{Birth Story} Angus’s Birth
Just over three weeks ago, my husband, Craig and I welcomed our first baby, Angus into our family.
The Tuesday before he arrived, we had a scan at the hospital. I was 36+6 and the scan revealed baby was breech. We were asked to wait to speak to a doctor about it. Three hours later, a doc arrived and told me my only options were a turning procedure or an elective section. This really did not sit well with me – I was so set on having a natural birth and using everything I had learned from Jade at our Hypnobirthing sessions.
On our way home from the hospital, I was very upset and Craig suggested I listened to Rainbow Relaxation. It worked like a dream and I was able to think straight and make an informed decision regarding potentially revising our birth plan. Jade very kindly changed her plans to come see us before our turning appointment, which really helped me to stay calm before and during the procedure.
Unfortunately, the procedure didn’t work (stubborn baby!) but it did induce early labour. My waters broke at 37+4 weeks. The midwife on the phone wasn’t convinced I was in labour and neither were the midwives and doctors on the ward because I was so relaxed and didn’t appear in any distress (I wasn’t!).
I was told that baby was still breech so I decided to go for a c-section. The plan at this point was to get a steroid injection to help with lung development and then wait 24 hours to get the second injection before heading to theatre. However, after an examination the doctor discovered I was already 4cm dilated so waiting was not an option! Throughout this period (involving examinations, injections, cannulas etc) I would have to ask midwives to ‘hang on a sec’ if I was having a surge because they had no idea. I was also able to walk myself through to theatre despite experiencing surges. I found the balloon breathing and counting down exercises particularly useful.
The next bit was the only tricky bit. There was a problem getting the spinal block injection in and it ended up taking 40 minutes. The position I had to adopt (bent over, shoulders rounded, head to the chest) made balloon breathing etc very difficult and my surges were picking up in frequency and intensity. Once the spinal block was in, ten minutes later Angus was here (arriving to the same song I walked down the aisle to!) I was able to do a little bit of skin to skin and then we were able to try breastfeeding once I was in recovery.
Angus’s birth was not at all how I thought it would be, but I am so glad I had done the Hypnobirthing course. I was able to stay totally calm as plans changed right left and centre and as a result, I still enjoyed the experience. Also, the breathing techniques have really come in handy since Angus was born while we were experiencing issues with breastfeeding.
We cannot thank Jade enough for all of her support and advice and we would highly recommend Aberdeen Hypnobirthing to all expectant parents.
