thirty and I'm like, oh my god, there's a little ah, little thing like this, and then another push and his shoulders and then one more little push. So two thirty three he was born. Jen goes, grab your baby, and we were like, your baby, and then we looked down and he's right here below us.
But we basically bungee jumped with his cord around my legs from the backs.
And he was like laying there and we're like looking at each other and Jen's like, grab your baby. We're like, oh, there he is.
Yeah, he was silent.
I was like, oh God, is he all right. I was very, very, very nervous, but the midwives had told us like this could happen and he could take a little while to come to so They're like just rub him and blow air on him and rub him a little bit more. And then he was still not making him Like, oh, like, is anyone going to give him CPR? Like yeah, That's how I was thinking because I'm like, obviously not trained, but Jen, he's smiling, so I took comfort in that she was still smiling. Yeah, and then
Libby grabbed the umbilical cord. He must have I don't know what they do that.
Well, the blob was still pumping, which he was still getting oxygen. But what's important to note, I guess, is
that homebirthing was so powerful. But we had so much knowledge, right, so when we did the hypnopothing, we knew a lot about birth and we did homebirth, and they give you so much education, so and I feel like that's maybe stuff that you don't Maybe you don't get as much of that when you're doing the hospital appointments because they's so quick, right, Like all my hospital appointments were very like, you know, fifteen minutes, whereas these midwives would spend two
hours with you per appointment. So because everything exactly so you talk through best case to talk through worst case scenario. So we knew and they'd already prepped us that, hey, guys, sometimes when babies come out, if it's you know, fast, if it's in the water, whatever it is, they take a little while to come to if this happens. And she'd said to me, you know how I am now shurely, you know my language. But if I say to you shurely, do this, I'm serious and you need to move quickly.
So we already knew that baby.
So I think for us, I was just watching her and she was smiling and like, yeah, just rub your baby, and I was like, okay, he's all.
Good, he's just but I did say I felt. I picked him up and I looked at him and I went, oh my god. I looked at you. Got on video. I looked at you and then you were like looking down and going, oh my god, this baby. I pulled the baby to my chest and then because he didn't make a noise, I just went, is he okay? Is my baby okay? And she went, your baby's fine, your
baby's fine. He probably took about two minutes, I reckon to make any sound, and in that time I wasn't stressed out because she's not stressed out.
Oh she was stressed out.
Yeah, if she wasn't, obviously you got a problem. But he just took a while to come too. So like she remember her saying to me, rubbie, baby, you know, blow on him, talk to him. And I was like, I didn't know the fucking baby. So I was like in the video, you just hear me going, Hi, Hi, baby, Hi, Like I have no idea what to say to this baby.
What am I supposed to say to him? And then I'm going, you're okay, You're okay, And then I'm rubbing him and as I start to rub him, you just hear this really loud cry and everyone in the whole room just went oh. And you see me put my head back. In the video, You're like happy, everyone's happy. It was just a really really nice moment. And the neighbors heard the first cry too, which is really funny.
So that was two thirty three. So we're just sitting back, relaxing and in the bar, still in the bath, and we're just taking in the moment. And next minute my alarm goes and John's like, what is that for? And I'm like, oh, that's the sour though it's cooked, and no word of alay you had a baby quicker than I could cook.
So actually, and I'm like, that's amazing. It was the best thing I've ever eaten. I chitch you not. It tasted like obviously I was hungry, but I had that in a hydro light and I was like, oh, I could not be any happier. I felt like I was at a fine outing restaurant. That's how good the food tasted. Because for anyone that would note, like who's given birth, your first meal after you give birth, it just feels
so good, just so hungry. You just need nourishment. So to have that sourdough, I was like the best.
And yeah, so you actually beat the sowdough like eight minutes because when Bowie come out, I want the most time. I was like, still eight minutes to go.