Rebecca's Hypnobirth - Oscar's birth story

** Oscar McKrill - 27th February 2018 - 3.56 kg - King Edward Memorial Hospital **

Surges came on at 7pm Saturday February 24th. Not all of them being intense so I sat on a birth ball and began timing them. 3 hours later they were strong enough to call the hospital and go in for assessment because I was trying for a VBAC (the hospital just wanted to check all way ok).

Around 2am we were sent home to rest and continue to progress (was 1cm dilated). Around 4am I lost the mucus plug and every surge was very intense. Lots of hot showers to ease the pain but after a while it was too intense for me to stay home. Back to the hospital we went (7am) with each surge lasting over a minute and were occurring 2-3 in every 10 minutes. However I was still only 1.5cm dilated. I was in hospital all day Sunday listening to my hypnosis tracks to refocus my mind and body. I was admitted that night and monitored 4 hourly and again having very strong, close surges however come midnight I was still only 3cm dilated so not enough to go into the birthing suite. After some panadol I managed some sleep and then come 6am Monday surges had basically stopped. They were few and far between and not to anywhere near the intensity as the whole day before. This was really disheartening after so many hours of regular surges.

I listened to my affirmations and walked laps of the hospital for hours. Around 2pm my mum came to visit (by this stage is sent my husband home to relax and get some rest). Soon after my surges started picking up again and they were back to 2 in 10 minutes. My mum couldn’t help but notice how relaxed I was through each surge and how focused I was on my breathing - the breathing techniques are amazing!

By 6pm I was admitted to the birthing suite and due to a delay (doctors were flat out that night) my waters were broken at 6am Tuesday - again all night I had regular surges, babies heart rate was dipping during majority of them but coming straight back up. After a few hours the surges were very intense so I utilised the gas and air to help through them (baby was most relaxed if I was standing up the whole time).

By lunch time I was assessed again however unfortunately I was still only 3cm and extremely exhausted. After going through the BRAIN techniques with a chat from the doctor we decided the best option would be a cesarean section. Although I didn’t get the VBAC I was hoping for, our son was born with the help of an amazing medical team on Tuesday February 27 at 1.36pm. The doctor has come to visit me post surgery in which she explained that the baby was stuck and very difficult for her to get out which I think may have contributed to the lack of progress after so many hours.

Baby Oscar is now 9 days old and in comparison to my first, he is very calm, feeds well and from day 1 has settled into a feeding routine even in the early hours. I definitely have Laura and hypnobirthing to thank for me being able to manage for so long in labour - I wouldn’t have been so focused for so long without it. The tools it gives women to go into labour with a positive mind frame and some strategies to “manage” (for lack of a better word) labour is incredible. I have a healthy, chilled out baby boy and hypnobirthing to thank for it 💙