"We might make it to the birth Centre but you might be having this baby at home!"

We had had a few false starts the week leading up, some intense braxton hicks moments, however on Saturday the 13th of March they persisted and I knew I felt mentally ready to go into labour. At 9pm my partner and I went to bed, I thought we should try to sleep as I didn't know how long we would be awake for, he fell asleep but my contractions were already 4-5 minutes apart so I wasn't able to. When feeling the surges I focused on breathing in for 10 seconds and breathing out for 10 seconds, ensuring that my lips, jaw and pelvic floor were always completely relaxed.

I wasn't able to stay lying down anymore so sat on my birth ball which is where I spent most of my labour, gently rocking bub into engagement, drinking lots of water and Hydrolyte icy poles. I remember playing my hypnobirthing tracks over and over and they were so comforting although I can't say I was really hearing them at the time but had to have them continuously playing to keep me grounded. I focused completely on my breath and a visualisation of myself swimming up to a wave for 10 seconds and surfing the wave on my 10 second out breath. I tried very hard not to check the time and every time I saw it, couldn't believe how fast time was going. Around 3am I woke my partner as I could no longer be alone during my labour as it felt like my contractions were one continuous wave now. He tried light touch and massage as we had practiced but I couldn't stand him touching me when he timed my contractions they were 1 minute apart and lasting 1 minute, I thought to myself "I think this is when baby comes??".

He called my midwife at 3:30 so she could come and assess us before heading to the birth Centre. We tried to get in the shower but I also couldn't stand the water on me! I tried to sit back on my birth ball, but there was a lot of pressure in my lower pelvis and my water broke on my ball! I remember telling myself I can do this and to keep focusing on my breathing and never tense up however it was getting very intense at this time. We moved to the lounge room where my partner had put a relaxing music video on YouTube on the TV. At some stage my midwife arrived and she said I looked so calm and relaxed she thought we had so much time left. I remember at this stage feeling like "I am at my threshold and I can handle this intensity with just my breath but I cannot do anymore than this", I think this must have been transition. When my midwife felt for bubs head she wasn't able to feel it, so she asked to check how dilated I was. I thought if you tell me I'm 3cm I'm not going to be able to keep my cool anymore. She told me I was 10cm dilated and ready to push!! I said "F**K YEAH!" and had a whole new burst of energy and motivation.

I had made it through my whole labour with just my breath, visualisations and consciously relaxing my body, I was so impressed with myself. My midwife called an ambulance and said "we might make it to the birth Centre but you might be having this baby at home" and I said "I'm not going anywhere I'm having the baby here" I was so excited to get to have a home birth and I knew I had made it so far by myself that I could successfully do this too. 2 female paramedics arrived and I let go of my calmness and quietness and made all my primal noises to push my baby into the world, leaning over my birth ball in my loungeroom, holding my partners hands. My baby boy Sunny was born at 6am on the dot on Sunday the 14th of March and it was nothing short of amazing. I'm so grateful for the skills I learnt through hypnobirthing, which I practiced a lot in the 3rd trimester. Although it didn't go to "plan", my sons birth was more amazing than I had ever imagined! I would honestly do that night over again if I could because it was awesome. I had heard so many stories of birth trauma while I was pregnant and I just believed that I could have a really positive experience; I worked really hard to get into a positive mind frame and did everything I could to get bub into an optimal position before birth and it really paid off.

To book into a Hypnobirthing Course on the Gold Coast with me CLICK HERE

To book into a Live Online Hypnobirthing course through Zoom CLICK HERE

I've recommended your classes to all pregnant women that I know and will continue to do so. Thankyou for sharing birth positivity Shari, I'm so grateful to be involved in changing the narrative around birth Love Jess, Kane and Sunny xx