The Birth of Tobias
It was the 21st March I was nearly a week overdue & I had had enough of being pregnant! (Second baby in less than 2 years) It got to midday & I started feeling increasingly uncomfortable & was bouncing on my birthing ball. I decided to go for a walk to bring on labour/feel more comfortable I love the outdoors & it’s my happy place. Whilst walking round Newmillerdam I started having contractions so was using my breathing techniques taught to me by Hannah. My sister & my best friend just kept making me laugh & taking my mind off the surges, all things that I knew would help me manage the situation.
We got home I went for a wee & discovered my plug had gone. From this point on the surges became more intense. This pregnancy/labour was so much different than my first born (which lasted 3 days) I felt more in control & able to manage the surges better. I had heard about coronavirus & everything going on in the news but was lucky enough to still be able to have the option of a home water birth. I put the whole situation to the back of my mind & focused on the here & now.
My husband started to set up the birthing pool & my calm area in our living room. He set up fairy lights, tea light candles, baby powder wax melts, photos of our first born, our dog, family & friends all so I could see them to make me smile. He set up an area for the midwives on the table & collected our “birthing box” full of all our hospital bag essentials for our new arrival.
My brother in law came to look after the dog & my mum came to take our 19 month old to her house & it felt all so real at that point. My husband began to sort the birthing pool ready to fill while my sister & i put on “Hustle” a comedy film. Hannah had said to get your birthing area calm, cozy & a happy place. I was so chilled in our living room, managing my surges with my sister & husband rubbing my back & watching the film. It got to around 2am, 6 hours of me having surges & I knew it was getting more intense. We rang the home birth team to let them know what was going on. We began to fill the birthing pool, listen to music & the hypnobirthing MP3’s Hannah had sent. I had used the MP3’s in the bath during pregnancy so knew they would put my mind into a good place. When the midwives arrived I got into the birthing pool & continued to breathe through my surges. My husband & sister were by my side & constantly making me laugh. Things started to get intense so I asked for gas & air, the midwives listened to everything my husband said (no checking how dilated I was & minimal interference) they were amazing in all honesty!
It got to around 8:00am & the surges were so intense I couldn’t take gas & air anymore. My husband continued to stroke my back & talk to me. He spoke with the midwives without me having to say a word. At around 8:40 the midwives told me & my husband I’d need to get out of the birthing pool as the babies heart rate was dropping, inside I was gutted, my first born was a water birth & I wanted the same for this baby but I knew it was best. I moved into a squat position from being on my knees & said to the midwives I’d move in a second but I knew a surge was coming. A surge came & I could feel our baby moving so I pushed & the babies head crowned. I remained in the pool, continued to push through the next surge & our baby was born. I had my baby cradled in my arms, exhausted but so relieved, I wasn’t even checking what gender our child was. I turned him over & I remember my husband saying we have another boy. I just held him close to me, my sister was nearly in tears, my husband & myself. The cord was clamped & after a while my husband cut the cord. Our son was checked over by a midwife whilst the other midwife helped me naturally deliver the placenta. I then got out of the pool, laid on our sofa with our new son & just took the moment all in. Honestly after my first birth (which wasnt exactly as planned) I’d got fear in my mind. Where as this birth I had less painkillers I remembered every bit but I loved every moment. Doing the hypnobirthing class with Hannah not only prepared me but my husband as well. It felt so calm having our home birth & the perfect environment. I would recommend it to anyone, it just puts you in a great headspace & Hannah has been in touch since to see how everything went & loves getting updates.
The day after Tobias was born the UK went into lockdown & he wasn’t able to meet our family & friends. I used the techniques taught to me in hypnobirthing to help me deal with anxieties of being a mum to 2 & now stuck in doors & also weirdly with breastfeeding which has been a breeze. We had a perfect little baby boy Tobias Christopher Wood, born 8:46am weighing 9lbs 8oz. I can’t wait for the world to go back to a bit of normality so everyone can meet him & home births can be a thing again.
Liz and Jamie
