The Birth of Snow - The Positive Planned C Section
“D-day, or c-day, or even b-day!”
I don’t feel I can call my story a birth story due to the nature of it, but that’s ok - it’s the day my daughter was born and what an experience it was.
I never really thought about the birth, I just knew that it was a necessity for my baby to come out. I didn’t dread it, but it certainly wasn’t thought about and mainly purposely ignored. After my first taster of hypnobirthing, I was suddenly EXCITED about giving birth, and my controlling nature subsided - I was ready to embrace my body in all its natural birth glory. After the full bun in the oven course this only intensified and we (myself, my now completely converted husband and our bump) felt ready for a hypnobirth.
I practised everyday and read the two books from cover to cover, got my diffuser on, found my music and got as much light touch massage as possible. I was becoming more and more relaxed about my pregnancy and we even changed our plan to have an all natural water birth in a birth centre. My up breathing helped and eased me through any pregnancy stresses we encountered - like reduced movement and hospital visits -but I knew my baby knew what she was doing. The down breathing helped me with braxton hicks, even the dreaded pregnancy wind! Man that was intense, and I feel I perfected the down breath!
However around 32 weeks a routine midwife appointment uncovered that my baby was breech, so I was sent for a scan to confirm. We tried all the upside down positions which was hilarious! Gravity and a heavily pregnant woman? You can only laugh. Even acupuncture couldn’t coax this little lady round and we were scheduled for an ECV. If like us you’ve never heard of this it’s a manual manipulation of the baby from the outside, and again came the gold dust that was the breath, light touch massage and sensorial triggers to calm me down.
We were scheduled to ‘turn the baby’ and went in a few days later as the wards were so busy. In this time, I was greeted with horror stories from friends and family of someone they knew that had had the same procedure and again, in came the techniques I had learnt to block them out and believe that my body, and my baby, knew what they were doing.
Cue the big day, in a gown, starving hungry and frankly feeling a little anticipation. The doctor wrapped his hands around my bump and started to twist. My up breathing along with my birthing partner whispering in my ear and tickling my arm saved me and got me through this procedure. It went absolutely fine and there was no need to worry, but it certainly didn’t work and she did not budge, quite happy where she was. I was scanned again and there was my feet first breech baby dancing on my bladder, meaning an elective c-section was the only real option for both of our safety; so here we come. We knew the exact date, and time, we’d meet our baby - which felt like quite a strange thought, and still does really.
At first it completely devastated me, my natural water birth was well and truly out of the window but again, having learned my body and my baby knew what they were doing, we embraced the change of plan and was grateful we found out early and not half way through labour. This was definitely the moment we realised the hypnobirthing didn’t just prepare us for the baby, it made us a stronger team than ever - we could do this!
Suddenly 3 weeks later it was d-day, or c-day, or even b-day! I was already hungry when we got to hospital, not being able to eat and now not being able to drink since we got to hospital but the anticipation and some lingering fear were in my stomach instead. It was actually quite entertaining sitting there with my gown on, my fancy socks and an empty cot, our baby’s first nappy along with her first outfit; it was happening. The breathing techniques certainly helped in this waiting period deal with the anticipation; our baby was coming and even though it wasn’t our ‘perfect birth’ we were laughing, hugging, smiling, ecstatic - it definitely gave me the injection of oxytocin I needed.
A man dressed in scrubs came to retrieve me, they were ready, but was I? Firstly, they asked a 4’11, 39 week pregnant lady climb up onto an operating table; humour certainly helped break the husband-less tension I was suddenly faced with! He was only behind the other door whilst they got me prepped, but it was tough, the first moment I felt I couldn’t do. My deep breathing helped the injections and spinal block be inserted into my back; I had done the hardest bit - or so I thought...
The spinal brought uncontrollable shakes and some nausea, which wasn’t welcomed when I was laying down unable to move. Hypnobirthing taught me to ask questions and be a part of my birth in what ever method we had. So I asked if this was normal and advised that I felt sick. Completely normal, completely ok and a little anti-sickness injection; sorted. I had never felt so much in the room and so out of the room.
I had never welcomed the presence of my currently scrubbed up husband so much, and when he walked in the tears started to flow. I could only focus on the tears and the most intense involuntary shakes of all time. My husband used the hypnobirthing techniques we had learnt and within 3 breaths, I was back in the room.
