WEBVTT - The Mum Whose Own Dad Broke Her Waters With Francesca Hung 0:00:21.732 --> 0:00:24.493 You're listening to a MoMA Mia podcast. 0:00:25.212 --> 0:00:28.413 Mamma Mia acknowledges the traditional owners of land and waters 0:00:28.453 --> 0:00:31.452 that this podcast is recorded on. We pay our respects 0:00:31.533 --> 0:00:35.092 to elders past, present and emerging, and feel privileged to 0:00:35.132 --> 0:00:38.253 continue the sharing of birth stories and knowledge that has 0:00:38.293 --> 0:00:40.892 been a fundamental part of Indigenous culture. 0:00:45.253 --> 0:00:45.453 Hi. 0:00:45.613 --> 0:00:48.973 I'm Cassenia Lukic and this is diary of a birth. 0:00:49.933 --> 0:00:53.333 The general consensus amongst medical professionals is that when a 0:00:53.373 --> 0:00:56.693 woman has her first baby, it will likely take some time, 0:00:57.053 --> 0:00:59.853 but like all things in life, there are exceptions to 0:00:59.893 --> 0:01:04.212 the rule. Imagine feeling your first contraction and within half 0:01:04.253 --> 0:01:06.653 an hour you're on all fours on the front steps 0:01:06.652 --> 0:01:09.933 of your parents' house and your doctor dad has broken 0:01:09.973 --> 0:01:13.653 you waters. Well, that's what happened to today's mum, and 0:01:13.733 --> 0:01:20.493 it all took place on Christmas morning. A model, presenter 0:01:20.733 --> 0:01:24.613 and actor. Our guest today has a wild story that 0:01:24.693 --> 0:01:27.573 left me with my jaw on the floor. So let's 0:01:27.613 --> 0:01:28.533 meet today's mum. 0:01:29.173 --> 0:01:29.373 Hi. 0:01:29.413 --> 0:01:31.533 I'm Francesca Hung and this is the dary of my 0:01:31.573 --> 0:01:32.493 birth with Bridy. 0:01:37.893 --> 0:01:40.173 So Bridy is now three months old. You had her 0:01:40.493 --> 0:01:41.572 just before Christmas. 0:01:41.733 --> 0:01:44.732 She is literally ten weeks today, and she was born 0:01:44.773 --> 0:01:45.613 on Christmas Day. 0:01:45.693 --> 0:01:49.172 She was born on Christmas Day, Little Christmas. 0:01:48.693 --> 0:01:50.413 Baby, Christmas Surprise. 0:01:51.093 --> 0:01:54.733 You're obviously super busy before you felt pregnant, But what 0:01:54.893 --> 0:01:57.173 was your plan like before? Did you always want to 0:01:57.173 --> 0:01:57.853 have children? 0:01:58.252 --> 0:02:00.253 Yeah, definitely. I think that's something that Nick and I 0:02:00.252 --> 0:02:02.853 had been speaking about for years and years. But it 0:02:02.893 --> 0:02:04.693 was one of those funny things that I used to 0:02:04.733 --> 0:02:06.413 always think I'd be a really young mum, and I 0:02:06.453 --> 0:02:08.213 was like, oh my god, when I'm twenty five, I'm 0:02:08.213 --> 0:02:09.252 gonna have three kids. 0:02:09.293 --> 0:02:11.573 And then every year that I got closer to you know, 0:02:11.693 --> 0:02:12.053 I was like. 0:02:11.972 --> 0:02:13.973 Twenty four, twenty five, twenty six, wway seven, I was like, 0:02:14.013 --> 0:02:15.733 oh my goodness, I'm not ready for this. 0:02:15.813 --> 0:02:17.813 I'm a child. Children cannot have children. 0:02:18.653 --> 0:02:21.613 And so even when you know, I had Bridy at thirty, 0:02:21.813 --> 0:02:23.893 I still didn't feel really ready. I still felt like 0:02:23.933 --> 0:02:25.813 a child and I had so much more to do. 0:02:25.853 --> 0:02:27.933 It was kind of that bit of a conflict. But 0:02:28.213 --> 0:02:29.933 now that she's here, I'm like, yeah, this is meant 0:02:29.933 --> 0:02:30.293 to happen. 0:02:30.453 --> 0:02:33.252 When Nick and you have been together for quite a while. 0:02:33.013 --> 0:02:35.252 Though, Yeah, eight years. 0:02:35.292 --> 0:02:37.573 But you only got married fairly recently too. 0:02:37.653 --> 0:02:42.012 Yeah, I know, we got married December and twenty twenty three. 