Leah, Jonny and Frankie's birth story

Leah and Jonny did a full private Hypnobirthing course to prepare for their first birth and chose to do a refresher course with me when they were expecting their second baby, Frankie. He was born at Burnley Birth Centre.

Frankie Seal arrived fashionably ‘late’ at exactly 42 weeks…10lb 1oz 57cm long born in the birth pool with the help of breathing and gas & air 45mins after getting in the pool & my waters breaking…

Due date arrived I had already been booked in for a sweep at my previous midwife appointment which I accepted and really hoped would have some effect.. I was so so ready to meet our little boy (baby no2, baby no1- our 3 year old Phoebe arrived at 39 weeks so I’d gotten in my head this baby would be the same- oh how I was mistaken)

The sweep amounted to nothing, neither did the next 4… yes.. 5 sweeps.. it became very apparent baby would come when baby was ready.. I kept in constant contact with Meg throughout all these appointments, making sure I was informed for any induction conversations I might have, comments about how my placenta would go up in a puff of smoke.. it wasn’t an easy wait but I felt supported and informed at all times, I knew I was the one in control & I wouldn’t be backed into a corner by anyone..

I started on Wednesday 3rd March with mild tightenings… by tea time I felt they was regular enough to start timing.. we sent Phoebe for a sleep over at her aunties.. I ran a bath, lit candles ate, bounced on my yoga ball.. by 9pm I felt they was regular enough to go to the birth centre.. I was examined when we got there and around 2/3cm, the tightenings really eased off and became irregular, so we came home to get some sleep,

Thursday 4th March – 42 weeks

I had an appointment for monitoring and a chat with a consultant..again I kept in constant contact with Meg, she really helped me feel strong and in control.. and what ever choice I made I was fully informed about… I weighed up all my options at this point.. I was tired uncomfortable & desperate to just meet our baby boy..
I considered having my waters broke and even asked about an epidural…I’m thinking for me this was a type of transition, in my head I’d had enough I was ready to give up everything I’d prepared for everything I was ready for.. I’d spent weeks keeping the oxytocin flowing.. from candle lit baths to disney discos with my little girl, listening to various tracks on Megs website, going over my affirmations & practicing my breathing techniques.

I’d accepted yet another sweep whilst in for monitoring by the consultant, who also told me ‘I can break your waters right now’ I declined and booked in the next day for my waters breaking if nothing happened before.

By the time I got home from the appointment my tightenings had become quite intense, I used my breathing to keep calm and breath through each one, in for 4 out for 8 this really really helped, I got in my husbands car with our bags and went straight back to Burnley birth centre..I was examined at 16:40pm and told I was 5cm.. music to my ears, I knew at this point I could do this, no need to march down the hall to the birth suite and demand an epidural like I’d imagined..
I got in the birth pool, 2 contractions later and my waters finally broke 17:13pm .. I cheered ‘thank god for that’ I’d been waiting days for them waters to go..

From there with each surge my body began to push.. in my first labour this made me second guess myself/my body..
Not this time.. I knew and trusted my body and just used my breath to go with what my body was doing.. I used gas and air at this point.. deep breath in, long slow breath out, I found it really helped me keep focused. I remember feeling his head crowning and also aware of how fast this was all happening so tried my best to slow down and let things stretch naturally I managed to hold him where he was between surges the strength of my body pushing was so strong, I couldn’t fight that..The midwife encouraged me to change position slightly to help and it did, two more surges and his head was out, again I kept calm and waited for the next surge..in my head hearing Meg saying rest and be thankful over and over, this little mantra was such a help..

The next 2 surges he was born, what a relief I remember feeling so happy I got the exact birth I’d planned and hoped for even if I had to wait a little extra it was so so worth it..

And what a different experience I believe it would be without Meg, all her knowledge support and love, absolutely priceless I tell everyone as soon as I found out we was expecting baby no2 my course with Meg was the first thing I booked..

Frankie will be 3 weeks old soon and I regularly use breathing and positive mindset to help with the new daily challenges of being a mum of two,
Hypno birthing has 100% changed my life for the better…thank you Meg

 

 

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