Well, our littlest man ” Josh Riven ” decided to arrive early (36 weeks). He was born on our kitchen floor last Thursday, 17 May at 13:32! Unfortunately Mark didn’t make it in time for the birth but he is just as thrilled as I am with the outcome and how much of a difference the Hypnobirthing techniques made to the whole experience! As things happened so quickly we didn’t even have the chance to make use of the scripts, light touch massage or relaxation music. What I drew upon were the breathing techniques and they were invaluable, in fact they worked so well I was convinced that I was just having practice surges ” not actual labour!

I awoke that May morning with what I thought were the usual practice surges I’d been having most mornings of my 3rd trimester. My practice surges were always reasonably strong so I had become accustomed to slow breathing through them on the train to work ” the first time I did this I was amazed at the difference and so my confidence grew with the thought of slow breathing through the “real” surges. Mark went off to work as I reassured him I was seeing my obstetrician at 9:30am so all was fine and I would let him know what the doc thought.

At the hospital, I explained to my doc and midwife that I thought I was having my usual false surges that morning. After checking my belly and a chat about my doctors recent trip to Antarctica we agreed that the surges were false and I would see them next week. I told Mark there was nothing to worry about and the doc would see me next week. At this stage my “practice” surges were still there but only occurred at random intervals.

I got home and the minute I started tucking into my scrambled eggs on toast for lunch (eggs, I just couldn’t get enough of them!) a surge kicked in with a trickling of water ” I still wasn’t convinced and thought it may have been a “show”. I called the hospital just in case and they told me to see if the surges got more intense over the next few hours and to call them back if they did…. so after around 5 minutes, I called back as the next surge was certainly more intense with more waters flowing! At that point the hospital staff told me it was too late to drive 30min into the North West Private Hospital and that I would have to call an ambulance immediately. Even at this point I was in disbelief ” surely an ambulance is a bit dramatic, I’ll just call my dad (who only lived around the corner) and he could drive me in. The lady at the other end strongly insisted… so I tried calling dad He was not answering his mobile or his home phone… by this point the surges were almost on top of each other and so I resigned to calling 000. Lucky I did because after the 8 minutes of speaking to the 000 officer, the paramedics arrived and Josh was born on our kitchen floor… right in front of the oven

It wasn’t until I was talking to the 000 operator that I felt the urge to breath bub down and the realisation hit me that I was about to give birth!!! So many things ran through my head ” I was on my own and didn’t believe an ambulance would reach me on time. Panic was beginning to rise and it was a struggle to keep it at bay. Only when I heard the rattle of the gate when the paramedics arrived did my panic subside and I could refocus on my breathing again. They came just in time to catch him! It was such a different experience to my first birth as I was so much more aware of Josh as he travelled down the birth canal, to when his head popped out and then to breathing his little body out. Truly an amazing feeling! The best thing was I didn’t have an episiotomy! (As I did the last time, this was a big concern of mine!) I also got to birth my placenta naturally unlike the first time… so I’m just thrilled with the outcome as I believe it all worked out for the best, even if it was a “surprise” birth!

Definitely an unforgettable day ” one for Josh’s 21st for sure! All is well at home now and I’m am forever grateful and grovelingly thankful to the paramedics that rescued me from the possibility of delivering my own baby!!! And my neighbour, Louise who was 40 weeks pregnant at the time (I know ” there’s something in the water around here..), who rushed around to pull towels and pillows together for me and held my hand through it all. It could have been a very different outcome and I’m still pinching myself that everything worked out well in the end. Josh popped out all eyes and looking around and despite his rapid arrival he is such a laid back little fella. A true Hypnobirthing baby! All is well and peaceful again at home Poor Mark is still recovering from missing the birth but a very happy dad of 2 nevertheless!

All the best

Mark & Umi, Nerangba, Queensland