Sorry for the lengthy story...
I wasn't due until Jan 13th but the night of Jan 4th I had period pains throughout the night and I started having a brownish stain in my panties that afternoon.
I went for a full body massage in the evening and it was lovely !
Labour started off at 11:30pm and the contractions started coming quite close together from the word go. I started timing them and they would come every 10 mins, then 5, then 12, then 4, very irregular, so I didn't really know if it was a false start or not.
The contractions on my uterus were not that bad, it was more like in the period pain area, then sort of moving to my lower back and what I had was a constant pressure on my bum that I didn't expect and found quite hard to cope with.
Some were more painful than others and this helped as when I would have one I would tell myself that maybe the next one would be not as painful.
I had 2 or 3 while lying down and they were very painful so I had to stand up and sway my hips left and right during each contraction. They were never more than 1 minute long and I have to say that you would be surprised how fast 50 seconds can go by even when you're in pain.
Even though I'm using the word 'pain', it was always pressure rather than pain, I never once felt like I was 'dying', although at some point I could not speak through them and had to make noise when breathing out.
All this time, until 3am, I was alone in the bedroom, I listened to the hypnobirthing affirmations track once and I felt it very reassuring and I felt I wasn't 'alone', I even smiled through some of the affirmations as they made me feel confident that what was happening was 'normal'. I also did lots of visualisation of my cervix opening like a flower.
I woke my husband up at 3am as I wanted to start timing them so that I would know when to call the midwife.
I called her at 5 am when I was pretty certain I was in labour and it wasn't the most painful false alarm ever...
At this point I was very tired, I had been pacing the room for nearly 6 hours and what kept me going was hoping that the gas and air and/or birthing pool would help (I got a birthing pool the week before).
In hindsight, maybe all the walking around and moving hips is what helped make things happen so quickly.
She arrived and I decided I didn't want her to examine me, if she had told me that after 6 hours I was 3cm I would have packed up, gone to the hospital and beg for an epidural, again, not because of the pain, but because of how tired I was.
I tried the gas and air but I've never liked breathing through my mouth, it made me gag and I didn't want it.
Instead, I got into the birthing pool, which helped me a lot. The contractions slowed down a bit, but I really needed to rest. During the time I was in the pool, I think around 1 hour, I managed to let my body go limp during contractions, it was really heavenly, although I found the recommended water temperature a bit cold and my husband was adding boiling water now and then.
Unfortunately, I could only find a comfortable position lying on my left hand side and eventually I got a stitch on my tummy and had to get out. This was one of the worst moments, I was inside the pool, with a bad pain in my tummy and I had my husband and the midwife reaching out to me trying to help me out but I really couldn't move.
Eventually I did, trying to ignore the pain and I decided to lie on the sofa.
Once out and lying on the sofa I got a hot water bottle on my tummy and had warm towels on me and started feeling better. The contractions started coming along nicely again but they were already making me want to push a tiny bit.
The waters fully broke (the midwife thinks they started in the pool but were so clear that we couldn't see them, although I remember during at least 2 contractions, feeling a warm liquid coming out of me) and I got scared because that's when they say the contractions will be more close together and stronger, but they were just the same with the only difference that as time went on I needed to push more and more.
The idea had been to labour at home and maybe go to hospital if i didnt feel safe at home, but at this point I was pretty sure I wasn't going to go to the hospital, the thought of getting in the car was simply unbearable and I thought 'I'm going to be doing the same here or there so what's the point'.
For some reason, it never entered my mind that things would go wrong, I have to say that the midwife was checking the baby's heartbeat every 15 mins and it was always nice and steady, which really put my mind at rest.
At some point the midwife asked me to change my position to a more vertical one.
At the time it seemed like the hardest thing anyone could ask me to do, I said 'can't you just rise my leg, I cannot move' but she insisted (and I knew she was right but was choosing to ignore ) that gravity would help her come out more easily so I ended up on my knees and leaning on pillows on the sofa.