0:02:42.213 --> 0:02:44.692 So what was that. I can't even see. 0:02:44.733 --> 0:02:46.972 I say, I can't do baths anymore, baby brain, no 0:02:47.013 --> 0:02:47.773 longer can do mouth. 0:02:47.852 --> 0:02:49.213 But yeah, we were married for a year. 0:02:49.493 --> 0:02:50.732 You said, you call her Bertie. 0:02:50.813 --> 0:02:51.813 We do call her Bertie. 0:02:51.933 --> 0:02:54.532 Yes, So I actually Bridy was like the one name 0:02:54.572 --> 0:02:56.493 that we agreed on and we knew the sex and 0:02:56.493 --> 0:02:58.852 everything in the gender, and I had a whole list 0:02:58.933 --> 0:03:01.732 of names and Nick sort of said no, no, no, 0:03:01.733 --> 0:03:04.292 no no. So I said Bridy and he said, oh yeah, 0:03:04.292 --> 0:03:06.292 I really like that, and I was so shocked. It's 0:03:06.333 --> 0:03:09.532 a classic old name, but it's not very common, and 0:03:09.572 --> 0:03:11.572 it's got a bit of an Irish tie for us. 0:03:12.173 --> 0:03:14.493 I loved the nickname Bertie, but I just thought it 0:03:14.532 --> 0:03:15.853 might a bit I don't know. I didn't want to 0:03:15.893 --> 0:03:17.813 name her Birdie in case one day she wanted to 0:03:18.173 --> 0:03:19.612 have a different kind of name. 0:03:19.653 --> 0:03:20.653 But we call it Bertie. 0:03:20.852 --> 0:03:23.292 And was it a planned pregnancy or was it a 0:03:23.333 --> 0:03:24.493 little bit of a surprise. 0:03:24.972 --> 0:03:28.653 No, it was definitely planned. We actually were trying for 0:03:28.852 --> 0:03:31.453 quite a while. I think that I was on you know, 0:03:31.532 --> 0:03:34.973 contraception for I think like six seven years, and I 0:03:35.013 --> 0:03:38.773 had that taken out a whole year before we felt pregnant, 0:03:38.853 --> 0:03:40.653 so we kind of were trying. I was even trying 0:03:40.693 --> 0:03:42.813 before the wedding because I didn't really mind if we were, 0:03:43.133 --> 0:03:44.413 you know, pregnant. 0:03:43.973 --> 0:03:44.573 At the wedding. 0:03:44.613 --> 0:03:48.373 But yeah, it did take us probably about six months. Yeah, okay, 0:03:48.613 --> 0:03:51.133 not to it's I know she was very wanted. So 0:03:51.173 --> 0:03:53.213 what did you feel like when you found out you 0:03:53.253 --> 0:03:56.813 were pregnant? Well, funny you asked that, because I was 0:03:56.813 --> 0:03:58.653 starting to get a little bit. You get a bit 0:03:58.693 --> 0:04:01.213 anxious and you start thinking, Okay, what's happening, Like, why 0:04:01.253 --> 0:04:03.133 am I falling pregnant? I had friends around me that 0:04:03.213 --> 0:04:06.093 were falling pregnant first try, second try, and you know, 0:04:06.133 --> 0:04:08.573 we were all kind of hoping to be aligned together. 0:04:09.333 --> 0:04:10.333 I had this silly. 0:04:10.093 --> 0:04:12.333 Idea in my head, Okay, well I kind of wanted 0:04:12.373 --> 0:04:15.773 to be pregnant before thirty and have my first child. 0:04:16.013 --> 0:04:19.652 And it was a night before my thirtieth birthday and 0:04:19.733 --> 0:04:21.772 I was just crying to my mom and I was saying, 0:04:22.013 --> 0:04:24.573 what's going on. My mom had really struggled as well 0:04:24.973 --> 0:04:29.133 to fall pregnant. I'm an IVF baby after numerous rounds 0:04:29.213 --> 0:04:30.853 and years and years, so I think it was always 0:04:30.893 --> 0:04:33.373 back in my mind that something could happen, and I've 0:04:33.413 --> 0:04:35.772 always been a little bit on edge about that, and 0:04:35.813 --> 0:04:37.413 I was sort of having a bit of a cry 0:04:37.453 --> 0:04:39.813 to her, saying, oh, you know, before thirty, I kind 0:04:39.813 --> 0:04:42.493 of want to be pregnant, and she was there for me. 0:04:42.733 --> 0:04:46.093 And then it was the next morning. I don't know why, 0:04:46.333 --> 0:04:50.173 but I just had a feeling and my period wasn't 0:04:50.173 --> 0:04:53.173 even due, and I took a pregnancy test and I 0:04:53.213 --> 0:04:54.933 had a faint line on my thirtieth birthday. 