Courtney's birth story - Getting in 'the zone'

It was 2.30pm on Friday 28th Feb (her due date!) and I had been getting on and off surges about half hr apart for the past 18hrs.... Acupuncture was booked at 3pm to get things moving out of early labour and into active labour. 

By the time I left acupuncture my surges were already picking up in frequency and intensity. Things really kicked off once I was home and by 5pm I was getting regular 6-7min contractions. I got my hubby to put on the TENS machine which was amazing and got into my zone in the bedroom... lights were dim, candle burning, I was sitting on the the birth ball, listening to Hypnobirth tracks and smelling lavender and clary sage oil on a tissue. It was calm and lovely and I was managing my surges well with the TENS on.

By 7pm my surges were about 3-4mins apart and it was time to head to hospital. My parents had come over about an hour earlier to take over and put our two year old Carter to bed. 

We got to hospital around 7.20pm and were taken straight into a birthing suite. I was checked at that point and was 4cm dilated which was great. The surges were building in intensity so I moved into the shower and took the gas in. I used the shower nozzle with each surge, standing up swaying and using the gas to help manage the pain and control my breathing. The Hypnobirth tracks were playing on a speaker in the bathroom.

I completely lost track of time as I went deeper into my zone working with the surges. My hubby Chris was using light touch massage and lots of encouragement to get me through each one. I was vocalising at this point, using low moans to get through each surge. My waters hadn’t broken at this point either.

At around 9pm my doctor came in to check my progress. I was 8cm dilated! I was so happy I started sobbing happy tears! I was almost there I couldn’t believe it. I got straight back into the shower with the gas and got back into my zone. Shortly after I felt a kick, a pop and my waters went in the shower. The surge intensity once my waters broke increased significantly, I really relied on Chris telling me I could do it to get through. I knew I was getting closer and transitioning, my surges were back to back at this point. 

Then I felt a pressure in my bottom and let the midwife know. It was almost time to push! I moved from the shower onto the bed, with the back of the bed raised I knelt on my knees and lent over the back of the bed. 

It was about 10pm at this point and I started getting huge surges with the need to bear down and push. I was getting very vocal at this point but the midwife was amazing and guided me through what to do with my breath as each surge approached. I could feel Avery moving down the birth path with each push. My body had completely taken over at this point and I could feel my uterus pushing her out. With a few really strong surges I felt her head crown, there was an intense stingy sensation and her head was out. One more big push and she was out! They passed her through my legs and she was on my chest crying and looking into my eyes. She was here and perfect! I yelled out I DID IT!!! I couldn’t believe it and felt so proud! We did delayed cord clamping and skin to skin which was heavenly. She was born at 10.44pm Friday 28th Feb, weighing 3.91kg and was 49cm.

It was an absolutely incredible birth and I couldn’t have done it without my TENS machine and Hypnobirth preparation and techniques. I feel so happy as I really did get my dream birth and after a traumatic first birth I feel like it really healed that place in my heart.