I’ve got nothing but positivity for my birth story and am so proud of myself and my body for doing what I did. I decided to stay at home for most of my labor so I was comfortable and relaxed.
On Wed 18th April I started getting light contractions in the morning at home but just went about my morning as per usual as they weren’t really a bother. It wasn’t until 1pm that things started getting more intense and it was only at this point I thought “I’m in labour, I’m going to give birth today” haha.
I had my mantras and affirmations ready to focus on when things got tougher and kept my house dimmed and quiet so I felt very relaxed by the time I had to put all my energy into the contractions. The playlists were my godsend and kept me centred especially Surge of the Sea; it really does help you visualise riding a wave through the contractions.
At 5pm my waters broke so we rang the hospital to let them know we’ll be in at some point but they were perplexed by my contraction timings as it wasn’t as frequent as they wanted for me to come in and I was also very calm and talking through even the most intense ones so they said give it some more time; I did mention I was doing hypnobirthing which they were excited about.
I'm still at home by 6pm and i was feeling heavy pressure in my pelvis and wanted to push, I said to my husband we better get to the hospital. By 7pm I was rushed to hospital by my husband and it was full steam ahead from then on. I got into the birthing spa with my music and bearing down quietly (it was so relaxing and calm) then the midwife realised baby was in breech position and my relaxing dim environment turned into me being prepped for an emergency C section with 10 people around me, bright lights etc.
I was told after from my midwife that through all the commotion I remained calm, relaxed, quieter than most through pushing and my husband was being the best advocate for me when they were doing things which he learnt from hypnobirthing.
Once prepped and ready they realised I was too far dilated so I ended up pushing her out with all my strength with no drugs. She came out a little stunned and with a dislocated right hip but she was healthy and perked up quickly.
To this day I still love telling my birth story to friends who ask as I have only positives to say about it; the pain and emotions I went through were definitely controlled by my hypnobirthing training and am forever grateful for it!! Do this course and you’ll never regret it!
Kelly and Pete attended group Hypnobirthing classes with me in February. If you would like to learn more about how you can learn the Hypnobirthing mindset and tools to achieve a positive birth experience click here.