The Birth of Poppy
I had a lovely warm bath and practiced my HypnoBirthing breathing. Went to bed at about 10pm but woke up at 11 as I couldn't get comfy. It felt like I had a heavy period and I couldn't find a position to lie in so I got up and walked around and sat on my ball.
The uncomfy feeling I had soon turned into actual tightenings. They weren't painful for the first hour really. They became regular quite quickly and I used breathing techniques during them once they got more intense. They were very easy to manage and I rocked in my glider chair, bounced on my ball and danced about as James filled up the pool. I listened to The Doors and danced about and rubbed my belly.
I listened to my Hypnobirthing music (Comfort Zone by Stephen Halpern) for a couple of hours in the pool. I got out of the pool a couple of times to have a walk around, a rock and a dance. I spent a lot of surges hanging off the banister and the sink!
I went from first surge to established labour in about 5 hours. I commented that I felt a lot of pressure. I remember not being able to sit down or lie down, I had to be active through them for a while. My Mum arrived at 4.30am. I was back in the pool by 5.30 when Nicky, the second midwife arrived. At this point I was entering transition and really feeling intense surges which seemed to roll into one. The water was a great help, very supportive.
While I was in the pool I listened to Brian Eno which was really good and fitted the scenario perfectly. James and Mum took turns being near me and talking me through relaxation. I managed to eat a little bit of banana and kept drinking weak squash. I alternated between floating on my back hanging from the pool handles, and leaning over the edge of the pool on my knees. I was making some moaning noises which helped. I started asking for entonox so Nicky (who is also a hypnobirthing practitioner) talked me through some visualisations which really calmed me down and I didn't need the gas and air after all! I really didn't feel like I was doing it and thought I was losing control of the pain, but everyone assures me that between surges I was quite still and relaxed. I guess I only remember the surges!
They recorded my first honest 'push' as 7.46am. I can't believe this amount of time had passed! Hypnobirthing really helps you to distort time. The urge to push was getting a lot stronger and felt like I needed a giant poo. I could feel the waters bulging and the baby moving down with my fingers and this was really encouraging, my baby was coming!
I did some pushing floating on my back, and some on my knees hanging over the pool. James was encouraging me to breathe but I found that I couldn't while I was pushing her out, only between pushes. When I stopped pushing to breathe, it was intensely painful so I just gulped in a huge breath and pushed again.
At 9.13 her head started to be born. I was on my knees leaning over the pool. I was feeling her head most of the time and smiling to myself as I could feel her hair through the membranes, and it wasn't long before I could feel her ears too! This is when I knew I was nearly done birthing my baby and soon she would be here, and I had a massive surge of energy. At 9.17am my waters finally ruptured and she was born at 9.21am. James had to put a foot in the pool to get close enough to catch her!
I was elated and crying, it was the most exhilarating emotional experience of my life, the best 10 hours work I ever did!
I have to say that the HypnoBirth was an amazing experience, and being able to relax and enjoy my labour (she says, in retrospect!) was amazing. I can't even imagine how I would have coped if I had been confined to a bed for my labour. Also it was amazing to have my gorgeous hubby with me every step of the way. Everything was as perfect as I'd hoped and I can't wait to do it again.