Birth Story by Lara, Hypnobirthing Mum
“I’d been warned that my birth would be quick, however I really didn’t expect it to be that quick!“
Due with my second, I was sure my baby would arrive early after my first was born at 39+2. My body and my baby had different ideas however! I’d been having Braxton Hicks every night for days, but nothing would come of it. I’d been speaking with Kate from Positively Hypnobirthing about different exercises and stretches I could do to encourage labour, having acupuncture and a few stretch and sweeps, yet bub showed no signs of arriving. I was 40+2 and was having another restless night. At 11.15pm I rolled over and suddenly felt what I thought was my waters breaking. It was only a small trickle so I thought I was wrong and went back to bed. A few minutes later came another trickle and it kept coming!! With my first my membranes didn’t rupture until the moment he was born, so I didn’t know what to expect now. I asked my husband to get me a towel so that I could go back to bed to get some more rest before things ramped up. By the time he had gotten me a fresh towel, contractions were coming thick and fast, with 2 or 3 in the time it took to get a towel and put it on the bed. I knew going back to sleep was not an option, so I jumped
in the shower while my husband called the hospital. Preparing for a few hours of labouring in the shower, I set up my contraction timer and started timing myself while hubby grabbed the things he needed. Ten minutes later, my contractions had consistently been 1 min long and 3 minutes apart. There was no time to hang out in the shower, it was time to get to the hospital!! We left home at midnight, only 45 minutes after my waters had broken.
I thought the drive to the hospital might slow things down, but no chance. Contractions continued to come every 3 minutes. We finally got to the hospital and I was admitted at 12.30am (1hr 15min after my waters broke). I’d asked for the birth pool to be filled before we arrived, but by this stage I was so far advanced I jumped straight into the shower where the hot water was my pain relief. After what felt like no time at all I remember telling the midwife that I knew I was going to need to push very soon – not yet, but it was getting close. She told me not to worry and just do what my body needed to do. Only 2 contractions later and the need to push was there. 15 minutes of pushing later and our baby was born, only an hour after I’d arrived at hospital! Just like my first birth, I was kneeling against a chair on the floor of the shower. Unlike my first birth however, my OB didn’t make it in time!! Two minutes after baby was born, I was being helped onto the chair in the shower when my OB came rushing in having just missed all the action. While she might have missed my super quick birth, she was there just in time for us to find out that we had welcomed another little boy into our family.
I’d been warned that my birth would be quick, however I really didn’t expect it to be that quick! From my waters breaking to baby in my arms, the total time was 2 hours and 15 minutes. It took a little while for the shock to wear off that my baby was here, after impatiently waiting for so long for his arrival, but I was so proud that I had surrendered to the process and let my body do what it needed to do.
Lara xx
Hubby and I did our Hypnobirthing Australia™ Refresher course with Positively Hypnobirthing. It is hard to believe that it was 3 years ago that we did the full course, because everything was still front of mind and when one of the hypno tracks was played I was right back in the mindset!!
While Hypnobirthing is becoming more common, a lot of people still feel it’s some ‘airy fairy’ thing that is only for ‘earth mothers’. But I am here to throw that idea out the window!!! Think of it more like your antenatal classes on steroids, where both you and your birthing partner learn the science behind birthing and will feel informed and empowered to make decisions during birthing to help you get the birth you want – whether it’s drug free, with an epi or even a c-section.
There is no right or wrong way to birth, the goal is always to help you have the positive experience you want. In a situation where you can quickly lose control, I know my birthing preferences will be respected because we are informed and have a great team supporting us.
Join my Gold Coast Group Hypnobirthing Course
