"I never believed people when they said ‘you’ll know when to push’ until that very moment"
Welcoming Ava…
I’m a very organised and planned person by both nature and profession, so the unpredictability of when baby would arrive, wondering about how I would know the baby was coming and the thought of what we should do with our small person once he or she arrived made me incredibly anxious.
After hearing fantastic and encouraging recommendations to ‘see Shari’, I decided that I wanted to learn more about hypnobirthing. I wasn’t quite sure what it was or how it would help – but I’m so glad that my husband and I went along. We had a better understanding of what was to come and how we could work together to achieve a positive birthing experience.
We were told to expect our little one to arrive either ‘on time’ or ‘late’, so we continued to take each week and day as they came and remained confident that our baby would arrive when he or she was ready. It came as a great surprise that at 39 weeks and 1 day my surges started. As the day and the surges progressed we kept the house very quiet, the atmosphere chilled and I used the hypnobirthing breathing techniques to make it through each surge.
We kept in touch with the midwives throughout the stages of early labour and as my surges started lasting longer and coming at quicker intervals we made our way to the hospital. Once we arrived, the midwife on shift had my birth plan in hand which was such a relief. She had the room dimly lit and spoke quietly and calmly.
After a short time of being monitored, my waters broke and the surges began to intensify. I spent some time under a warm shower and began to feel the urge to push – I never believed people when they said ‘you’ll know when to push’ until that very moment. Throughout my labour I felt like I remained completely aware and focused on what my body needed to do. I remember waiting for that last surge and being overcome with excitement as our little person started making their way into the world. We were one push away from finding out if we had a little boy or girl!
On Saturday, 9 July at 3:48am my husband and I welcomed our little girl, Ava, into the world.
During the Belly2Birth Hypnobirthing course Shari likened labour to running a marathon, and she wasn’t kidding. However, I did find that with the right tools and techniques, the confidence that my body was built for birth, the respect of the Doctor and midwife and a fantastically supportive husband, the marathon to meeting our baby girl was made so much easier.
Shari, thank you for your wonderful course. Not only did we feel so much more connected to and excited to meet our little one, we were able to enjoy the remaining weeks of pregnancy and experience a beautiful birth!
Ashleigh & Dennis