He later said it was “one of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen”, and reminisced about how I “transformed” in moments from a shivering wreck to a strong, in control, calm lady who was ready to meet her daughter.
Good job because a screaming baby was just presented to us and we actually forgot why we were there. Who’s baby was screaming? Well that was ours, our little girl. Elation, fear, happiness, calm but I was still on the table and I couldn’t move, because there was a baby placed on my chest. Her skin was on my skin and they weren’t the same thing anymore. It was all too much so she had skin to skin with her papa whilst I stared at the roommate I had been sharing everything with for the past 39 weeks.
We were wheeled through to recovery where she instantly started breastfeeding - the one thing I thought I wouldn’t be able to do with a section and here I was. I asked why she was feet first breech and could it mean there was anything wrong with me - nope, I was fine and there was nothing stopping me from having a ‘normal’ birth next time.
However, my section wasn’t exactly straightforward. There was a vein right where she had come out so I had lost a lot of blood that needed attention, and they found some cysts that they had removed during surgery. Was this the reason she knew I needed a section? I certainly believed so - my baby knew what to do and the birth that would be safest for both of us.
So, all the scary part was over, our team had a new member and we started our life as a family. Again, it wasn’t the start we planned or prepared for but was it still a ‘hypnobirth’? Undoubtedly.
The course prepared me, and us, to question things, embrace our situation and work as a team - so that’s what we did and it worked. These practices didn’t stop there either, I truly believe it’s taught me how to breastfeed, stay strong on the hard days, be a mother, and overall helped us be a very, very happy little family.
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Having witnessed my sister give birth to her third child at home 4 years prior to my first child being born, I knew that one day I would want to have a home birth.
I made brief mention of this to my husband the first time round and I literally saw him quiver with fear. Frankly the idea terrified him. Unlike me birth was an alien experience from a birth partners point of view and he was worried that if something went wrong we wouldn't get to hospital in time.
When I found out I was pregnant the second time, I hit him with it straight away, the dreaded 'H' word. I wanted him to have time to get used to the idea and for him to see that there was no doubt in my mind it was the best way to labour and birth our child, for me as well as the baby and even him and our daughter as I knew from last time it would set me up for the following challenge.
I had hoped that my confidence alone would be enough to convince my husband it would be safe but prior to completing the hypnobirthing course I was aware that he was far from convinced or confident in his ability to support me outside of an environment where he felt both myself and the baby were safest.
Hypnobirthing provided Ian with the insight needed to give him this confidence and each week we would leave and spend the 30 minute journey going over what we had learnt in amazement.
Like me he was surprised at what neither of us knew about the human body and it's reactions to fear and any associated pain.
By the end of the last session, I knew that I not only had his support but actually he had began raving about the benefits of home birth to friends and family if we were ever faced with concerns or questions over our choices. I was 100% supported and finally we were on the same page.
For me hypnobirthing gave me the facts about labour, my body and my baby and complete confidence in my body’s ability to bring my baby into the world safely.
I learnt fantastic relaxation techniques which helped me immensely in the later stages of pregnancy and through association I found the music I had listened to through the course and practice a huge comfort whilst in labour.
I truly wish I had discovered hypnobirthing for my first child, however will be eternally grateful that Linda helped me achieve the birth I had always hoped for and will always look upon with total happiness.
I entered into my second pregnancy with only one fear, being that for one reason or another I would 'have to' be induced. To a lot of people this may sound irrational and raise the question as to why this is a problem.
My first pregnancy 3 years ago was excellent. I had been lucky enough to avoid most of the less delightful side effects experienced by some and thoroughly enjoyed my pregnancy. I was looking forward with excitement not only to the arrival of my first child but oddly the birth. It was simply never something that caused me any anxiety. I was fully aware it was likely to be more painful than anything I had experienced, however I was confident in my ability to get through it.
The first sign of labour was my waters breaking at 40+7. This was far from the gush I had always expected and I later learnt that this was due to the fact that it was my hind waters that had broken ( top of the amniotic sack) as opposed to my fore waters (bottom of the sack). As a result the waters trickled for the next 24hrs however, aside from this and some mild contractions I had no other signs of going into labour naturally. As a result I was informed that I would have to be induced as I would 'not be allowed' to go longer than 48hrs post rupture due to a risk of infection. Interestingly I later learnt that the increase in risk is extremely minimal.
