CHANELLE'S ALL-NATURAL
HYPNOBIRTHING BIRTH STORY
Chanelle Heyneke and her husband, Gerrit, attended a Hypnobirthing
course with Positive Birth Jersey, which they say gave them confidence
and a sense of peacefulness. Chanelle shares her birthing story.
I
hit 39 weeks on 4th July 2019. My hubby and I chose to
spend the day at the beach in St Brelade, to enjoy some last
memorable times alone together. We went out on his
stand-up paddleboard. Well, why not? I felt adventurous
and could still quite easily move around! I sat and he
paddled. Very easily we flowed with the water. People heading
back towards the beach looked at us and smiled; I thought to
myself 'is this strange to do this at 39 weeks pregnant? I mean, I
could go into labour any time, or what if my waters break? Would
I even know?' All these thoughts ran through my mind. At the
same time, I just felt really brave and ‘in the moment’.
When we decided to turn around, the wind had picked up and
we weren't moving at all. To keep it short, we ended up around
the corner of the pier on a little stranded piece of beach and my
husband and I had to climb over rocks to get to a place where we
could get into the water again! I timed the waves splashing against
the rocks and jumped up on the board. It was very adventurous
and a bit scary at the same time! Luckily, I managed to get on the
board the first time and Gerrit followed. The Holy Spirit was
with us and I knew we were perfectly safe. I trusted God through
everything.
This whole escapade went on for over an hour, and the friends
we were with had come searching for us as they were worried.
But, safe at last, and such a fun memorable story to have. I still
believe that the whole experience and rush of adrenaline had an
affect on the start of my labour.
Early labour
As soon as I opened my eyes on Wednesday 17th July 2019 I felt
a light period-like cramp. It felt different from the general cramps
and twitches during pregnancy, but my husband and I went
about our normal day's activities.
I continued getting these light surges but did not want to make
a big deal out of them as I had read up on so many birth stories
and advice. I wanted to keep the good hormones coming and stay
in a calm state of mind, so I showered, got myself ready and took
a few photos of my '39 weeks 3 days' bump - if you know me,
you'll know I want EVERYTHING captured on camera!
I had arranged to do my friend Nadine's nails at 1pm at her
place, and as we all live in the same building, we invited our other
friend, Marijcke to join for a catch-up. I decided to take my
FREYA app with me so I could start timing my surges. I tried to
do this secretly but quickly they realised something was up. I
remember them looking at each other and thinking, 'Shit, this is
it. It is happening!'. We had a bit of a laugh, and I paused now
and then to flow with the surge and carried on doing her nails
when it passed.
I got home around 3.30pm, at which time my surges were
getting stronger. I messaged Gerrit and asked him to head straight
home after work as I didn't want to be alone. We thought of
everything we had learnt at Hypnobirthing, which helped
immensely - I stayed calm and confident during the whole
experience. I had something to eat, drank water and ate a protein
energy bar. I took two paracetamols and went to lie down to rest
between the surges. After speaking to the midwife we decided to
stay at home as long as possible, so Gerrit filled a warm bath for
me with lavender essential oils, which I rather enjoyed! The surges
had slowed down a bit but I didn’t get too worried, instead, I used
the time to relax and get a few minutes rest.
After getting out of the bath at around 7:30pm, I lied on the
bed in my towel, Gerrit next to me, timing my surges. After an
hour passed, we rang the hospital and were told to go in. I
remember feeling excited but also a bit nervous!
At Hospital
Once admitted, Gerrit messaged both our parents and siblings
- they live abroad so I knew we would have the intimacy and
privacy we wanted.
By now, the surges were very intense, so I lay on the bed
just feeling the linen on my skin. It soothed me somehow. We
turned off the lights and displayed our battery operated tea
lights, filled the room with our lavender essential oil diffuser and
played my Hypnobirthing music playlist. This consisted of a few
Hypnobirthing instrumental tracks as well as a few stories and, of
course, my favourite praise and worship songs. I got into a state
of complete mindfulness, just focusing on myself, knowing my
husband was right beside me.
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