Penny's Story

A Hospital Water HypnoBirthing®

Sunday 27^th September

Went to a children’s birthday party with my husband Gary and my 3year old son Morgan and about 20 minutes into it (around 3.30pm) I started getting surges every 7 to 10 minutes, but a little irregular and not strong. I chose to just put the surges to the back of my mind as they were barely noticeable.

It was funny because when I started the course one of my fears was not being able to get to the hospital on time because Morgan was such a quick delivery, I was anticipating it being even quicker this time but the course had made me feel so relaxed that it wasn’t a worry, I was calm.

After about an hour I told Gary my husband and not to worry as they were so far apart. It was quite nice because we were amongst most of our closest friends so they were quite pleased and excited for us to hear things had started!!

We continued to play with Morgan at the party, I found leaning over the ball pool side made them less noticeable. After an hour or so nothing had really changed so we headed back to my parents’ house rather than the hospital to see if anything progressed from there. We were staying with my parents’ at the time because of building work at our house. It was quite handy to have alot of close family around for extra support especially for Morgan. When we got back I rang the birthing centre who told me we were welcome to come in even if it were just a check up. I gave it an hour of which by this point the surges were every 4 to 5 mins and said goodnight to Morgan, my parents and my brother and headed up to the hospital.

It all turned out to be a no show, when we arrived I was really reluctant to unpack my bag, I think deep down I knew it wasn’t happening yet. The midwife checked me and said I was 2cms, she also with much annoyance to Gary did a sweep without asking us but by the by it did nothing. I lay on the bed for a bit and then eventually decided to go home. I was quite frustrated on the way home, the surges had now eased off and I almost felt like a fraud. Gary was very encouraging and kept reminding me we were a week early, but I felt really ready.

All through the night the surges continued but they were really light and without regularity and by morning they were gone.

2pm Monday 28^th September 2009

By the afternoon I was a little fed up and decided to take a long walk and by the time I got back I was fairly tired so took a nap. At last I was woken up again with some new and strong surges!

By 3pm the surges timed at every 7 to 10 mins and they were quite strong, I also found that every time I sat down and relaxed they would ease and slow, so i decided to pace the kitchen and move around on the birthing ball to keep active.

By 6pm the surges were every 4-7 mins and I’m feeling fairly relaxed if a little excited.

I remembered last time Gary didn’t eat properly before the birth of Morgan so I insisted we order in before we headed off to the hospital again. It was great because I wasn’t feeling anxious like I thought I would, I was actually feeling really in control, which was something I really wanted.

I paced the kitchen while everyone ate and thought I’d better let the birthing unit know we were coming before I tucked into something myself. They asked us what time they should expect us and could we try to get there for 7 so to give them time to prep a birthing pool room for us. The midwife also asked if i had eaten and I told her I was just about to have some pizza. She strongly advised against it and said i should just try to eat something plain with plenty of slow release fibre as the fatty foods would more than likely make me sick when surges got stronger. I agreed and just ate some crackers and water as nausea was something I really didn’t want. I was so sick with Morgan’s birth that I planned on having the anti-nausea injection as soon as we arrived this time.

6.40pm Finally we were ready to leave surges were every 5 mins. We said goodnight to Morgan again but this time told him he'd be getting a little brother by the morning, I was so sure he was coming this time, I think you just know.

On the way there I reclined my passenger seat and put my iPod on with the birthing affirmations and shut my eyes. Every time I had a surge I would just put my thumb up for Gary so he’d know to go a little bit slower.

We arrived at 7pm on the dot still timing the surges on the stop watch of my iphone which were now every 4-5 mins. As soon as we got in we gave the midwives our notes along with our birthing plan, we explained we were practicing a Hypnobirth and that all the details were in our notes, the midwife smirked slightly but agreed, she seems very sceptical and I didn’t get a particularly brilliant vibe but Gary thinks she’s ok and tries to put my mind at ease.

We get in the birthing suite and I start unpacking knowing its time, the midwife examines me and says we are still only 2cms but I’m not bothered and tell them we are staying.