I was devastated as had always hoped for a water birth, which would no longer be possible but went along with the advice received, frankly being completely ignorant to the fact that I had choices.
My labour was forced, frightening, excruciating and exhausting. As a result I spent very little time bonding with my daughter immediately after the birth and this took me many months to recover from emotionally as I always felt that I had rejected her.
My fears entering into my second pregnancy were not of pain but rather that I wouldn't bond properly with my next child and would miss out on the instant feeling of love so many by others had talked about and subsequently go through the same roller coaster of emotions and guilt I experienced the first time.
I was equally if not more confident in my ability to labour well in the right conditions, however knew that I needed some help with staying relaxed in the event of things taking an unexpected turn.
I had heard about hypnobirthing from friends and was intrigued to know more.
After a four week course with Linda I was amazed at how little I knew about my own body. I felt empowered in a way that I'd never previously experienced and was even more excited about the arrival of my baby so I would get to use all the amazing techniques I had learnt and spent the subsequent 3 months practicing.
I was convinced my 2nd baby would be early. When my due date passed I wasn't too concerned but when I reached 7 days late and the words 'book you in for induction' were uttered I started to feel anxious.
This anxiety peaked when my waters broke at 40+8. It was exactly the same as last time and when no further progress had been made 24 hrs later I was worried to say the least and felt almost defeated.
I had planned a water birth at home and had worked so hard to prepare both mentally and physically. The birth pool was ready and waiting (less the water) in my lounge!
My midwife came and did a swab to confirm it was my waters that had gone but much to my disbelief it came back negative. I knew it was my waters but I was more than happy that the medical professionals had satisfied themselves that I wasn't at risk of infection and would have those precious few more days before the scheduled induction date to allow my baby to arrive in it's own time. Having done my research, I was happy that I wasn't putting either myself or my baby at significant risk.
The next few days were emotional to say the least but I tried to keep a level head using the relaxation techniques and used the time to practice my breathing.
After a few false starts, I began to experience mild contractions on the evening of my 11th day overdue.
I arranged for my mum to come and sit with my older daughter whilst my husband and I went for a very long walk. It was in my mind my last chance to get things moving before the dreaded 'Induction day' 2 days later.
We walked around a mile and a half in heavy rain chatting excitedly at the thought that this may be it.
It was at this point the contractions changed from being mild and possibly just another false start to moderate and quite clearly the start of something so we turned back to head for home.
We arrived home at 9.30pm, my mum left and we sat watching TV whilst I bounced merrily on my ball practicing my breathing.
I had always imagined that if things were to happen at this time of day we would leave my daughter asleep upstairs so she could wake one morning to a new brother or sister, however my instincts told me this wasn't right so my husband drove her to my mums around midnight.
On his return he began to fill the pool and we made the call to the hospital. I was unsure if it was too early as with the aid of my up breathing and relation music I was coping with the contractions well.
The midwife arrived around 1am at which point I had been in the pool around half an hour and I was feeling extremely calm, relaxed and focused on the task in hand.
I was examined and the Midwife confirmed I was 5cm dilated and that my waters did appear to have gone. I knew I hadn't been wetting myself!!
I continued to labour, practicing the up breathing techniques with the aid of my husband who was an amazing support.
The midwife had read my birth plan in great detail and was respecting my every wish with minimal intervention. Aside from the initial examination and the odd monitoring of the baby, I truly felt that only my husband and I were in the room.
At sometime just before 3am I reached the 'transition' stage. I was completely aware I had got there and simply allowed myself those few moments of self doubt and denial of my ability to go on, knowing that it would soon pass.
Shortly after this I felt the great urge to push so began trying to practice my down breathing, however I did struggle to regulate my breathing through the contractions at this stage as they had grown in intensity considerably so I requested some gas and air. I'm not sure that this offered any pain relief, however it certainly helped me to control my breathing and remain focused.
