Kimberley Crossman has opened up about her birth story as she welcome her daughter Coco Joan Walsh. Video / Facebook / Kimberley Crossman
Kimberley Crossman has given birth to a baby girl, with the actress sharing how the birth followed the “most magical path” it could have taken despite the last-minute hiccups.
The former Shortland Street star announced her and husband Tom Walsh’s pregnancy journey had come to a close over the weekendwith the arrival of their first child, Coco Joan Walsh.
On social media, Crossman shared video snippets of what she described as her “buffet of birth”, given the several unexpected turns and experiences during labour.
And in a column for Capsule NZ, the media personality reflected on the rollercoaster ride of following – and then deviating from – her birth plan in order to welcome Coco into the world.
“It felt important to ... share the journey of birth, which all mothers won’t be too surprised to hear went nothing like I had anticipated or planned or hoped, but actually became the most magical path it could have taken,” she wrote.
Kim Crossman and Tom Walsh pictured at Spark Arena in November. Photo / Robert Trathen
Crossman, wanting a birth without intervention, was forced to consider induction after her liver levels became elevated and her doctors suspected she’d developed pre-eclampsia.
“I didn’t want my body or my baby to resist the new plan or the interventions, but rather catch up and join the process,“ Crossman wrote.
“So much of this journey to motherhood has been about mindset for me and I knew in order to enjoy and be present in the journey, I couldn’t already feel disappointed or hesitant before things even began, just because things were taking a pivot from my desired plan.”
As her contractions grew in frequency and intensity, Crossman requested an epidural to ease the pain.
However, the baby then turned with another two hours passing before it returned to its original position.
The actress felt “shattered” by the time she’d moved to deliver, and while still wanting a vaginal birth, she’d requested forceps assistance.
“Tom scrubbed up, we kept the vibes high and were transferred to theatre.
“The full team, the bright lights, the formality and the now high risk situation was a far cry from my birth plan which included minimal intervention and little to no pain relief.”
However, after several more pushes and three forceps delivery attempts, the baby finally arrived.
Walsh was the first to see the baby and reveal its gender to Crossman, whose “heart exploded and melted” at learning she has a daughter.
In October, Crossman delved into her and Walsh’s miscarriage experience in full, describing the joy the unexpected first pregnancy brought to the couple shortly after they became engaged.
“I felt a sense of peace, an instant connection to the baby, which was only the size of a blueberry at this point, and the opening of my heart in a way I hadn’t experienced,” she wrote at the time.
Yet that same joy turned to heartbreak when Crossman flew home to New Zealand from Los Angeles around the 12-week mark and learned the baby was no longer with them.
She had a small blueberry tattooed on her hip in memoriam, described as “a way for me to reframe that she’s my little partner in crime; I am stronger with her and because of her”.
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