Birthing Peacefully with Hypnobirthing

After the excitement of being pregnant with my very first baby I couldn’t help but feel so nervous & anxious about giving birth. It was consuming me, which I realise now was a blessing for me as it put me on the most incredible journey of hypnobirthing.

I am sure there are a lot of you out there that can totally relate to this anxiety associated with giving birth and this is where I get really excited. Because my birth wasn’t luck. I wasn’t lucky, I did so much preparation and if I can do this, you can to. I am someone that has always prepared myself for all of my greatest achievements & fears in my life so preparing for giving birth only felt natural.

My preparation for Chase’s birth began right away, however intensely from 20 weeks. It involved educating myself on how amazing the women’s body really is. Listening to endless hypnobirthing YouTube videos online. Hanging out with my incredible cousin Donna who is a doula, yoga instructor & hypnomum twice a week online where we practiced visualization, breathing techniques, meditation, connecting with bub and comfortable yoga poses and listening to my positive affirmations every single day. All of this helped me so much push out any negative thoughts I had about giving birth.

My last week of pregnancy I spent my days doing all I could to initiate labor. Acupuncture, long walks (I walked every day being pregnant) and climbing up and down stairs.

I woke up Thursday the 21st of January, listened to my positive affirmations, popped my walking shoes on and went for another long coast walk while listening to my hypnobirthing. It was a beautiful sunny day and I just knew that it was going to be the day I went into labor.

It was 1pm I was at my Nanna Nitza’s having lunch when I experience my very first surge. At first I felt a bit nervous, this was the only time I ever felt that. I took one deep breath, held my belly, had the BIGGEST smile on my face and remember saying “this is it, I get to have you in my arms so soon” and from that moment celebrated EVERY surge. (I knew that it was definitely lab our, as I had never experienced any feeling like this) I couldn’t stop smiling at the thought that he would most likely be entering the world on his due date – what a clever boy.
I wanted to continue my day like I would any other day, as this was always a part of my visualization in order to remain calm and allow my body to do its thing. I went for another long walk. Called my mum and sisters. Scrubbed my showers for the 10th time that week and cooked dinner.

Once my husband got home from work I was so EXCITED to tell him it was the real deal and that we would soon have our baby. He was overwhelmed with so much excitement, love and nerves. He gave me the biggest hug and kiss and said Let’s DO THIS!

We continued to make dinner and watch TV. At 9pm I called my mum as my surges were every 10 -15 minutes and lasting about 30 seconds. She lives 3 hours from me so I knew she had to leave soon in order to be here on time. It was very important for me to have her a part of my birth. My husband is this crazy positive energy and my mum is this calm, nurturing & warm energy – I knew they would make a great team and that’s exactly how it was. I also called my midwife & her positivity was absolutely incredible and so reassuring that I am more than okay to be at home for longer.

At 10pm I told Ty to go get some sleep. As I knew it was going to be a long night. I was in between the hot shower and in my yoga poses with a heat pack. Mum was on loudspeaker to me the whole time – she would speak to me when I wanted to speak and she was silent when I was.

My mum got to me at 12pm gave me the biggest hug and kiss and we then went for a walk to the local petrol station so I could keep moving and get some sugar. I stopped and leant on my mum every 5 minutes for a full minute. Mum and Ty wanted to take me to the birthing center but I assured them that I was more than happy being in the shower and that they should get some rest. I wasn’t aware of the time when I was in labor. But mum & Ty told me the next day I was in the shower from 12.30 – 3am I could not believe this it honestly felt like 10 minutes. In this time, I was in my birthing bubble and really having to practice everything I had learnt as it had hit a new level of challenging.

At 3am it was time to head to the birthing center from 12 – 3 my contractions were every 3-5 minutes and lasting a full minute & had certainly intensified so I was happy to go. I was extremely proud that I had stayed at home for as long as possible. But of course first stop…Hungry Jacks, as Ty was hungry!!!!! He claims he did this because I told him to distract me from going to the birthing center for as long as possible, but I know it was because he was just thinking about his stomach. Oh and then a HUGE detour on the freeway!

4am we arrived to the warmest midwifes and environment. I got an internal and was 5cm dilated. I was so excited to know that I had already dilated that much. We discussed my birthing plan and what I wanted to achieve. The birthing pool was ready for me and was such a great pain relief I was in the pool until I was 7cms dilated. Then experienced the transitional stage – which was extremely challenging, I had to use every single bit of strength I had to try and regroup. I felt really out of control at this stage & I have never experienced a pain like this. This is when my mum suggested using the gas. This was incredible at getting me back into my zone and ready to push.

At 7am I was fully dilated. I got ready to jump back in the pool but standing up and holding onto the bath felt to good. I was then able to have mum and Ty on either side pulling against me as I pushed with each squat. What an incredible feeling this is. Your body just takes over and knows exactly what to do.

Once he crowned the midwife asked me to touch his head – this was a motivation like no other. I spoke to Chase every step of the way and we made such a great team.

She asked Ty to come down onto the floor and get ready to grab him. At this stage my waters still hadn’t broken. I birthed Chase’s headfirst – I didn’t even know this was possible. The very first person Chase laid his eyes on was his Daddy and Tyron says it was by far the best moment in his whole entire life. He was so excited. He came up to me and said Juss he is just perfect he has the biggest lips and so much hair – you can do it, just one more push!

My final surge 8:05am on the 22nd of January – he was here along with all that water. On his due date 7 pound 10 and 51cms! Ty and the midwife grabbed him & past him straight through my legs to me we laid there for hours just staring and incomplete awe of our baby boy.

6 hours later we were sitting in our lounge room at home as a family for the very first time.

I have never experienced anything as incredible & empowering as giving birth, I went into a whole new world where I felt so connected to my body and to my baby boy. I think about this moment so often and how proud I am that I was able to achieve the birth I have only ever dreamt of with my husband and mum by my side, practicing hypnobirthing.

Nothing could beat that feeling of holding Chase in my arms for the very first time. In that moment the whole world seriously stopped. I already could not imagine my life without him and I experienced a love that I could not believe was even possible. Being able to achieve the birth that I had only ever dreamt of made this day that extra bit special.

Submitted by Justine Zampogna.