The Day We Met Our Baby Benjamin: 31^st August 2013

I started to feel like something was happening on the Friday. I had slight period like feelings and just knew it would be time soon. The feelings started to get stronger and by 6pm I knew that it was happening. . . I was going to meet my baby soon! I spent the night in bed next to my sleeping partner Matt. My Mum was also asleep in the next room. I didn’t want to wake them and also I was enjoying experiencing this special time, just me and my baby. It was like our little secret! I listened to ‘The Surge of the Sea’. I also listened to my favourite Deepak Chopra meditations to stay calm and relaxed. I managed to sleep in between surges, which at this point were definitely getting more noticeable. I flopped my body and completely relaxed through each surge. I breathed up with surge as I started to put myself in my 1 minute bubble. I found that when I didn’t flop and relax the surges actually hurt! At about 3 am I got up and woke up Mum and we had some cereal and a cup of tea. We were very excited about the day ahead of us! Around 7am I had a shower, put on the waterproof mascara and jumped on my birthing ball.

We spent the day listening to Melissa’s voice saying the affirmations that I had been listening to for so many months. I felt comforted by the familiar words and also excited that the day was finally here! I also listened to calming relaxing music, which I had always played throughout my pregnancy. Mum and I also grooved along to Elvis!
I found that my favourite hypnobirthing techniques used for our birth were: a) the flop! (Whenever a surge came I would flop into my mum’s or Matt’s arms and they would hold me up in a seated position) b) putting myself in my bubble (In my bubble I was at the beach with my beloved cattle dog Hunny. Hunny passed away the year before) and c) with each surge I would make myself get excited about jumping over the big wave, ride it for a while and then come back down the other side; the surge of the sea! When I felt them coming I would say to myself “Yay! Another wave to jump into, this is so much fun!” I knew that If I let myself get scared of the surges than I would lose my cool and feel out of control. It was so amazing to have this tool as I am very much someone who needs to feel in control. I would also put myself in my bubble and imagine Hunny. I would feel the sand between my toes and then reach down and run my fingers through Hunny’s thick cattle dog hair. This really grounded me and made me feel safe.

Around 2pm we called the hospital and they suggested that we stay at home a bit longer because my surges weren’t regular enough yet. This was disheartening and lied down on the bed in disappointment. For the next surge I didn’t do any of my hypnobirthing techniques and oh my goodness it really hurt!!!! I couldn’t believe how incredibly painful it was when I didn’t flop, breathe up and visualise the ocean waves! It was like a completely different experience! I then decided that I was not going to do that again!

I told Matt to go have a nap to prepare for the big night ahead. This was when it got serious! Mum and I tried to find the most comfortable position for the surges. I felt most comfortable on the toilet of all places! I would sit on the toilet and flop onto Mum each time a surge came. She was amazing at completely holding me up so I didn’t fall off the toilet!

Around 4:30 Matt woke up. He took one look at me and said “I think I’ll started timing this surges” and sure enough they were lasting for 1 minute and were coming every 3 minutes. His next sentence was “Lets call the hospital!”

Now we always said that we would recognise the signs of transition when they happened and that this would mean that our baby was almost here! However, it wasn’t until afterwards that we remembered I was experiencing the classic signs as I sat at the kitchen table and listened to Matt on the phone to the hospital. It went just like this! . . . “I’m freezing cold get me a blanket! Man it is soooo hot in here! Can you open the door?” The next sentence was “I can’t do this!” then followed very closely by “I’m going to sick!!”

The midwife on the phone asked if we would like to come in. Yay! It was time to go the hospital! Matt rushed around got the last minute things; I pod connections etc. Our birthing bag was in the car complete with essential oils, candles, bathers and snacks to nibble on.

I felt a very strong urge to go the toilet before we left but something told me to wait until we got to the hospital. . . I sat in the back of the car and completely let myself ride each of the waves at the beach with each surge. It was actually fun!

When we got to the hospital, the midwife did an examination. She looked at me and said “Heidi you are a legend! I can’t feel any cervix! You are ready to have your baby!” Yay!!!!! We all squealed and moved to the birth suite. Lucky I didn’t go to the toilet at home!! Matt whipped out our birth preferences sheet and handed them to the midwives. He also took out his ‘Hypnobirthing Partner’s Cheat Sheet’ and had it sitting just behind my head so he could read his prompts.

My mum was behind me and I held onto Matt looking into his eyes. With each surge our baby came closer and closer to us. Matt was amazing as he kept the affirmations coming. Again, I felt safe and happy to hear those words that I had been listening to for so long.

We had arrived at the hospital at 6:40pm and by 7:05pm our little Benjamin’s head popped into the world and still in his amniotic sac! He slipped out and into my arms where I held him so close as he squirmed around. Just like in the movies he blinked his big blue eyes and looked straight at me, then at his Daddy and then at his Grandma. It was like he was saying “Hello my family, thank you for being here with me for my journey into the world!”

We had skin-to-skin contact for at least an hour and I birthed my placenta naturally. The midwives were absolutely amazed with how well our birthing team worked together and with how calm, drug free and peaceful our birth was. They said they had never seen anything like it!

When we were in our hypnobirthing class many months earlier, I wrote my affirmation it said: “My baby’s birth will be magical and fun. We will be strong and amazing!” and it was exactly that!! Thank you Melissa for sharing hypnobirthing with us. We are truly blessed to have found such an awesome way to bring our baby Benjamin into the world.

Heidi and Matt, Mansfield, Queensland