“Hi Janet, here is my second birth story written up (below) It’s taken a little longer to get round to doing it as you can imagine 😂 Hope you’re well and busy with lots of pregnant mommas! Xxxx
I am so happy to be writing my second positive birth story thanks to Hypnobirthing.(I did Hypnobirthing with Janet Naylor and also had some Reflexology sessions in pregnancy)
Both births could not have been more different from each other. Being my second birth I was expecting a quick intense labour but instead it was a longer, mellow labour.
I thought labour may have started on the Thursday, the day before I really went into labour. I was getting some regular surges through the day but they slowly subsided and I went to bed thinking it might get going in the night, but instead I had a good full nights sleep which I am very grateful for.
As soon as I woke on Friday morning the pains started again and I just knew this was now the start of my labour. I also knew my baby wasn’t planning on joining us any time soon so I had a nice chilled morning. My mum and dad had looked after my little boy for the night so I went to meet them for a coffee, ran a couple of errands all whilst having a few surges which I could easily manage. Around mid day I went home to get the last bits ready and get my head in the zone.
My surges were about 40 seconds long and every 10 minutes by lunch time and I was not finding them very intense at all. I called the birth centre to let them know I was in labour and explained that it wasn’t going anywhere any time fast. I was slightly worried that there wouldn’t be any midwives on call later that day so I wanted to have peace of mind that it would be ok to have my home birth. The midwife said there were midwives on call that evening and no one else in labour.
Knowing this helped me to relax and I went to have a nice bath and to start really focusing to hopefully get my labour going a bit.
My husband got back from work around 5pm. The pool was already blown up so he just had a few thing to get ready in preparation. I was watching some funny tv programs and if I’m completely honest I was getting a bit bored and slightly frustrated that my surges weren’t very intense still! But I just kept watching tv, going to the toilet a lot and breathing nicely through my surges.
At around 7.30pm my surges were finally every 5 minutes lasting around 60 seconds so I called the midwife to let her know I was ready for them to come to the house. This is when it all changed! The lovely midwife on the phone told me another lady in labour had just come in to the birth centre and would probably be there all night.
I was in shock, then a little panicked and then I cried. Once the midwife had talked to me for a few minutes about which hospital I wanted to go to and made a few jokes about not letting the other lady have any drugs I felt calm again.
I felt even calmer once I’d called the hospital and had everything in place and ready to leave the house. I had a little bag packed but just chucked anything in. My first birth was at home so this was totally new to me.
My surges had stopped for about 30 minutes so I was a bit annoyed and thought they wouldn’t pick up again for ages, especially leaving the comfort of my home and not knowing what to expect at hospital. Once we were in the car I put “river dawn” (Hypnobirthing Music) on, it was dark outside and the roads were quite which made me feel nice and calm. My surges picked up again not long after leaving the house.
We got settled into our room which had its own birth pool with lovely twinkling lights above it and aromatherapy oils burning . I felt just as relaxed as I did at home. I met my midwife, she read my birth plan and she was amazing at using all the Hypnobirthing terminology and respecting all that I had asked in it.
At around 10.30pm, 2 hours after arriving I agreed to be examined to see how many Center meters I was. I was around 7cm which was great to hear and also strange to remember that my first labour had been way more intense by this point but I was still feeling a bit underwhelmed by my surges and wanted to feel like we were getting somewhere. But I can’t complain at 7cm feeling in control and happy still.
I was ready for the pool just before midnight and once I’d been in the nice warm water for around 30minutes I was really having to work and focus through my surges. I didnt like any fuss or people near me in my first labour so my husband was near but not to close to let me stay in ‘the zone’.
After one intense surge which had the pushing urge at the end I asked Dan to call the midwife back into the room. It was time!
I was lying in the pool on my left side holding on the the edge with my head resting on the side, I didn’t want to move out of this position for some reason, I think it was because I was now feeling scared. I really don’t do well with blood and those sort of thing so I was trying to think of the opening rose to distract me from what my body was actually doing.
I think it would have been a slightly quicker birth if I’d moved position but I decided to stay on my side. Once my waters finally broke the midwife said my baby will soon be here. I was very aware of all the feelings and sensations which I believe is because I hadn’t been able to go ‘within myself’ as much as I had with my home birth but I knew I was going to have my baby in my arms soon, I just did my best to listen to my body, not push too hard at the end of the surges and visualise the opening rose 🌹
After a couple of intense downward urges but no baby yet, my midwife suggested getting onto my knees. As soon as I did he was born with the next surge! Noah was born just after 1am on his due date which I obviously told myself he would be here later than!
It was such an amazing moment having him passed to me in the water and seeing his gorgeous little face for the first time. We stayed doing skin to skin in the pool for a while but got out after a while to birth the placenta.
After being examined I was quite happy to hear I would not need any stitches. We all got some rest but I couldn’t sleep with all the excitement and oxytocin rushing through my body!
I’m so happy to now have two lovely hypnobirthing birth stories which are completely different from each other.
Some people are amazed when I tell them I didn’t need any drugs for either births, but I truly believe in the power of hypnobirthing and would recommend it to anyone.
Whether it’s their first baby for or to have a more positive and empowering second birth”