Birth of Baby Grayson | Vacuum Assisted Natural | King Edward Memorial Hospital – CMP Program
Updated: Feb 21
Arriving to the hospital at 4:30am, still wiping the sleep out of my eyes, greeted by Elisabeth’s partner Dan and her Mother in Law Mish. Although she was tired, she was bursting with excitement for her baby to be arriving soon. Elisabeth was incredibly calm and getting some much-needed rest with an epidural. Being an induction, the body is being thrown into a process that it is not 100% ready to start and can be unbelievably straining on the body.
Elisabeth had wonderful support from Dan, Mish and a wonderful Midwife from the Community Midwifery Program. Upon arrival the room was kept dark, voices were kept low and all involved got some rest in preparation for the big moment to come.
With an induction you expect 1cm per hour and were shocked to find out Elisabeth was fully dilated at 9am. With an epidural, pushing stage doesn’t always commence straight away. Medical staff like to give the body a chance for baby to move down the birth canal on their own, putting as little stress as possible on the mother’s body.
When everyone was awake, preparation began followed by pushing. Trying a few different positions, to find what worked best, Elisabeth found her rhythm. Her room filled with pure love and excitement, giving her energy to keep pushing. As doctors came preparing everything for baby, Elisabeth mustered up all her courage to bring her son earth side.
In a blink of an eye, a beautiful little boy was lifted onto Elisabeth’s chest. Dan kissed her head gently, cupping his son on her chest. Both Mum and Dad tangled in the joy of their newborn baby, snuggled against mum letting out his first cry.
Baby was taken to the panda bed, to have a few quick standard newborn checks, wiped down and wrapping up gently in a blanket. Returning to Elisabeth’s chest quickly where he spent his next hour and attempting his first feed. Dan and Mish watched on with pure love and joy, the beautiful process of those first steps into motherhood.
After skin-to-skin time, baby was weighed and was a healthy 4.32kg. This time however baby was returned to dad’s bare chest, where he enjoyed Dad’s warm embrace, his gentle touch, and his deep voice he had only heard through the wall on Elisabeth’s tummy. To stare into his father’s eyes, to see unconditional love looking back is true beauty.