Our amazing hypnobirthing doula assisted waterbirth
I've been meaning to get this down for ages so here goes!
Our birth experience was absolutely amazing, wonderful and it was pretty much perfect! DH and I did hypnobirthing which I would recommend to all pregnant ladies and husbands. It was such a good preparation for both DH and I- it really enabled him to feel like an important part of the experience, and we totally immersed ourselves into learning to be calm, relaxed and positive.
So, the day before Ash was born was a shocker in Adelaide- over 40 degrees and sticky hot. I was getting pretty impatient for the impending birth. It was all I thought about nonstop and I was driving both myself & DH insane. It was my due date the next day & my mother was coming down to visit us. She had to book her holidays in advance, & it was stressing me out as I kept thinking- the baby's not here yet! She's going to get here and nothing will be happening! To take my mind off it, we decided to go to the beach with the dog- it was fabulous. So nice to relax in the water- even though I did feel like a whale. When we got home that afternoon, I noticed a tiny tiny bit of blood- a show! I decided not to get that excited as it could still be ages away but I did text our doula to let her know.
That night we went to my brother-in-laws for dinner. I ate so much it was disgusting! I was feeling really uncomfortable on the dining room chairs, & even when we moved into the lounge I was still very uncomfortable, especially my back. I didn't really put two and two together even at this stage!
We got home, I had a shower, and we did our hypnobirthing relaxation techniques in bed. I was feeling so lovely and cosy and relaxed. I took my drops from the acupuncturist- they were meant to ripen the cervix. & just before I was about to fall asleep, I thought- well, let's try a tiny bit of nipple stimulation. This was about 11pm.
Well- BAM. Straight away- a contraction. I said to DH- wow let's not doing any more nipple stimulation as it's potent! Then, 8 minutes later- another contraction & they kept coming. I felt violently ill & went to the toilet and did a mega spew. All that dinner I had eaten!!!!! I actually thought it was hilarious. Poor DH had to clean it up- he was wearing a gas mask as it smelt just horrid. He now recommends to other expecting couples to keep a gas mask in their labour kit- lol!
Our doula arrived at about 1am. It was so cool. I felt so excited. The contractions were about 5 minutes apart & I was in total labourland- just going with it and doing all the things we had practiced. We decided to head for the hospital around 3am. I was lucky as there was one room left in the birthing centre- yay!
The hypnobirthing worked so well during the first stage of labour. I know that those post birth hormones kick in to make you forget all the pain, but honestly, I really enjoyed the contractions stage of the birth. I went with the flow and never once did I think I couldn?t do it, or that I needed pain relief.
The pushing stage was a bit different and it was here that the hypnobirthing wasn?t as effective. I just couldn?t get comfortable anywhere and it wasn?t happening. The midwife called the doctor who recommended an episiotomy and a ventouse delivery. Well, it was here that I am so glad that we hired our doula. She was so worth the money! She said ?keep pushing- we can do it!? The bub's heartrate was fine. It was so important to have our doula there as she knew exactly what kind of birth we wanted (no episiotomy or ventouse!), we had already built up a really close and special relationship but she was objective enough to not be emotionally attached- whereas DH by this stage was pretty stressed and I just wanted to baby out of me!!!
After this, we were lucky enough to have a change in midwife. Fortunately she was qualified for waterbirth so she suggested we get back in the bath. I thought- why didn?t something think of this earlier!!!??? Or even, why didn?t I think of this as I had always said I was keen on waterbirth- it was in the birth plan too. So, we jumped into the bath and although it was still hard work, I was able to totally relax and let go. So, Ash was born into the water at 7.38 am on his DUE DATE with no drugs at all- and it was a brilliant and awesome miracle- like each and every baby who is born!
& my mum arrived that afternoon in a complete state of excitement! She got to see him as a newborn in hospital & be with us for his first 2 weeks of life.
That was nearly 16 weeks ago and my gosh it's gone fast. If I'm honest, labour was absolutely NOTHING compared with the first 6 weeks after the birth. Ash was a very unsettled, screaming, non-sleeping bub & it was a total shock. After all my preparation for the birth, I didn't even once stop to think about what life would be like with a new baby, let alone an unhappy baby! But it got better, and every day is new and different & when he smiles and laughs, I am so proud and happy to have brought this amazing person into the world.
Ok- enough soppiness!
All I'm wondering now is......after such a brilliant birth experience, how will the next one ever be able to live up to it???????
Thanks for reading...
