By Lia Spencer
Caitlin Rizzo had a smooth, straight-forward pregnancy with her second child, but the labour was anything but.
Both Caitlin and her partner Sean Dawson were thrilled when they found out they would be giving their young son Koby a sibling.
“A second child was always the plan and we loved the idea of a two-year age gap between the children,” she said. “We couldn’t wait to extend our family and give Koby a little playmate.”
Caitlin didn’t have any morning sickness or complications throughout her entire pregnancy and she was optimistic about the labour, despite the fact she endured a painful 38-labour with Koby and didn’t have any pain relief.
Caitlin had hoped to go into labour naturally once again, be active during the labour, skip the pain relief and hold her baby as soon as it was born.
But her entire plan went out the window when on 22 September, fourteen days after the due date, she had to be induced.
“We arrived at Casey Hospital at 7am and at 12.30pm I had my waters broken and was put on a drip. This meant that I had to be hooked up to monitors the entire time which in turn stopped me from being able to move around,” Caitlin said.
Contractions intensified quickly. After three and a half hours of pushing, the baby had turned posterior and was showing traces of an abnormal heart rate. The doctors decided to give Caitlin a spinal block in order to use forceps to turn and deliver the baby safely.
“Upon arrival to the surgery, and after having the spinal block, the doctors realised that baby was too high to pull out without damage and I was too exhausted to push him out if he was successfully turned, so I had to have an emergency Caesarean,” Caitlin said.
At 6.28pm, Logan William Dawson was born, but Caitlin was unable to hold him straight away as he required a little bit of suction to remove mucus and assist with his first breath.
“When I finally held Logan in my arms I was over the moon. I couldn’t stop smiling and crying happy tears,” she said. “I was happy that both of us were safe and healthy even if the birth didn’t go to plan.”
It has taken Caitlin weeks to recover physically from the Caesarean and to adapt to life with two young sons, but she has nothing but love for her growing family. And while she didn’t have the labour she had hoped for, Caitlin said she was thankful to the staff at the hospital for their expertise and support during the ordeal.
“The midwifes and doctors at Casey Hospital were fantastic,” she said.
“They were very professional, caring and involved my partner in the birth in every possible way. I had a very pleasant experience at the hospital and can’t thank the staff enough for all the help they gave me during and following the birth.
“It was far from the ideal birth I had envisioned but Logan is happy and healthy and kicking goals and that’s all that matters to me. I now have a permanent love mark from my little baby boy.”