I try to keep active by bouncing and moving around on the birthing ball whilst resting my arms over the bed, Gary sits the other side stoking my forearms and hands. The surges are getting stronger now and the midwife comes back offering me a back massage with scented oils. It sounds like a nice idea so agree.

My midwife clocks off her shift and another one comes in holding just my birthing plan. Wendy Richards, she is smiley and very friendly looking. She asks us loads of questions about the Hypnobirthing and seems genuinely interested and exited to be doing a Hypnobirth with us, she says she had heard of them and always wanted to be a part of one and to see what it was like, which really brought my spirits up!

After about 30 mins of her being there I am starting to feel sick and ask for the anti-nausea injection which she gets me right away, the sickness is a clear sign that things are progressing and after a while I ask when can I go in the pool as the other midwife had said she would need to examine me first. Wendy simply says as soon as you feel ready you can get in, I’m not going to examine you again because there is no need she says that it would be less intrusive for the Hypnobirthing, I was so impressed it really sounded like she had been looking into it!

They run the water in the pool and I stepped in with a little help from Gary, I had it as warm as I was allowed to as I was feeling quite chilly, there was a little dolphin thermometer floating around the pool which I found quite amusing and also found it quite a nice focus point!

Gary and i both tried out the gas and air but it didn’t really do much for me, I guess I just wanted to see what it did. Gary was hogging it all anyway, I did try telling him it was supposed to be for me but it was nice that we were joking around through it all.

Gary put on the birthing affirmations for me, I tried various positions and closed my eyes for a bit then we talked quite for a while. I hummed and breathed through the surges and time was flying by. I was finding it hard to fill my balloon by now due to the tightening and was now relying on the humming alone which worked very well. I did this sitting upright with my head back over the edge of the pool and my legs crossed. The midwife had said it was the best position to open up my birthing canal to breath my baby down. It was working because after a little while Gary and I were just sitting in the room by ourselves and there was a loud pop! Gary called the midwife in, my waters had broken and immediately I felt him move downwards, the pressure was very noticeable not like a surge or pain but pressure like he had been sucked downwards from where my waters were escaping, it was a weird sensation, completely different from when my waters broke at Morgan’s birth. The midwife did a couple of small checks, baby’s heartbeat etc and then left us to it again.

After about 10 maybe 15 mins from my waters braking I started to feel myself going into lull and was laid out in the pool with my eyes barely open. Gary was occasionally spraying my face with water as I had started getting waves of heat. I had also started feeling nauseous with the surges again but then I had the sudden urge to push, it happened three times but I just went with it.

By this point I was lying on my side and I could just hear Gary and the midwifes telling me to lift up my leg and to breath or pant between the urges to push, For some reason I just froze, and didn’t feel like I was able to lift my leg up, so Gary and Wendy helped me and it felt as if he just slid out in two fluid motions, it was a surreal sensation, completely different from last time, natural but weird at the same time because it was a painless thing!

10.14pm Lucas Marc Budd is born!

The midwifes lifted him up and put him straight on my chest and then covered him with some towels. They waited till the cord had stopped pulsing for Gary to cut then he was handed to Wendy for his check over. I think my main relief after was that I was no longer pregnant not that the labour had stopped, I had actually found the whole experience really exhilarating!

Afterwards Wendy chatted to me while we waited for my placenta to come out naturally; she kept saying that I was in the zone and still seemed like I was in it, she seemed quite impressed, asking loads of questions about it. She later told me that while we were labouring Lucas had been back to back right up until the last ten minutes when he had turned and that must have been just before I had the urges to push. She didn’t want to tell us so as not to worry us, and it turned out to be best.

Gary was a real sceptic about the Hypnobirthing and only came to one out of the four sessions but after the birth he said it was amazing, he’s telling our friends that he actually felt a little bored because he didn’t have to do much!!

Comparing the two births we laboured for 2hours 45 in the hospital with Morgan and arrived feeling really out of control and panicked but with Lucas we laboured for 3hours 14 in the hospital and felt brilliant throughout!

You can actually see the difference in the birth of Lucas compared to Morgan in the pictures of me just after they are born.

Lucas’s Birth Morgan’s Birth