Our amazing natural hospital birth story, filled with calm energy, empowerment and love.

Our amazing natural hospital birth story, filled with calm energy, empowerment and love.

Welcome Ollie, and thank you Millie and Nick for allowing me to share your birth story. To encourage others that it is possible to have a beautiful first birth.

Hello Kath!

I am super excited to be sharing Ollie’s birth with you. The day started with a beach walk with Winnie our dog. I noticed some cramping so purposefully walked through the soft sand and up each staircase I passed. They continued through the day so I kept busy, not wanting to get my hopes up incase it wasn’t early labour, but deep down feeling excited. Curry for dinner & the cramps continued to develop slowly into the night. I put on the clary sage essential oil, bounced, rolled & stretched on my exercise ball. Nick & I had been practicing the acupressure points we learnt from your Calmbirth course the past 2 nights, so did the exact same points again. 930pm, off to bed incase it was labour.. it could be a long night! Nick fell asleep straight away, I lay there staying calm but super excited .. it was happening!

An hour went by & the contractions were starting to become regular & more intense. I remembered from your course to stay in bed & rest as long as possible if labouring overnight. I opened my birth bag & got out my 2 combs. I took them back to bed & put eye mask on. As labour continued I focussed on my breathwork, really working on calm thoughts & affirmations.

12am, contractions now 4-7mins. apart. Time to wake Nick, I had rested enough! We were in labour. Nick rang the hospital, put me on loud speaker to chat to the Midwife. She said ‘sounds like you are in active labour & can head in if you like.’ I immediately said no thanks l want to stay home longer & have a bath. 130am candle burning, in bath with a comb in each hand & eye mask on. The eye mask helped me to stay focused & in the zone. Nick was so great, showing support by pouring water down my shoulders & chest (just like the videos you showed us haha) – saying reassuring things like ‘You are doing great Mil’. Our plan was bath, TENS machine & then hospital.

After 45 mins in the bath, Nick says ‘I think we should get you out of the bath now before you can’t’. As I was slowly getting dressed Nick started to put our bags into the car…..BAMMM-my waters broke. Amniotic fluid everywhere, not wanting to slip while having a contraction I went onto my hands & knees. I called for Nick – he came running. Lots of things happened all of a sudden (All the fluids coming from different places ) Nick rang the Midwife who was very reassuring ‘These are amazing signs of labour – Millie is doing really well – come on in’. Nicks like -‘Yeah we’re trying!’ haha.

The car trip – 3am. Nick was flying. 7 mins felt like 70. Security man came to let us in. Poor man didn’t know where to look, I can laugh now as I would have looked ridiculous… pink fluffy dressing gown OPEN as I was hot, bra, leggings, lanyard connected to TENS, comb in each hand & leopard print eye mask on!

I reminded myself of our plan – Nick’s doing the talking, Im staying in the zone. Belinda the Midwife welcomed us, she had a very calm energy. The OB on call was on her way. Midwife assessed dilation, she asked if I would like to know how many cm’s I was. Going into this I had wanted to know however something came over me & I said no thanks. She told me ‘You’re doing really well & in established labour.’ I remember thinking 7 or 8cm. Mum arrived around 3.45am after visiting our house to clean up first! She spoke to me during the contractions & in between I would rest into Nick’s arms. Alex (OB) arrived, contractions were hard, fast & long lasting.

I used my breathwork, TENS, combs & lots of deep sounds. I remembered thinking one contractions at a time & that my body was working just as it should be. Mum kept saying ‘ok you’re climbing up now, you’re at the peak, & ok you’re coming down, you can rest soon’ this was amazing & I was all ears. Nick was all support & encouragement when I rested, speaking softly in my ears while holding my body weight. He kept the oxytocin high. I felt loved & supported.

2hrs went by & all of a sudden I had a tiny urge to push. It turned out that at 330am I had been 5cm & now at 545am I was 10!

Shifting my mind & strength into pushing was a little tricky, however Alex encouraged me to shift the energy & use the contraction power & push down. I knew I wanted to use gravity & the J push that we had learnt during Calmbirth , so I got on the bed on my knees & used the back of the bed to lean over on my rests. Knees close & feet out knowing it would help open my pelvis, again learnt during your course. I pushed & pushed for 45 mins & was starting to get a little sick of hearing ‘you’re doing really well – almost there.’ I was feeling tired & wondering if I was progressing & if he was actually coming down.

Alex came around the front of the bed to talk to me, I lifted my eye mask up a tiny bit to look her in the eye. She said how well I was doing & that she could see his head. I used the J breath & sound to help. The sounds I made were out of this world haha. However it all seemed to help & keep me focused. I remember being so hot & sweaty – by far one of the hardest workouts I’ve ever done! More pushing… I then hear Alex say ‘Oh my gosh, there’s so much hair!’ That moment made me smile. She said to reach down & feel. This was super special & gave me the boost I needed. I remember so specially the moment (as you mentioned lol) from it feeling like I was pushing the biggest poo to omg yep the ring of fire haha. Such a strange feeling as I knew he was only 1 or 2 pushes away. Alex coached me through the birth of his head! A mixture of small pushes & the quick exhale breath you had taught me, woo woo woo (like blowing out a candle) & it worked. Such relief & excitement. Alex said last push now Millie & you’re going to meet you’re little boy!

And yep… one last final push, grunt, moan & exhale – his body came out. Alex caught him & instantly said here you go Millie if you would like to reach down & grab him. Which I did, thinking omg he is so tiny, slippery & real! I turned around onto my back & brought him up to my chest. I looked at Nick (who was balling) I cried too. What a moment. He is everything & more. Thank you Kath, we are so grateful we did your Calmbirth course.

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www.innerbirth.com.au

 #calmbirth #calmbirthbellarine