All I can say is “Thank god for Hypnobirthing!” We did not have a text book Hypnobirthing experience but we had an amazing birth and now have an awesome story!

The affirmation “I am prepared to meet whatever turn my birthing takes” brilliantly summarises how our birthing went.

My waters broke at 4am on Tuesday morning, the morning before we were supposed to present at the hospital to be induced being a week over the due date.  We decided to head into the hospital straight away to be assessed by the midwives and then head home before the peak hour traffic hit.  When we arrived we had to wait about an hour as they were really busy, we took a seat in the assessment area and read a hypno script.  I had some pretty bad period pain but didn’t realise that I was already having surges and had been since by 14^th pee from the night before.

Thankfully our doctor was at the hospital seeing another patient and popped in to see us and suggested we actually stay at the hospital rather than heading home.  By that stage although the period pain was a little bit more intense, I was part way through an article on how to brighten up a room with pastel colours and figured we’d just go up to a room and have a nap.  When we got upstairs and settled, in my surges were coming thick and fast! After 10 straight hours of affirmations, scripts, breathing and a Wivenhoe damn equivalent in showers, we decided things might be getting a bit serious. At this point the surges were lasting up to two minutes each with about 30 seconds between them but thanks to the Hypnobirthing breathing techniques, I was able to stay calm to the point we struggled to get the midwifes to send us down to the delivery room. At one stage I was distracted by a midwife and my breathing was interrupted and I almost levitated off the bed because of the pain.  The breathing really helped!

Once downstairs, we started on the gas and after a few more long hours in the shower, it was clear things weren’t quite right. After 22.5 hours of labour and at 6 cm it was decided that I had to have an emergency C-Section as the baby hadn’t rotated and was in affect stuck like a footy player with a crossword! In a moment of clarity (as 12 different people were asking my name and date of birth (which I actually got wrong but nobody noticed)) we remembered one of Mellissa’s stories and as the masses waited, we calmly read a rainbow script which helped immensely.

Five minutes later, Miller Edward was yanked out screaming like a banshee and placed on the examination table. Adam went with him, cut the cord and then Miller was placed on my chest for our first cuddle whilst wearing a very stylish hat donated by one of the volunteers. Adam then went off to the recovery room in a dazed state whilst our doctor practiced her needlework. I joined him shortly after and had a chance to meet our new little man. Then, like every little boys fantasy, and despite the claims of the midwifes that it couldn’t happen, I suffocated him with my boob! He was grabbed by one the nurses and half way across the room our little blue bundle of joy started crying again (which was the start of the nickname ‘Sir Crysalot’).

Although it didn’t go according to plan, ours was an amazing experience and with the exception of Adam’s back (which is still receiving treatment following 23 hours of holding me up when I went ‘floppy’), all is good. We couldn’t have done it without Hypnobirthing and we would recommend it to anyone.

Thank you for your guidance and support, and we’ll be back in a couple of years with the next one baking in the oven.

Brooke, Adam and Miller, Enoggera, Brisbane