0:04:55.213 --> 0:04:57.093 What was your pregnancy like? 0:04:57.653 --> 0:05:01.293 First trimester was a little bit rough, but really nothing 0:05:01.333 --> 0:05:03.493 compared to a lot of people. I was nauseous. I 0:05:03.533 --> 0:05:05.413 don't think I threw up once, but I was just 0:05:06.013 --> 0:05:09.452 the only thing I could eat was vitaweats with butter 0:05:09.493 --> 0:05:11.973 and vegimite, and it was just like every day, all day. 0:05:11.973 --> 0:05:15.933 Every day, just wanted vegimite. Yeah, that was fun. 0:05:16.253 --> 0:05:19.693 Anything throughout the pregnancy, it was just a normal pregnancy 0:05:19.733 --> 0:05:20.173 for you. 0:05:20.653 --> 0:05:23.973 They actually did have a few scares, which was a 0:05:24.013 --> 0:05:27.133 little bit concerning. So at the beginning when I had 0:05:27.173 --> 0:05:30.133 my first scan, I think we were all so excited, 0:05:30.333 --> 0:05:33.293 and then I came home and I bled after my 0:05:33.333 --> 0:05:38.333 first scan. I think after like mum's history of miscarriages 0:05:38.533 --> 0:05:41.813 and eptopic pregnancies. I was at home with her and 0:05:42.213 --> 0:05:45.253 when I said, like, I've got fresh blood sort of things, 0:05:45.293 --> 0:05:47.373 she came in and she was just sort of oh 0:05:47.413 --> 0:05:48.653 my god, so upset. 0:05:48.813 --> 0:05:50.173 But we're very fortunate. 0:05:50.253 --> 0:05:53.453 My dad's a radiologist and I had had my scan 0:05:53.613 --> 0:05:58.773 at his practice, not with him, but somebody else, and 0:05:58.853 --> 0:06:01.573 so Mum just called dad straight away and said, can 0:06:01.613 --> 0:06:04.533 we please come back in and get like an emergency scan, 0:06:04.653 --> 0:06:09.173 like she's bleeding. So the amazing staff stayed back after hours, 0:06:09.573 --> 0:06:12.133 raced back up. I was like crying, and then they 0:06:12.133 --> 0:06:14.373 did a scan and they said, look, the heartbeats still there. 0:06:14.813 --> 0:06:16.573 They could have just been having like you know, the 0:06:16.573 --> 0:06:19.893 internal examination sort of disrupted a few things, but take 0:06:19.893 --> 0:06:22.093 it easy for a couple of days. So we were 0:06:22.133 --> 0:06:24.413 on tender hooks for a while there. And then I 0:06:24.453 --> 0:06:26.733 think before that twelve week mark as well, I had 0:06:26.773 --> 0:06:27.533 some more bleeding. 0:06:27.773 --> 0:06:29.133 Look, we don't know what that was about. 0:06:29.213 --> 0:06:31.493 It well, my ob believes that because I had a 0:06:31.493 --> 0:06:34.013 bit of a percenta previa at the beginning, so it 0:06:34.053 --> 0:06:36.293 probably was causing that bit of you know, the rupturing 0:06:36.693 --> 0:06:42.293 bit of bleeding. But after that second trimester was incredible, easy, brazy. 0:06:42.373 --> 0:06:45.333 I felt fabulous. I didn't even feel pregnant. I was 0:06:45.373 --> 0:06:47.773 able to do everything, exercise the way I wanted to 0:06:47.893 --> 0:06:51.853 eat whatever I wanted to. And then third trimester, I 0:06:52.133 --> 0:06:55.613 was hit with terrible pelvic girdle pain. 0:06:56.093 --> 0:06:58.173 I feel like we've had very similar pregnancies because I 0:06:58.173 --> 0:06:59.413 had the exact same thing. 