After approximately 4 or 5 contractions my babies head was out. I didn't need to be told this I could feel it and between the last of these and the final one I could feel the baby wriggling eager to make an entrance into the world. It was such an amazing feeling to be so alert at this stage and a complete contrast from my previous labour.
One final contraction saw the arrival of a second beautiful baby girl, Emilia Ivy at 3.21am. I was flooded with love and pride instantly!
I placed Emilia on my chest skin to skin and remained in the pool until the cord had stopped pulsating which was around 15 minutes after she arrived.
Sometime in this 15 minute window, Emilia latched onto me to feed independently. It was such an amazing feeling and I couldn't believe we had done it just as I had hoped.
I had no need for stitches and my placenta was delivered naturally within another 30 minutes with no complication.
The midwives left at. 4.30 and by. 5am my husband Ian, Emilia and I were snuggled up in our own bed.
Just perfect!
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The Births of Brothers - Two Incredible Inductions
Taking a hypnobirthing class with Linda is honestly one of the best decisions of my life. Hypnobirthing helped give me two incredible birth experiences and taught me invaluable techniques that I have no doubt I’ll tap into for the rest of my days.
Whilst I was over the moon to be pregnant with my first child, the thought of giving birth filled me with fear and dread. When I envisaged what it may be like, I imagined a typical movie scene - bright lights, lying on the flat of my back, legs in stirrups, screaming, and lots of panicked staff rushing around. The majority of birth stories I’d listened to from friends and family were far from pleasant and being an avid ‘One Born Every Minute’ viewer, I had no idea how I was going to cope with the trauma of labour and birth. That is until I met Linda!
I had never heard of hypnobirthing but the idea that there may be something that could possibly make my baby’s birth anything less than horrific was pretty appetizing! My partner and I tried a taster session and whilst my other half was seduced more by Linda’s magnificent brownies and calming voice, I was intrigued by this alien concept and eager to learn more. Together, we decided we had nothing to lose by giving it a shot. And boy are we pleased we did!
Everything that hypnobirthing stands for is so logical. There’s nothing hippyish or airy-fairy about it, as I had initially presumed. It really resonated with me from the get-go. I devoured the Hypnobirthing book by Katherine Graves in a couple of days. I found it fascinating and so enlightening. The course with Linda then helped to expand on and solidify the key concepts, and relate them to our particular circumstances, as well as helping us get to grips with the core hypno techniques.
My partner and I felt the same sense of enthusiasm and excitement when we left that first class and couldn’t wait to return. We practiced the relaxation techniques together at home, including massage and listening to scripts. They were so intimate and calming and we both felt a wonderful connection afterwards. No matter how stressful or tiring our day had been, we went to sleep feeling happy and calm whenever we took the time to practice together. We soon began to associate things such as the aromatherapy scent and piano music from the hypno class with a sense of instant calm and deep relaxation.
I had a really enjoyable first pregnancy and was looking forward to what I had now begun to envisage as my ideal birth. Until, at week 36, I developed Obstetric Cholestasis, a pregnancy-related liver condition that put my unborn baby at risk and required my labour to be induced as soon as it was viable. This news threw me into a tail-spin. I was so upset to not be able to have the natural birth I’d hoped for and felt like all my hypnobirthing techniques would now go to waste. But having taken a day to digest the news, and after speaking to Linda and my partner, I realised that very little would actually change. I could still practice all the techniques I’d learnt and use almost all the anchors we had planned, improvising where necessary. I felt empowered and confident to ask the right questions of the obstetricians and midwives and ultimately make my own decisions rather than being told what ‘had to happen’.
The birth itself was an incredible experience. I can safely say that, without hypnobirthing, it would have been a very different story. I honestly have no idea what we would have done without it. The midwives supported our hypno preferences and several of them even commented on how calm the room was when they entered. We had soft music, low lighting, LED candles, scripts, massage etc, it was all very intimate. Most importantly, my partner and I worked as a team, and were totally in tune with each other throughout. I had a couple of wobbly moments and each time he used the techniques he’d learnt to calm me down and refocus my mind. It worked like a dream. My beautiful baby boy was born into a room filled with oxytocin and endorphins, it was magical!
