Going into this birth knowing I wanted an entirely different experience from my previous births because it was my last was the main goal for us. The only exceptions for changes made were if baby or my life were in danger.
Keep in mind, the 2 pregnancies prior to this, I had been diagnosed with pre-eclampsia and induced at 37 & 38 weeks.
I’m nearly 34 weeks and the headaches start… I’m no stranger to headaches in pregnancy leading to induction. Once they started, I knew I needed to slow down, breathe and it would start to look similar to what we’d been through before.
From 34 weeks I was in and out of hospital over a 14 day period. Staying in hospital a total of 11 days in the time I wanted to be prepping my mind even more form a calm environment… Being in hospital was not a part of the plan!
It’s a Saturday morning, my husband is supposed to be on a 10 year football reunion drink up & my head aches, swelling & blood pressure reach peak symptoms & the highest they’ve been. Time to head to the hospital; I knew the drill- bloods drawn, medication to bring my blood pressure down, and wait to see if I’m being admitted. The doctor came in and saw me to let me know my induction which was booked for 2 weeks later would need to be moved forward to the next day. My bloods were showing a dramatic decline in my kidney, liver and platelet levels.
Tim & I discussed everything induction beforehand knowing we would accept the procedure if medically it needed to take place in terms of my health.
It was decided, we would accept to be induced the next night.
At 6pm, the chosen induction method (Cervidil tape) was placed behind my cervix. Within 20 minutes, surges has started. Two hours passed and they started to become INTENSE! In a 10 minute window, I had six surges, some lasting 90 seconds! My whole body was shaking… this is when we all came together and agreed my body had responded to the induction method too quickly, it needed to be removed.
The surges continued like this for about an hour after the tape was removed, they then started to slow but the intensity was still high! At this stage I was using my oils and birth comb in my palm with every surge, I would squeeze tight… it was time for some heat packs on my back.
Two more hours, midwives coming in and out, being told I couldn’t be moved from my ward room to a birth suite because they were under staffed and our baby was only 36 weeks gestation, requiring someone to be with me constantly.
Then I started questioning - if you’re under staffed why was I induced at that time?! Tim was getting mad at this point, knowing I wanted to move into the space we could set up.
Finally, I was taken over to the birth suite, Tim made me comfortable. He set up my fairy lights, and affirmation cards around the room. Funnily enough, at this point, I was not even bothered but he was amazing keeping to everything I wanted to do. Another three hours passed and I had been awake for 24 hours. My body was so fatigued, Tim & I spoke about me having an epidural which I originally wanted to avoid.
I declined internal checks and knew if I had an epidural, they would want to check and I didn’t want to stall… more time passed and Tim suggested I take the epidural so I could rest, he could see how worn out I was. I decided to go ahead with an epidural which meant a check as well. I was roughly 3cms so chose to have the procedure done.
As I was sitting up having the epidural done, my surges were coming stronger and faster. Still holding onto my comb. If you’re having a baby soon, get yourself a birth comb!!!
The epidural was in, the medication about to be turned on when I say to the midwife, "I can feel so much pressure, I’m going to push". She took a look, and saw the babies head. The pressure I was feeling was because my membranes had not released. She then asked if I wanted the waters broken, at first I declined but after a little while, I let her.
As soon as they were broken, I rolled over on my side.
One, two, three pushes with my body and Emmi was placed on my chest. We were able to have a quick cuddle when we noticed the midwife starting to get concerned about her breathing.
Next came the scary part for us, on the neonatal resuscitaire. We had prepared ourselves for this possibility, knowing she was 36 weeks gestation she may need a little breathing support from the paeds. After a few minutes, tears from Tim and I, and we heard her cries.
Our girl was back skin to skin on my chest, I was birthing the placenta and being checked over while we had our first breastfeed.
The epidural wasn’t turned on, but I still had to wait for it to be taken out. Once it was out, I was up and showering. Ready to head back to the ward and get some rest with our new little love.
For us, the biggest thing to say is that Jess's Hypnobirthing course helped us step into this experience in control, knowing the choices we made were right for us, and knowing where we were willing to compromise if medically needed. For example, being induced for pre-eclampsia, getting to choose the induction method, declining internal checks and listening to my body, and deciding to accept an ARM and epidural when I felt it was right.
Postpartum this time has been the most magical I've experienced! We've had no visitors, been in a love bubble with all of our children and we've had nourishing food together as an extension of showing our girls how we want their experiences to be when it's their time.
We are so thankful to Jess for these differences - particularly with Tim! He was incredible, setting up my birth space, speaking up for my preferences when I couldn't speak during surges, and making sure I had my birth comb at all times!
