"I owe my entire birthing experience to Shari and her hypnobirthing course" Eden
Birth Story of Harrison Lucas 19.09.2016
Let me begin by saying that I was absolutely packing my pants with the thought of labour! I always knew I wanted a birth that was as natural as possible and I've always wanted a water birth so when I got to the half way mark at 20 weeks I started researching my options.
I went on google and spent a fair amount of time researching and in the end came across hypnobirthing. At first I doubted it because I didn't think I was mentally strong enough but I thought to myself if it was any point in my life I needed to be mentally strong, it was now especially considering I had an exceptionally difficult pregnancy.
I looked for local hypnobirthing courses and came across Shari from Belly2Birth. I read her page over and over for a couple of days and met her at the baby expo and decided that I really wanted to give it a go so my partner and I enrolled. It was the absolute best decision I made in regards to my pregnancy!
After we did the course, we practiced the breathing, the scripts and the visualisations at night before bed and I practiced by myself during the day. I grew more confident in my decision for a natural birth.
On the 18th of September I started getting light surges throughout the day and called my partner home from work around lunch time. We went up to the hospital to be monitored and discovered I was already 2cm so we headed home at 4pm and I started to prepare myself. I went into my sons room with my vision board, put on my affirmations and sat on the excercise ball (lifesaver!!).
Later that day at 10pm my waters broke so I phoned the maternity ward to let them know then got in our bathtub. Surges became faster and more intense but never painful. I started getting antsy around 130am on the 19th September so we headed up to the hospital. I asked to be checked because I was curious as to how far along I was and turns out I was fully dialated! I trusted my instincts and they were right! The midwife couldn't believe it and had to get a second opinion. All of a sudden I had the urge to push and they hurriedly filled the pool.
A few hours later at 4:10am my beautiful little boy was born in the water after a short 6 hour, fully natural labour. He weighed 9 pounds and was 53cm long. I had no tears even though his arm came out with his head!
That along with a waterbirth (most amazing pain relief ever, omg) I think is the reason why I had a peaceful labour and quick recovery. We got to have skin to skin in the water as well and got the opportunity to bond as a family before anything else happened which was very important to me.
There was a point in time where I just wanted to give up but looking at it now I realize I was in the transition phase. I feel so empowered and proud of myself for birthing the way I did and I don't regret a thing.
Thank you so much Shari, you gave me the inspiration and knowledge I needed to bring my son into the world calmly and the positive memories it gave my partner and myself.
Side note of photos: he flipped me off at 2 hours old!1 life is hard as a baby, thought you'd get a laugh out of it haha
Eden & Seb
Gladstone
