Good morning lovely Hannah!
Guess what?
Just like that...... my little girl is here and yesterday we celebrated her joining us earth side for her first full week 🥺🥰
Since coming home, we have been trying to work together to ride the most hardest, overwhelming, scary, intense, heart shattering but absolutely beautiful rollercoaster of a journey
My birth story.
On Sunday I had been having small tightening's on and off for most part of mid Sunday but nothing out of sorts nor any other signs of what was to come.
In the evening I was still just having a small tightening here and there, more just a pressure like sensation then anything. I went for a shower and went to bed just like any other evening at 10:30pm but then I knew something was different that night.
Small surges started around 10:30pm every 10-15 mins or so but I stayed in bed until 12am. I didn’t tell George because I didn’t want to get him excited incase it fizzled out. But deep down I knew it was really starting.
Around 2am I woke up hubby and told him to get the TENS machine set up for me. .... he came into our bedroom and set it up and put on some affirmations, used clary sage and a little light and anchor touch in-between my surges.
During surges he was drinking a cup of coffee (Lol!) while I was down on all fours or on my knees with my head/arms on the bed as I tried to rest through and focus on my breathing.
A hour after that, the surges were definitely intense and i had my “bloody show” when I went to the bathroom.
I messaged my student midwife at 3:30am and said that it’s most likely all systems go!
4 am I knew it was time for hubby to call the midwife to let her know that we would need to head in soon. She told him to time the surges and to call back if they were 3 in 10 but just to come in if it was getting too much. Needless to say, I told hubby within 5 mins that I was ready to go in.
Got into the birthing unit around 4:30am-ish and again using the same surge techniques of being on all fours or on my knees with my arms and head on the bed. With hubby going about and setting up my birthing space with affirmations playing.
I thought I was making lots of noise during the surges (although later they told me that I was hardly making any!)
My midwife offered to check my dilation if I was feeling up for it, I accepting and she announced that I was already 8-9cms. Although my water hadn’t broken yet, this little lady was coming!
I told the midwife that I wanted to get into water and she started to fill the bath.... but these things are bloody massive, she started running it and I chose to get into the shower, they have 2 shower heads and I had both turned on with hubby using the handheld one to go up and down my back and this is when my waters broke and my little lady started to make her way down the birth path and into my world. Needless to say I wasn’t going to make it to the bath!
I went down onto all fours during the next surge and alternated between this and being on my knees using the support poles to lean on.
I had my husband, midwife and student midwife all behind me (literally on the ground in the shower) and just a few times I heard them saying to listen to my body.
My body and surges started to change. The sensation was a whole other game....again, breathing, breathing, breathing but a short intake, long bearing down breath, breathing out about 5-6 times of crowning and retracting before her taking the plunge and her head emerged.
Hubby said that she was just there, opening and closing her mouth, sticking her little tongue out and almost like she didn’t know she had come out.
Next second, she decided to push her little hand and arm out 🤦🏼♀️ a stance of triumph? Superwoman? Just being impatient instead of waiting for my next surge lol!
But with the next surge she turned herself and landed in my husband’s waiting arms and he handed her to me as I kneeled.
It was 6:09am when little Alexia Maree entered our world and we started our journey of parenthood.
Needless to say giving birth was the single most hardest experience I’ve ever been subjected too..... but there are also no words to describe it..... empowering? Overwhelming? Earth shattering?
Or wow. Just wow......
My hubby was amazing during the whole labour, he was literally there every step of the way. He caught our little girl, cut the cord after delayed clamping, had skin to skin contact after I had her for a hour and a half, was first to clothe her and change her nappy. I couldn't have asked for a more supportive birthing partner and husband to be on this crazy intense journey with.
I do believe that the hypnobirthing course helped my subconscious mind take over during my birthing. I didn’t have to concentrate or think about my learnings but I think my body instinctively knew what to do and in it I trusted.
This newborn bubble is definitely an overwhelming phase to try and learn on the job.... I’m about to revisit the post natal course that I enrolled in to hopefully help navigate my way through.
Regards
Adelaide.
Birth story and photos shared with permission. Adelaide and George completed my live Zoom Hypnobirthing Positive Birth Course.