PART THREE

By the time Xoli and another assisting nurse told me it was time to push, things get a little foggy. An attempt to get me into the bath was made but I didn't last very long in it. Ad when I asked to go back into the water, Hein had already drained it (shame, for lack of something to do) and the water birth idea went out the window. You see, it had already taken 15 minutes to fill that bath.

Delivering Maya was exhausting! And shocking! I didn't know that I was required to push on a contraction. How the hell was I supposed to do that! And I remember telling Xoli to get the forceps or the epidural - whichever came faster. But alas it was too late to have epidural... and obviously forceps were a no no. I demanded to know what would happen if I just couldn't do it. And Xoli said, 'You're the only one who can.'

Hein was whispering words of encouragement in my ear, telling me to push our daughter out because we just wanted to meet her, telling me how well I was doing and saying 'one more one more Zods... you can do it'. And all I kept thinking was how the hell am I going to make it through this? It felt like someone had lit a burning match to my vagina as I finally pushed Maya out in between consciousness and semi-consciousness. My eyes were closed most of the time.

Xoli says in all of her years she'd never seen anything like what happened: apparently Maya who was peeking out of me her eyes and nose out; her mouth still inside, was already screaming within the womb. How amazing is that! So as it turns out, Hein saved the day by draining that water because had we opted for a water birth Maya would have landed up in critical care.