Birth story: “My baby’s laziness saved his life”
As told to Babyology by Jo Harding
I was 30 weeks pregnant with my second baby when I had a small car accident, I was rushed to hospital and checked in for observation.
Tests, tests and more tests
After a series of checks, the doctors confirmed my baby was in perfect health. His heartbeat was strong and everything looked good on the ultrasound. It was a very close call and I was so thankful and relieved to hear that all was well with my growing bub. But during the days after the accident my concern for his wellbeing increased.
“I couldn’t feel bub move at all”
During my first pregnancy, my little man was always active. He would kick, flip, move and poke around so much that he’d keep me up all night – every night! But my second was so chilled by comparison. He barely moved at all. After the accident the little movement he did used to make stopped altogether. I couldn’t feel him moving at all. There were no big kicks or sudden movements but regular check-ups always came back healthy and positive, bub was still doing well. So even though I worried about the lack of kicks, I was assured everything was fine and my pregnancy ticked along without anymore hiccups.
“I laughed so hard I broke my waters”
A few days before my due date I went to a local bistro with a friend for coffee. The place was packed with tourists for the Christmas holidays, there was a band playing; it was quite lovely. The next thing I remember I was laughing so hard at something my friend had said, I felt my waters break right there in front of everyone!
My bub’s speedy entrance
I made it to the hospital an hour after my waters broke and baby Orson was born only an hour after I arrived. It was a very quick delivery and I didn’t have a moment to actually digest that I was in labour and about to deliver my baby before he was here.
Lucky baby Orson was so lazy
Aside from his super-fast entry into the world, the most amazing part of his birth was that he had a “true knot” in his umbilical cord.
In most cases these don’t cause any issues for bub but this could have been a very different story if he had moved around a lot more in utero, making the knot tighter. The midwife did notice that his heart rate dropped during delivery but thanks to his not-so-lazy entry into the world there wasn’t any intervention needed. It wasn’t until after he was born she noticed the knot and realised this was the cause of his slow heart rate.
Not so lazy anymore
Orson is now two-and-a-half years old and doesn’t stop moving around. His nickname is Awesome Orson – his entry into the world was pretty awesome, and so is he.
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