0:06:59.413 --> 0:07:03.733 And it was the hits because I just I couldn't walk, 0:07:04.173 --> 0:07:06.333 could not walk. So I mean, I picked up swimming, 0:07:06.573 --> 0:07:08.773 which was great, and I felt like that was amazing, 0:07:09.333 --> 0:07:11.653 and I just did pilates, but even by the end 0:07:11.693 --> 0:07:13.413 of the play as I couldn't do so pretty much, 0:07:13.453 --> 0:07:17.133 it was just like no walking and yep, sit down. 0:07:17.453 --> 0:07:21.093 Yeah, it's really really painful coming up. 0:07:21.613 --> 0:07:24.533 I just start sprinting up the stairs like something out 0:07:24.533 --> 0:07:27.573 of a horror film. I'm on my hands and my feet, 0:07:27.613 --> 0:07:32.893 like running up the stairs like an animal, screaming help help. 0:07:33.253 --> 0:07:34.653 The baby's coming. 0:07:41.773 --> 0:07:43.373 So tell me about going into labor. 0:07:43.613 --> 0:07:46.973 Hmmmm, Well, I feel like I have to kind of 0:07:46.973 --> 0:07:49.293 set the scene for you a little bit. So Nick 0:07:49.293 --> 0:07:51.173 and I decided to move home when we had the 0:07:51.213 --> 0:07:54.133 baby because I just thought we're both kind of working. 0:07:54.333 --> 0:07:55.613 Nick just started his own business. 0:07:55.693 --> 0:07:58.533 I'm not really taking time off, and it'd be nice 0:07:58.573 --> 0:08:02.133 to have extra set of hands. So in the lead 0:08:02.213 --> 0:08:04.293 up to Christmas, we were like, hey, you probably have to, 0:08:04.333 --> 0:08:07.253 you know, get going. Bertie's birthdate wasn't until the eighth 0:08:07.293 --> 0:08:09.293 of Jam and we're very relaxed, and so we were 0:08:09.333 --> 0:08:12.733 sort of like working towards that date, and I wasn't 0:08:12.733 --> 0:08:15.693 really carrying that large and IOB was sort of saying, 0:08:15.733 --> 0:08:17.373 I'm happy to sort of let you go to forty 0:08:17.413 --> 0:08:20.293 one plus no high risk or anything like that anyway, 0:08:20.333 --> 0:08:22.973 So we had only moved out of the house in 0:08:23.013 --> 0:08:27.413 that week leading up to Christmas. I remember setting up 0:08:27.413 --> 0:08:30.173 the nursery at mum and Dad's house and literally putting 0:08:30.173 --> 0:08:32.533 together like the car seat and the capsule and the 0:08:32.573 --> 0:08:34.933 pram and everything. On Christmas Eve and that was Nick's 0:08:34.973 --> 0:08:36.693 last day of work and we was our one day 0:08:36.732 --> 0:08:39.493 we had like we were relaxing. It was so nice, 0:08:39.933 --> 0:08:42.213 and we went to a Christmas Eve party that night. 0:08:42.813 --> 0:08:44.413 I remember just sort of like, you know, having a 0:08:44.413 --> 0:08:46.333 bit of a grumbles, like, oh my god, like, wouldn't 0:08:46.333 --> 0:08:48.852 it be nice if the baby came on Christmas Day? 0:08:48.893 --> 0:08:49.493 Bit of a present? 0:08:49.533 --> 0:08:53.013 I'm so I'm so over this, but you know, obviously, 0:08:53.213 --> 0:08:57.253 not thinking anything would happen, went home, went to bed, 0:08:57.973 --> 0:09:02.173 and I woke up at about two thirty on Christmas morning, 0:09:02.213 --> 0:09:04.453 and I stumbled to the bathroom just thinking I needed to, 0:09:04.613 --> 0:09:06.933 you know, go to the toilet. And I was sitting 0:09:06.933 --> 0:09:10.293 there doing the longest wee ever, thinking, oh, like, my 0:09:10.333 --> 0:09:12.173 brags and hicks feel a bit funny. And I've been 0:09:12.173 --> 0:09:14.493 having brax and hicks since thirty weeks, so I was 0:09:14.573 --> 0:09:16.773 very used to them, but they just felt a little 0:09:16.773 --> 0:09:19.293 bit different, and I thought, oh, maybe I needed to 0:09:19.373 --> 0:09:23.013 number two, like you know, something going on there. Couldn't 0:09:23.053 --> 0:09:25.613 do number two, so I thought, okay, going back to bed, 0:09:25.773 --> 0:09:28.693 I'm gonna sleep this off. Because I had heard so 0:09:28.733 --> 0:09:31.093 many horror stories of women who have had like prodromal 0:09:31.173 --> 0:09:33.732 labor or you know, these labor signs for so long 0:09:33.773 --> 0:09:35.053 and then they don't go into labor. And I just 0:09:35.053 --> 0:09:37.453 did not want to be thinking that I was in labor. 