Tessa shares her first birth experience: her waters had broken, and labor had to be induced
Tessa (27) became a mother for the first time on October 11 with the birth of her son, Sev. Tessa shares her experience of her first delivery. Her waters had ruptured, and her labor had to be induced.

Whether I was dreading labor or afraid of the pain—those were questions I heard often during my pregnancy. But with a level-headed attitude, I’d simply respond: “Ah well, he has to come out one way or another, right?”

I was exactly 39 weeks pregnant when, on Thursday evening while brushing my teeth, I felt something trickle down between my legs. It wasn’t much, but I immediately thought of my water breaking. I decided not to call the midwife right away, but to try and get a few more hours of sleep since I wasn’t feeling any contractions yet. After a very quiet night, I did end up visiting the midwife. She concluded that my womb was still full of amniotic fluid and couldn't confirm whether my water had really broken. So, back home to wait and see.

But as the day went on, I started losing more fluid, and eventually I needed thick sanitary pads to keep up with the increasing amounts. Back to the midwife we went, and she scheduled us an appointment at the hospital for the next day. At the hospital, they were sure: my water had broken! Or more accurately, it had torn, since I was losing small amounts over time instead of one big gush.

I spent one more night in my own bed, still hoping labor would start naturally. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, so on Sunday morning we had to return to the hospital so I could be induced. With prolonged ruptured membranes, there’s a higher risk of infection, so you need to give birth within 72 hours.

Before they could induce labor, my cervix needed to be ripened, which they do by inserting a “string” containing hormones. This has to stay in for 12 hours and can help kickstart contractions. On Sunday night at 10:00 p.m., my boyfriend Michaël had to go home—if there are no signs of labor, partners aren’t allowed to stay overnight. But they promised to call as soon as anything started, so with his phone on high alert, I was left alone for the night.

And sure enough, labor started during the night! Looking back, I already felt something just after Michaël left, but at the time I wasn’t sure what it was. Luckily, I had no roommate and could walk around freely. Lying down was impossible for me—every contraction had me leaping out of bed to move through the pain. That night is a bit of a blur in hindsight; I lost all sense of time because I was so focused on managing the pain on my own. I think I even got a bit of sleep as the contractions eased slightly. By 8:00 a.m., I managed to eat a small breakfast, and Michaël thankfully returned. At 11:00 a.m., the midwife came to check me. I wasn’t sure if the rough night had accomplished anything, since things felt pretty calm by morning. But luckily—3 cm dilated! We were allowed to go to the delivery room to "push things along" with labor-inducing medication.

At first, I was still "cheerfully" bouncing through contractions on one of those birthing balls, but a few hours later, it wasn’t funny anymore. I was hit with intense back labor. After what felt like an eternity, I stepped into a hot shower. It felt dangerously hot, but the warmth was the only thing that somewhat eased the pain. The wonderful nurse even brought me a popsicle. So there I was—eating an ice-cold popsicle under a blazing hot shower, haha! After 1.5 hours, I had had enough and asked about pain relief options. We chose Remifentanil (a form of morphine), which comes with a button you can press to control the dosage. Between you and me… I really liked it! I felt a bit stoned but was finally able to relax a little between contractions. That relaxation helped my dilation progress, too—within an hour, I went from 5 cm to 10 cm. Time to push!

At first, I didn’t really know what I was doing, which resulted in a bunch of burst blood vessels in my face. But thanks to the amazing guidance of my midwife, things quickly improved. I think I even yelled halfway through that they could just leave him in there, but after 45 minutes of pushing, our son Sev was born. The most special moment of our lives! You don’t forget the pain (as the cliché goes), but it’s so worth it, and that makes it more than bearable. Plus, the relief that it’s all over plays a big role too.

Yes, giving birth is painful. But relatively speaking, it’s just a few hours out of your life—and the reward is the most beautiful one imaginable. So don’t dread it—you have this primal strength in you too!

One final tip from me: During my labor, lots of photos and a few videos were taken. Of course, it’s a personal choice, but I’m really glad they were. I look back at them with pride and joy, and I’m grateful to have those visual memories.