This week’s birth story comes from a gorgeous couple who attended a TCBS Hypnobirthing Course with Bryony Bugg of Beefearless Hypnobirthing.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful birth story of Jenson with us!
“My birth story began on Wednesday the 12th April I was booked in for an induction at 7am as I had Cholestasis so with doctors’ advice we felt it was safer for myself and baby to bring on labour 3 weeks early. I love to plan so in a way it was exciting to know baby would be with us soon! The journey up to the hospital I sat calmly listening to my birth medication MP3’s given to me by Bryony and felt so calm and excited knowing we would meet our little boy soon.
As we arrived at the hospital my consultant didn’t waste any time and started induction with a gel pessary. We waited 2 hours in our room she examined me, but no dilation yet so decided to start the hormone drip. This wasn’t how I ever imagined my birth story to begin but one of the main things I learnt from hypnobirthing was how to keep calm in situations as I can get quite anxious. I could start to feel light surges within 20 mins of being on the drip but while we waited myself and my husband just chatted, laughed together and watched our favourite shows to pass the time.
After another 2 hours my surges started to ramp up but with my breathing techniques they were really manageable. We moved into the delivery suite as due to me having Cholestasis they needed to constantly monitor baby’s heartbeat. I really didn’t want to feel like I just had to stay in bed so asked frequently if I could walk around or use the ball, we made the room feel as chilled as possible with dimmed lighting and music on. The midwife checked again but I had only dilated 1cm. My consultant then broke my waters to try and bring on labour, that’s when the surges really increased.
A few more hours passed, and the surges were coming every minute and quite intense but still no pain relief I just used my breathing techniques. I found this way more helpful than using gas and air, just with breathing techniques alone I got through around 6 hours on no pain relief. With some intense surges coming along I sat on the ball listening to my playlist I had prepared whilst my husband put pressure on my back to help relieve some of the back pain. From my husband coming to the hypnobirthing session with me he felt so much more prepared and knew how to help me when I needed it. I had another examination, and I still hadn’t dilated more than 1cm. The surges began to get quite intense at this point and started to feel a little disheartened that I wasn’t dilating so I opted for an epidural which I was open to, I always said I would see how I felt on the day and felt comfortable having one. After 6/7 hours on the drip and no dilation my consultant threw around the idea of a c-section as she said I should be more dilated than this by now and maybe baby wasn’t in the right position. The idea of a c-section before this day really scared me, it’s never how I imagined my birth story would go. However, I felt so calm and just so excited to meet my boy I turned to my husband and agreed to a c-section. I just couldn’t wait to meet him.
Around 8pm they wheeled me into the theatre room, and I kept doing my breathing techniques and imagined hearing my baby cry that’s what kept me so calm throughout the whole prep and beginning of surgery. My heart rate did start to climb at one point with my nerves kicking in but with my husband by my side he helped me get my breathing back to a calm state. As the surgery started, I held my husband’s hand while we both just chatted together to keep me calm. Then at 8:33pm we heard our gorgeous baby boys cry for the first time, we both grinned from ear to ear at each other! They brought him round straight away all wrapped up and we had a little cuddle. My husband then went with them while they got him changed and while I got stitched back up. This is something we both agreed on for him to go with baby. While I laid there for 30 mins all I remember is having the biggest smile on my face and just couldn’t wait to go give my boy a hug snuggle. The consultant did say that baby’s head wasn’t engaged, and he was tucked into my left side so that’s why I was struggling to dilate. They wheeled me back into the room with my son and husband and instantly tried to get my son to breastfeed, he thankfully latched straight away the most magical moment.
Having a c section was definitely something that I was scared about but even my husband was shocked with how calm and collected I was. If it wasn’t for our Hypnobirthing sessions, I definitely think my anxiety would have got the better of me. Me and my husband always say that that day was such a happy chilled day. Thank you so much Bryony with your help my anxiety didn’t get in the way, and we had such a lush birthing experience”.
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