0:09:37.853 --> 0:09:39.492 So I was like, no, I'm not in labor. Going 0:09:39.533 --> 0:09:42.053 to sleep anyway. I lay in bed for another fifteen 0:09:42.093 --> 0:09:44.253 twenty minutes and I was like, no, this is I 0:09:44.293 --> 0:09:47.813 think I'm in labor. I think these are contractions. Oh 0:09:47.853 --> 0:09:51.053 my god, Oh my gosh. So I tapped Nick on 0:09:51.093 --> 0:09:53.453 the shoulder. Poor boy was fast asleep, and I said, 0:09:53.893 --> 0:09:56.613 I think we're having a Christmas Day baby, and he 0:09:56.693 --> 0:09:57.093 woke up. 0:09:57.173 --> 0:09:58.013 What what what? 0:09:58.173 --> 0:10:01.093 I was like, But don't worry. You know, this takes forever. 0:10:01.173 --> 0:10:03.253 This takes so long. Like, go back to sleep. I 0:10:03.293 --> 0:10:05.653 need you to be you know, energetic tomorrow. So just 0:10:05.653 --> 0:10:08.933 go back to sleep. And quite funny, in the past, 0:10:08.933 --> 0:10:11.413 my birth plan was I said, Okay, I know I 0:10:11.413 --> 0:10:12.573 want to stay at home for as long as I 0:10:12.573 --> 0:10:15.813 can labor at home. So the idea is like when 0:10:15.813 --> 0:10:17.693 I start going to labor, I want to like take 0:10:17.693 --> 0:10:19.573 the dog for a walk and get out, go to 0:10:19.573 --> 0:10:22.173 a cafe. I've heard that, you know, distract yourself because 0:10:22.213 --> 0:10:25.293 it will take forever. Anyway, I had just said to him, 0:10:25.333 --> 0:10:27.293 go back to sleep, and then I had another contraction, 0:10:27.413 --> 0:10:30.133 and I was literally like, oh my gosh, like no, no, 0:10:30.173 --> 0:10:33.573 this is this is so painful. How is this the 0:10:33.573 --> 0:10:37.333 beginning stages of labor? Anyway, Nick's like should I get up? 0:10:37.333 --> 0:10:38.773 And I was like no, no, no, no, it's fine, just. 0:10:38.773 --> 0:10:40.973 Go back to sleep. Go back to sleep. Anyway, another contraction, 0:10:41.013 --> 0:10:41.372 and I was. 0:10:41.333 --> 0:10:42.333 Like Oh my god. 0:10:43.013 --> 0:10:45.253 I was like, we haven't packed a hospital bag. 0:10:45.733 --> 0:10:49.533 So jumped out of bed and started to try and 0:10:49.573 --> 0:10:50.613 pack a hospital bag. 0:10:51.533 --> 0:10:52.653 Three am in the morning. 0:10:52.973 --> 0:10:56.013 I'd pull out about ten bras and I said to Nick, 0:10:56.253 --> 0:10:58.213 pack these and he looks at me and he says, 0:10:58.333 --> 0:10:59.293 do you need ten bras? 0:10:59.493 --> 0:11:01.732 I said, I don't know what I mean. I can't 0:11:01.853 --> 0:11:02.693 I can't think. 0:11:03.173 --> 0:11:05.893 I could not think straight. Every contraction, I was like 0:11:05.933 --> 0:11:08.653 on all fours on the ground bearing down. I remember 0:11:08.653 --> 0:11:10.373 looking at my dog at one point and she was 0:11:10.413 --> 0:11:12.093 just staring at me, and I was staring at her, 0:11:12.173 --> 0:11:14.293 and I was thinking, what is going on? This is 0:11:14.333 --> 0:11:17.173 so painful. Anyway, so I have to say there was 0:11:17.213 --> 0:11:21.653 no hospital bag packed. And then Nick started time my contractions. 