I just wanted to check in to let you know that Nigel and I received our son on the 13th Nov at 1.30am after a sudden 5.5 hour labour at 34+2 weeks. His name is Coby.
We came to the hospital as I was experiencing lower stomach cramps and I was advised if ever that was to happen to get them checked due to special circumstances.
Waters broke 6.30am, Tuesday 4th August. I spent the day at home on my ball, applying essential oils, visualisations, relaxing, getting my fluids up and fuelling my body with nutritious foods so I was energised for the journey ahead. 4pm surges were 3-4min apart
“Labour started spontaneously and we tried many of the hypnobirthing techniques to help me through the early surges including acupressure, aromatherapy and the hypnobirthing tracks.
Our birth was completely opposite to what we had imagined. But hypnobirthing gave us the confidence and knowledge to make the right decisions for ourselves. We ended up getting induced due to being over due 41 +3 days, as well as elevated blood pressure. We tried everything we could from 40 to 41 + 3 weeks to bring on labour naturally but our little one was way too comfy in there.
On Wednesday 26th February 2020, 13 days from the due date of our sixth child, I felt our little boy was going to join us very soon. Our other children had all arrived quite close to their due dates (our third daughter was earliest, being five days before), so I had almost relied on this knowledge being true for this birth as well in making plans and getting organised.
After months of preparing, gaining knowledge and advocating for the birth I wanted, my little bundle of joy was born exactly on his expected due date. As a second time mum, I was feeling more empowered and informed of my choices and felt more confident with the extra preparation I had done e.g., hypnobirthing class, prenatal yoga and active birthing, natural remedies, etc.
I was induced at 42 weeks as I had early labour on and off for 4 days beforehand that wouldn't turn into actual labour.
Our birth started on the 14th Feb where I had 2 lots of gels in the afternoon/night. I had intense contractions (aka surges) all night (and got no sleep) but Ven set up our room with nice candles and I just listened to my calming music and hypnobirthing tracks, focusing on my breathing all night and taking the surges one at a time.
I had been having on and off mild surges for a few days, so when I woke just before 6 in the morning with a different feeling surge and instinctively knowing it was the start of my labor. I hadn’t had the best sleep the night before with such tightness, so I knew I needed to go back to bed, get some rest for the day ahead of me.
So many people have asked as we had an unplanned home birth how it all happened, so I thought rather then repeat the story I’d share a brief version for everyone to have a little insight into the best day of our lives.
Leading into Evie’s birth I wanted to be as prepared and organised as I could be to give this baby the best shot at a natural drug-free birth and also to make me feel empowered and strong on the day of her arrival. I did a bit of research and came across hypnobirthing and it sounded like something I’d like to try.
This was Kara and Anthony’s 2nd baby. Kara was induced for her 1st birth and there was cascade of interventions that she was hoping to avoid for her 2nd birth, so they came to Positively Hypnobirthing to do the Hypnobirthing Australia™ course. They did such an amazing job at coping with pressures during the lead up to the birth and then again during the birth of their bub. They asserted their right to choice and knew that just because they were told their baby was measuring big, it did not mean there was any reason for alarm or any reason not to trust Kara’s body to do the job it was designed to do. Kara and Anthony’s bub, Patrick, ended up weighing a very healthy 4.8kg (over 10 pounds!). She was such a hypnobirthing star!
