We met our beautiful baby girl Sunny in the early hours of Thursday morning, at home in the pool.
My surges started on Sunday afternoon after Easter lunch, but were few and far between.
On Monday I carried on nesting as normal, practicing my slow breathing and resting positions,
On Tuesday we managed to get out for a nice slow walk down the river.
I took a comb with me to grip in my palm which really helped distract me when the surges came on.
Finally by Wednesday evening the surges were coming nice and regularly so I popped the tens machine on which was super effective. We called the home birth team at midnight, they did an assessment on the phone and asked us to keep them up to date with how we were progressing.
By 4am our first midwife arrived, my partner Jono was amazing at encouraging me to keep breathing and reminding me of my positive affirmations. When the second midwife arrived at 4.30am Jono started to fill up the pool, I hardly noticed, the sound of the water running was really relaxing.
At about 5am I got in the pool, Jono poured water over my back which was calming when each surge came, I was reciting my affirmations “i can do this I am strong I can do this I am strong” over and over and over for what felt like hours.
At 6.17am Sunny was born, en caul, still in her waters. I lay on the couch while the midwives gave me two small stitches. Sunny made her way instinctively up to my breast to feed. It was like she had done it all before.
It was delightful to be tucked up in my own bed with tea and toast. The midwives and Jono cleared up and a couple of hours later they were gone.
I started Hypnobirthing and pregnancy yoga around 5 months pregnant it was the best decision I think I’ve ever made. When Sunny’s birth came I felt totally in control and ready to trust my body.
Thanks to Rebecca for sharing your story with us, it’s always wonderful to hear how people put their hypnobirthing tools and techniques to use during labour.
Rebecca now teaches hypnobirthing in Banchory you can find her in Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/sunnybirthclub