"Home birth"

After a really hard time trying to get pregnant and 7 losses within the first trimester, we finally had a successful pregnancy which resulted in our gorgeous son being born.

Every day in the lead up to his birth I would listen to my affirmations in the shower and I would fall asleep every night listening to one of my hypnobirthing tracks. I celebrated my birthday with a nice lunch at a winery followed by an evening beach walk and Indian take away. I went to bed that night at 39 weeks pregnant, so content knowing that year was going to be my best year yet. At 3:30am I got up to go to the toilet and I had noticed my waters had broken. They say to get as much sleep as you can but I was wayyyyy too excited to go back to sleep no matter how hard I tried. I wondered whether I should wake my husband to let him know but decided to let him sleep knowing he was in for a long day/night. At 5am I got up and started listening to my affirmations. Today was the day I would meet my rainbow baby!

My husband got up and we sat in participation waiting for the contractions to start. I messaged my private midwife to let her know that my waters had broken. Around 8am the contractions started. They came on nice and slowly. I just kept moving and tried to stay comfortable. At about 9am they began to get more intense and I spent quite a bit of time in the shower. My husband was always close by, timing my contractions. I wanted to take full advantage of the light touch and massage techniques we learnt in Hypnobirthing, but it turns out I didn’t want any touch haha. I used my hypnobirthing breathing and had my tracks on repeat.

My midwife arrived at 12:30 after my husband text her saying I was thinking of heading to the hospital for pain medication. My husband then filled the pool and I just about bombied in there. It was instant relief. My midwife did an assessment shortly after and I was about 4cm. She did a stretch and sweep and within minutes I was 7cm. Transition was tough. I remained in the pool trying different positions suggested by midwife. Without being told, I had an urge to start pushing. After a few big pushes and lots of roaring, my little man was out and in my arms at 2:41pm. I had a minor tear and a few grazes. The feeling of happiness (and relief) was overwhelming! Our son was 3.6kg and 53cm long.

During my pregnancy there were a few concerns that my placenta was valementous so I was a bit anxious about birthing it and whether I would have complications. It took a little longer than normal to birth but it came out successfully and it was confirmed valementous.

It was so surreal having a home birth. At 5:30 that evening my husband and I were sitting with our son on the couch watching TV as a family of 3. That morning he was still inside my belly. I believe my short labour was due to having a home birth in such a relaxed and calm environment, and I was only confident enough to have a home birth because we completed the hypnobirthing classes with Kasey, as all of the tools we learnt made for such a great experience.

I can’t believe our little man is now thriving!