Printed with kind permission.
”I was 39 weeks and 5 days pregnant with my daughter. At 10am, I was getting my son ready to go out for a walk when I felt a warm liquid start to release from my body. I knew straight away this was my water breaking.
My partner was working downstairs so I called him upstairs to let him know what had happened and that we would be meeting our baby girl soon.
As I wasn’t having any contractions, I called the Birth Centre who asked me to go in to confirm it was waters breaking which it was. We then continued about our day picking up the bits we needed from the supermarket and packing a bag for my son so he was ready to go to his nanas when contractions started.
At 6pm my partner and I were alone and set about making the house warm and cosy with dimly lit lights and lots of candles. Contractions still hadn’t started but we were not concerned in anyway, we trusted my body would start when it was ready.
We put a funny, light hearted film on TV and I bounced on the birth ball for a little while.
My partner massaged my body with a blend of essential oils which made me feel really relaxed. We can’t thank Lindsay enough for her time and expertise on the Breathe and Bloom classes, which resulted in us both learning valuable lessons.
Around 8pm I started feeling sleepy so went to bed and listened to some Breathe and Bloom hypnobirthing audios. Every now and then I was feeling a pain on my cervix but it was irregular.
At 10pm, 12 hours after my waters broke, I suddenly started getting regular pains which turned out to be contractions. I began timing them and they were happening every 3-5 minutes for about 30 seconds. It was painful but I could easily talk though them. After 45 minutes of this, and the pains intensifying, I called the birth centre to let them know what was happening and get some advice. They advised to take some paracetamol and take a warm shower, which I did.
After the shower, the contractions continued to intensify and became regular - every 5 minutes for 1 minute. I called the hospital about 11:30 and they said I could come in for checking but would imagine I would need to go back home as I could still talk through the pain.
In the car, we put some relaxing music on that we liked and stayed calm, just like Lindsay had encouraged us to do. Every bump in the road felt like hitting a rock. I squeezed my partners leg to help get through the pain, as it was getting quite intense now. We arrived at the hospital at midnight where I agreed to have an internal exam, the midwife confirmed I was 4cm and would be moved to the labour ward. I requested a room with a birth pool which had fortunately just become free as I needed it.
The midwives set the pool running and checked me in. They let me know they would be checking baby with the doppler every 15 minutes. We discussed the baby having vitamin k after birth and my preferences for delivery and post delivery. I advised I wanted to have a delayed cord clamping, skin to skin immediately after birth, breastfeed when baby and I were ready and would decide what to do about placenta removal at the time.
Contractions during this time were still getting more intense and continued to be regular.
I got into the pool, the aromatherapy diffuser was turned on and lights were dimmed. My partner and I began talking about random bits of our life and getting familiar with our midwives. The warm water helped the pain so much along with using the Breathe and Bloom breathing techniques I had learned in the classes with Lindsay . My partner was amazing at helping keep me focused during each contraction. We were both completely present in the moment and focused on each other. Our connection felt so strong, it was like we were radiating positive energy and calmness into the room. It was magical.
By half past one, the pain was really peaking for me and my partner was still working hard to help me breathe through the pain. The midwives set up the gas and air but after using it for one contraction, I threw up and found it to be less effective than the breathing alone so decided not to use it again.
I started loosing control when it got to 2 am as the pain was so intense, contractions were 4 in 10 minutes which felt like I wasn’t getting chance to rest like I was before. I knew that this was it, only a few more pains to work through and it would be time to give birth.
There was so much pressure in my pelvis, I began down breathing techniques, which brought my baby down with it. I could feel the urges to push and tried to work through it by just breathing down. We were both still healthy and I didn’t want to rush the process of getting here out.
The midwives watched on as we worked through this stage as a team. I was easing my baby down and out on my knees leant over the bath into my partners chest. He rubbed my back and spoke calmly into my ear just like he’d learnt, to keep me focused.
When her head was starting to show, the midwives told me she had lots of hair so I put my hand down and could feel so much long soft hair floating in the water. As I breathed her out with some small pushes, I kept my hand on her feeling more of my baby as she was being delivered into the world. Once her head was completely out I felt one last urge to bare down and get her out where I caught her and brought her straight up onto my chest.
It was a feeling like no other, it was as if the world stopped. My darling baby was here, on my chest in all her glory. She was alert but not crying. Looking into her eyes felt like my heart just doubled in size, it was filled with happiness and love and peace.
We stayed in the water for a while just enjoying each other’s company, my partner was fetching me water as I was so thirsty after birth.
When I was ready to deliver the placenta, I decided to get out of the pool and let the midwives help with this stage.
After 3 little stitches, establishing breast feeding and our daughter checked over and weighed (10lb 1oz), we were allowed to go home at 6am.
Hearts full of love, ready to introduce our darling daughter to our amazing son 💖
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