BeanBa

Christina Finn, Dungarvan, Co Waterford

12:30am on 3/12/07, I was in the bath when I felt a pop and got my first contraction. When I stood up to get out of the bath a few minutes later I had a show and my waters went. At this stage the contractions were 15 minutes apart, and we decided to make sure everything was ready in the hospital bag, and then go to bed and see if we could get a bit of sleep before things really got going. I started using the tens machine and rang the hospital to see which midwife was on duty. The contractions got closer together very quickly and we hadn't even got as far as bed yet, and they were 5 mins apart. I decided instead of going to bed, that I would have a shower and then we would head to the hospital. By the time I was getting out of the shower they were 4 mins apart so we left.

2:30am Arrived at hospital, was put on the monitor and then examined. Midwife advised I was 1/2cm to 1cm dilated. The options were to get into a bed in the hospital and send Tom home, or for us both to go home

3:30am Left hospital and went back home. Once I got home I got back into the shower as it was really helping with the lower back ache. After that I ran a bath and stayed in there for a while. I had tea and toast in the bath! I was still determined to get some sleep, so I got out of the bath, connected the tens machine again and tried to get into bed. At this point I didn't feel the tens was doing anything, and I was feeling the urge to push with the contractions.

6:15am We arrived at the hospital for the 2nd time. I was examined again and I was fully dilated.

6:30am We were taken into a room in the labor ward. We put the mattress from the bed on the floor under my knees and I leaned in over a birthing ball, rotating my hips. At this stage I used Gas and air for a little while. I'm not sure exactly what time I started to push.

7:25am I moved from the floor to the birthing stool

7:43am Baby Eliza was born at 9lb 2oz. No stitches needed. Baby was given straight to me to feed. I didn't have the injection to bring on the placenta delivery, I just waited for it to happen naturally.

Overall I was extremely happy with everything and believe that the main reason it went so well was down to the fact that I was completely relaxed for the majority of my labor. Hypnobirthing helped me to focus on what I was doing and reinforced my belief that I could manage birthing without an epidural or any other kind of intervention. I found it extremely empowering to have a completely natural labor. The only stage where I had any doubts was when I arrived at the hospital feeling very tired and wondering if I had the energy to deal with giving birth. Once the midwife told me I was fully dilated this raised my spirits and I believe that it was just the fear that the contractions were going to get worse that was causing the problem.

Trudy, Dungarvan, Co Waterford

When I got up on the Monday morning around 8.30, I noticed that I was leaking amniotic fluid. It was small amounts and I had no other early labor symptoms.
Around 10 am, there was what I would call a mini gush of fluid so I knew things had really started at this stage. I rang the hospital after that and they requested that I come in straight away. As I had no pains etc, I told them I would come in some time in the afternoon. I rang my husband, at work to come home, I cleaned the house!, I listened to my relaxation CD, we had lunch, got all the bits and pieces together and headed for the hospital around 3 pm.
Still no other symptoms of labor at this stage. At the hospital, they indicated that it would most probably be my doctors preference to put me on the drip to augment the labor as it had not yet started (even though the mid wife did point out that most labors start spontaneously within 24 hours of the waters breaking anyway!)We discussed my birth plan in which I had stated no augmentation of the labor if possible and possibly due to the fact that all the labor wards were full at this time, the mid wife indicated that my doctor had agreed to reassess in the morning and augment at this time if nothing had happened during the night.

I was checked into the antenatal ward. I had brought my birthing ball with me so used this to try and get things moving. I was feeling sporadic tightening of the abdomen at this stage but the mid wife told me they weren’t surges when they completed a trace at around 8.30 pm. One of the mid wives had suggested a hot shower, holding the shower nozzle on the bump as a means to get things started. I did this around 9 pm. My husband was asked to leave at this stage also and he headed away at 9.30. There was still no regularity to the surges and it was questionable if they were surges at all given what the mid wife had told me from the trace! At around 10 pm, the surges were coming every 10 minutes. By 11 they were every 5 and by 12 they were every 3 mins. They were not hugely uncomfortable and again I questioned whether this was the real deal or not! I used the hypnobirthing breathing techniques for each as practice runs for later! I listened to my CDs again, used the ball, and walked a bit around the corridors. At 00.20 am the surges were a bit more severe and I went looking for a mid wife to request that maybe I should have an internal check. I had not had one to date. When checked I was 5 cm dilated. I rang my husband at 00.30 am to come back to hospital as I was heading to the labor ward. Again I used the breathing techniques with each surge and found that I was able to regain composure with each relaxation breath. I found it difficult to get to > 20 when counting for the breathing during the surges and tended to do this breath 2 or 3 times with each surge. They were not pain free but they were manageable. I took the gas and air when the surges were nearly continuous at ~ 1 am. My husband arrived at 01:15 am and I was checked at 01.30 and was fully dilated so time for the next stage! I had a trace on for the baby’s heart rate from around 1 am. I tried the breathing down technique at this stage but I just couldn’t seem to get any force behind the breath and the baby’s heat rate was dropping with every surge as the cord was around her neck, so on the mid wives advice I pushed instead. Having said that, the mid wives did support me trying to use the breathing down technique first. I did feel more empowered pushing with the surges, that I was actually helping to birth Aoibhe. I continued to use the relaxation breath between pushes. The mid wife assessed that I needed an episiotomy to assist with the delivery due to the cord being around Aoibhe’s neck, and they also made preparations to use vacuum to assist the delivery. This was all discussed with us.

