A positive assisted delivery: Emma’s birth story
I had a hard time in the first trimester of my pregnancy - I was exhausted all the time and constantly nauseous. I couldn’t stand the sight or smell of anything except butter and toast! Things eventually eased up around week 15 although I found myself feeling quite anxious. Happy Parents Happy Baby really helped to calm me down and ease my anxieties - especially the hypnobirthing relaxations that I listened to at the end of each day.
At 39 weeks I woke up in the middle of the night with cramps. Using the knowledge from the course I was able to deduce that this was probably the start of early labour. I knew I had a long road ahead and understood the pattern I was to look for before heading to the hospital. Although I wasn’t experiencing much pain or discomfort at first, I began to apply the breathing and hypnobirthing techniques I was taught by Hannah during our HPHB course right away! I ran a bath and had my partner read the HPHB relaxation scripts. Together we breathed through each contraction which we’re coming quicker at this point.
By the morning my contractions still were not in a regular pattern - in fact they seemed to slow down. At this point, I got moving - I was so excited and determined to meet my baby! We took a nice long walk, had lunch and then took another evening walk before going to bed. In the early hours of the morning the contractions were quite strong and regular so we headed to the hospital. At 9am I was 6 cm dilated, however I was exhausted and so after a discussion with my midwife and doctor I opted for an epidural. I had planned for a natural water birth but I hadn’t expected to be so tired and I needed to regain my energy in order to birth my baby. After receiving the epidural, I was finally able to rest and so when it was time to push, I was ready! Unfortunately, after approximately half an hour of pushing, our baby’s heart rate was increasing faster and faster and some medical intervention was required. We learned all about instrumental assistance during delivery during our session with Will in the HPHB course and therefore my partner and I were able to calmly make a decision about what was best for us and our baby. Although things did not go as planned, at no point did we feel confused or stressed because we had been well prepared by the HPHB course. After another bit of pushing with instrumental assistance our beautiful baby was born!
There are absolutely no words to describe the moment you first see and hold your baby. It is absolutely surreal. The love I immediately felt for this tiny human cannot be described. Our hearts were filled with overwhelming joy and we embraced those first moments together as a new little family. I also felt incredibly proud of myself!
The first few days at hone went by in an exhausting blur. We couldn’t believe this little girl was all ours and we just wanted to spend every moment with her. Nevertheless, it was quite an adjustment to our normal sleep habits and I was particularly drained from feeding. Luckily, I had a bunch of tips and tricks from the breastfeeding part of the HPHB course. Also, thanks to the Mum’s Self Care, I was well prepared for my recovery, which went quite smoothly.
We would absolutely recommend the Happy Parents Happy Baby antenatal course! We learned invaluable information about different parts of pregnancy, birth and labour as well as postpartum care from experts and all our questions were well addressed and answered. We also made a lovely group of friends along the way!
Top Tips:
Make sure you have a strong bond with your partner as well as good communication as these thing will be very important when you bring baby home and in the first few months!
Take the HPHB course!
