Bodhi’s Birth Story
Born 19th December 2016
1:38am
After a second unsuccessful stretch and sweep, an induction was booked for Friday 23rd December. I was disappointed at the thought of being induced and wanted my baby to arrive in his own divine timing. I shed a few tears on the way home from the hospital and decided that night to surrender and “calmly accept any turn my birthing may take”.
I awoke the next morning after a long, restful sleep and enjoyed a lovely cooked breakfast. I wondered to myself what I would do that day. At 8:30am I went back to bed to read, and all of a sudden I felt fluid starting to trickle down my legs. As I stood up, I discovered that my waters had broken. I was so excited! I jumped in the shower to clean up, thinking I would have hours before the contractions would start however they started straight away and I found myself crawling back to bed still wet from the shower.
I rested in bed for two hours timing my contractions before I rang the birth center. Around 11:30am, we made our way to the hospital. On arrival, it was discovered that my baby had turned posterior which was delaying my progress. I was offered the opportunity to go home and come back when my contractions were more regular.
When we arrived back home around 3pm, Tim ran a bath for me and I stayed in the bath for about 5 hours. I found this part of labour to be very relaxing and blissful. I was not in pain, however my back was very sore. I didn’t want any music playing; I spoke very little and went within for the entire 5 hours.
At 8:30pm we made our way back to the birthing centre. By this time, the contractions were more regular and intense. I found myself having to stop during a contraction. When we arrived at the birthing centre, I found it really hard to walk and needed Tim to help me. The walk from the car to the birthing centre was a long one!
I spent the rest of labour in the shower, with one showerhead on my belly and the other on my back. I found this part of labour to be the most intense. At midnight, I told our lovely midwife Karen I couldn’t do it anymore. Karen performed an examination and to my delight told me that I was fully dilated. I was so relieved!! Karen commented on how calm I was, and asked if I had done hypnobirthing. To which I responded, “Yes! With Hannah!” I was then referred to as the “Hypnobirthing Mama” in the birthing centre.
As baby had turned posterior, I was expecting labour to be 24+ hours. At midnight, I started to bear down and push with each contraction. However, after an hour of pushing, it was clear that I was struggling to get him out. Karen suggested changing positions. So we went into the bathroom and I leaned against Tim whilst bearing down. At 1:00am, Karen told me that I need to get this baby out. I knew at this point, that I had to push with everything I had, and that would most likely involve tearing. I took a big, deep breath, and pushed so hard that my baby’s head appeared. Straight away I could hear him crying. This gave me the strength to push out his shoulders and the rest of his body. At 1:38am on Monday 19th December, Bodhi Alexander Remes was born.
As we carried our beautiful baby boy back into the room, I found myself laughing and Tim was crying. Our reactions were exactly the same as the morning we found out we were pregnant, after trying to conceive for 2 years. Lying in bed, skin-to-skin, I felt a massive rush of oxytocin flooding my body. It was the most amazing feeling I have ever experienced. I felt so energised after birth and could have run a marathon. My baby and I enjoyed two whole hours of undisturbed skin-to-skin contact. It was magical!
We left the birthing centre later that day, and as we were driving home, the rain cleared and the sun came out. And to my left appeared a rainbow – Bodhi’s Rainbow J
Lisa, Tim & Bodhi
Birth story shared with permission.