0:11:21.773 --> 0:11:24.573 They were super irregular, like one was every seven minutes, 0:11:24.613 --> 0:11:29.213 one was every three two, so random. So he called 0:11:29.533 --> 0:11:32.373 the birth unit at the hospital and we spoke to 0:11:32.413 --> 0:11:36.133 the most gorgeous midwife that She said, look what we're after, 0:11:36.453 --> 0:11:39.533 especially it's her first labor and everything, and she's literally 0:11:39.573 --> 0:11:41.413 just woken up half an hour ago and felt her 0:11:41.413 --> 0:11:45.573 first contraction. So what we're looking for is four contractions 0:11:45.613 --> 0:11:49.373 within ten minutes. It's like clockwork. So maybe we'll see 0:11:49.373 --> 0:11:52.493 you later today kind of thing. She asked, have you 0:11:52.533 --> 0:11:54.773 taken panadoal? Have you done any of your at home pain, 0:11:54.973 --> 0:11:57.253 you know, relief, had a bath, any of that sort 0:11:57.253 --> 0:11:58.613 of thing, And I hadn't at that stage. 0:11:58.613 --> 0:11:59.933 So she's like, maybe do. 0:11:59.933 --> 0:12:01.813 Some of that. How many weeks were you at this 0:12:01.853 --> 0:12:02.933 point thirty. 0:12:02.693 --> 0:12:04.173 Eight on the dot? Yep. 0:12:05.093 --> 0:12:08.133 So Nick ran and got me some panadole down the 0:12:08.133 --> 0:12:11.253 hatch and then I pretty much vomited it straight up 0:12:11.653 --> 0:12:13.573 straight into the bathroom. I remember looking at the toilet, 0:12:13.653 --> 0:12:16.293 could see my Christmas Eve dinner, and I was like, great, 0:12:16.373 --> 0:12:18.853 there's the ham, there's a cran resource, and there's the patadol. 0:12:19.653 --> 0:12:21.293 And then I said, okay, let's hop into the bath. 0:12:21.293 --> 0:12:23.253 So I hopped at the bath. It was instant relief. 0:12:23.333 --> 0:12:25.732 It was so gorgeous, you know, in between those contractions. 0:12:26.373 --> 0:12:29.653 But those contractions were just oh, they were just like 0:12:29.893 --> 0:12:32.853 getting really really intense. And it was only about three 0:12:32.853 --> 0:12:35.533 point thirty at this point, maybe four, I don't really know, 0:12:36.053 --> 0:12:39.653 but I didn't do any birthing classes, but I had 0:12:39.653 --> 0:12:41.533 looked at some things on TikTok and I'd seen some 0:12:41.573 --> 0:12:44.013 things about like holding combs and whatever else. So I 0:12:44.053 --> 0:12:45.893 grabbed one of the combs I had in my drawer, 0:12:45.893 --> 0:12:48.133 and I was squeezing it so tightly it was literally 0:12:48.173 --> 0:12:51.333 like causing these like dents and like blood was coming 0:12:51.333 --> 0:12:52.133 out of my hands. 0:12:52.253 --> 0:12:54.013 And I was like, this is doing nothing. 0:12:54.813 --> 0:12:57.173 What do you mean trying to get into like a 0:12:57.213 --> 0:13:00.533 meditative state and whatever else? Anyway, nothing was working. I 0:13:00.613 --> 0:13:03.333 was just like clenching the bath. I think I was 0:13:03.333 --> 0:13:05.133 starting to get a little bit panicked at this point. 0:13:05.653 --> 0:13:07.973 I hadn't really felt her kick this whole time, and 0:13:08.013 --> 0:13:10.933 I'm used to her being quite active. Also, my waters 0:13:10.973 --> 0:13:13.653 hadn't broken, I hadn't lost my mucus plug, so like 0:13:13.693 --> 0:13:15.853 none of the things you were kind of told to 0:13:15.933 --> 0:13:19.373 expect at the early stages of labor. And I just 0:13:19.413 --> 0:13:21.973 thought this was happening way too quick, like this isn't 0:13:22.013 --> 0:13:25.173 meant to happen like this. And I also was freaking 0:13:25.213 --> 0:13:27.653 out about tearing, because you know, you hear so much 0:13:27.653 --> 0:13:29.893 about like, oh my god, tearing and prolapse, and I 0:13:29.933 --> 0:13:33.453 just thought something terrible is going to happen here. And 0:13:33.493 --> 0:13:36.733 then every time I could feel a contraction, I remember satanick, 0:13:36.853 --> 0:13:39.653 I cannot do this, I cannot do this. Another one 0:13:39.733 --> 0:13:42.173 is coming and he was just like being amazing and 0:13:42.213 --> 0:13:43.853 he was like, yes, you can, you can do this. 0:13:43.893 --> 0:13:46.693 And I kept saying, somebody cut me open, like please, 0:13:46.813 --> 0:13:49.013 I think it will be better. And I want drugs. 