By far the most crazy, magical and transformative experience of my entire life.

Hi hypnobirthers, it feels surreal to be finally writing my very own birth story!

Our son, Tommy was born 4:07am on Friday 17 September. By far the most crazy, magical and transformative experience of my entire life.

 

I went into labour on my due date, having what felt like mild cramps for most of the day. Things ramped up after dinner as I started to time my surges, the app on my phone was saying 5 minutes apart and kept telling me to go to the hospital. I think I was in denial because I was so calm and didn't feel much pain at all. We decided to go to bed instead and get some rest I layed down in bed for less than a minute and felt this big POP! My husband even heard it, there was water everywhere and we both went into panic mode. The pain got so intense I completely forgot everything I had learnt and was totally out of control.

 

We got to the hospital around 10:45pm, the maternity ward was crazy busy and we were thrown into a birthing suite and left on our own, we weren't told where the birthing ball was, where the bluetooth speakers were, nothing at all. By this stage my surges were so close together there was almost no break in between and I was already feeling an urge to bear down! We could hear a woman screaming in the room next to us. I was absolutely terrified and totally doubting myself.

 

My husband was amazing, he remembered everything we learnt in the course and kept reminding me to breathe and prompting me with my bubble of comfort visualisations whilst searching for someone to come and help us. The first midwife we saw was a little rude and kept telling me I'd only been there an hour and there was no way I was ready to push. But I knew I was close and so did my husband. We were left alone again for another 45 minutes just riding the surges like waves listening to Surge of the Sea until a second midwife finally came to help us around 12:30am she was trained in hypnobirthing (for this I am incredibly grateful) and was my knight in shining armour! She listened to my husband and advocated for the both of us. She reminded me to keep breathing. She read my birth preferences and was so respectful of our wishes.

 

In my mind I was totally losing control, my body was shaking, I kept repeating myself saying "I can't do this, I can't do it anymore, I can't" but thanks to the course I knew I was experiencing transition and must have been close. She examined me on my request and confirmed I was 9cm and almost ready to bear down. I asked for some gas to take the edge off and really enjoyed it! It helped me to focus on my breathing during each surge until it was time. I wanted to push with everything I had but I kept reminding myself to breathe my baby down. I listened to my body and started to bear down when I felt I was ready. This part took a long time, I really struggled, he kept coming out and going back in and I was completely and utterly exhausted. My husband put my music playlist on and it took me deeper into my own little bubble.

 

My midwife said something at this point that resonated with me and still gives me goosebumps, she said during birth, a mother must leave her body to go out into the universe in search of her childs soul and bring it back I really did feel as though I went to another place. At 4:07am my son was born, a whopping 9.7lbs. Only a minor second degree tear!

 

The midwives and my husband were so impressed with how calm and quietly I birthed our son, the midwives even printed off Tommy's heart rate report from the monitoring machine, and were showing it off to other midwives on the ward, his heart rate was so steady and calm during the entire birth it was almost like he was asleep. Everyone was amazed with how calm he was during such a quick birth (5 1/2 hours in total) and I genuinely believe this is all thanks to the hypnobubs course.

 

I am incredibly grateful to Hypnobirthing Australia for making the course accessible during the pandemic. I felt so informed, supported and calm throughout my pregnancy and birth!

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you