The consultant arrived, and made the call that I should be given every chance to birth without vacuum assistance. Aoibhe was born about 2 pushes later! We waited until the cord had stopped pulsating and Pat then cut it. Aoibhe was then placed on my chest. She nursed within the first hour. We stayed in the labor ward with Aoibhe on my chest for ~ 2 hours. I was delighted with my birthing experience and my recovery after the event. Aoibhe was so alert from the moment she was born. As the birth ended up being so fast, it was really only the breathing techniques from the hypnobirthing training that I used during the active labor. I didn’t end up using any visualization or the light touch massage. There wasn’t even time to use a birthing ball in the labor ward! For me, the hypnobirthing course provided me with the breathing tools to cope with the birthing experience. It gave me confidence to believe that my body could do this. It took away what fears I had of labor and made me believe that I would be able to deal with whatever the birth ended up being (especially if it deviated from my birth plan). I felt very relaxed the whole of the Monday, whilst waiting for it to begin and really believe that this relaxed state aided such a fast active labor. Doing the course also made my husband very much a part of the preparation for and the labor itself.

Doireann, An Rinn, Co Waterford

In thinking back on the night Ruadhán was born I kinda have to pinch myself at how well it went. It really was the positive experience that Mary firmly believed we could have as a family, and despite the initial scepticism of my husband,, he was well impressed at how in control I was and as a result what a positive and emotional experience it was for him. This is considering the stories he had heard from other husbands describing the experience as a ‘massacre’ and ‘not a spectator sport’

I have to mention here that my due date was Sept 5th but following a conversation with Mary in the early days of the course I had it in my head that our baby was going to be born at the end of August – and in the days prior to the birth, on Friday August 25th. I had said to my sisters that week that I felt the baby was going to be born on Friday and on the journey back from a hospital appointment on the Thursday had the same conversation with my sister in law ! Coincidence ???

I felt really well on the Thursday, had been in Waterford for a hospital check up, went for a walk around town and went out for lunch later with girl friends. Later that evening, I relaxed on the couch watching Television and my hysband went off to play a football match, with no idea of what the following few hours would bring !

At 8.30 my waters broke – a good gush so I was in no doubt as to what was happening and I prepared myself for a few hours at home on the birthing ball biding my time before heading to the hospital. When my contractions started about an hour later I was surprised that they seemed to be quite close together about 4-5 mins. but were only about 10/20 secs in duration. I rang the hospital and their advice, as I expected, was head to the hospital straight away. We were not in any great rush but in the hour or so it took us to get my bits and pieces together the contractions got stronger and stronger and were 30/40 secs in duration.

When I got to the hospital at 11.30pm and was examined I was 4 cms dilated. We moved to the delivery suite where I got settled and was given a birthing ball. We put the affirmations on playing in the background and got comfortable on the ball. As the contractions progressed I used the gas and air as my husband put pressure on my lower back. I also used the tens machine but as I didn’t have it from the start I needed to turn it up to the max and use the booster button for any effect. I found the breathing techniques very good and used the balloon visualization technique during contractions. As a result there was no shouting or screaming and my husband reckoned that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes had nothing on me. By 2.30 I was fully dilated and the midwife asked me to move to the bed.

After an hour of pushing, Ruadhán was born at 3:41am - he was a quite baby and lay on my chest while we got to know each other ?

We were blessed with the birthing experience we had, and friends and family were surprised at the ease in which I had my first baby, all 9lbs 10oz of him. I do wonder if things had not progressed so quickly would I have had a chance to relax more and get into a deeper state of relaxation, therefore not needing even the gas and air, but to be honest that’s just much wanting more !!!

In the last 5 weeks I’ve been spreading the good news of our hypnobirthing success and look forward to my next pregnancy and birthing experience !