0:13:49.253 --> 0:13:52.133 I want the epedeel right now. And I had always 0:13:52.333 --> 0:13:54.653 been very happy to have all the medication and the 0:13:54.693 --> 0:13:56.333 drugs in the world. I just had to get to 0:13:56.373 --> 0:13:58.693 the hospital and I kept saying, I just I need 0:13:58.773 --> 0:14:00.733 to be the hospital right now, like I need drugs, 0:14:00.773 --> 0:14:04.653 like this is unbearable. And then I remember one contraction 0:14:04.813 --> 0:14:07.693 was just unbelievably painful, and I looked down and there 0:14:07.733 --> 0:14:10.613 was blood in the bath, and so then I think 0:14:10.693 --> 0:14:13.293 I just freaked out. I leaped out of the bath 0:14:13.533 --> 0:14:18.053 and I just had this insane urge to push, and 0:14:18.093 --> 0:14:21.053 I just I needed to push, and so I over 0:14:21.093 --> 0:14:22.933 the toilet and I said to Nick. 0:14:22.773 --> 0:14:27.053 I need to like, I need to push. 0:14:25.693 --> 0:14:28.253 And I said, something's coming out, Something's coming out. And 0:14:28.293 --> 0:14:32.533 it was just incredibly painful, and I thought I was 0:14:32.573 --> 0:14:33.653 having a prolapse or something. 0:14:33.693 --> 0:14:34.013 I don't know. 0:14:34.013 --> 0:14:35.853 I thought maybe my vagina was coming out of me. 0:14:36.093 --> 0:14:38.093 And I could feel I couldn't see it, obviously, I 0:14:38.093 --> 0:14:39.493 had a belly in front of me, but I could 0:14:39.573 --> 0:14:43.733 feel this soft, warm, wet thing coming out of me 0:14:44.293 --> 0:14:47.533 over the toilet, and Nick, poor boy, was trying to 0:14:47.573 --> 0:14:48.293 push it back in. 0:14:48.373 --> 0:14:52.293 He was like, oh my god, oh my god. We 0:14:52.333 --> 0:14:54.253 don't know. We didn't know what the hell was going on. 0:14:54.693 --> 0:14:56.933 And he kept saying to me, should we get your mom? 0:14:56.973 --> 0:14:57.893 Should we get your mom? 0:14:57.933 --> 0:15:00.813 And I kept saying earlier I'd said no, let her sleep. 0:15:01.093 --> 0:15:02.613 And then he was like, I think we need your 0:15:02.613 --> 0:15:04.333 mom and dad. And I was like, okay, but we're 0:15:04.373 --> 0:15:07.573 going to the hospital right now. He said, okay, but 0:15:07.693 --> 0:15:10.653 like you're naked, and I said I don't care, and 0:15:10.733 --> 0:15:13.253 he tried to dress me. He got a bra lette 0:15:13.253 --> 0:15:17.813 on me. That's it, and I just started running. I 0:15:17.933 --> 0:15:20.253 just couldn't tell that I was in the in between 0:15:20.253 --> 0:15:22.693 a contract. Now. We have a lot of stairs my 0:15:22.733 --> 0:15:24.973 mum and dad's house, probably about like one hundred stairs 0:15:24.973 --> 0:15:26.773 from top to bottom. Mom and dad at the top 0:15:27.173 --> 0:15:30.173 of the house and we're at the bottom. Pitch black. 0:15:30.373 --> 0:15:33.853 This is now, it's like four fifty in the morning. 0:15:34.453 --> 0:15:37.413 I just start sprinting up the stairs like something out 0:15:37.413 --> 0:15:40.453 of a horror film. I'm on my hands and my feet, 0:15:40.493 --> 0:15:42.773 like running up the stairs like an animal. 0:15:43.253 --> 0:15:47.933 Screaming, hell, hell, the baby's coming. 