This week’s birth story comes from a lovely couple Aysha and Josh who attended a TCBS Hypnobirthing Refresher Course with Charlotte Inkpin of Hypnobirthing with Charlotte, covering areas across Braintree, Essex.
Thank you for sharing your birth story of their gorgeous baby boy with us!
“I had been having Braxton hicks on & off for a couple of weeks so didn’t think much of it when I started getting surges around 1pm on the Wednesday afternoon. I went to pick my daughter up from nursery, went for a walk & chatted about her day. If it was the start I wanted to stay at home for as long as possible, doing things to release oxytocin. Remembering from Charlotte’s classes that oxytocin & being relaxed can help with labour. Fast forward to around 6:30pm, surges were every 5mins, this was definitely it!
While we waited for them to get to every 2/3mins. I had a bath & listened to the birth rehearsal track. During this time my daughter came in & played with her toy animals, even using my belly as an island! She practiced her calm breathing with me & loved counting with the timer I was using to measure the surges. It might not sound relaxing to some but having that time with her was perfect to me. I put the TENS machine on after & it stayed on until delivery (I’d received the TENS machine from Charlotte the day before so very good timings!)
By 8pm I know it was time to go! Surges were 2/3mins & much stronger we needed to get to the hospital! Arriving at Broomfield, I was 6cms dilated & luckily there was a birthing pool free which is what I had really hoped for during the whole pregnancy! By the time we made it to the room (stopping on route during each surge) by body had started to want to bear down.
While waiting for the birthing pool to fill, my waters literally ‘popped’. At this point I found myself in the corner of this big room leaning over the bed, I knew I couldn’t move as the surges where strong & frequent. I remember feeling so determined using my birth breathing technique that he was going to arrive any moment!
By the time the birthing pool was filled (and an hour after arriving at the hospital) Theo had made his entry into the world at 6lb 15oz. Josh jokes it was lovely having a water feature during delivery. I didn’t even have time to unpack the candles, oils or anything else I had brought in for the labour. It was only my playlist that we managed to get on.
I didn’t get the water birth that I was planning for but staying at home for as long as possible meant I got that special time with my daughter while my body prepared to birth my son.
I can’t thank Charlotte enough; we did a hypnobirthing refresher course with Charlotte & it was honestly fantastic! I was extremely anxious before doing the course about giving birth again as my daughter’s birth was very medical & heavy monitored but after the refresher, I felt so much more positive & it gave me the confidence to take control over what I wanted for this pregnancy & birth. To also believe that my body & baby knew exactly what they were doing & to go with it.
I also must mention Nicola (@feel_lifted), I cannot recommend Charlotte & Nicola enough! They were a massive part of my journey as I first started seeing them both for fertility reflexology alongside guided meditation. They are both so lovely & so so supportive! They definitely helped me through moments when I was feeling a second baby was just not meant to be but here is his! So, thank you, worth the wait”
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