Fast forward to pregnancy number two and we felt like we needed hypno more than ever! Life was busy and the pregnancy flew by, so we thrived on those moments to calm down and connect. Second time round I didn’t need to convince myself that the hypno concepts were true because I now had first hand experience. Nonetheless, we found Linda’s refresher course invaluable to remind us of the principles and talk through the first birth - what we could learn from it and apply to the next one.
Once again I contracted the liver condition in late pregnancy but this time the news didn’t phase me. Once admitted to hospital for my induction, I tapped into my trusted ‘up breathing’ and relaxing music to zone out the noise from other labouring mums in the ward, for the stretch and sweep, when the midwife broke my waters, and of course when the surges began. I danced round the ward to help get things moving, did squats and lunges, I even started a dancing train with the midwives!
My second son was born so quickly I feel like we hardly had time to practice many of the hypno techniques but in reality the ones we did use were all the more important given how intense the labour was as a result of its speed. My partner was in awe at how ‘in the zone’ I was and couldn’t believe it when my son’s head appeared! I had remained so calm throughout, he was convinced baby was nowhere near being born! Another equally incredible birth experience to say the least.
And so I will end this rambling story by blaming my sleep deprived state for its wordiness and thanking Linda for introducing us to the powers of hypno. Only this evening I benefited from some deep breathing relaxation to help calm me after a particularly trying day. I couldn’t praise hypnobirthing highly enough and encourage anyone having a baby to give it a try - you’ve got nothing to lose and some pretty awesome birth stories to gain.... thank you Linda! Xx
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After years of trying to conceive and one failed IVF attempt, I was amazed when I fell pregnant on our second round of IVF. Amazed and terrified. I was certain that it was all going to go wrong. Although anxious, I had a good pregnancy. However, when they started measuring my bump, I was consistently 6cm bigger than the “norm”. I was sent for many growth scans, tested for everything possible, and the midwives started talking about having an elective caesarean. I was scared, as this was not what I wanted. Then my sister recommended hypnobirthing.
My husband thought it was something about a water birth (I think he thought I said hydrobirthing?!), and I didn’t correct him when we went for a hypnobirthing taster. He thought it was weird, but agreed to attend the hypnobirthing sessions with me. I originally thought hypnobirthing classes were about the labour only, not the whole pregnancy. I was wrong! The classes taught me about my options and that I had a choice. It got to the point that I was reassuring the midwives each time I measured bigger than the norm. It was the norm for me. I listened to the hypnobirthing scripts every night, practiced breathing and was swimming regularly. As I was fit and healthy and baby was doing well, we decided to have a water birth in our local midwife led unit.
When my contractions started (sorry- I could never use the word surge), rather than being scared, I was excited to finally meet our son. My contractions were every 2 minutes or so, but only lasting 30 seconds. As I was worried about giving birth in the car (we lived about 30 minutes away and that was without rush hour traffic), the midwives said to come in. We arrived about 9am, by 10am, I was in the birthing pool, dimmed lights, led candles around the bath and had sprayed my aromatherapy oils everywhere. I had my waterproof ipod on and listened to music and the hypnobirthing scripts for the next 6 hours or so. Thinking back- that sounds like a long time, but I was in the zone, not really talking. No one offered pain relief and it didn’t even enter my mind that I wanted it, I was in my own world. My breathing was more like “hippobirthing” than hypnobirthing, not serene and quiet, but instead blowing bubbles in the water with each contraction. Many hours later, the midwife said I had to leave the birth pool, as my waters still hadn’t burst and she needed to examine me. I got onto the bed, and I wanted to push. The midwife then realised that my son was on his way, much to her surprise. My son was born a few minutes later, still in his amniotic bag, weighing 9lbs 5oz. It was the most amazing, beautiful experience and everything myself and my husband could ever hope for.
Fifteen months later, I fell pregnant naturally with our second son. This time, I was completely surprised, but not scared. However, I was certain that my first positive birth was just luck and that my second labour was going to be a shocker. I was measuring good for dates this time round, however, funnily enough, my baby was measuring “too big” again on ultrasound. Many growth scans later, I was told that I was too risky for the midwife led unit as my son was “too big”. I was prepared for this, as I obviously give birth to elephant babies! But I was panicking about how I would get childcare organised for my 23 month old and get to hospital, as my first labour was “quick”. After our hypnobirthing refresher, both myself and my somewhat anxious husband had decided to have a home birth. It still makes me laugh that I was too risky for the midwife led unit, but was ok to have a homebirth. Then came the new logistical journey of hiring birthing pools, liners, carpet protection etc. Our lounge looked like a crime scene. However, in the weeks before birth my iron levels were too low and some of the midwives were becoming anxious about me having a home birth. Thanks to my hypnobirthing teacher and a very lovely, calm community midwife (and a lot of iron rich food)- I finally decided that we were going to have a homebirth.
