It is amazing how our bodies just know what to do!
Our beautiful little girl arrived three weeks early on exactly 37 weeks.
The labor went really well, it was about 8 all up but probably only 2 hours of active labor which I did in the pool and I was able to give birth in the pool as well. It all went relatively to plan with the exception of using the sterile water injections, I would highly recommend this for anyone with back contractions. Towards the end of my labor I found it really hard to cope with the intensity of the back contractions and they were so close together that I was thinking on my way to the hospital that I wanted some sort of pain relief and thought I would try the sterile water first as it was just water and it made a huge difference. It hurt like hell going in but I had instant relief and never felt my back after that which made the contractions more bearable, who would have thought water could do that!!
Pippa also came out in one push and the cord snapped on her way out so no delayed cord clamping unfortunately (midwives are still unsure why it snapped as it wasn't short) but I was able to achieve all my other wishes of my birth plan and feel very positive about the experience. I certainly wouldn't jump in and do it again any time soon but now I know I can do it and without the use of drugs.
It is amazing how our bodies just know what to do, I had no coaching from the midwives at all and just went with my instinct, although there was a moment at the beginning that I thought she was stuck as I started to get the urge to push but couldn't feel her moving down and I think I expected it all to happen a lot faster than it did but looking back now I can see that was probably just my cervix opening up and that it probably didn't take as long as it felt.
All in all a really positive experience and would highly recommend the techniques of Hypnobirthing so thank you for teaching us these techniques and for preparing me for my greatest achievement, birthing my baby naturally :)
Cassie
