Erin and Jay's Story
The Birth of Raine Jemma-Lea Henry
I received a phone call from Jay letting me know that
Erin's waters had broken at about 9pm on Thursday evening. Erin was
not yet experiencing any contractions.
Just after 11pm Jay was back on the phone letting me know that they
were now on their way to the hospital as Erin was now having 2-3 min
contractions.
I arrived at midnight to find Erin labouring quietly on the bed. She
seemed very focussed and participated in conversation in between
contractions. She decided to have a bath not long after and this
seemed to help her relax.
By 2am Erin was finding it difficult to deal with contractions which
were coming very closely together; she was very tired and felt like
she wasn't getting any breaks. Shortly after Erin asked for an
epidural. This was something we had discussed during her pregnancy
and she was not adverse to having an epidural if she felt she needed
it.
While waiting for the epidural, Erin laboured on her side in bed,
took a shower and tried another bath. Jay was very supportive,
particularly through this time, and held Erin close when she needed
reassurance.
At 3:30am Erin had an epidural administered. Contractions were
getting closer together by now and Erin was beginning to bear down.
Once the epidural had taken effect, Erin told us she felt so much
better and this showed on her face.
A beautiful little girl, Raine Jemma-Lea, was welcomed into the
world at 5:23am on Friday 28th December 2007.
Congratulations, Jay and Erin, on the arrival of your gorgeous
little angel. Erin, you did so well over a labour that was very
intense and gave you little opportunity to get used to the level as
it progressed so quickly! I am so proud, as I'm sure is Jay, that
even when you were struggling to deal with the labour's intensity
you were politely assertive and sure in the decisions you made. I'd
like to take this opportunity also to say well done to Jay; you were
such a fantastic support for Erin and stood by her in whatever made
her feel comfortable. Good on you both!