With my first pregnancy I didn’t need a sweep or any help starting labour as he was only 2 days late and my mindset was “baby will come when baby is ready”. However, with my 2nd pregnancy, I started panicking that I might actually give birth on my son’s 2nd birthday. So 1 week post due date (and 1 week pre 2 year old birthday), I had a sweep at 11am. I was told I might experience twinges and that the midwife thought that my baby would be born within the next 48 hours. So, my husband, toddler and myself went for cake and tea before going to the park and walking home. Whilst at the park (about 12.30), I started experiencing quite intense “twinges” that felt like contractions, but didn’t think anything of it. Walked home, the twinges started becoming more regular (as in 3 within 10 minutes), so I phoned the labour ward to discuss the “twinges” and they confirmed I was in labour! I felt like an idiot! 30 minutes later the midwife was here, my parents had taken my toddler away, I was 5 cm dilated and in a birthing pool in my lounge. This time round, I couldn’t listen to my ipod. The contractions felt more intense and I was less in a calm birthing zone (probably because it all happened so fast). My husband however, was a genius, to distract from the intensity, he started rubbing ice cubes (the bonus of a home birth near your freezer!) across my shoulders which worked amazingly. We were a team….it was only when I heard my husband anxiously shout for the midwife to come in (they were in another room), that I realised that my breathing had changed and the baby was almost here. My son was born exactly 4 ½ hours post sweep and 1 ¾ hours after the midwife arrived, weighing 10lbs 10oz!! 2 hours after that, I was showered, watching X factor, with my newborn asleep next to me. The most surreal, fast, beautiful home birth.
Thanks to hypnobirthing, I have been blessed with two different, but truly beautiful, unforgettable positive birthing experiences that myself and my husband will remember forever.
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Having worked in retail all my working life I was only too aware of the abundance of negative stories that people just love to tell you about pregnancy, birth and babies so very early on in my pregnancy I decided to try as best I could to surround myself with positivity and to ignore all the endless horror stories!
I was recommended the nesting place and Linda by a friend so decided to enroll myself and my husband Phil onto a hypnobirthing course (the single most important thing I have ever done!) the classes got my head into a space that allowed me to take control and forget the fear. Of course I wasn’t silly I knew things might not go to plan but how can good experiences happen if you don’t visualise them?
The day everything started to happen was pancake day (the best!!) I had spent a large part of the day snuggling in bed with my 2 beautiful sausage dogs which was, looking back, a lovely way to spend my last day alone! At 7pm we had a huge pile of pancakes and watched a very dramatic episode of Game of Thrones and the whole time I felt like I kept wetting myself but just a bit, nothing much, so I just kept an eye and carried on as normal. By 9pm I knew something was happening! I was getting surges (contractions) so I asked my husband if he minded to stay in the living room as I (for some weird reason) just wanted to be alone. I kept on my feet, as laying down felt too painful, and just walked around our bedroom and bathroom using all my breathing and relaxing techniques I had learnt at hypnobirthing. I kept an eye on the surges using an app on my phone and by 12.30am they were every 5 minuets lasting a minute so decided to give the hospital a call, as we were aiming for a home birth in the pool we hired. The hospital didn’t quite believe me as I had a surge on the phone to them and managed to talk though it and wasn’t making any fuss so due to my waters leaking they asked if we would be able to go in to be checked as it would be too soon to send a midwife!
