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Brendon jumped on the internet to see what he could find out about a posterior presentation and the best way to turn the baby. He remembered that the osteopath I saw a few weeks go for some bad headaches I had been getting had recently turned a breech baby. We rang Debbie again to see if she though it was a good idea if we tried to get me an appointment. We then managed to get an appointment with the osteopath at 12:15 (in his lunch break?). Brendon read that being on my hands and knees might be the best position to turn Liam. I was on my hands and knees in the lounge and remembered I

I didn’t enjoy the intensity of that pressure. I remember that I kept saying ‘pressure’ with each contraction. Debbie and Brendon poured water on my back as a distraction while Sallie set up the resuscitation equipment and bits and pieces.

I kept saying ‘he’s coming’ and ‘he’s close’. Sallie was trying to get the second glove on her hand while waiting to help me catch Liam with the other. I could hardly feel my hands, so I wanted Sallie to help me lift Liam out of the water when he arrived.

Brendon cut Liam’s cord at 1:26 and 15 minutes later we got out of the pool Brendon cuddled Liam in a warm towel while I delivered the placenta. Liam had another small feed, and then we dressed him. While I went upstairs to have a shower and get checked by Debbie Liam snuggled inside Brendon’s polar fleece waistcoat and slept. To my relief I only had a small shallow tear that didn’t need stitching.

So that's the story of Liam's arrival into the world. It was longer than Joshua's birth in some respects (I leaked 41 hours before his birth and had Braxton Hicks contractions and then contractions two night before his birth), and yet shorter and more intense in other respects. Once again we were so pleased to have been able to stay at home and labour and give birth in a relaxed atmosphere.

Debbie and Sallie were once again awesome. I'm glad that there wasn't much for either of them to do except for wait and for Sallie to help me catch Liam. Thanks too to Angela our back up midwife who arrived in time for Liam's birth and took some great photos for us.

At 12:50 Angela the back-up midwife arrived. I was in a supported squat position. Angela bought a mirror for me to use to see what is happening. She handed it to me, but what ever angle I placed the mirror I couldn’t see anything. I took the mirror out of the water to discover I had been trying to use the back of mirror instead of the right side. No wonder I couldn’t see anything!

/div>

In spite of it being a very crisp morning we put Joshua in the pushchair and went for a walk at 8:15am to see if that would start the contractions again since they had all but stopped. It didn’t work. Brendon dropped Joshua off at Jo’s and I rang Debbie to let her know that things were happening but they were irregular then had stopped again. She said that it sounded like I was having a posterior labour, and she would see us at our scheduled appointment at 3:30pm.

had been putting off scrubbing the grout in the floor tiles for months, so this seemed like a good time to get it done. Being on my hands and knees during the contractions helped too (and now more of the grout is clean). At 9:30 the contractions were regular again and some were fairly intense. I was walking around during them, but after a while that was not enough of a distraction. I started to lean over the kitchen bench during them and Brendon’s cold hands massaging my back were a nice distraction. At about 10:30am Brendon rang Debbie back and let her know that the contractions were regular and strong.

Debbie and Sallie arrived at about 11am.

Debbie did an internal – I was about

3cm dilated. She could feel the waters

bulging. The next hour and 20 minutes

I spent walking around and forward

leaning during the contractions. Brendon

and Debbie were rubbing my back

during the contractions as a distraction.

The hot wheatie bag on my belly during

them helped to. We rang the osteopath

back and told him were weren't coming.

Just before 12:20pm when I though I

needed to go to the toilet but couldn’t I

knew that the downward pressure was

Liam descending. I wanted to get into the

pool NOW!

Debbie said Liam would be here by 2pm.

Almost as soon as I got into the pool I felt tingling in my hands, feet and face. I was almost afraid to tell Debbie in case I needed to get out of the pool. She said it was from the way I was breathing and it was okay. Phew.

As soon as I got into the pool I felt pressure with each contraction. This sensation was different to my labour with Joshua.

At 1:04 Debbie told me to be careful with my bobbing up and down in case I bumped Liam’s head on the bottom of the pool. That was the first I knew that his head had been born. Once I touched his head I believed her – you would think that I would notice when his head had been born!

Liam’s body came with the next contraction at 1:05, and Sallie helped me lift him out of the water. Unlike Joshua’s quiet entry into the world, Liam was very vocal!

His cord was short - I couldn’t lift him as high as I wanted, so Brendon put a small foot stool in the pool to rise me higher.

I asked what the time was and Debbie said “five past”. “Five past two?” I asked, “no, five past one” was her reply. I was surprised at how fast it all went. According to Debbie’s notes the duration of labour was one hour and ten minutes. She started her timing at 12 noon. Things felt for serious for me at about 10am, so by my timing it was about three hours.

Liam was plastered from head to toe with vernix. He seemed so tiny. I was wonderful to meet him! We spent the next 20 minutes admiring our second son

and he had his first breastfeed. He knew what to do and had a great latch.