"I can't recommend hypnobirthing enough"

 

Thomas put in an early appearance at 35 weeks, my waters partially broke whilst still at work and on attending the hospital that evening I was told that I'd have to stay in until his arrival which would have to be induced if not started naturally within a couple of days due to possible infections.  Unfortunately it also meant I couldn't use the birthing pool as this isn't allowed before 37 weeks .   Simon came back from work in London and spent the evening with me.  I made him go home around 10pm to get some sleep feeling that the next day could be a long one!  I went into labour at 2.30am that night with only mild period pain type surges and a show.  Having been reassured a baby born at 35 weeks would be expected to be healthy and strong I was now excited that it wouldn't be long.

 

Simon was back first thing in the morning and found I was coping with the surges very well.  I think for that reason the midwifes felt I was still a long way off established labour, but I was a bit concerned that I was losing more blood than I thought was normal.  Due to those concerns at 11.30am I was taken up to the labour ward where it was confirmed that I was 5 cm dilated but my waters had still not fully broken.  I was losing more blood than normal due to a partially abrupted placenta which had been diagnosed as low lying during pregnancy.  The registrar advised he would need to break my waters and I would need to have a line put in and be monitored incase of distress to the baby - if my state of mind was anything to go by there was no danger of our baby getting distressed.  Dispite the unplanned medical intrusion I was totally relaxed about the whole situation and fully confident that these were all just precautions.  One of my good friends Lucy was to be my midwife for the birth and she arrived at 1pm.  The next few hours were very pleasant with the 3 of us chatting and watching the baby's heart beat on the monitor and my surges going up and down.  I found it most comfortable to actually just sit on a plastic chair where I could put my legs down and move around easily, Simon helped with light touch massage but during surges I would just put my head down and focus on my breathing which I found really easy.  There was discomfort but I'd say only like a bad period pain so it was nothing I felt I couldn't cope with and I would remind myself my body was designed to do this and also used the visualisation techniques.  The surges were often very long so I concentrated on counting the breath in and out and this way I coped with what the monitored suggested were toe curling surges!  Lucy commented a few times how amazed she was that I was so relaxed and that I didn't want any pain relief (she know's what a wimp I am), one of the other midwifes came in and was surprised I was in established labour because I was so relaxed and calm and happy.

 

At around 4.30 Lucy was able to check me again to see how I'd progressed, it was at this point it all got a bit more intense as Lucy could see that the registrar hadn't fully broken my waters and therefore despite all the strong contractions I was still only 5cm dilated.  This new's was so disapointing as we all felt I was nearly there which I was really excited about.  Lucy then broke my waters but I was upset feeling I still had hours to go.  Because I was upset I lost the focus on my breathing and started to find the surges really intense.  At this point the wimp in me (or so I thought) came out and I put my hands up saying, I'm no hero, I can't do this for another 5 or 6 hours and asked for an epidural.  It took about 40 minutes for the epidural to be administered and as it started to take effect I got the urge to push, Lucy checked me again and was amazed to find that I was now fully dilated.  I was disapointed then that I'd had the epidural as had I known it'd be so quick I would have carried on but no one expected me to dilate 5 cm's in half an hour - hence the rather intense surges!  The epidural also slowed the process and the surges became further apart and less intense, after having a drip to bring the contractions back on I was ready to push at around 7.30pm.  Again, having had the epidural this numbed the sensations and after an hour the registrar was called in to assess the situation.  It was decided that forceps should be used and an episiotomy was performed which again I knew wouldn't have been needed if I hadn't had the epidural.  Still it was necessary to help Tom out and I was still very calm and relaxed all the way through.  Tom was born at 9.04pm, 18.5hrs since the first surges but the time had flown by.  He was placed on my tummy so we could see for ourselves that it was a boy, he weighed 6lb 5oz which was great for 5 weeks premature.  He'd had the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck and was taken away to be given a little oxygen and also put on a drip with antibiotics due to my waters breaking early but he was back with his dad and I not long after and we couldn't believe how beautiful and perfect he was.  Tom's 5 months old now but right from the start he has been a very happy contended baby, he rarely cry's and is always laughing and smiling.

 

I can't recommend hypnobirthing enough.  When I was first pregnant the happiness was soon overtaken by a completely irrational fear of childbirth which had been drummed into me all my life with the horror stories women love to tell about their labour.  I knew my pregnancy would be ruined by fear and stress if I didn't find a solution which is when I found hypnobirthing.  I was really sceptical but the sessions with Lyn were fun and really interesting.  They left me feeling really positive that I could do it because my body was designed too and from that point on I completely relaxed.  I went from someone who was considering requesting a c-section to avoid labour to someone who was actually considering a home birth!    I was so relaxed about the birth and when it all started to happen not once did I feel nervous or scared.  I look back on Toms birth as a really lovely day and even though there was medical intervention I was relaxed and most importantly in control of any pain and my decisions.  If I hadn't contracted 5 cm's so quickly I would've carried on with no pain relief at all but my waters had to be broken and that was the result.  It was an amazing experience and I know it would've been totally different without the hypnobirthing.

 

Love from Sam, Simon & Thomas x

 

 

 

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