I have to admit that I didn't expect the pushing to be so hard, again it was the pressure on my bum that hurt the most. I just let my body do whatever it wanted and would add a little push of my own, not because I wanted or needed to, I just couldn't help it.
I kept up the breathing nicely during the contractions (lots of grunting when breathing out, but it really helped). The contractions were quite short and it was only in between them that I would do the birth breathing, I felt like it was only then that I could breathe out without grunting, relax my birth canal and imagine her moving down.
Something that really helped me throughout labour but especially at this stage was having a frozen gel pack that I would put on my forehead and back of my neck while having contractions. It ended up melting though and I gave birth with my face on a pack of frozen spring roll sheets...
I don't think I was at it more than 45 minutes, and many times I would ask her if she could see her head and she said 'not yet', which i couldn't understand because I thought I felt her head lower down but it must have been wishful thinking.
Eventually her head came out and she had her hand on the side of her face, just like she did during the 32 week scan and she still seems to love that position. She asked me to push a little for the rest of the body to come out but I couldn't, I had to wait for the next contraction.
It was when I tried to push without a contraction that I wondered how people can do this having had an epidural and with no feeling 'down there', it must be really hard.
She was born at 9:45am.
After only 10-15 minutes on holding her in my arms I sat up and the placenta came out, the midwife examined me and I only had a little graze inside (phew!).
The second midwife missed the birth but I never felt like I wasn't in good hands and needed more help.
I have to say that even though at the time I thought I wasn't using hypnobirthing constantly, certain affirmations were always on my mind and I feel all the reading and listening to affirmations and relaxation tape the last weeks meant I was totally prepared and ready to give birth.
I took 4 tablets of raspberry leaf tea for the past 2 weeks and maybe they helped make my contractions so effective.
She only weighed 5lb 13oz but i already knew she would be little and the doctor has examined her and she's a healthy baby.
We are obviously in love with her and even though nights are rough, nothing makes me happier than looking at her little face.
I wasn't due until Jan 13th but the night of Jan 4th I had period pains throughout the night and I started having a brownish stain in my panties that afternoon.
I went for a full body massage in the evening and it was lovely !
Labour started off at 11:30pm and the contractions started coming quite close together from the word go. I started timing them and they would come every 10 mins, then 5, then 12, then 4, very irregular, so I didn't really know if it was a false start or not.
The contractions on my uterus were not that bad, it was more like in the period pain area, then sort of moving to my lower back and what I had was a constant pressure on my bum that I didn't expect and found quite hard to cope with.
Some were more painful than others and this helped as when I would have one I would tell myself that maybe the next one would be not as painful.
I had 2 or 3 while lying down and they were very painful so I had to stand up and sway my hips left and right during each contraction. They were never more than 1 minute long and I have to say that you would be surprised how fast 50 seconds can go by even when you're in pain.
Even though I'm using the word 'pain', it was always pressure rather than pain, I never once felt like I was 'dying', although at some point I could not speak through them and had to make noise when breathing out.
All this time, until 3am, I was alone in the bedroom, I listened to the hypnobirthing affirmations track once and I felt it very reassuring and I felt I wasn't 'alone', I even smiled through some of the affirmations as they made me feel confident that what was happening was 'normal'. I also did lots of visualisation of my cervix opening like a flower.
I woke my husband up at 3am as I wanted to start timing them so that I would know when to call the midwife.
I called her at 5 am when I was pretty certain I was in labour and it wasn't the most painful false alarm ever...
At this point I was very tired, I had been pacing the room for nearly 6 hours and what kept me going was hoping that the gas and air and/or birthing pool would help (I got a birthing pool the week before).
In hindsight, maybe all the walking around and moving hips is what helped make things happen so quickly.
She arrived and I decided I didn't want her to examine me, if she had told me that after 6 hours I was 3cm I would have packed up, gone to the hospital and beg for an epidural, again, not because of the pain, but because of how tired I was.
