Hypnobirthing prepares you for whatever turn your birthing may take.
Our baby girl, Ella May joined us earthside 2 weeks earlier and is now 2.5 months old.
After the course, I spent 30 minutes to an hour every night sitting on my exercise ball in the nursery, listening to the soundtracks. Allowing me to slow down and breathe, even after a big day at work.
2 weeks after the course (34 weeks), I ended up in the hospital for decreased movements which was quite scary but because of the course I have been able to remain calm and just tap into my baby and look for a small sign for her to tell me that she is okay in there.. she would then have hiccups. I felt so relieved.
On the 27th of December, it was my third time in hospital because of decreased movements, so my midwife and I decided it was time to began an induction as I couldn’t feel her moving or even a hiccup. I knew it was better to get her earthside than wait any longer. We started with the less invasive prolactin gel which kick-started tightenings straight away,
They were intense. I was taken to my room and told that I would be checked in 6 hours to then receive a second dose of the gel if required. The 6 hours, turned into 10 hours and During this time, the tightenings were only becoming more frequent and intense and through an internal, nothing was really moving along so I was provided with a stretch and sweep and sent back to my room. The following day I was provided with another round of gel to help my body start doing what it needed to do.. my cervix was still closed and quite long and I was told I may need the balloon - I refused.
I began walking up the hallway of the hospitals for hours with my Mum and Tysen to try and get her as low as possible. I had not slept as the tightenings were intense and I was trying so hard not to take any medication to ease the intensity. On the 29th of December at 2am I was taken back down by a midwife to check how the second round of prolactin gel went. I was then told that I was 3cm dilated and that my waters could be broken and we could have a baby! Two doctors later, and my waters finally broke. Laying on my back in the bed, all I see is doctors literally jumping out of the way as my waters shoot across the room. For a moment, Tysen and I broke out in a fit of laughter as it reminded me of a woman’s waters breaking in the movies. I was hooked up to the drip 10 minutes later and I was slowly bouncing on an exercise ball on the side of the bed, lights off, the diffuser on, headphones on with the soundtrack playing. I was in my element. I had been gearing up for this moment. A contraction would come and I would lean forward and breathe the gas to help me through it while Tysen nearly snapped his finger in my lower back to relieve the pressure. It was bearable, “I got this” I began to tell myself.
The midwife sat back in the corner of the room as Tysen and I had our set up, we knew what to do and we both remained calm through the early hours of the morning. The midwife then cranked up the level of gel, by doubling the amount. It became really intense, really quickly. By 10 am the pain became unbearable, I requested an epidural. I was so exhausted from 3 nights of no sleep. I remember the midwife explaining that the anaesthetist was finishing up in surgery and then will be coming to me. At this point, I became the woman down the hall screaming through the contractions. 4cm dilated and 1 hour and a half later, I remember crying to Tysen telling him how cruel this was to have me waiting this long.
The midwives did their shift swap and Finally, the anaesthetist arrived and I sucked the gas so much so I didn’t feel anything when he popped the needle in my back. I was able to calm myself down and get my mindset right. I suddenly became extremely itchy all over my body. I was given an antihistamine and it settled eventually. Finally, I was able to get some rest. A few hours later I began to feel contractions a lot stronger than before. My epidural had stopped working completely. Within 20 minutes, the anaesthetist returned to top up my amount and I stopped feeling the contractions. Suddenly thr baby’s heart rate began to go up and then would settle and then go back up and then settle. I then got a fever and required antibiotics which put a hold on progressing.
At 7 pm the midwife came to do the normal 4-hour internal check to see what was happening down there and with excitement, she stated I was completely dilated and to give my body one hour for the baby to get as low as she could for me to then start pushing. The midwife then did a shift swap and I welcomed a new midwife in the room, man oh man do I wish I had her from the start.. she politely began getting the room ready, keepIng the room dimly lit, setting up the table where the baby will go if she requires any assistance to breathe. I suddenly began to feel extremely itchy ALL over my body again. I wasn’t allowed to have another antihistamine so Tysen and my Mum used paper towels and ice water to place on my body to soothe the itching, literally turning me into a paper mache.
The midwife then requested to do an internal for her to know where baby was positioned. I was then told that I wasn’t actually 10cm dilated, that I was about 9cm and that she could still feel my cervix around the babies head. She then had a long pause during her internal and went to get a doctor for a second opinion. The doctor agreed that my pelvis was too narrow for the baby to even come out and that the position of baby will end up with her getting stuck and distressed. my waters had been broken for 18 hours and I had been in labour for 29. The doctor stated that this was too long and we need to move quickly. Suddenly my quiet and calm space wasn’t so calm.
Within minutes, I was signing a form for an emergency c-section and Tysen was getting dressed into scrubs at the end of the bed. Before I knew it I was taken into an operating room which felt like 20 doctors were in there staring at me. My body went into shock from all the drugs and i began to shake Uncrown trolls my, chattering teeth and all. Even at this point, I felt quite calm. I was about to meet our baby. The doctors thought I was cold Due to the shaking and kept layering me with blankets and didn’t realise until they gave me another drug to help the nausea from pushing on my uterus that it was my body going into shock. As they delivered our baby girl, my uterus was ruptured. A doctor explained to me that my pelvis is quite small and I would have to have a very small baby to have a vaginal birth. I was heartbroken. Suddenly we heard this loud cry and it was an instant sigh of relief.
I thank you for your course as even though I didn’t get the birthing experience that I desired, I was able to keep a clear mindset and feel calm, reassuring myself that my body will do its best and when it can’t - I will have help.
At 9:38pm our baby girl was born at 7pounds 10 ounces of pure perfection.
Holly & Tysen - Gold Coast
To attend a Childbirth Education and Hypnobirthing Course online Gold Coast CLICK HERE
To book an Online Course with Belly2Birth or the Hypnobubs Online Program CLICK HERE
