"Unmedicated waterbirth"

Officially one day overdue. Saw Hayley from MGP and asked for an internal to see if she would be able to do a stretch and sweep. She told me that I was 1cm dilated and my cervix was 1.5cm long and very soft. This news made me so happy!!

I then saw Bruce for acupuncture - my second appointment with him.

The following day I woke very deflated, still being pregnant and decided to take my other child out to a park to kill some time and burn his energy. Once he was down for his midday nap I sat on the birth ball, had my birth preparation tea and rubbed clary sage into my belly. It was at early afternoon that I was reading a book and noticed a braxton hicks that felt different to the ones I had been having. I then had a loose bowel movement. The braxton hicks were coming around every 10-15 minutes. Me wanting to go into labour, I was walking around the house trying to bring them on.

We carried on getting dinner ready, breathing through each surge while bathing and putting my child to bed. That evening, I went to the toilet and found the smallest amount of light brown discharge on my pad. I then had a quick shower as I wanted to get into some warm water and wash my hair. Once I got out, we called Hayley to discuss what she thought we should do. The plan was to stay at home and keep her updated once I had three surges in 10 minutes. I then went to the toilet to send a photo to Hayley of the discharge and some of my mucous plug came out - it was very clear with the smallest amount of blood in it. I then sat in our bedroom on the birth ball where I could see the sunlight disappearing and listened to the hypnobirthing soundtracks to get me in the zone. It was nice and cool with the ceiling fan on and I was staying hydrated by sipping ice water. I was keeping track of the surges on an app without actually looking at my phone. My partner transferred our child to my partner’s parents that night - I was upset knowing my child was leaving without me saying goodbye and without seeing him one last time before he became a big brother.

Once my partner returned and looked at the app on my phone and saw how close the surges were he suggested we go to the hospital. I thought it was heading in too early as I hadn’t even gotten in the shower. My partner sent a screenshot of my surge times to Hayley who then suggested we head in to the hospital and meet in about 30 minutes time. I was calm but a little concerned when the surges in the car became more spaced apart. When we arrived, we were shown into the birth suite that was the closest to the hospital bath birthing suite. I went straight into the shower, sitting on the birth ball with water running down my back. I was also holding the handheld head so that I could place it on my belly when each surge started. My partner was handing me lollies and had coconut water that I could sip on. Hayley suggested after a while for me to move positions and go onto my knees, laying over the ball. This made the surges stronger in the front and I found the hot water pressure from the handheld head wasn’t really doing anything anymore. I was starting to become vocal.

Hayley and my partner advised the bath was ready and wanted me to move - I was unsure about this, scared that I wasn’t far enough along and that it wouldn’t provide enough relief. I did say to my partner that I was struggling and may need the gas.

It was nearly midnight. I slowly got up - had one surge on the ball and then stood and was wrapped by a towel and sheet to walk across the corridor. As I was getting into the bath, a surge was coming on. The bath brought a weightless sensation but the surges were so strong that I did lose where I was in the zone with my breathing. I told my partner and Hayley after two surges that I was struggling and wanted the gas. My body was starting to bear down with the next surge and I told Hayley and my partner that I could feel that but it also felt like I needed to poo. Hayley then went and grabbed the torch. I could then feel the babies head come down with the next surge and as the peak of the surge hit, it then moved back up inside of me. I realised that Hayley wasn’t getting the gas and then as the next surge came, I was pushing. I felt the baby crowning so I put my hand down to feel the head as I did with my first child. As my hand reached the babies head, I felt it move so took my hand away and then within that same surge the babies body flowed out into the water behind me.

My partner and Hayley then had to grab bub to pass through my legs for me to hold. We then looked and found we had a baby girl!

I was moved back to the birth suite for an hour of skin on skin and our first feed. The placenta was delivered naturally on the toilet after the hour.

I am still in disbelief that everything went so smoothly.

We are so thankful for the Positive Birthing Classes as it refreshed our knowledge of our rights and gave us all of the tools to use throughout pregnancy to prepare for labour and birth. We recommend this course and the MGP to anyone who is expecting.