David and I really enjoyed the hypnobirthing course and it made the last few weeks of my pregnancy much more relaxed than I had expected. Several of my friends commented on how confident and relaxed I seemed and this was due to the relaxation exercises I was doing in preparation for the birth. Considering that I am not a naturally confident person and also that we had had a stressful few weeks prior to the start of the course (due to concerns about the size of the baby and delays in getting the scans we needed due to hospital resource issues), this was quite an achievement!
Since all the growth scans showed our baby as under the 10th centile, we were advised that an induction was recommended if I hadn’t gone into labour by a few days before my due date. This was disappointing for me as I had hoped to avoid an induction, and also because, in addition, I was advised against using the birth pool, which was a big part of my birth plan and the way I had visualised my labour. However, we adjusted the plan and decided to go with the advice because the most important thing was for the baby to be born safely. I had two attempted sweeps before the date we were booked in but as my cervix was still closed, there was nothing the midwife could do. Again this was disappointing, but David reminded me that part of the hypnobirthing we had learned was to help us manage when things didn’t go to plan, which was a good point! So we adjusted the plan and moved on. I practised the breathing techniques listening to all the mp3s frequently during my maternity leave and I felt well prepared by the date.
We went to the hospital and I had the pessary inserted at around 12 noon. We had heard such varying stories of inductions (some going on for 3 days, others taking a few hours), we had no idea what to expect, and we had enough snacks to last about a week!! Anyway, luckily for me, the contractions started after only about an hour. I was surprised that I felt I had to start using the surge breathing quite early on, but did so, combined with watching some comedy tv series in between. This worked well in the early stages. The contractions seemed to progress quickly and I was soon having 3 to 5 every 10 minutes. I kept using the surge breathing and listened to the mp3s on repeat, but as time went on I did find it harder to get to my relaxing place. This was partly because sometimes the contractions were very close together and I also found it difficult having no idea of how well the labour was progressing. This continued for quite a few hours and the intensity and pain increased. However, the surge breathing combined with the tens machine did really help me to manage the pain.
At midnight, the midwife checked and told us I was only 1cm dilated. I must admit this was tough to take. Everything we had learned suggested that having lots of surges close together meant I was progressing well so as I had experienced that for many hours, I was expecting to be at least 3/4 cm. Anyway, I had a little cry and the midwife said she would check again in 4 hours. Not too long after, my waters broke and the surges increased in intensity, frequency and length. I have to admit during this time, I was generally lost in my own thoughts, some of which included me plotting how I could skip what I thought would be days of labour and go straight to a cesarean!! The only pain relief I had during this time was paracetamol, codeine, the tens machine, and of course the hypnobirthing. However, as it turned out, those negative thoughts were most likely just me going through the transition phase! At about 4am, the staff who brought me the next dose of codeine noticed that I seemed pretty advanced and I mentioned I could feel pressure in my bum! Someone raised the alarm and a midwife came to check me. This was tricky as by then I was having very long surges and could not really move from the position I was in. Eventually they did so and discovered I was 8cm!
This was a shock, but also not a shock. I felt that things were progressing but at the same time, I naively assumed that because the first 1cm took 12 hours, the rest would take at least as long again! Things really escalated then and a few members of hospital staff were rushed in to try and get me to the delivery room. They had to wheel me from the ward on the same bed as I couldn’t move at all. At this point, it was rather dramatic, and I was wheeled through the hospital loudly informing anyone in the vicinity that the baby was coming and I needed some pain relief!!
Anyway, I very much enjoyed the gas and air I received for the last hour of labour! I did mostly push, rather than hum, our baby out. I did try to hum but I felt the pressure so intensely, I didn’t feel like I had a choice but to push with it. Baby Sebastian arrived at 5.05am, with the only intervention being the episiotomy at the end.
In summary, I went into my birth calm and confidently, I managed the pain very well with just the breathing techniques and the tens machine, and I had a natural birth with just a tiny bit of gas and air.
Also, one of the most important aspects of my birth plan was to be able to have skin to skin and feed my baby soon after he was born. We had an incredible 2 hours in the delivery room with Sebastian when he was born and they were the most magical moments of my life, which I will never forget!
I am really proud that I got through it so well, and David was also amazed by the whole experience. I was a little disappointed that the midwife didn’t realise how quickly I was progressing after the first check because had I known things were moving fast, I would have been more positive and probably found it easier to get to my relaxing place. However, other than this, I feel that the birth went well and I am so pleased that there were no complications for me or Seb. While I was taken aback by the intensity of the experience, I did not find the experience traumatic in any way.
I hope I have expressed what I wanted to say properly, which is that, whilst it was not as quiet and calm as the films you showed us, the birth went well and I am sure this is mostly down to the surge breathing relaxing my body and the mindset with which I started the process. Thank you very much for your time and the resources you gave us, which led to this.