0:15:48.453 --> 0:15:51.493 And like I was petrified at this point, like I was. 0:15:51.573 --> 0:15:53.093 I can laugh at it now, but at the time, 0:15:53.213 --> 0:15:55.493 like I thought she was dead or she was like 0:15:55.533 --> 0:15:59.413 ejecting herself. Something was really wrong. And Nick, poor boy, 0:15:59.493 --> 0:16:01.093 was just left in the bathroom and he was like 0:16:01.253 --> 0:16:02.733 he turned around, he was like, where did she go? 0:16:02.973 --> 0:16:04.253 Where did she go? And then he could just hear 0:16:04.253 --> 0:16:08.853 me screaming. Meanwhile, Mom and Dad Christmas morning, fastest sleep 0:16:08.973 --> 0:16:12.933 and they just wake up to blood curdling screams. They 0:16:13.053 --> 0:16:15.933 run out into their balcony. They thought the neighbors. Something 0:16:15.973 --> 0:16:17.933 was happening with the neighbors, and they ran to the 0:16:17.973 --> 0:16:20.653 balcony and they thought, no, no, like that's coming from 0:16:20.733 --> 0:16:24.813 inside the house. Mum said she walked back to the 0:16:24.853 --> 0:16:28.493 top of the stairs and she just saw me running 0:16:28.853 --> 0:16:32.213 naked up the stairs screaming out help, the baby's coming. 0:16:32.493 --> 0:16:35.373 And she thought, oh my god, like, what has happened. 0:16:35.493 --> 0:16:39.053 Something horrific has happened. What's going on? I ran straight 0:16:39.093 --> 0:16:42.013 past her, opened the front door and then hit the 0:16:42.093 --> 0:16:45.333 decks and was on all fours having another contraction outside 0:16:45.373 --> 0:16:47.733 the front of the house. Luckily we are inside the 0:16:47.733 --> 0:16:50.093 front gate, so it's not in the street at this stage. 0:16:50.093 --> 0:16:53.093 But I am outside in a bralet, in a brlet 0:16:53.093 --> 0:16:56.533 butt naked. And I not a prude, but I was 0:16:56.613 --> 0:16:59.853 nervous before birth about the doctors seeing me naked in 0:16:59.893 --> 0:17:02.413 the hospital, and at this point I do not care 0:17:02.573 --> 0:17:06.572 who sees me naked. It's very animalistic birth, is what 0:17:06.613 --> 0:17:09.892 I've learned, and everything what you thought was out the window. 0:17:10.613 --> 0:17:13.773 I remember being outside. I'm on the cold stone, you know, 0:17:13.893 --> 0:17:16.773 of the ground, and Dad walks out and he says, Franceasca, 0:17:17.133 --> 0:17:20.453 come inside, and I just look at him. I'm on 0:17:20.493 --> 0:17:23.373 all and I look at him and I say, tell 0:17:23.413 --> 0:17:27.693 me what is coming out of me? So, my beautiful dad, 0:17:27.733 --> 0:17:30.173 it's a real bonding experience. He did get down on 0:17:30.213 --> 0:17:33.293 all fours and he had a good look. I think 0:17:33.333 --> 0:17:35.813 someone must have used a flashlight. I don't know how 0:17:35.973 --> 0:17:37.213 he saw because it. 0:17:37.173 --> 0:17:38.213 Was pitch black outside. 0:17:38.333 --> 0:17:41.693 And he started feeling around and he said, he looked 0:17:41.693 --> 0:17:44.852 at me and he said, your membranes are bulging. And 0:17:44.893 --> 0:17:47.973 I said, Layman's term, what is that? And he said, 0:17:48.053 --> 0:17:50.893 it's your amnionic sack. It's coming out of you. But 0:17:50.973 --> 0:17:53.052 it hadn't burst, so it was just that's what I 0:17:53.173 --> 0:17:55.133 was feeling that was the circular thing, that was the 0:17:55.173 --> 0:17:57.852 round thing, and it was like literally hanging out of me, 0:17:58.013 --> 0:18:02.572 this big, beautiful sack. And at this stage Nick finally 0:18:02.573 --> 0:18:05.253 come outstairs. He had tried to pack some semblance of 0:18:05.253 --> 0:18:07.733 a hospital bag. He came upstairs. He said, it was 0:18:07.813 --> 0:18:10.733 the strangest scene ever. I'm on all fours, the dog's 0:18:10.773 --> 0:18:14.973 running around me, my dad is down touching the amniotic sack. 0:18:15.213 --> 0:18:17.253 Mum is trying to find clothes to put on so 0:18:17.293 --> 0:18:18.973 she can drive us to the hospital. And Nick just 0:18:18.973 --> 0:18:20.852 comes up the stairs with the hospital bag and took 0:18:20.893 --> 0:18:23.853