His head was born and I don't remember being aware of the fact that I had birthed the head!
Click the video to watch a montage of hypnobub Levi's beautiful entrance into the world!
Hi Melissa, I'm thrilled to let you know that another hypnobub is now earthside. I birthed Levi at home in water at 3am on Sunday, 14 August at 40 + 14. He weighed 4.89 Kg/10 lb 8 oz, 38cm head and 55cm long.
I'm so thankful for your wonderful online course, Hypnobubs, that I purchased through Perth Hypnobirthing (Pip Wynn Owen). I had met Pip back in 2012 at a women in business type networking group based in the Perth Hills. Little did I know that one day I would be in contact with her again to do the course myself. After having a chat to Pip initially she suggested Hypnobubs would be the best course to do as I had previously birthed and perhaps do a one-on-one session after I'd completed the course to work through any outstanding concerns. If you had told me back when I had initially met Pip, that I would one day hypnobirth my second baby and deliver him at home I'd say you were loco. Like so many people I had all the preconceived notions around home birth and the usual fear around birth. The birth of my first child in 2012 was your typical induced hospital birth with the cascade of intervention that ensues, stopping just shy of an emergency c-section. The trauma from Zoe's birth just cemented my fear of birth.
Fortunately two ladies from my mothers group had home births with their second kids and planted the seed that home birth isn't just for the hippies - everyday people like me are doing it too. One of those ladies, Aurelia, went on to become a doula after her home birth which meant I had even more of an insight into what birth should really look like and it was definitely not what you see on "One born every minute" and in every movie and TV show. Aurelia loaded me up with books and docos - Ricki Lake's doco, the Business of Being Born, completely cemented my decision to move away from my OB (at 16 weeks) and to change to midwifery led care and a home birth. I knew that I couldn't "go with the flow" this time around. Well it didn't serve me well the first time around but I knew I had to really prepare for this birth to be as stress free as I wanted it to be.
I thoroughly enjoyed the online course and can't believe how packed full of info it was and I started practicing the meditations regularly. I'll be honest things got extremely busy towards the end of my pregnancy whilst winding up from work and wrangling my busy 4 year old. A lot of the times I meditated I fell asleep during the meditations and was concerned that it wouldn't count but now that I've birthed I think it all still sunk in anyway. I tried to do as much of the recommended work list but I'll be honest I mostly only listened to one of the meditations (fear release, surge of the sea and glove of endorphins) and/or affirmations daily. I had a number of pictures and affirmations stuck to my bathroom mirror. One of them was the Lotus Flower meditation - which I read and visualised daily.
My one-on-one session with Pip was wonderful and my husband and I went through some questions we had for Pip. We also worked through some issues and one of which was that he wanted me to rely on my doula for main support during labour and he would be there just as Levi was about to come. He was still quite traumatised from Zoe's birth and I think he wasn't confident with how I was going to handle labour unmedicated so didn't want to be around that and I guess not be able to fix the situation. We also did a tailored fear release meditation which was extremely effective.
As my due date came and went I started to feel the pressure and the affirmations and meditations really helped me to visualise my baby coming and to stay positive that my home birth would happen. I'll be honest this was easier said than done but I was going to fake it till I make it (one of my favourite mottos).
After a stern stretch & sweep by my midwife, on the Saturday night, surges started an hour after the procedure. I had a stretch & sweep the day prior and I was already 4-5 cm dilated. All the meditation and visualisation could have been responsible for my cervix being totally ready to go once Levi had decided it was go time.
It was a six (6) hour labour and apparently the closest my surges ever got were 5 mins. I never felt discomfort in my abdomen, even with the Braxton Hicks that went on for weeks prior. The sensation was all in my pubic bone/pelvis. Aurelia helped me through each one by applying pressure to my sacrum and the repeat loop of the meditations helped me to not get overwhelmed and to remember to breath. Aurelia said she didn't even know when I was having a surge until I grunted for pressure on my back lol.
I also think there's something to be said to having a vision board or pictures you can look at often to help visualise the birth you want. The position I birthed in was the same as all the pictures I had stuck up in my bathroom. I really don't think it was a coincidence.
The only way I knew I was having a surge was the need to feel like doing a poo so that's when I'd breath/bear down. While I was in the water I was really in my hypnobirthing zone. I was kind of aware of what was happening to me and around me but at the same time I was oblivious to it. It doesn't make any sense at all and I can't really explain the feeling.
His head was born and I don't remember being aware of the fact that I had birthed the head. I was trying to let my body do it's own thing but I breathed through the next surge so my midwife must have realised that I needed some prompting and when the next surge came (when I felt pressure in my bum) I really beared down and roared my baby out. He shot straight out no problems. I tore (second degree) on my previous episiotomy scar, which was expected, but no need for stitches even though he was so big. Our bodies are truly amazing and when left to its own devices can birth our babies beautifully - no matter the size.
Thank you again for such a terrific program - I firmly believe I wouldn't have had the zen birth I did without it - I'll be singing its praises to whoever I can sing them to!
Vicki