An easy conception, a smooth-sailing pregnancy, and what seemed like a straightforward delivery – that’s the dream scenario for many expecting mums. Lara’s journey seemed to be ticking all those boxes until the very last moment when her birth story took an unexpected turn.
In the blink of an eye, Lara found herself facing a dramatic situation that required emergency intervention to save her life.
Time for number two
Grapeviner mum Lara and partner Adam had only been together for two years when they discovered they were pregnant with their first baby. They had a beautiful baby girl named Alison and while they were completely happy, they felt that their family was not yet complete.
After several discussions about having another baby and being in full agreement, Lara had her birth control removed when Alison turned two years old. Lara and Adam easily conceived again and found out they were pregnant with their second little miracle on August 8th 2022.
An exciting milestone
Lara’s second pregnancy progressed well. Discovering she was experiencing some different feelings, aches and pains from her first pregnancy, Lara leaned on the Mum’s Grapevine Autumn 2023 due date group for support and guidance.
Another exciting milestone for Lara was the experience of having a baby shower at 29 weeks to celebrate her impending arrival. As Lara’s daughter had been born during COVID restrictions, she had been unable to have a baby shower to celebrate the way she would have liked.
‘We decided to go to hospital’
On Friday the 12th of May 2023, Lara began to experience some pain at 10:30pm. She headed to bed to try and get some rest however awoke a few hours later at 12:30am on Saturday the 13th of May.
“The pains were roughly two to three minutes apart. We took our daughter to my mums who lived across the road at 1:30am and went back home. Around 2:30am we decided to go to the hospital and arrived at 3am and by 3:30am I was four centimeters dilated.”
‘I needed to push’
As Lara was examined by a midwife, she was still able to carry on a conversation and even laugh at funny moments. The midwife told Lara that she might be sent back home to labour as she couldn’t be far enough along if she was able to act like that.
A second midwife decided to get them a room which was lucky as their little baby was not going to wait.
“When we walked across the hall, I felt the need to pee and get in the shower. As I sat on the toilet I felt something fall out of me and then I was screaming at the top of my lungs into my partner’s chest because he was coming out and I needed to push”
With no pain relief, Lara had gone from only four centimeters dilated to ready to have a baby in an incredibly short time frame.
Their son, Leonard, was born at 4am on the 13th of May and Lara experienced no tearing or grazing. It was looking like a textbook dream birth, until it wasn’t.
Dramatic turn of events
Lara was moved to the bed to deliver the placenta however it was high and not coming away from the uterine wall.
“I was going to go to theatre to get it manually extracted, but within the hour I started to feel hot and felt like I couldn’t keep my eyes open. And I was apparently very pale. I told the midwife, and the next thing I remember was having 11 people in the room attend to me with a crash cart taking me to theatre to remove the placenta”
“At 10am I woke up healthy and groggy, Lenny was healthy and with my partner and I had no issues. I’m so thankful that I spoke up and didn’t pass it off as just being tired from birth.
“Always speak up if you feel like something is wrong!”
After a quick birth and scary aftermath, little Lenny was the best gift that Lara and Adam could have asked for. We wish this little family all best as they start out as a family of four.
More birth stories from the Grapeviners…
- Birth Story: ‘I had surgery and 14 rounds of chemo while pregnant’
- Birth Story: ‘My induction was horrible and ended in a c-section’
- Birth Story: ‘We struggled with infertility’
Gearing Up for Your Tiny Sidekick?
The excitement is building as your little sidekick gets ready to make their debut. And guess what? You’ve got a whole squad backing you up! Check out our exclusive Pregnancy & Baby Groups and hang out with other Aussie mums who are either due at the same time as you or have just joined the mum gang.
