Contact Vicki
If you have any questions or would just like more information please don't hesitate to get in touch by clicking the button below and filling out the contact form.
Contact VickiBeing a neonatal nurse in a high risk maternity hospital, I had seen my fair share of medicalised births, so when I found out I was pregnant; I always knew I would never have a birth plan.
I would accept whatever needed to be done to ensure the safety of my baby and myself.
I would however, ensure my body and mind was as healthy as it could be.
So I started researching tips for healthy pregnancies and stumbled across a hypnobirthing website. I had heard of hypnobirthing before, but didn’t really know what it involved. The more I read about it, the more excited I became that this was definitely something I wanted to learn more about.
My husband and I went to Vicki’s course together and although I had a fair amount of knowledge of the birth process, I still learnt so much more. Watching the birth videos was quite emotional, but I had never seen births like this before!
I finished the course feeling like my anxieties had eased and excitement was taking over. I started listening to ‘Surge of the Sea’ every night before bed and never slept better.
The morning my membranes released it was at 7am, twelve days before my due date. We had luckily just finished the nursery and I had my hospital bag packed. Looking back I didn’t feel nervous at all, it just felt surreal that I would be meeting my baby soon.
Once we arrived at the hospital and I was assessed, the obstetrician asked me if I wanted to ‘get things going’ and be induced. I was happy to wait it out for 24 hours and see what happened, so I was admitted to the ward.
That day we left the hospital and walked to the local cafes and restaurants for breakfast and lunch. In between meals I was back in my room, bouncing on a fit ball. I was determined to bounce this baby out! Dinner was the hottest vindaloo at the local Indian restaurant. My husband was sweating and I thought it was delicious! We went to bed that evening and watched a movie, nothing was happening and I was starting to think maybe I would end up being induced.
At 1am the midwife administered some IV antibiotics as it had been 18 hours since my membranes released.
Still nothing was happening.
At 3am I was woken from my very light sleep (hospitals are so noisy and the sheets had a thread count of about 10) with some light cramping and I thought – finally!! After an hour of sitting on the ball, the surges were coming every 3 minutes and lasting a minute. I decided to sit in the shower for a while (a long while) to pass the time and to be honest the surges were noticeable, but the water was so soothing.
By 7am the surges were coming every minute and the midwife walked me through to labour ward in between. Luckily it was only a short walk!
After a quick check in labour ward, I was told I was 7cm dilated. A lot of walking to and from the toilet (I so felt I needed to go even though I didn’t!) and I felt the sensation of my baby wanting to be born.
I felt the most comfortable kneeling facing the bed head and my husband was massaging my back during the surges. I was so focused on my breathing that I knew the midwife and obstetrician were there, but it felt like we were alone. I asked my husband later on why there was no music playing and he said there was!
Feeling my baby coming down and then going back up again during the surges was so surreal. I don’t know how, but your body just knows what to do and when he was ready, Kai was born.
It wasn’t until I heard his immediate cry that I was snapped back into the reality of what had just happened.
I saw him as he was lifted through my legs and onto my chest and he was so lovely.
My husband was tearing up at this point and didn’t even think to check the sex until the midwife mentioned it!
I couldn’t believe I had done it and my baby was just born!
I was chuffed with myself!
Even the obstetrician commented that it was a one in a thousand birth.
Three days later we brought our gorgeous boy home.
It has been an adjustment that’s for sure, but we couldn’t have asked for a more perfect baby!
I felt sad taking down my positive affirmations from around the house but I smile every time I see my birth playlist on my phone.
I can’t wait to do it again!
I couldn’t recommend Vicki’s Back to Basics Birthing course highly enough.
Thanks Vicki!
S & K
June, 2016
If you have any questions or would just like more information please don't hesitate to get in touch by clicking the button below and filling out the contact form.
Contact Vicki