Ellis on his birth day
Ellis arrived on July 28th,one week and a day late, at 5.37pm in a birthing pool. I was not expecting that, but it was actually very nice. For those of a nervous disposition, what follows is a full and honest report of the birth and there’s a pic of me and him in the birthing pool….. just in case you are squeamish. You have been warned! The hypnobirthing worked like a charm. I listened to the CDs and did my homework and I used the technique for the membrane sweep I had on the Saturday – just put the relaxation CD on and when I was suitably relaxed let the midwife get on with it. She was very impressed and said she wished everyone was as relaxed as I was.
Then when the surges started at 6.45am a couple of days later I pottered about sorting stuff out and cleaning (what a cliché!) until things got too regular to allow me to do anything else. So I used the hypnobirthing again as it got more painful and it was amazing. I was calm, relaxed and ready for the birth. I used my mobile phone to type in the times of the surges which helped me keep track of how things were going. At round 1pm things started to get a bit strong and a bit closer together so I called my other half to come home from work. He arrived at 2pm (I was ready to kill him because I couldn’t get the tens machine on) and as the surges were around 3-4 minutes apart we called the hospital. They said come in but don’t rush. We strapped on the tens machine and piled into the car. At the time they were still building the shopping mall in the centre of town so I remember getting stuck in traffic and clinging onto the dashboard growling as men in yellow vests sauntered by. I got to hospital at about 3pm. By the time we got there I was really getting ready to have the baby. I remember being on all fours in the waiting room making deliberately low noises like we practiced in yoga and asking Simon to “Go and find somewhere for me to have this baby”. They took one look at me, booked me into a room and I handed over the birth plan. It turns out I was in transition.
I had an internal exam lying on my back which showed I was 6cm dilated and was the most painful bit of the whole experience! The midwife noticed I had mentioned a water birth if I possible and I was whisked off to the pool. I got in there at around 4pm and it was very welcome, July 28th was the hottest day of the year. I kept listening to the hypnotic suggestions and my husband was good at giving me lots of positive affirmations. I remember my mind running through all the affirmations on the CD during the surges and I never once felt I couldn’t cope. I didn’t ask for pain relief until I had been in the pool a while. When I did finally ask the midwife said no! Apparently I was doing fine on my own. She did relent eventually and I had gas and air which is great stuff. Seriously it was fantastic.
Our little man just after he arrived
Things progressed pretty quickly after that and I don’t really remember much. I was asked if I wanted to feel the sack as my waters had not broken and I distinctly remember saying “No, why would I want to feel that?” Then they broke and his head was there and then Ellis was in the water, with the midwife scrabbling around trying to catch him. He was a slippery little fellow! He weighed 8lb 14oz and had all the requisite fingers and toes
I was the one in a state – I had a second degree tear that the midwife couldn’t find the end of so I had to go into theatre and have an epidural so they could fix me. Again I used the hypnobirthing to stay calm and relax. Ellis stayed with his daddy and got rid of all the meconium onto daddy’s arms and front – a situation that left daddy looking like James Herriot after a particularly intrusive bovine incident and forced a paternal clothes change. It seemed fair at the time. All in all it was a good birth, all over in 10 hours or so and nothing I couldn’t cope with – I wish everyone’s could be like that. I have to say thanks to Nerissa for the lessons in pregnancy yoga with low birth noises and Maria for the hypnobirthing lessons. Both made it a wonderful, less scary and easier thing than I ever imagined.
And now it begins……
