Our little cherub Camille arrived at 40 weeks + 5 days on 15/07/15.

The Hypnobirthing techniques really helped, especially when I put on my headphones and really zoned everything else out.

My labour kicked off around 2am and I chilled out at home until 9am when things started moving more quickly. We checked in to hospital at around 10am at only 3cm dialated but I felt things progressing rapidly enough that I didn’t want to go home. My waters broke in the exam room and I was moved into a birthing suite shortly after. Unfortunately there were no water birth rooms available, but hopefully I’ll snag one for the next baby 🙂

I spent most of my time hanging over the back of the bed and I had a small ‘running away’ experience during transition where I simply had to leave the bed and go to the toilet before I breathed my baby down – I simply couldn’t stay there – which resulted in our little Angel being born on the floor in front of the toilet in a total of 5 surges! She wasn’t a poo after all lololol. All in all it was a total of 12 hours labour, of which only 4 was intense and required quite a lot of focus (and support).
My only advice to you all is for the birth partners (because I already know all you Mums have been doing loads of prep and will be just fine). Don’t underestimate your role. Do heaps of prep, read your partners cheat sheet, use lots of different forms of encouragement, and don’t forget the Grounding Touch it can really help if you’ve reinforced it enough times before hand 🙂

Good Luck to you all – and here’s to a super positive birth experience for everyone!

Xxx

Cate, Mark and Cami,

Brighton, Brisbane, Queensland