By the time we arrived it was around 1.30am and we made our way to the day assessment ward have surges at every stage including the lift! When we got there I had to do a wee test and was asked to lay down and be hooked up to a monitor - after 15 minuets I had an overwhelming feeling of needing to push so asked Phil to get help - they finally examined me and to the nurses horror I was fully dilated and ready to go! There was a lot of rush and panic to get me to the labor ward (at this stage I was offered gas and air but it made me feel very sick so decided to not have that!) I was put in a lovely room with lots of bars and I tried to get comfortable then a midwife came in saying she had got me a pool so I waddled next door and got in! 30 minuets later Fred arrived! I listened to my body and did what it told me, Fred didn’t even cry when he arrived and we just sat in the pool waiting for the cord to stop pulsing and it was brilliant!! I could not believe it - the midwife later told me she neared cried it was so calm and lovely 😊 Fred Fox Peter Stacey arrive at 3.38am on Valentine’s Day weighing 7lbs 3ozs
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I started experiencing surges at 3:30am but really wanted to stay at home for as long as possible. I began using my up breathing straight away and did some pregnancy yoga to keep myself busy. Going back to sleep didn't really feel like an option and so I ran a bath, lit candles and listened to the Colour and Calm cd. Aron was really supportive, quietly reminding me to eat and drink and packing our bags into the car ready to go. The surges progressed much quicker than I expected and Aron was great at timing each surge and telling me when I was getting to the peak and when it should be easing off. We counted down together on some of them too.
I reached a point where I knew we had to go to the hospital. Aron gave them a call to let them know that we were on our way and that we would like a birthing pool if one was available. We finally left for the hospital at about 12:45pm. The journey was longer than it should have been due to roadworks but I worked hard to stay in a calm state, listening to relaxing music and continuing with the up breathing. I also kept my eyes half closed so that I wasn't put off by everything around me. From this point on I didn't fully open my eyes throughout the whole birth. We joke that I could not pick either of the midwives we had out of a line up because I didn't ever look at them!
I was examined when I first arrived at Broomfield and was 7cm dilated, so really pleased that we'd stayed at home for as long as we did. Aron quickly made the room more Hypnobirthing friendly by closing the blinds, dimming the lights and putting relaxing music on. I got straight into the birthing pool once it had been filled and was then in the pool for 5 hours and progressed to active labour and my down breathing. During this time, the midwife was really supportive of our birth plan and didn't try to engage us in conversation. All questions were directed to Aron initially and so although I could hear everything being said, I didn't feel that I had to respond. The surges were getting stronger but the midwife wasn't happy that the baby hadn't made an appearance. Also meconium kept appearing in the water which she was concerned about. So, I agreed to be examined again, at first in the water but then I had to get out to be examined. I continued with the down breathing on all fours on the bed. The midwife was concerned about the baby at this point and we agreed to be monitored electronically. We were then moved to a high risk room because of the amount of meconium.
I continued to have very strong surges by the side of the bed in a standing/squatting position. At about 7:30pm a consultant was called and it took him no time at all to diagnose that the baby was breech! The baby had been in the same position throughout the majority of my pregnancy and so it had been missed by about 8 midwives in total! He wanted to get me straight in for an emergency C-section because of the amount of meconium I was pushing out and the amount of time I'd been in labour without pain relief. We agreed that it was time to bring our little one into the world in whichever way was quickest and safest for her.
An emergency C-section followed and Dottie was delivered at 8:36pm the same night, weighing 5lbs 13oz. Happy and healthy and to very relieved parents! I went back to using up breathing and kept my eyes closed during the entire operation which really ensured that I remained calm. Unfortunately the surgeon would not allow us to delay the cord clamping or do immediate skin to skin with the baby but I was happy that at least we asked.
I used Hypnobirthing from the very beginning of labour, in active labour, during the C-section, on the Post Natal ward and even now that I'm home again. I'm struggling to find the words to say how much it enabled me and Aron to not just 'get through' the birth but actually stay in control of what was happening and always be present in the moment. At no point have we felt negative about our experience, even though it was a difficult one. We are already excited about baby no. 2 and having another Hypnobirth, hopefully which will end in a natural delivery next time.
Thank you does not begin to say enough Linda. By teaching us the techniques, you have changed our lives forever in a way that we won't ever forget. To say that we are now advocates of Hypnobirthing is a huge understatement! We are now going to be the couple who won't shut up about it and try to persuade all of our friends to do the course!!
Thank you from all three of us!
Jen, Aron and a very chilled out Dottie! xxx