I am so grateful that I had heard of Hypnobirthing. Not everybody has, and until I did I just presumed that I would have an epidural, like my mother did. I didn't even consider that I might have a choice. I couldn't believe my luck when I found Brenda and in Wexford! I was worried that if Hypnobirthing classes even existed in Ireland, it would only be in or around Dublin. My partner and I went to the classes together and learned so much about the magic of birth as well as relaxation techniques and positive affirmations. Brenda gave us the confidence and calm we needed to achieve our goal of a natural birth.
On a Friday night I was wondering when I was going to feel changes happening to signal the arrival of our little boy, but nothing felt different or significant so I went about planning what I wanted to do the next week. Then as I walked through the kitchen my waters broke in a big gush, but i still didn't quite believe our baby was coming! There had been none of the early labor signs I had read about. I still had no surges. We went to the hospital. The minute we were in the car the surges arrived and they were very frequent and regular. We arrived in the middle of the night to a quiet hospital - just like I had visualised! I insisted on walking to the labor ward - which probably took as long as the drive to the hospital. The surges were so close together I had to keep stopping all the way down the corridor. By the time we got to the ward I was pretty far ahead. My partner was there every step of the way and was a total rock for me. The surges were so close together I was finding it difficult to breathe and relax fully before the next one came along. Although I was totally sure i didn't want medical help I ended up using the gas and air as I could feel myself getting pretty worn out and I didn't know how far along i was. It turned out I was at about 8cm! When the midwife told me that, it was very soon after that the surges changed and I felt the overwhelming urge to push.
It all happened really fast. I didn't get to breathe my baby down as in many of the hypnobirthing videos. The midwife was worried about my baby's heart rate and asked me to push as much as I could with each surge. It was amazing, quite a work out and tiring pushing, but it was not remotely painful! Not long after, my lovely healthy happy baby was born and I really wouldn't change a thing. I never had any fear that things would be any other way. He was born into a darkened room and then put straight onto my chest, just as I had visualised. It was all done within 5 hours. I feel so blessed we had a healthy little boy and achieved our goal of a natural birth and i hope one day we will get the chance to do it again.
Melissa, Wexford