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A VBAC (vaginal birth after caesarean) HypnoBirthing®, Home Birth
Well, I have to say that I had a LOVELY birth. I would never have thought that I would describe a birth as being lovely (certainly not a couple of years ago anyway!) The birth went exactly as I planned (must have been those visualisations!).
My waters started trickling at about 1.30am on Friday 14th Sep. I did what Dany said and tried to go back to sleep but I was too excited and couldn't sleep. Must have lay awake for a good hour or so before I started feeling twinges so I knew she (we've named her Nadja Kiah) was on her way. As the surges started coming closer together Jamie started timing them. He got me the birth ball, put the CD on and started doing light touch on my back - lovely. Very relaxing.
By about 6am the surges seemed to come every 3 minutes and only then would I let Jamie call the midwife. We also called my mum to pick up Luis as he would be waking at 7am demanding attention! The first midwife arrived at 6.30am and the second came at 7.30. They did my blood pressure and listened to the baby's heartbeat.
By this time labour was in full motion and surges were coming every couple of minutes so the midwife told Jamie to start filling the birth pool up. Only trouble was it took two hours to fill the damn thing as the adapter didn't fit the kitchen sink tap!!! So poor Jamie had to run around boiling the kettle and pans on the hob to get it to the right temperature. It was a bit frustrating at this time because I didn't want him running around I wanted him next to me talking me through the breathing. In hindsight - we would have filled the pool halfway with cold water in the early hours and then just topped it up with hot water nearer the time - but hindsight is a wonderful thing!
Anyway, throughout the labour the midwives meanwhile were sat at my dining room table having a good old chat about what they had been up to and their plans for the weekend while I was at the other end of the room concentrating on the breathing. I have to say - because there was minimal interference from the midwives it did make me feel better - they were not concerned about anything which was reassuring. And to be honest I just wanted to be left alone to work through labour in my own way. I was offered gas and air and at one point had a go to see what would happen but nothing did happen so I didn't use it! They also felt how far I had dilated at one stage (during a surge as well!) but I told them I didn’t want to know and I also told them they would not be doing that again! they seemed okay with that. They were actually very lovely.
I started getting the feeling to push and tried the "birth" breathing exercises but after a while they became very strong and I knew then she was on her way down - and the pool still wasn't ready!!!
I swear that if that pool had been ready 2 hours prior I would have had Nadja earlier.When I eventually stepped in, the water was lovely and warm and I was in my element! It was almost like I was waiting for it to be ready because the surges became very strong after that and I had only been in there half an hour and Nadja arrived! I literally felt her come down and I put my hand down to feel her head and on the next push - whoosh - out she came. I think I was quite shocked she came so quickly - she was born at 10.46 am - after about 6 hours in "active" labour (compared to the 30+ hours with Luis!!) She was put straight on my chest and we cuddled for a while then Jamie cuddled her. She weighed 9lbs. The cord was cut after it stopped pulsating (Jamie was too scared to do it because the clamp was so near Nadja's belly he thought he might cut her when he cut the cord!) then about 10 mins later I had another very light surge and the placenta popped out - all intact. It looked like a massive jelly!
After that I climbed out the pool and the midwives and us all sat on the sofa and had tea and toast!
Nadja was then given Vitamin K by mouth (no jab!) and then she latched straight on and started feeding. It all seems so surreal still and the midwives were impressed I stuck by my guns in having a home birth after a C-section. They also said how calm I had been throughout labour which was nice and when they called to let the other midwives know they all cheered down the phone.
I think the two things that really helped the most while in labour was the breathing exercises - focussing on those really worked and also the visualisation of the blue ribbons and the opening rose....and Jamie just being there and talking me through the breathing - I couldn't thank him enough afterwards. He really was great on the day and it was such a great experience to share.
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Lauretta Wright - My Birth Story |
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Specialised hypnotherapy for FErtility, Pregnancy, childbirth and beyond... |