I tried the gas and air but I've never liked breathing through my mouth, it made me gag and I didn't want it.
Instead, I got into the birthing pool, which helped me a lot. The contractions slowed down a bit, but I really needed to rest. During the time I was in the pool, I think around 1 hour, I managed to let my body go limp during contractions, it was really heavenly, although I found the recommended water temperature a bit cold and my husband was adding boiling water now and then.
Unfortunately, I could only find a comfortable position lying on my left hand side and eventually I got a stitch on my tummy and had to get out. This was one of the worst moments, I was inside the pool, with a bad pain in my tummy and I had my husband and the midwife reaching out to me trying to help me out but I really couldn't move.
Eventually I did, trying to ignore the pain and I decided to lie on the sofa.
Once out and lying on the sofa I got a hot water bottle on my tummy and had warm towels on me and started feeling better. The contractions started coming along nicely again but they were already making me want to push a tiny bit.
The waters fully broke (the midwife thinks they started in the pool but were so clear that we couldn't see them, although I remember during at least 2 contractions, feeling a warm liquid coming out of me) and I got scared because that's when they say the contractions will be more close together and stronger, but they were just the same with the only difference that as time went on I needed to push more and more.
The idea had been to labour at home and maybe go to hospital if i didnt feel safe at home, but at this point I was pretty sure I wasn't going to go to the hospital, the thought of getting in the car was simply unbearable and I thought 'I'm going to be doing the same here or there so what's the point'.
For some reason, it never entered my mind that things would go wrong, I have to say that the midwife was checking the baby's heartbeat every 15 mins and it was always nice and steady, which really put my mind at rest.
At some point the midwife asked me to change my position to a more vertical one.
At the time it seemed like the hardest thing anyone could ask me to do, I said 'can't you just rise my leg, I cannot move' but she insisted (and I knew she was right but was choosing to ignore ) that gravity would help her come out more easily so I ended up on my knees and leaning on pillows on the sofa.
I have to admit that I didn't expect the pushing to be so hard, again it was the pressure on my bum that hurt the most. I just let my body do whatever it wanted and would add a little push of my own, not because I wanted or needed to, I just couldn't help it.
I kept up the breathing nicely during the contractions (lots of grunting when breathing out, but it really helped). The contractions were quite short and it was only in between them that I would do the birth breathing, I felt like it was only then that I could breathe out without grunting, relax my birth canal and imagine her moving down.
Something that really helped me throughout labour but especially at this stage was having a frozen gel pack that I would put on my forehead and back of my neck while having contractions. It ended up melting though and I gave birth with my face on a pack of frozen spring roll sheets...
I don't think I was at it more than 45 minutes, and many times I would ask her if she could see her head and she said 'not yet', which i couldn't understand because I thought I felt her head lower down but it must have been wishful thinking.
Eventually her head came out and she had her hand on the side of her face, just like she did during the 32 week scan and she still seems to love that position. She asked me to push a little for the rest of the body to come out but I couldn't, I had to wait for the next contraction.
It was when I tried to push without a contraction that I wondered how people can do this having had an epidural and with no feeling 'down there', it must be really hard.
She was born at 9:45am.
After only 10-15 minutes on holding her in my arms I sat up and the placenta came out, the midwife examined me and I only had a little graze inside (phew!).
The second midwife missed the birth but I never felt like I wasn't in good hands and needed more help.
I have to say that even though at the time I thought I wasn't using hypnobirthing constantly, certain affirmations were always on my mind and I feel all the reading and listening to affirmations and relaxation tape the last weeks meant I was totally prepared and ready to give birth.
I took 4 tablets of raspberry leaf tea for the past 2 weeks and maybe they helped make my contractions so effective.
She only weighed 5lb 13oz but i already knew she would be little and the doctor has examined her and she's a healthy baby.
We are obviously in love with her and even though nights are rough, nothing makes me happier than looking at her little face.
xx
